Masjid al-Bay'ah (Bay'ah Mosque) is an ancient mosque in the city of Mecca, dating back to the 2nd century AH. This mosque is located near Jamarat al-Aqaba and outside the legal boundary of Mina. It is the place where the people of Yathrib pledged allegiance to the Prophet (s).

According to an inscription on the western wall of Masjid al-Bay'ah, the mosque was built in 144 AH/761-2 by the order of Mansur Abbasi and was later renovated several times.

Naming

When the people of Yathrib (Medina) became acquainted with Islam, during the days of Hajj, at the Jamarat al-Aqabah, they pledged allegiance to the prophet(s) for the first time. After that, Islam spread in Medina. At the site of this event, which is known as the First Pledge of Aqabah, a mosque was built that became famous as "Masjid al-Bay'ah" (Mosque of the Pledge).[1] In sources, other mosques are also referred to by the name Masjid al-Bay'ah:

  • Masjid al-Ghanam, a mosque in Mecca, which was the place where the people of Mecca pledged allegiance to the Prophet (s).[2]
  • Masjid al-Jinn, a mosque in Mecca, which is the place where the jinn pledged allegiance to the Prophet (s).[3]

Location

Masjid al-Bay'ah is in Mecca, near the Jamarat al-Aqabah [outside the legal boundary of Mina from the Mecca side], on the southern slope of Mount Thubayr. This area is known as Sha'b al-Ansar and Sha'b al-Bay'ah.[4] and it is on the left side of someone who is traveling from Mecca towards Mina. The distance from Masjid al-Bay'ah to Jamarat al-Aqabah is more than three hundred meters.[5] Nowadays, with the development of Mina, the area around Masjid al-Bay'ah, which was previously within the valley and enclosed by mountains, has been cleared. Currently, the mosque is located at the end of the exit path of the second level of the Jamarat towards Mecca, and an iron fence has been placed around the mosque.[6] The area of Masjid al-Bay'ah is 500 square meters. The mosque is rectangular in shape, with a length of 27.90 meters and a width of 17 meters. It is constructed of stone and brick and has no roof.[7]

History of the Construction

According to an inscription from the year 144 AH, which is still preserved and installed on the western wall of the mosque, the construction of this mosque was commissioned by Abu Ja'far al-Mansur Abbasid (R: 136-158 AH/753-775).[8] Additionally, an inscription from the year 629 AH/1231-2 is also installed on the southern wall of the mosque, which reports the restoration of the mosque during the time of al-Mustansir Abbasid (R: 623-640 AH/1226-1243).[9] Other sources also mention Masjid al-Bay'ah throughout various centuries; for instance, Ibn Jubayr referred to it during his journey to Mecca in the year 578 AH/1182-3.[10] Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH/1327-8) also mentioned the existence of the mosque.[11] Al-Fasi (d. 832 AH/1428-9), the historian of Mecca, described the mosque. According to him, the mosque had two porticoes, each with three domes resting on four archways. Behind these porticoes, there was also an open area.[12] The mosque was also destroyed at various times throughout history; for instance, a report from the 11th century mentions the destruction of the mosque.[13] However, during the Ottoman era, the mosque was rebuilt during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909 CE).[14] There is also a report of repairs to parts of the mosque during the reign of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.[15]

Gallery

Notes

  1. Jaʿfariyān, Āthār-i islāmi-yi Makka wa Madīna, p. 169.
  2. Azraqī,Akhbār Makka wa mā jāʾa fīhā min al-āthār, vol. 2, p. 201-271; Qāʾidān, Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madīna, p. 106.
  3. Azraqī,Akhbār Makka wa mā jāʾa fīhā min al-āthār, vol. 2, p. 201; Ibn Ḍiyāʾ Ḥanafī , Tārīkh Makkah al-Mukarrama wa al-Masjid al-Ḥarām wa al-Madīna al-Sharīfa wa al-Qabr al-Sharīf, p. 181.
  4. Azraqī,Akhbār Makka wa mā jāʾa fīhā min al-āthār, vol. 1, p. 303; Ḥārithī , Al-Muʿjam al-Āthārī li-Manṭiqat Makkah al-Mukarrama, p. 177; Bakr, Ashhar al-Masājid fī al-Islām, p. 168.
  5. Ibn Ḍiyāʾ Ḥanafī , Tārīkh Makkah al-Mukarrama wa al-Masjid al-Ḥarām wa al-Madīna al-Sharīfa wa al-Qabr al-Sharīf, p. 181; Ibn Fahd, Ithāf al-Warā bi-ʾAkhbār Umm al-Qurā, vol. 2, p. 180.
  6. Bakr, Ashhar al-Masājid fī al-Islām, p. 169-171; Jaʿfariyān, Āthār-i islāmi-yi Makka wa Madīna, p. 169.
  7. Barakātī, Dirāsah Tārīkhiyya li-Masājid al-Mashāʿir al-Muqaddasah: Masjid al-Khayf - Masjid al-Bayʿah bi-Minā, p. 232.
  8. Al-Ḥārithī , Al-ʾĀthār al-Islāmiyya fī Makkah al-Mukarrama, p. 217-218.
  9. Kurdī, Al-Tārīkh al-Qawīm li-Makkah wa Bayt Allāh al- Karīm, vol. 6, p. 28.
  10. Ibn Jubayr, Al-Tadhkira bi-l-ʾAkhbār ʿan Ittifāqāt al-Asfār, p. 123.
  11. Ibn Taymiyya, Iqtiḍāʾ al-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm li-Mukhālafat Aṣḥāb al-Jaḥīm , p. 426.
  12. Fāsī al-Makkī, Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām,vol. 1, p. 348.
  13. Jaʿfariyān, Jawāhir al-tārīkh al-makkī, p. 263.
  14. Gāzī, Ifādat al-anām,vol. 2, p. 49.
  15. Barakātī, Dirāsah Tārīkhiyya li-Masājid al-Mashāʿir al-Muqaddasah: Masjid al-Khayf - Masjid al-Bayʿah bi-Minā, p. 232.

References

.. Jaʿfariyān, Rasūl. Āthār-i islāmi-yi Makka wa Madīna. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1382 Sh. . Azraqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Akhbār Makka wa mā jāʾa fīhā min al-āthār. Edited by Rushdī Ṣāliḥ Mulḥis. Beirut: 1403 AH. . Qāʾidān, Aṣghar. Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madīna. 4th edition. Qom: Nashr-i Mashʿar, 1381 Sh. . Ibn Ḍiyāʾ Ḥanafī Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Tārīkh Makkah al-Mukarrama wa al-Masjid al-Ḥarām wa al-Madīna al-Sharīfa wa al-Qabr al-Sharīf**: (d. 854 AH), edited by ʿAlāʾ Ibrāhīm al-Azharī and others, Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1418 AH.

. Ḥārithī Nāṣir ibn ʿAlī :Al-Muʿjam al-Āthārī li-Manṭiqat Makkah al-Mukarrama**:, Ṭāʾif, Fahrasat Maktabat al-Malik Fahd al-Waṭaniyya, 1423 AH. . Bakr Sayyid ʿAbd al-Majīd, Ashhar al-Masājid fī al-Islām, n.p., Dār al-Qibla, 1404 AH. . ʿUmār ibn Fahd, Ithāf al-Warā bi-ʾAkhbār Umm al-Qurā **: (d. 885 AH), edited by Fahīm Muḥammad Shalṭūt, Makkah, Jāmiʿat Umm al-Qurā, 1403 AH. . Nāṣir ʿAbd Allāh al-Barakātī; Dirāsah Tārīkhiyya li-Masājid al-Mashāʿir al-Muqaddasah: Masjid al-Khayf - Masjid al-Bayʿah bi-Minā**: Muḥammad Nīsān Sulaymān Mannāʿ, Dār al-Madīnī liṭ-Ṭibāʿa wa al-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 1st edition, 1408 AH / 1988 CE.

. Al-Ḥārithī , Al-ʾĀthār al-Islāmiyya fī Makkah al-Mukarrama **: 1430 AH. . Muḥammad Ṭāhir Kurdī, Al-Tārīkh al-Qawīm li-Makkah wa Bayt Allāh al-Karīm **: Maktabat al-Nahḍa al-Ḥadītha, 1412 AH. . Muḥammad ibn Jubayr, Al-Tadhkira bi-l-ʾAkhbār ʿan Ittifāqāt al-Asfār**:, al-Muʾassasa al-ʿArabiyya li-l-Dirāsāt wa al-Nashr, 2008 CE. . Ibn Taymiyya Iqtiḍāʾ al-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm li-Mukhālafat Aṣḥāb al-Jaḥīm . (d. 728 AH), n.p., Dār ʿĀlam al-Kutub, 1419 AH. . Fāsī al-Makkī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām. Translated by Muḥammad Muqaddas. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1386 sh. • Gāzī, ʿAbdullāh b. Muḥammad al-. Ifādat al-anām. Mecca: Maktabat al-Asadī, 1430 AH. . Fākiḥī Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, ʾAkhbār Makkah fī Qadīm al-Dahr wa Ḥadīthih**: (d. 275 AH), edited by ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dahīsh, Beirut, Dār Khudr, 1414 AH. . Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1375 Sh.