Bilal b. Rabah Mosque

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Bilal b. Rabah Mosque
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General Information
Other NamesIbrahim Mosque, Ibrahim Abu Qubaysi Mosque
PlaceMecca
Religious Aspect
Religious AffiliationIslam
History
ReconstructorsMalik Zahir Mamluk/ an Indian man in the 13th century
Current State
StatusDemolished

Directions

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Bilal bin Rabāh Mosque, known for its association with Bilal,and previously known as the Ibrahim Mosque, was situated atop Mount Abu Qubays in Mecca. However, due to new development plans and the construction of government palaces by Arabian government, the mosque has been demolished and razed.

Historical sources mention two theories regarding the name Ibrahim, one linked to the prophet Ibrahim, and the other to Ibrahim Abu Qubaysi. The mosque was later known as the Bilal Mosque, possibly due to Bilal's call to prayer over there. Some sources also claim it was where the Prophet performed the miraculous act of splitting the moon.

Location

The Bilal Mosque once occupied the summit of Mount Abu Qubays, covering an area of around one hundred square meters. [1] It remained intact until the 14th century AH. [2] However, in the new development plans, which aimed the construction of palaces built for the Saudi government's guests on the Abu Qubais mountain has demolished the mosque, and now there is no trace of it remaining, but only its image remains..[3]

Ibrahim Mosque or Bilal Mosque?

In ancient times, the Bilal Mosque was known as the Ibrahim Mosque, as indicated by historical sources. According to Azraqi and Fakhri, two Meccan historians from the 3rd century AH, it was widely believed among the people of Mecca that Prophet Ibrahim had called for pilgrimage from the peak of this mountain. [4] However, there were conflicting views among the Meccans, with some attributing the mosque's name to Ibrahim Qubaysi instead of Prophet Ibrahim. [5] Sources such as Ibn Jubayr[6] and Ibn Battuta[7] also mentioned the presence of a mosque on Mount Abu Qubays without specifying a name. Nevertheless, contemporary sources now identify this mosque as the Bilal Mosque.[8] Some accounts suggest that after the conquest of Mecca, Bilal recited the Adhan from Mount Abu Qubays, leading to the construction of a mosque in his honor on top of the mountain. [9]

The Prophet's Prayer and the Splitting of the Moon

According to certain reports, it is said that the Prophet prayed on top of Mount Abu Qubays.[10] In their travelogues, Ibn Jubayr and Ibn Battuta mentioned this mosque as the location where the Prophet performed the miraculous act of splitting the moon. [11]

Ibn Battuta's report on the lighting of Bilal Mosque

In his travelogue dated 725 AH, Ibn Battuta provides a detailed depiction of the practices followed by the people of Mecca on the 27th night of Ramadhan and the first night of Shawwal. He highlights that during these significant nights, the Meccans adorn the Masjid al-Haram and its surroundings with torches and lamps, along with the mosque located on Mount Abu Qubays. [12]

History of the Structure

Azraqi's history, the oldest source, mentions the mosque in the third century of Hijri. [13] Based on this, it is speculated by some historians that the mosque might have been constructed in the first century of Hijri.[14] Ibn Battuta recorded the mosque's reconstruction in the 8th century under Sultan Dhahir Mamluk's order. [15] It was also documented that an Indian man carried out the renovation of the mosque in the 13th century.[16]

The report of travelogues of Iranians

The narratives of Iranian Shiite pilgrims who journeyed to Makkah before the Bilal Mosque was ruined offer interesting perspectives about it. [17] Mirza Daud Hosseini, who performed Hajj in 1322, mentioned the Prophet's teachings on monotheism at Mount Abu Qabis. [18] Haj Ayyaz Khan Qashqai, on his Hajj in 1341 AH/1301, noted a tomb with two garlands on the mountain without specifying its name. [19]


The latest reports on the Bilal Mosque

The book "Tarikh al-Qawim" contains a report about Bilal Mosque (Masjid Bilal). The report, which was first published in 1385 AH / 1966 AD, shows that the mosque existed until that time and was surrounded by multiple houses. [20] The Bilal Mosque (Masjid Bilal) is currently in ruins. [21]

Gallery

Notes

  1. Jaʿfariyān,Āthār-i islāmi-yi Makka wa Madīna, vol. 1, p. 151.
  2. Kurdī, Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm, vol. 5, p. 84.
  3. Jaʿfariyān,Āthār-i islāmi-yi Makka wa Madīna, vol. 1, p. 151.
  4. Azraqī, Akhbār Makka, vol. 2, p. 201; Fākihī,Akhbār Makka fī qadīm al-dahr wa ḥaīthih, vol. 4, p. 16-17.
  5. Azraqī, Akhbār Makka, vol. 2, p. 201; Fākihī,Akhbār Makka fī qadīm al-dahr wa ḥaīthih, vol. 4, p. 16-17.
  6. Ibn Jubayr,Riḥla Ibn Jubayr, p. 76.
  7. Ibn Baṭṭūṭah Riḥlat Ibn Baṭṭūṭah, vol. 1, p. 383.
  8. Jaʿfariyān,Āthār-i islāmi-yi Makka wa Madīna, p. 125. , Ibn Baṭṭūṭah Riḥlat Ibn Baṭṭūṭah, vol. 1, p. 383. ,Nawwāb, Al-Riḥalāt al-Maghribiyya wa al-Andalusiyya, p. 456. , Munzawī. Ḥajnāma 2. p. 62.
  9. Jaʿfariyān,Āthār-i islāmi-yi Makka wa Madīna, p. 125.
  10. Fākihī,Akhbār Makka fī qadīm al-dahr wa ḥaīthih, vol. 4, p. 16.
  11. Ibn Jubayr,Riḥla Ibn Jubayr, p. 76. , Ibn Baṭṭūṭah Riḥlat Ibn Baṭṭūṭah, vol. 1, p. 383.
  12. Ibn Baṭṭūṭah Riḥlat Ibn Baṭṭūṭah, vol. 1, p. 404.
  13. Azraqī, Akhbār Makka, vol. 2, p. 202.
  14. Kurdī, Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm, vol. 5, p. 83.
  15. Ibn Baṭṭūṭah Riḥlat Ibn Baṭṭūṭah, vol. 1, p. 383.
  16. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad, Taḥṣīl al-marām, vol. 1, p. 502.
  17. Jaʿfarīān, " Panjāh Safarnāmah-i Ḥajj-i Qājārī", p. 766.
  18. Jaʿfarīān," Panjāh Safarnāmah-i Ḥajj-i Qājārī", vol. 7, p. 545.
  19. Jaʿfarīān, " Panjāh Safarnāmah-i Ḥajj-i Qājārī", vol. 8, p. 419.
  20. Kurdī, Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm, vol. 5, p. 84.
  21. Jaʿfariyān,Āthār-i islāmi-yi Makka wa Madīna, vol. 1, p. 151.

References

  • Azraqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Akhbār Makka. Qom: Maktaba al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, [n.d]
  • Fākihī, Muḥammad b. Isḥāq. Akhbār Makka fī qadīm al-dahr wa ḥaīthih. Beirut: Dār al- Khiḍr, 1414 AH.
  • Ibn Baṭṭūṭah (d. 779 AH). Riḥlat Ibn Baṭṭūṭah. Translated by Muḥammad ʿAlī Muwahhid. Tehran: ʿIlmī wa-Farhangī, 1376 SH.
  • Ibn Jubayr, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Riḥla Ibn Jubayr. Beirut: Dār al-Maktaba al-Hilāl, 1986.
  • Jaʿfariyān, Rasūl. Āthār-i islāmi-yi Makka wa Madīna. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1382 Sh.
  • Jaʿfariyān, Rasūl. Panjāh Safarnāmah-i Ḥajj-i Qājārī. Tehran: Nashr-i ʿIlm, 1389 SH.
  • Kurdī, Muḥammad Ṭāhir. Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm. Beirut: : Dār al- Khiḍr, 1420 AH.
  • Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Taḥṣīl al-marām. Mecca: [n.p], 1424 AH.
  • Muḥammad b.ʿAbd Allāh. Akhbār Makkah wa Mā Jā fīhā min al-ĀthārEdited by Rashīd Ṣāliḥ Malḥas. Beirut: Dār al-Andalus, 1416 AH.
  • Munzawī, ʿAlī Naqī. Ḥajnāma 2. Kāva magazin, Num 47 va 48, spring and summer 1352, p. 62.
  • Nawwāb, ʿAwāṭif Muḥammad Yūsuf. Al-Riḥalāt al-Maghribiyya wa al-Andalusiyya. Riyāḍ: Maktabat al-Malik Fahd al-Waṭaniyya, 1417 AH.