Al Mustajar
Al_Mustajār (Arabic: المستجار) is a part of the western wall of the Ka'ba, approximately 2 meters in length, located between the Rukn al-Yamani and the second door of the Ka'ba, which was sealed during the time of Hajjaj b. Yusuf al-Thaqafi. This section is at the back of the Ka'ba, directly opposite the current door of the Ka'ba.
The meaning of the word Mustajār is 'refuge' or 'sanctuary.' This place is known for the acceptance of repentance and is recommended for supplication and prayer.
Al- Mustajar and Al-Multazam
Two places on the wall of the Ka'ba are introduced as places for the acceptance of supplications and repentance, and there are narrations about them:Al_Mustajar and Al_Multazam.
It is usually said that Mustajār is at the back of the Ka'ba on the western side, encompassing the distance from the the Rukn al-Yamani to the sealed door of the Kaaba, and Multazam is on the eastern side, encompassing the distance from the Hajar al-Aswad to the current door of the Ka'ba.[1]
However, the narrations related to Multazam and Mustajar have been mixed together, and sometimes Mustajar and Multazam are considered two names for the same place. It is sometimes said that Shia Muslims consider al-Multazam and al-Mustajar to be the same, whereas Sunni Muslims consider them to be different, with Multazam being the area between the Hajar al-Aswad and the door of the Ka'ba.[2]
Some Shia scholars, based on the collections of narrations from the Ahl al-Bayt regarding the acts performed at Multazam and Mustajār, have concluded that these two are names for the same place, which is Mustajār.[3]
In Sunni sources, there are also numerous narrations and reports that consider Multazam to be at the back of the Ka'ba (the same place as Mustajar).[4]
Despite all this, in most geographical sources on Mecca, Multazam and Mustajar are distinguished from each other.[5]
Al_Mustajār and the Crack of the Ka'ba
Some consider Al_Mustajār to be the part of the wall of the Ka'ba that was split open to allow Fatimah bint Asad, the mother of Imam Ali (peace be upon him), to enter the Kaaba for the birth of her son.[6]
The Supplication of Mustajār
In the rituals of Tawaf, it is mentioned that: It is recommended for the pilgrim, in the last round of their Tawaf, to place their face and hands on the wall, press their stomach and front against the wall of the Ka'ba, and say:
- أللَّهُمَّ الْبَيْتُ بَيْتُكَ وَالْعَبْدُ عَبْدُكَ وَهذا مَكانُ الْعائِذِ بِكَ مِنَ النَّار. "O Allah, this house is Your house, and this servant is Your servant, and this is the place of one who seeks refuge with You from the Fire."
Then, they should confess their sins and seek forgiveness, and afterwards say:
- أللَّهُمَّ مِنْ قِبَلِكَ الرَّوْحُ وَالْفَرَجُ وَالْعافِيَةُ. أللَّهُمَّ إنَّ عَمَلِي ضَعيْفٌ فَضاعِفْهُ لِي وَاغْفِرْ لي مَا اطَّلَعْتَ عَلَيْهِ مِنِّي وَخَفِيَ عَلى خَلْقِكَ أسْتَجِيرُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ النَّار."O Allah, from You comes the spirit, relief, and well-being. O Allah, my deeds are weak, so multiply them for me and forgive me for what You have seen of me that is hidden from Your creation. I seek refuge with Allah from the Fire.
Then, after that, the person should make any supplications they wish, touch the Yemeni Corner (Rukn Yamani), come to the Hajar al-Aswad, complete their Tawaf, and say:
- أللَّهُمَّ قَنِّعْنِي بِما رَزَقْتَني وَبارِكْ لِي فِيما آتَيْتَني "O Allah, make me content with what You have provided me and bless me in what You have granted me.[7]
Notes
- ↑ Ṣafāʾī Farūshānī, " Makkah dar Bistar-i Tārīkh", p. 99_101.
- ↑ Qāʾidān, " Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madīna", p. 71.
- ↑ Majlisī, Mir'āt al-ʿUqūl, vol. 9, p. 106.
- ↑ Naʿmatī, "Pazhuheshī dar bāray Multazam", p. 84.
- ↑ Fāsī al-Makkī, Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām,vol. 1, p. 196; Mālikī, " Taḥṣīl al-Marām fī Aḵbār al-Bayt al-Ḥarām", vol. 1, p. 200_203; Sanjārī, "Manāʾih al-Karam", vol. 1, p. 307; Ibn Zahīra,Al-Jāmiʿ al-laṭīf fī faḍl-i Makka wa ahluhā wa bināʾ al-Bayt al-Sharīf, p. 47.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī Tabrīzī, "Hidāyat al-Ḥujjāj: Safar-Nāmah-i Makkah", p. 178; Jaʿfariyān,Āthār-i islāmi-yi Makka wa Madīna, p. 97.
- ↑ Khomeinī, "Manāsk Ḥajj Motābaq ba Fatwā-ye Imām Khomeinī ba Ḥawāshī Marājiʿ Taqlīd wa Istiftāʾāt Jadīd", p. 436.
References
- Fāsī, Taqī al-Dīn Muḥammad. Shifāʾ al-Gharām bi-Aḵbār al-Balad al-Ḥarām. Edited by a committee of prominent scholars and literati. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, n.d.
- Ibn Zahīra, Muḥammad Jārullāh. Al-Jāmiʿ al-laṭīf fī faḍl-i Makka wa ahluhā wa bināʾ al-Bayt al-Sharīf. Edited by ʿAlī ʿUmar. Cairo: Maktabat al-Thaqāfa al-Dīnīyya, 1423 AH.
- Jafarīān, Rasūl. *Āthār Islāmī Makkah wa Madīnah*. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1389 AH.
- Khomeinī, Rūḥ Allāh. Manāsk-i Ḥajj Motābaq ba Fatwā-ye Imām Khomeinī ba Ḥawāshī Marājiʿ Taqlīd wa Istiftāʾāt Jadīd (1393 sh). Tehran: Mashʿar, 1409 AH.
- Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Mir'āt al-'uqūl. Edited by Rasūlī Maḥallātī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1404 AH.
- Mālikī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Taḥṣīl al-Marām fī Aḵbār al-Bayt al-Ḥarām. Makkah: Maktabat al-Asadī, 1424 AH.
- Naʿmatī, Muḥammad Rezā. "Pazhuheshī dar bāray Multazam". Majallah Mīqāt-i Ḥajj, no. 43, Farvardīn 1382 SH.
- Qāʾidān, Aṣghar. Tārīkh wa Āthār Islāmī Makkah Mukarramah wa Madīnah Munawwarah. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1400 AH.
- Ṣafāʾī Farūshānī, Niʿmat Allāh. Makkah dar Bistar-i Tārīkh. Qom: Markaz Jahanī ʿUlūm Islāmī, 1386 AH.
- Sanjārī, ʿAlī b. Tāj al-Dīn. Manāʾih al-Karam. Makkah: Jāmiʿah Umm al-Qurā, 1419 AH.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī Tabrīzī, Muḥammad Rezā. Hidāyat al-Ḥujjāj: Safar-Nāmah-i Makkah. Compiled by Rasūl Jafarīān. Qom: Nashr-i Mūrikh, 1386 AH.