Al-Multazam (Arabic: الملتزم ) is a part of the eastern wall of the Ka'ba, located between the door of the Ka'ba and the Hajar al-Aswad. According to narrations, this place is where sins are confessed, and prayers are fulfilled. The Prophet(s) placed his face and hands on this part of the wall and prayed.

According to narrations, when Prophet Adam (s) circumambulated the Ka'ba, he confessed his sins at the Multazam, and from then on, this place became a site for the acceptance of prayers by God.

A place for confessing sins

A part of the eastern wall of the Ka'ba is called Multazam. This section is located between the Hajar al-Aswad and the door of the Ka'ba.[1] It is narrated from The Prophet(s) through Ibn Abbas that the Multazam is a place where prayers are fulfilled.[2] It is narrated that when Prophet Adam (s) was circumambulated the Ka'ba, he confessed his sins at this place, and since then, this place has been designated by God as a site for the fulfillment of prayers.[3] There are narrations that the Prophet (s) would place his face and chest against the wall of the Ka'ba at this place.[4] Imam Ali also advised to confess your sins at the Multazam.[5]

Etymology

Regarding the name "Multazam," some have said that it is named so because pilgrims cling to this part when they pray and become attached to it.[6] Some have also said that during the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah), people would come to this part of the wall of the Ka'ba to swear oaths and make pledges, and they were committed and bound to the oaths they took.[7]


Al-Multazam and Al-Mustajar

There is another place on the wall of the Ka'ba known as Al-Mustajar, where it is also recommended to pray. Al-Mustajar is located behind the Ka'ba on the western side and includes the area from the Yemeni Corner to the blocked door of the Ka'ba.

Since sometimes in sources and narrations, Al-Mustajar and Al-Multazam are considered names of the same place,[8] It is said that Multazam is also situated on the wall behind the Ka'ba.[9] Some believe that Al-Multazam is also the same as Al-Mustajar and is located at the Yemeni Corner.[10]  

Notes

  1. Fāsī, " Al-ʿAqd al-Thamīn fī Tārīkh al-Balad al-Amīn", vol. 1, p. 242. , Ṣafīrūshānī, "Makkah dar Bistar Tārīkh", p. 99.
  2. Fāsī ,Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām, vol. 1, p. 196.
  3. Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī,Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 13, p. 346.
  4. Fākihī, Akhbār Makka fī qadīm al-dahr wa ḥaīthih, vol. 1, p. 162.
  5. Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī,Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 13, p. 346.
  6. Khalīlī, "Mawṣūʿat al-ʿAtabāt al-Muqaddasa", vol. 2, p. 236.
  7. ʿAlī, Jawād, "Al-Mufṣal fī Tārīkh al-ʿArab Qabl al-Islām", vol. 6, p. 437-438.
  8. Fāsī ,Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām, vol. 1, p. 196.
  9. Naʿmatī, Pajūheshī Dār Bārah Multazam [A Reseach on Multazam ], 84.
  10. Azraqī,Akhbār Makka wa mā jāʾa fīhā min al-āthār, vol. 1, p. 44.

References

  • Azraqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Akhbār Makka wa mā jāʾa fīhā min al-āthār. Edited by Rushdī Ṣāliḥ Mulḥis. Beirut: 1403 AH.
  • Fākiḥī, Muḥammad b. Isḥāq al-. Akhbār Makkah fī Qadīm al-Dahr wa Ḥadīthih. Edited by ʿAbd al-Malik b. Dahīsh. Makkah: Maktabat al-Asadī, 1424 AH.
  • Fāsī al-Makkī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām. Translated by Muḥammad Muqaddas. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1386 sh.
  • Fāsī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad, and Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭā. Al-ʿAqd al-Thamīn fī Tārīkh al-Balad al-Amīn. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1419 AH.
  • Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan.Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa. Edited by Muḥammad Ridhā Ḥusaynī Jalālī. Qom: Muʾassasat Āl al-Bayt ʿAlayhim al-Salām li-Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth, 1416 AH.
  • Jawād, ʿAlī. Al-Mufṣṣal fī Tārīkh al-ʿArab Qabl al-Islām. Beirut: Dār al-ʿIlm lil-Malayīn, 1391 AH / 1976 CE.
  • Khalīlī, Jaʿfar. Mawṣūʿat al-ʿAtabāt al-Muqaddasa. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-ʿĀlamī lil-Maṭbūʿāt, 1407 AH / 1987 CE.
  • Naʿmatī, Muḥammad Ridhā. Pajūheshī Dār Bārah Multazam. *Majallat Mīqāt Ḥajj,* no. 43, Farvardīn 1382 SH.
  • Ṣafīrūshānī, Naʿmat Allāh. Makkah dar Bastar-i Tārīkh. Qom: Markaz ʿĀlamī ʿUlūm Islāmī, 1386 SH.