Hijr Isma'il

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Hijr Isma'il (Arabic: حجر اسماعيل) is a semicircular area beside the Ka'ba, and according to Islamic narrations is the burial place of Isma'il, Hajar and some prophets.

According to some hadiths, a segment of Hijr Isma'il was a part of the Ka'ba; therefore, according to Shia jurists and most Sunni jurists, during tawaf, one should go round Hijr Isma'il.

Introduction

Hijr Isma'il is the semicircular area on the northwest side of Ka'ba, in front of the gold gutter.[1]

A top-view of Hijr Isma'il

Hijr Isma'il is marked by a wall with a height of 1.32 meters and a width of 1.52 meters. The distance of this wall from the gold gutter is nearly 6.80 meters and it covers an area of 8.44 square meters between the al-Rukn al-'Iraqi and the al-Rukn al-Shami.[2]

History

Based on religious traditions, Hijr Isma'il dates back to the time of the construction of the Ka'ba by Ibrahim(a). There are different and sometimes conflicting reports about the reason for the Hijr's construction. Some reports show that Isma'il(s) took shelter from the scorching sun in this part.[3] and probably Hijr is introduced as his house.[4] Other narrations have attributed the construction of the first Hijr to Prophet Abraham(s), to protect the Isma'il's sheep.[5]

Burial Place of Prophets

Islamic narrations have reported that some prophets are buried in Hijr Isma'il without mentioning their names. According to these reports, Isma'il, his mother Hajar, and some of his daughters were buried there.[6]

Importance Among Meccans and Muslims

Hijr Isma'il has always attracted the attention of the people of Mecca. There are reports of 'Abd al-Muttalib sittings in Hijr Isma'il,[7] disputes between the Prophet Muhammad(s) and polytheists of Quraysh in this place,[8] and also the gathering of polytheists to decide on his assassination.[9] Numerous dreams are attributed to figures such as 'Abd al-Muttalib[10] and the Prophet(s) in Hijr Isma'il[11] showing that this place was suitable for resting after worship.

Reports that Hijr Isma'il was the starting point of the Ascension of the Prophet(s),[12] the place of some of his speeches,[13] and Shia imams on various occasions were staying and praying in the place[14] shows the prominent position of Hijr Isma'il among religious figures.

Reconstructions Throughout History

Some scholars, citing a hadith attributed to Prophet Muhammad(s) addressed to 'A'isha[15] believe that a portion of the current Hijr Isma'il was a part of the Ka'ba, which became the inner Hijr due to the financial inability of the Quraysh to rebuild the Ka'ba completely in the fifth year before Bi'tha (605CE).[16] They have even considered the naming as hijr to be after the stones marking it as a part of the Ka'ba to prevent people from entering it while doing tawaf.[17]

'Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr in 64/683-4 while rebuilding the Ka'ba, added the mentioned part to the building of the Ka'ba, but al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf by the permission of 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan (Ruled: 65/684-5-86/705) in 74/693-4 restored the building of the Ka'ba to its previous form.[18] The region of Hijr Isma'il has remained the same since then.

According to sources Hijr Isma'il was paved in 140/757-8 by the order of al-Mansur al-'Abbasi(Ruled: 136/754-158/775[19] and reconstructed in 164/780-1 by the order of al-Mahdi al-'Abbasi (Rulde: 158/775-169/785-6).[20] Other renovations were done in 1040/1630-1, 1260/1844-5 and 1283/1866-7 during the period of the Ottomans.[21]

Tawaf in Hijr Isma'il

Shia and Sunni jurists have disputed the method of tawaf and the obligatory and recommended prayers at Hijr Isma'il. The disagreement is rooted in the difference in their views on whether Hijr Isma'il is a part of the Ka'ba.[22]

Shia scholars have unanimously placed Hijr Isma'il inside the tawaf area, and in case someone enters Hijr Isma'il while doing tawaf, the Shi'a jurists have ruled that he has to do tawaf from the beginning.[23] Among Sunni jurists only Abu Hanifa believes that entering Hijr Isma'il does not disturb the tawaf.[24]

Notes

  1. ↑ Kurdī, al-Tārīkh al-qawīm, vol. 2, p. 569.
  2. ↑ Rafʿat Pāshā, Mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn, vol. 1, p. 266; Kurdī, al-Tārīkh al-qawīm, vol. 2, p. 576.
  3. ↑ Qāʾidān, Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madīna, p. 117.
  4. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 210.
  5. ↑ Azraqī, Akhbār Makka, vol. 1, p. 64-65; Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 13, p. 355.
  6. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 210; Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-Nabawīyya, vol. 1, p. 5.
  7. ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 1, p. 82.
  8. ↑ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-Nabawīyya, vol. 1, p. 289-290.
  9. ↑ Wāqidī, al-Maghāzī, vol. 1, p. 125.
  10. ↑ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-Nabawīyya, vol. 1, p. 142; Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 2, p. 244.
  11. ↑ Ibn Ṭāwūs, Saʿd al-suʿūd li-l-nufūs, p. 100; Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 18, p. 317.
  12. ↑ Ibn Ṭāwūs, Saʿd al-suʿūd li-l-nufūs, p. 100; Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 18, p. 317
  13. ↑ Qummi, Tafsir al-Qummi, vol. 1, p. 379.
  14. ↑ ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, vol. 2, p. 337; Ṭūsī, al-Ghayba, p. 259; Ṣaffār, Baṣāʾir al-darajāt, p. 373.
  15. ↑ Ibn Khuzayma, Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaima, vol. 2, p. 1413; Muslim Nayshaburi, Ṣaḥiḥ Muslim, vol. 2, p. 968.
  16. ↑ Kurdī, al-Tārīkh al-qawīm, vol. 2, p. 573.
  17. ↑ Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-buldān, vol. 2, p. 221.
  18. ↑ Rūstā, al-Aʿlāq al-nafīsah, p. 30; Azraqī, Akhbār Makka, vol. 1, p. 214.
  19. ↑ Azraqī, Akhbār Makka, vol. 1, p. 313; Sanjārī, Manāʾiḥ al-karam, vol. 2, p. 92.
  20. ↑ Azraqī, Akhbār Makka, Vol 1, p. 313-314; Kurdī, al-Tārīkh al-qawīm, vol. 2, p. 579.
  21. ↑ Kurdī, al-Tārīkh al-qawīm, vol. 2, p. 579.
  22. ↑ Pūramīnī, Ḥijr Ismaʿīl. p. 42-61.
  23. ↑ Tusi,Al-Khilaf, vol. 2, p. 324; Muqaddas Ardibīlī, Majmaʿ al-fāʾida wa l-burhān, vol. 7, p. 79.
  24. ↑ Shāfiʿī, al-Umm, vol. 2, p. 193; Kalwadhānī, al-Hidāya ʿalā madhhab al-Imām Aḥmad, p. 190.

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