The Prophet's Mihrab: Difference between revisions

  | image = محراب پیامبر. jpg

'''Mihrab of the Prophet (s)''' (Arabic: {{ia|محراب النبي}}) is the place where [[Prophet Muhammad(a)]] used to pray, which is located in the [[al-Masjid al-Nabawi]] between the [[Prophet's pulpit]] and his grave. During the time of the Prophet (s), there was nothing in the form of a mihrab, until later during the development of the al-Masjid al-Nabawi during the period of al-Walid b. 'Abd al-Malik, a mihrab was built in the place of his prayer. Qaitbay, the king of Egypt (9th/15th century) rebuilt the hollow-shaped mihrab by renewing the mosque. this mihrab was decorated during the era of Ottoman rule and is still located in al-Masjid al-Nabawi.  

During the time of [[Prophet Muhammad(a)]], in the place of [[al-Masjid al-Nabaw]] where he prayed, there was no mihrab in any form<ref>Ṣāliḥ Lumaʿī, ''al-Madīnat al-munawwara'', p. 59. </ref> and the place of prayer of the Prophet (s), had no sign except that it was next to the [[al-Mukhallaqa pillar]].<ref>ʿAṭṭār, ''al-Taʿrīf bi-tārīkh wa maʿālim al-Masjid al-Nabawī al-sharīf'', p. 162. </ref> This was the first time in the development of al-Masjid al-Nabawi, during the period of al-Walid b. 'Abd al-Malik (r. 86/705 -96/714-5), that a mihrab was built at the place of the Prophet's prayer.<ref>Sayyid al-Wakīl, ''al-Masjid al-Nabawī ʿibar tārīkh'', p. 128; Jaʿfarīyān, ''Āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madīna'', p. 260. </ref>

Although historical sources do not have any reports about the reconstruction of the mihrab during the period of [[Baybars al-Bunduqdari]] (r. 658/1259-60 - 676/1277-8), the fourth [[Mamaluk]] king, some researchers, by examining historical evidence, believe that the first hollow-shaped mihrab (carved into the wall) in the reconstructions of the Baybars period was made in the place that [[Prophet Muhammad(a)]] prayed; Because the reports of the sources before this date did not mention the existence of a hollow-shaped mihrab in the place of the Prophet's prayer.<ref>Al-Shahrī, ''ʿImārat al-Masjid al-Nabawī'', p. 227. </ref>

In the reconstruction of [[al-Masjid al-Nabawi]] during the period of Qaitbay, the Mamluk sultan, in 888/1483-4 after the fire in al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the mihrab was rebuilt in the place of the Prophet's prayer, and in the same period, it was decorated with marble and verses from the Quran were engraved on it.<ref>Al-Shahrī, ''ʿImārat al-Masjid al-Nabawī'', p. 342. </ref>

In the reconstruction of [[al-Masjid al-Nabawi]] during the reign of [[king Abd al-Majid I]], the mihrab of the Prophet, which was left over from the time of [[Qaitbay]], was gilded. Also, during this time, ʿAbd Allah al-Zuhdi, a Turkish calligrapher, engraved verses of the Quran, texts and poems on the mihrab.<ref>Ṣāliḥ Lumaʿī, ''al-Madīnat al-munawwara'', p. 96. </ref> In the Saudi period, the same mihrab of the Qaitbay period remained.<ref>Anṣārī, ''ʿImāra wa tawsiʿat al-Masjid al-Nabawī'', p. 170. </ref>

The Prophet's mihrab was built in the place of [[al-Masjid al-Nabawi]] where [[Prophet Muhammad(s)]] prayed.<ref>Sayyid al-Wakīl, ''al-Masjid al-Nabawī ʿibar tārīkh'', p. 128; Jaʿfarīyān, ''Āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madīna'', p. 260. </ref> This mihrab is located next to the [[al-Mukhallaqa pillar]]<ref>Sayyid al-Wakīl, ''al-Masjid al-Nabawī ʿibar tārīkh'', p. 163. </ref> and in the distance between the pulpit of the Prophet (a) and his grave ([[al-Rawḍa al-Sharifa]]).<ref>Sayyid al-Wakīl, ''al-Masjid al-Nabawī ʿibar tārīkh'', p. 163. </ref> Researchers are of the opinion that this place is the place where the Prophet(s) prayed.<ref>Sayyid al-Wakīl, ''al-Masjid al-Nabawī ʿibar tārīkh'', p. 128; Jaʿfarīyān, ''Āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madīna'', p. 260. </ref>

The mihrab is placed in such a way that the one who prostrates in it places his forehead on the Prophet's sitting place, not his prostration place.<ref>Sayyid al-Wakīl, ''al-Masjid al-Nabawī ʿibar tārīkh'', p. 163. </ref> The Prophet's prostration place is placed under the mihrab.<ref>ʿAṭṭār, ''al-Taʿrīf bi-tārīkh wa maʿālim al-Masjid al-Nabawī al-sharīf'', p. 164. </ref>

file:محراب النبی. jpg|The mihrab of the Prophet(s) is connected to the al-Mukhallaqa pillar.  

file:نقشه مسجد النبی، محراب پیامبر. jpg|The location of the mihrab of the Prophet(s) on the map of [[al-Masjid al-Nabawi]].  

file:محراب پیامبر۲. jpg|Decorations of the mihrab of the Prophet(s) with marble and gilding and verses from the Quran are written on it.  

* Anṣārī, Nājī Muḥammad Ḥasan ʿAbd al-Qādir al-. ''ʿImāra wa tawsiʿat al-Masjid al-Nabawī al-sharīf ʿibar tārīkh. [n. p], Nādī l-Madīna al-Munawwara al-Adabī, 1996.  

* Hazzaʿ al-Shahrī, Muḥammad al-. ''ʿImārat al-Masjid al-Nabawī munz inshāʾihī ḥattā nihāyat al-ʿaṣr al-Mamlūkī''. Cairo: Maktabat al-Qāhira li-l-kutub, 2001.  

* Hazzaʿ al-Shahrī, Muḥammad al-. ''Al-Masjid al-nabawī al-sharīf fī al-ʿaṣr al-ʿUthmānī''. Cairo: Dār al- Qāhira, 2003.  

* Jaʿfarīyān, Rasūl. ''Āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madīna''. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1391Sh

* Ṣāliḥ Lumaʿī, Muṣṭafā. ''Al-Madīnat al-munawwara, taṭawwurihā l-ʿumrānī wa turāthihā l-miʿmārī''. Beirut: Dār al-Nihḍa al-ʿArabīyya, 1981.  

* Sayyid al-Wakīl, Muḥammad al-. ''Al-Masjid al-Nabawī ʿibar tārīkh''. [n. p], Dār al-Mujtamaʿ li-l-Nashr wa l-Tawziʿ, 1988.  

* ʿAṭṭār, al-Sayyid Ḍīyāʾ b. Muḥammad b. Maqbūl al-. ''Al-Taʿrīf bi-tārīkh wa maʿālim al-Masjid al-Nabawī al-sharīf''. Jeddah: Kunūz al-Maʿrifa, 1432AH.