Chapter 31 : Constructing The Prophet's Mosque [ Masjid An Nabawi Flashcards
Construction of Masjid An Nabawi
- After The Prophet settled at the house of Abu Ayyub Al Ansari, Muslims began praying in a lot next to Abu Ayyub’s House that was a gathering place for camels and a drying space for dates
- The Prophet told As’ad Ibn Zurarah to purchase the land and they began building the foundation with rocks and then bricks
- According to some reports, they built the Mosque in stages, The Roof of Palm Fronds came later
- It took about 10 Months [ From Rabi Al Awwal of 1 AH to Safar of 2 AH ] to complete the construction
- As’ad Ibn Zurarah died before the Mosque was completed
- This gave a reason for the Hypocrites to say :-
” If he were really A Prophet, his companion wouldn’t have died. “
- As’ad was the first Ansar [ The Helpers ] [ Local Inhabitants Of Madinah Who Invited And Cared For The Prophet And His Followers ( The Muhajirun ) And Sheltered Them Into Their Homes When They Emigrated From Makkah During The Hijra ] to die and the first to be buried in Jannat Al Baqi Cemetery
- The Prophet performed the funeral prayers on his body
- As The Prophet’s Mosque and Residence was being built, The Muhajireen [ Those Who Emigrated With The Prophet To Madinah ] also built their houses adjacent to and surrounding The Mosque
- These houses shared a wall with The Mosque and had a back door that opened into The Mosque
- There are detailed records of the owners of these houses and the chain of custody and finally when they were razed and incorporated into The Mosque
Regarding The Adhan [ Call To Prayer ] and Iqamah
- The Adhan was legislated during 1 AH
Sunni Hadiths
- Ibn Hisham reports :-
” There was A discussion about the best way to call people to prayer and that they thought of A Horn like The Jews or A Bell like The Christians. The Prophet ordered A Bell to be carved [ Apparently from Wood ]. Then Abdullah Ibn Zayd [ From Ansar ] saw A dream where a figure dressed in green [ Presumably an Angel ] taught him The Adhan as a better alternative to the Bell. He told The Prophet who ordered him to teach The Adhan to Bilal. Umar heard The Adhan and he swore he had seen the same dream. “
- Other narrations mention dozens of others who also saw this dream
- There is no mention of a dream as the source of Adhan in either Sahih Muslim or Sahih Bukhari
- Ibn Hisham also reports a second story in which The Prophet consulted with the people and Umar suggested the human voice to call to prayer whereby The Prophet accepted and ordered Bilal to give The Adhan
- We Shia’s REJECT THIS HADITH on the basis of the following
1) The Prophet was constantly receiving revelation from Gabriel. So, why would he be confused about how to gather the companions and why does he have to consult them and take their advice regarding the horn, bells, etc. Why doesn’t he just ask Gabriel or why Wouldn’t Allah just communicate this to The Prophet. It is just absurd to even think that a companion, in fact many companions sees this in their dreams but The Prophet is left hanging without an answer
2) It is a well known fact that the dreams of Prophets are clear signs of Allah. There is no single evidence to suggest that the dreams of an average ordinary person can help to incorporate stuffs into the religion of Islam. In that case any random person can say he had a dream about something and then incorporate it into Islam
3) The Prophet never consulted anyone when it comes to matters of Islam. He would consult his companions when it comes to worldly matters or logistic issues but never Islamic Matters
4) There are numerous Hadiths from our Imam’s rejecting the above hadith
Shia Hadiths
- These reports attributing The Adhan to Abdullah Ibn Zayd and Umar Al Khattab were widely circulated
- The Imams and other members of The Ahlul Bayt [ The Prophet’s Household ] responded as follows :-
- Narration by Imam Hassan [ 2nd Imam ] :-
” People discussed The Adhan in the presence of Imam Hassan and they mentioned the dream of Ibn Zayd. Imam Hassan said ‘ The matter of The Adhan is more important than that. Gabriel recited The Adhan in The Heavens 2 Lines at a time and taught it to The Messenger of God. ‘ “
- Narration by Imam Hussain [ 3rd Imam ] :-
” Imam Hussain was asked about the claim of people that The Adhan was legislated based on the dream of Abdullah Ibn Zayd. Imam Hussain replied ‘ Revelation comes down to your Prophet and you claim he adopted it from Abdullah Ibn Zayd ! The Adhan is the symbol of your religion … I heard my father Ali Ibn Abu Talib recount the story of The Prophet’s Ascension [ Me’raj ]. God sent an Angel who had never been seen before that moment and will never be seen again after to recite The Adhan and The Iqamah. Gabriel then announced to Muhammad to recite The Adhan like that. ‘ “
- Narration by Imam Al Baqir [ 5th Imam ] :-
” When The Prophet ascended into the heavens, he reached Bayt Al Ma’mur and the time of prayer had set in. Gabriel recited The Adhan and The Iqamah. The Prophet came forward while The Angels and The Prophet assembled behind him. “
- Narration by Imam Al Sadiq [ 6th Imam ] :-
” When Gabriel descended with The Adhan upon The Prophet, his head was in the lap of Ali. Gabriel recited The Adhan and The Iqamah. When The Prophet woke up, he asked Ali ‘ Did you hear that ? ‘ Imam Ali said ‘ Yes. ‘ The Prophet then asked ‘ Did you memorize it. ? ‘ Imam Ali replied ‘ Yes. ‘ The Prophet then said ‘ Summon Bilal and teach him. ‘ So Ali did teach him. “
- Keep in mind that it is very likely that The Adhan was taught to The Prophet on multiple occasions during The Ascension [ Me’raj ] and even on earth
- Another Narration by Imam Al Sadiq [ 6th Imam ] :-
” The wall of The Prophet’s Masjid was the height of a man. The Prophet used to ask Bilal to climb the wall and raise his voice with The Adhan. “
The Second Pact of Brotherhood [ Mua’khat ]
The First Pact of Brotherhood
- The First Pact of Brotherhood was established in Makkah about A Year before the Emigration [ Hijra ] to Madinah in which the following pairs are recorded :-
1) The Prophet and Imam Ali
2) Hamza Ibn Abdul Muttalib and Zayd Ibn Haritha
3) Abu Bakr and Umar
4) Uthman Ibn Affan and Abdul Rahman Ibn Awf
5) Al Zubayr and Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud
6) Ubaydah Ibn Harith and Bilal Ibn Rabah
7) Mus’ab Ibn Umayr and Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas
8) Abu Ubayda and Salim
9) Sa’eed Ibn Zayd and Talha Ibn Ubayd Allah
- The presence of Mus’ab Ibn Umayr in this list implies that this took place at least 1 year before The Hijra before he was sent to Madinah
- The purpose of The First Pact of Brotherhood was :-
1) To temporarily fill the familial void that conversions created as Tribal Support was lost [ These relationships entailed inheritance too ]
The Second Pact of Brotherhood
- This Pact of Brotherhood was between The Muhajireen [ Emigrants ] and The Ansar [ Locals ]
- The Second Pact of Brotherhood was established in Madinah about 5 - 8 Months AH in which the following pairs are recorded :-
1) The Prophet and Imam Ali
2) Ja’far Ibn Abu Talib [ Still in Abyssinia at the time ] and Mu’adh Ibn Jabal
3) Abu Bakr and Kharijah Ibn Zuhayr
4) Umar and I’ban Ibn Malik
5) Uthman and Aws Ibn Thabit
6) Al Zubayr and Salama Ibn Salaamah
7) Talha Ibn Ubayd Allah and Ka’b Ibn Malik
8) Abdul Rahman Ibn Awf and Sa’d Ibn Al Rabi’
9) Abu Ubayda and Sa’d Ibn Mu’adh
10) Mus’ab Ibn Umayr and Abu Ayyub Al Ansari
11) Ammar Ibn Yasir and Hudhayfah Ibn Al Najjar
12) Abu Dhar Al Ghifari and Al Mundhir Ibn Amr
13) Salman Al Farsi and Abul Dar’da
14) Bilal Ibn Rabah and Abu Ruwayha
- Some have mentioned up to 160 pairs while others have mentioned 40 [ At least all emigrants were paired up with a local ]
- There are reports that even women were part of this covenant [ Fatima was paired up with Umm Salim ]
- The purpose of The Second Pact of Brotherhood was :-
1) To create an atmosphere of Equality and a Unified Society [ The Prophet did not want any divisions between any of the Tribes in Madinah including The Jewish Tribes ]
” The Prophet established The Pact of Brotherhood between his companions. After The Prophet established The Pact of Brotherhood between his companions, whenever he would send one of his companions on a military expedition, that companion would leave the key to his house with his brother in faith that he was paired with and the companion who was leaving would say to his brother in faith that he was paired with ‘ Take whatever you want from my house and eat whatever you want from my house. In my absence, My House is your House. ‘ “
Tafsir Al Qumi by Ali Ibn Ibrahim Al Qumi [ Shia Scholar ]
- Imam Ali says :-
” When The Prophet emigrated to Madinah during The Hijra. The Prophet established The Pact of Brotherhood between The Muhajireen and The Ansar. After The Pact of Brotherhood was established, Initially, Inheritance was only based on brotherhood in Faith [ Children and Relatives would not Inherit ]. The only one’s who could inherit were the brothers and sisters in faith who were assigned to you. This was the rule until Islam was strengthened until Allah revealed Surah 8 Verse 75 in The Quran. This Surah abrogates [ Abolishes ] the decree about inheritance made during The Pact of Brotherhood. “
’ Those who believed afterwards and migrated and strove with you are one of you. Blood relatives have a greater claim on each other in The Book of Allah. Allah knows all things. ‘
Al Quran [ 8 : 75 ]
Practical Lessons learned in this chapter
1) The Pact of Brotherhood endured. The Prophet would assign a brother / sister to a new convert throughout The Madani Period. From this, we can extrapolate the importance of looking after the needs of new converts
2) A Brotherhood based on faith is the strongest form of Brotherhood
” And those who made their dwelling in the abode and in belief before them. Love whosoever has emigrated to them not finding in their breast any need for what they have been given and preferring others above themselves though poverty may afflict them. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul, it is those who will be successful. “
Al Quran [ 59 : 9 ]
3) The Prophet did not just speak about Brotherhood and Unity in a Theoretical Sense, He translated Theory into Action
4) Lessons we can learn from the Gradual Application of Islamic Laws
