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Al-Masjid al-Haram المسجد الحرام

In review — pending scholar verification

The Sacred Mosque in Mecca surrounding the Kaaba; the holiest mosque in Islam.

Overview

Al-Masjid al-Haram (المسجد الحرام), the Sacred Mosque, is the great mosque surrounding the Kaaba in Mecca. It is the holiest site in Islam and the focal point of the global qiblah, the direction toward which every prayer is offered. Within its precincts are the Black Stone, the Maqam Ibrahim, the well of Zamzam, and the hills of Safa and Marwah used in sa'i. Pilgrims performing Hajj and Umrah converge here from every nation.

Etymology

The name المسجد الحرام means "the inviolable" or "sacred mosque," from the root h-r-m, denoting that which is sacred and forbidden to violate. The sanctuary's boundaries (the haram) extend several kilometers beyond the mosque itself, within which hunting, fighting, and felling trees are prohibited by the Sunnah.

Quranic references

Al-Masjid al-Haram is named more than a dozen times in the Quran:

  • Surah Al-Baqarah 2:144 — "So turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Haram. And wherever you [believers] are, turn your faces toward it [in prayer]."
  • Surah Al-Baqarah 2:149 — "And from wherever you go out [for prayer, O Muhammad], turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Haram."
  • Surah Al-Isra 17:1 — "Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa."
  • Surah At-Tawbah 9:28 — "O you who have believed, indeed the polytheists are unclean, so let them not approach al-Masjid al-Haram after this, their [final] year."
  • Surah Al-Fath 48:27 — "You will surely enter al-Masjid al-Haram, if Allah wills, in safety."
فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ

Hadith and tradition

The reward of prayer in the Sacred Mosque is exalted above every other mosque:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "One prayer in this mosque of mine is better than a thousand prayers anywhere else, except al-Masjid al-Haram, and one prayer in al-Masjid al-Haram is better than a hundred thousand prayers anywhere else." — Sunan Ibn Majah 1406, graded sahih by al-Albani

The Prophet ﷺ declared on the Day of Conquest, as reported in Sahih al-Bukhari (1834) and Sahih Muslim (1353): "Indeed, this town was made sacred by Allah on the day He created the heavens and the earth. So it is sacred by the sanctity imposed by Allah until the Day of Resurrection."

Significance

The Sacred Mosque is the spiritual axis of Islam. Every Muslim faces it daily; every pilgrim circles it in tawaf. Ibn Kathir notes that its sanctity precedes Ibrahim and goes back to the time of Adam. Its connection with Medina and the Hijra frames the entire history of the Companions and the rise of the Muslim community.

See also

References

  1. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Quran al-Azim, on Surah Al-Baqarah 2:144 and Al-Isra 17:1.
  2. al-Tabari, Jami al-Bayan an Ta'wil Ay al-Quran, on the sanctity of the Sacred Mosque.
  3. al-Qurtubi, al-Jami li-Ahkam al-Quran, on the rulings of the haram.
  4. al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Hajj.
  5. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Fath al-Bari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, on hadith 1834.