The History of Madinah Munawwarah

Virtues of Madinah

The book begins with the virtues of Madinah Munawwarah and the prayers which Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) made for this city. The geographic aspect is given from the hadith literature: Madinah is a sanctuary from Mount Ayr to Mount Thawr.

These two mountains constitute the northern and southern boundaries of Madinah corresponding to a distance of 15 kilometres.

This section gives further details of the mountains forming the boundaries in the other directions as well. There is an entire section describing the virtues of Madinah for instance, the virtue of dying in Madinah; and that the Dajjal shall not be able to enter Madinah.

Virtues of the Prophet’s Mosque

The city of Madinah is synonymous with the Prophet’s Mosque or Masjid-i Nabawi. This chapter focuses on the Masjid-i Nabawi.

The foundation of the Prophet’s mosque was laid on piety. The reward of offering one salah in the Prophet’s mosque is multiplied by a thousand. There are also virtues for doing learning and teaching activities in the Masjid-i Nabawi.

There is a consensus among the scholars that the extensions of the original mosque too have the same merit of virtues. The various parts of the original mosque (the sacred garden, the pulpit, the columns, the mihrab and the suffah) are described with intricate detail.

The area between the sacred chamber and the pulpit is called the Sacred Garden or Riyad al-Jannah.

This area has its own virtues. The chapter has sections on the reverence for the Prophet’s mosque and the etiquette for visiting it. The chapter serves as an excellent guide for all those planning a visit to the Prophet’s mosque.

History of the Sacred Chamber

The unique feature of the Masjid-i Nabawi is that it has the sacred chamber where the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) and the first two caliphs are buried. This chapter describes the history of the sacred chamber with a lot of historical details enlightening the reader with the life of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him), the rightly guided caliphs and the companions.

When the Masjid-i Nabawi was being constructed, chambers were made for the wives of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him). He died in the chamber of ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with him) and was buried there.

The first two caliphs, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had made a wish to be buried in the same chamber. So, they were also buried there.

This chamber is referred as the sacred chamber. The author has gone into the details of the times around the time when these deaths took place.

The author further discusses the relative positions of the graves pointing that there is a place for the fourth grave.

This is for Jesus (Peace be upon him) in his second coming.

Contrary to the common belief, the graves cannot be seen. The original chamber of ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) was made from the branches of palm tree. ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) replaced these with brick walls during his caliphate.

Later, these walls were raised and the chamber was sealed completely and covered with a cloth.

In 91 AH the original four walled chamber was surrounded by a five cornered structure to avoid any possible resemblance to the Ka‘bah.

These days it is this outer structure which is called as the sacred chamber. In 881 AH, the walls of the five cornered structure were found to be cracking so they were removed for reconstruction.

The walls of the inner chamber were also found to have cracks and were also opened. This is the last time the sacred chamber became open and visible.

The chapter has a complete section on the treacherous plots to steal the bodies of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his companions during the fifth and sixth centuries AH. Of course all of them failed.

Construction and History of the Prophet’s Mosque

The chapter begins with the narration of the original construction done by the blessed hands of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him).

The first extension took place in the year 7 AH by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) himself, followed by extensions by ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and ‘Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) respectively.

The chapter is very educational as it is interwoven with the history of the early years of Islam. Then the author traces the long chain of extensions up to the current times. The author has taken pains to describe the pillars and doors during the time of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) and many incidents related to each one of them.

The chapter also describes the hujurat (huts) of the wives of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) with their locations. The author further describes with all the architectural details, the introduction of the dome and minarets.

A detailed description of the extensions is beyond the scope of this review.

Houses of Companions around the Prophet’s Mosque

The original Masjid-i Nabawi was surrounded by the houses of the companions of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him).

The author has described many of these with remarkable detail along with some very interesting incidents. Each extension resulted in the demolition of the hujurat of the Mothers of Believers and the humble dwellings of the companions.

Consequently, an entire chapter devoted to the hujurat and the houses of the companions is fully justified. This chapter is very informative on the life of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), mothers of the believers and numerous companions. There is a complete section on the graveyard of baqi’ and its expansion since the earliest times.

Holy Mosques in and around Madinah

The last chapter describes the twenty-six mosques (in and around Madinah) where the Messenger of Allah and his companions offered prayers. Masjid-i Quba’ was the first mosque in Madinah.

The Masjid-i Qiblatayn has a very unique status, as the instruction to change the direction of qiblah from the Bayt al-Maqdis to the Ka’bah was revealed in it while the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) was offering salah in it. 

This chapter has a detailed description of twenty-six mosques along with their distances from Masjid-i Nabawi.

There are also beautiful photographs of the above mosques. This chapter also gives a good coverage to some of the historic wells, valleys, mountains and sites of battles. There is a brief mention of a few Islamic institutes in Madinah Munawwarah and development schemes.