Holiest sites in Islam
The holiest sites in Islam are predominantly located in the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant.[2] While the significance of most places typically varies depending on the Islamic sect, there is a consensus across all mainstream branches of the religion that affirms three cities as having the highest degree of holiness, in descending order: Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. Mecca's Al-Masjid al-Haram (including the Kaaba), Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina and Al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem are all revered by Muslims as sites of great importance.[1][3][4][5][6]
Within the Levant, both the Umayyad Mosque in the city of Damascus and the Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of Hebron have held interchangeable significance as the fourth-holiest Islamic sites.[7]
After the consensus on the first three sites as well as further sites associated with the family of Muhammad, there is a divergence between Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims on the designation of additional holy sites. For Sunnis, sites associated with the Rashidun, other companions of Muhammad, and Biblical prophets hold a high level of significance (see holiest sites in Sunni Islam). For Shias, sites associated with the Imamah hold a high level of significance (see holiest sites in Shia Islam).[8] As part of the Hajj, the majority of Muslims also visit the sites of Mina, Mount Arafat, and Muzdalifah, in addition to the Kaaba.[9]
Hejaz
Hejaz is the region in the Arabian Peninsula where Mecca and Medina are located. It is where the Islamic prophet Muhammad was born and raised.[10]
The two holy cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, are traditionally known as the Ḥaramayn, which is the dual form of
Mecca
Mecca is considered the holiest city in Islam, as it is home to Islam's holiest site Kaaba in Al-Masjid Al-Ḥaram (The Sacred Mosque).[1][4] Only Muslims are allowed to enter this place.[12]
The area of Mecca, which includes
Medina
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi is located in Medina, making the city the second-holiest site in Islam, after Mecca. Medina is the final place-of-residence of Muhammad, and where his qabr (grave) is located.[1] In addition to the Prophet's Mosque, the city has the mosques of Qubāʾ[17] and Al-Qiblatayn ("The Two Qiblahs").[18]
Levant
Ash-Shaam[19] or the Levant[20] is a historical region that includes the cities of Jerusalem and Damascus.[19][21][22]
Jerusalem
The
The Qur'an mentions the Al-Aqsa Mosque only once in verse 1 of chapter no. 17
Damascus
The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus is often considered the fourth holiest site in Islam.[7][28] The head of John the Baptist, revered in Islam as the prophet Yahya, is believed to be in a shrine inside the mosque, which also houses one of only four authorized original copies of the Quran. The Umayyad Mosque is also the place where Muslims believe the prophet Jesus (Isa, in Arabic) will return at the end of times, atop the "Minaret of Isa" of the mosque, during the time of a Fajr prayer. It is believed that prayers in the Umayyad mosque are considered to be equal to those offered in Jerusalem.[29]
The mosque also holds special importance to Shia Muslims since it contains shrines commemorating Husayn ibn Ali and the Ahl al-Bayt, made to walk there from Iraq, after the Battle of Karbala.[30] Furthermore, it was the place where they were imprisoned for 60 days.[31]
Hebron
In Islamic belief,
Sinai Peninsula
The
Sunni Islam
In Sunni Islam, all sites which have been mentioned in the Hadith are holy to Sunni Muslims. The Kaaba is the holiest site, followed by the al-Masjid an-Nabawi (The Prophet's Mosque), al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and other sites mentioned in the Hadith, as well Umayyad Mosque, Ibrahimi Mosque.
Kaaba
The
(Ismāʿīl), it has been rebuilt several times.Masjid an-Nabawi
Masjid an-Nabawi or The Prophet's Mosque in Medina, contains the grave of Muhammad. The two companions Abu Bakr and Umar are also buried with Muhammad, the grave of Uthman in located in al-Baqi' cemetery located to the southeast of the Prophet's Mosque, while the grave of Ali is in Najaf. The grave of al-Hasan is also in al-Baqi', while al-Husayn is buried in Karbala.
Masjid al-Aqsa
Jerusalem's Temple Mount, called Masjid al-Aqṣā, was the first qibla of the Muslims before the Kaaba. According to tradition, Muhammad on the occasion of Isra' and Mi'raj led all the prophets and angels at the site, the site of the mosque built by Sulaymān, son of Dāwūd and king of the Israelites.
Others
- The Damascus Mosque is also considered the sacred mosque for the Muslims, and it is believed that Jesus (ʿĪsā ibn Maryam) will return in this mosque.
- The Ibrahimi Mosque in Palestine, contains the burial of Ibrahim and a few members of his family.
- The city
- The town of Chinguetti in Mauritania, whose libraries contain many ancient manuscripts
Shia Islam
After the four mosques accepted by all Muslims as holy sites, the Shi'ah consider Imam Ali Masjid in Najaf as the holiest site of only Shia Muslims, followed by Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbala.
Imam Ali Mosque
Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq is the holiest site for Shia Muslims as the first Shia Imam Ali was buried here. The site is visited annually by at least 8 million pilgrims on average, which is estimated to increase to 20 million in years to come.
Imam Husayn Shrine
Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbala, Iraq is the second most holiest site for Shia Muslims. It contains the tomb of Husayn ibn Ali. The mosque stands on the site of the grave of Husayn ibn Ali, where he was martyred during the Battle of Karbala in 680.[51][52] Up to 20 million pilgrims visit the city for the anniversary of Hussein ibn Ali's death.[53] There are many Shia traditions which narrate the status of Karbala.
Fatima Masumeh Shrine
The city of
Sufi Islam
Mazar Ghous
Mazar Ghous in Baghdad, Iraq is the one of the holiest site in Sufi Islam. It is dedicated to the founder of Qadiryya Sufi order, Abdul Qadir Gilani. The complex was built near the Bab al-Sheikh (ash-Sheikh Gate) in al-Rusafa.[54][55][56]
Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam
The Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam in
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-307-47290-8)
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ "اهمية المقدسات الاسلامية", almrsal.com
- ^ Quran 48:22–29
- ^ ISBN 0918720583.
- ^ Quran 9:25–129
- ^ Quran 33:09–73
- ^ ISBN 978-1-57607-919-5.
- ^ Asia Times Online. Archived from the original on June 3, 2002. Retrieved 2006-11-12.)
To give a measure of its importance, according to a famous hadith (saying) - enunciated with pleasure by the guardians of the shrine - we learn that 'our sixth imam, Imam Sadeg, says that we have five definitive holy places that we respect very much. The first is Mecca, which belongs to God. The second is Medina, which belongs to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the messenger of God. The third belongs to our first imam of Shia, Ali, which is in Najaf. The fourth belongs to our third imam, Hussein, in Kerbala. The last one belongs to the daughter of our seventh imam and sister of our eighth imam, who is called Fatemah, and will be buried in Qom. Pilgrims and those who visit her holy shrine, I promise to these men and women that God will open all the doors of Heaven to them.'
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link - ^ Geomatika Advanced Solutions (6 June 2016). Atlas of MAKKAH, Dr. Osama bin Fadl Al-Bahar: Makkah City. Bukupedia. pp. 104–. GGKEY:YLPLD6B31C2.
- ISBN 0-87779-546-0. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
- ^ a b Haramayn at MadainProject.com. Accessed 19 Nov. 2022.
- ^ Tucker & Roberts 2008, p. 673.
- ^ Quran 2:124–217
- ^ Musharraf 2012, p. 195.
- ^ Peters 1994, p. 22.
- ^ Blatt 2015, p. 27.
- ^ Description of the new mosque and architectural documents at archnet.org Archived January 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "CRCC: Center For Muslim-Jewish Engagement: Resources: Religious Texts". Usc.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-01-07. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
- ^ a b Mustafa Abu Sway. "The Holy Land, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Qur'an, Sunnah and other Islamic Literary Source" (PDF). Central Conference of American Rabbis. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-28.
- ^ Shaam
- Bosworth, C. E. (1997). "AL-SHĀM". Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. 9. p. 261.
- Eastern Christian churches, from which it occasionally found its way into Christian Arabic usage. It was only in the nineteenth century that the use of the name was revived in its modern Arabic form, frequently as Suriyya rather than the older Suriyah, to denote the whole of Bilad al-Sham: first of all in the Christian Arabic literature of the period, and under the influence of Western Europe. By the end of that century it had already replaced the name of Bilad al-Sham even in Muslim Arabic usage.
- ISBN 978-0-471-74117-6. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
Al 'Aqsa is the second oldest mosque in Islam after the Kaaba in Mecca and is third in holiness after the mosques in Mecca and Medina. It holds up to 400,000 worshippers at one time.
- ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. 7 (New ed. 2006 ed.). Brill. 2006. pp. 97–105.
- ^ "Surah Al-Isra - 1". quran.com. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ Quran 17:1–7
- ^ Sway, Mustafa Abu (2011). "The Holy Land, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Qur'an, Sunnah and other Islamic Literary Sources" (PDF). Central Conference of American Rabbis. 28. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ Birke, Sarah. "Damascus: What's Left | Sarah Birke". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
- ISBN 978-1-5760-7919-5.
- ^ Qummi, Shaykh Abbas (2005). Nafasul Mahmoom. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. p. 362.
- ^ Nafasul Mahmoom. p. 368.
- ^ . quote: From earliest Islam, the sanctuaries of Hebron and Jerusalem [al-Haram al-Ibrahimi and al-Haram al-Sharif] were holy places outranked only by Mecca and Medina; the Ibrahimi Mosque was originally regarded by some Muslims as Islam's fourth holiest site. Muslims believe that the Hebron sanctuary was visited by the Prophet Muhammad on his mystical nocturnal journey from Mecca to Jerusalem.
- ^ Aksan & Goffman 2007, p. 97: 'Suleyman considered himself the ruler of the four holy cities of Islam, and, along with Mecca and Medina, included Hebron and Jerusalem in his rather lengthy list of official titles.'
- ^ Honigmann 1993, p. 886
- ISBN 978-1-5760-7919-5.
- ^ "Hebron: The city of Abraham, the Beloved". 2005-04-26.
- ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
- ^ Sharīf, J.; Herklots, G. A. (1832). Qanoon-e-Islam: Or, The Customs of the Moosulmans of India; Comprising a Full and Exact Account of Their Various Rites and Ceremonies, from the Moment of Birth Till the Hour of Death. Parbury, Allen, and Company.
koh-e-toor.
- ^ Abbas, K. A. (1984). The World is My Village: A Novel with an Index. Ajanta Publications.
- ^ Quran 23:20 (Translated by Yusuf Ali)
- ^ Quran 95:2 (Translated by Yusuf Ali)
- ^ Quran 2:63–93
- ^ a b Quran 28:3–86
- ^ Quran 7:103–156
- ^ Quran 20:9–99
- ^ Quran 79:15–25
- ISBN 978-2745151360.
- ISBN 978-1483563039.
- ^ Jones, Kevin. "Slavs and Tatars: Language arts." ArtAsiaPacific 91 (2014): 141.
- ^ Sultanova, Razia. From Shamanism to Sufism: Women, Islam and Culture in Central Asia. Vol. 3. IB Tauris, 2011.
- ^ Shimoni & Levine, 1974, p. 160.
- ^ Aghaie, 2004, pp. 10-11.
- ^ "Interactive Maps: Sunni & Shia: The Worlds of Islam". PBS. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
- ^ Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient provision for seekers of the path of truth and religion), parts one and two in Arabic, Al-Qadir, Abd and Al-Gilani. Dar Al-Hurya, Baghdad, Iraq, (1987).
- ^ Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient provision for seekers of the path of truth and religion) with introduction by Al-Kilani, Majid Irsan. Al-Kilani, Majid, al-Tariqat, 'Ursan, and al-Qadiriyah, Nash'at
- ^ "The Qadirya Mausoleum" (PDF).
- ISBN 9783643908360.
Bibliography
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- Peters, Francis (1994). The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691026190.
- Musharraf, Hussain (2012). The Five Pillars of Islam: Laying the Foundations of Divine Love and Service to Humanity. Leicestershire, UK: Kube Publishing. ISBN 9781847740236.
- Blatt, Amy (2015). Health, Science, and Place: A New Model. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. S2CID 183074116.
- Tucker, Spencer; Roberts, Priscilla (2008). The encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli conflict : a political, social, and military history. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1851098415.
- Honigmann, Ernst (1993) [1927]. "Hebron". In ISBN 978-90-04-09790-2.