Mashāʿir in the Early Islamic Sources: the Role of al-Azraqi’s “Akhbār Makkah”

Authors

  • Spahic Omer

Keywords:

Mashāʿir, Ḥajj, al-Azraqi, Akhbar Makkah

Abstract

This article discusses the role of al-Azraqi’s book “Akhbār Makkah” (Reports about Makkah) in the evolution of the Hajj literature and that of the holy cities of Makkah and Madīnah, with special reference to the mashāʿir (ʿArafah, Muzdalifah and Minā). The mashāʿir are dealt with in their capacity as geographical realities, religious notions and signs, and as the venues of a number of Ḥajj rituals. The article concludes that in terms of the Hajj spectacle in general, and the mashāʿir in particular, al-Azraqi’s book is pioneering. It oscillates between the characters of a history book, that of geography and that of topography. Al-Azraqi was the first Muslim scholar to discuss the mashāʿir methodically and in detail. He did so from the perspectives of their religious significance, historical development and existing functions. Al-Azraqi wanted to present a comprehensive picture that could help in mapping out the chronological religious trajectory of Makkah as the holiest place throughout human history, with the mashāʿir playing a significant part. The method adopted in the article is a combination of descriptive and historical interpretation as well as analysis.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Al-Albani, Muhammad Nasiruddin. Rites of Hajj and ‘Umrah from the Qur’an, Sunnah and Narrations from the Pious Predecessors. www.islamhouse.com, 2010, accessed on January 31, 2022.

Al-Azraqi, Abu al-Walid. Akhbar Makkah. Jeddah: al-Maṭbaʿah al-Majīdiyyah, 2005.

Al-Fakihi, Abu Abdullah. Akhbar Makkah. Beirūt: Dār Khidr, 1994.

Al-Fasi, Muhammad b. Ahmad. Shifa’ al-Gharam bi Akhbar al-Balad al-Haram. Beirūt: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 2000.

Al-Masʿudī, Abū al-Ḥasan. Muruj al-Dhahab. Beirūt: Dār al-Kitāb al-Lubnānī, 1982.

Al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Jarīr. The History of al-Ṭabarī. Translated and annotated by Franz Rosenthal. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990.

Al-Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad b. Abī Yaʿqūb. Kitāb al-Buldān. Beirūt: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 2002.

Al-Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad b. Abī Yaʿqūb. Tārikh al-Yaʿqūbī. Beirūt: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 2002.

Ibn al-Faqīh, Abū ʿAbdullah. Kitāb al-Buldān. Beirūt: ʿAlam al-Kutub, 1996.

Ibn Majah, Muḥammad b. Yazīd. Sunān Ibn Majah. Riyāḍ: Darussalam, 2007.

Muslim, Ibn al-Ḥajjaj. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. New Delhi: Islamic Book Service, 2005.

Downloads

Published

2022-08-31

How to Cite

Omer, S. (2022). Mashāʿir in the Early Islamic Sources: the Role of al-Azraqi’s “Akhbār Makkah”. AL-ITQAN: JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC SCIENCES AND COMPARATIVE STUDIES, 6(2), 117–131. Retrieved from https://journals.iium.edu.my/al-itqan/index.php/al-itqan/article/view/240