The History of Makkah Mukarramah

سم الله الرحمان الرحيم
In the Name of Allah,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.



The Location of Makkah Mukarramah

Makkah Mukarramah is located in the west of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
It is situated at the foot of such a valley in the Hijaaz region that is completely
surrounded by mountains. The area that is low-lying and level is called
Bat'haa and the area to the east of the Masjid Haraam is known as Ma'laa
( higher ground ). The area to the west and the south is called Misfala ( lower
ground ). Rasulullaahصلى الله عليه وسلم was from amongst those who lived in
the Ma'laa area. He was born there and lived there until the time he migrated.
To enter Makkah Mukarramah, there are three principle routes, Ma'laa,
Misfala and Shubaykah.

The Virtues of Makkah Mukarramah

Allah Taála had selected this blessed city to be the location of His House.
It was also here that the final Rasul and guide of the worlds
Rasulullaahصلى الله عليه وسلم was born and here also did he begin to announce
his prophethood to the world. It is to this city that Allah Taála has made it
obligatory for His bondsmen to travel to fulfil certain rites. It is for this
reason that people of Imaan arrival in Makkah from all parts of the worlds
with their hearts filled with love and their appearances exuding humility and
submission. They are drawn to this blessed land with simple clothing, open
heads and free from worldly adornment.

The place has been blessed with such sancity and safety that anyone
entering it becomes safe and protected. Even if a person steeped in sin
heads there, he becomes cleansed like a new-born baby. There is no other
place on earth to which Islam has made the journey obligatory. Muslims
have been commanded to make Ta aaf ( circumambulate ) the House of
Allah Taála, something that has no example equal on earth. The Hajar Aswad
( Black Stone) and Rukn Yamaani can boast to have been kissed and
touched by none less than our noble master Rasulullaah صلى الله عليه وسلم.For
Muslims to emulate this is not only allowed in Islam, but highly recommended.

Makkah Mukarramah is that honoured city, the sancity of which Allah Ta'ala
Himself takes an oath on. This is found not once , but twice in the Qurán in
Surah Balad and Surah Teen. In Makkah Mukarramah that the Masjid
Haraam is situated, a Masjid in which the reward of a single salaah is multi-
plied by a hundred thousand.

The city is the location of the Qiblah, a direction towards which every person
performing salaah must face. It is that sacred direction which a person
relieving himself cannot face towards nor can he face his back towards it.
The city also has the privilege of being a place where even intending to do
evil attracts a grave warning of punishment from Allah Taála. The ill effects
and punishment for a sin in this holy place is also amplified.

This is that wonderful place that attracts hearts like a magnet. It is that sweet
fountain that although providing satisfaction, a person's heart cannot get
enough of it. The more a person visits it, the more his heart yearns to return.

The splendid city houses sites where duáas are readily acceppted, where
sins are forgiven and where difficulties are alleviated. The city also has the
honour of being a place of safety for carrying weapons is also forbidden. In
addition to this, no Kuffaar or Mushrikeen are allowed here. When Qiyaamah
draws near and strife will be tearing the world aparts, this special city will be
under the protection of the angels and Dajjaal will be unable to enter it.

The History of Makkah Mukarramah
by Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Abdul Ghani

Tuhfatul Atfaal - A Gift for the Children

Learning the thajweed rules in the form of a nasheed

The story of a boy and a tree

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree.
A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday.
He climbed to the treetop, ate the apples, took a nap under the shadow...
he loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.
Time went by...the little boy had grown up and he no longer
played around the tree every day...........

Back To The Roots

  A documentary film about the city of Tarim in Hadhramaut, Yemen.

My Egyptian Village (2)

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم
In the Name of Allah,
the Most Gracious, the Most merciful.

2. My Mud House

 


Here is my mud house. I was born
here twelve years ago. We still
build our houses using the local
earth mixed with straw. A few
villages have tried using more
modern building materials like
concrete and tin roofing but their
houses are not as comfortable
to live in as ours. Our houses are
cool during the hot summer
months and cozy in the winter
evenings.



 
A famous Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathy from Cairo, our capital city,
once visited our village. With him was a group of young university students
of architecture. They took photographs of our house and asked my father
many questions about its construction. Hassan Fathy was not a villager,
but he understood the importance of traditional earth building techniques- 
and  of keeping this technique alive.Today, his students encourage people 
to use earth as a building material. Hassan Fathy told us that the design of
our village houses was very ancient. For example, in front of our house, 
is a long baked mud-bench called a mastaba in Arabic. This was a feature
of all ancient Egyptian houses. Today, we of course are Muslims,
al-Hamdulillah. The days of the pharaohs are buried in the past. We can 
no longer even imagine worshipping any god other than Allah, 
Rabb al-'Ameen, the True Deity who sent to us His final Messenger, 
the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, as a mercy to all nations.


It has been the custom in our village to work very hard and save money
so that one day we might be able to visit the Holy Cities of Makkah and
Madinah. Al-Hamdulillah, my father and mother made their Hajj, or
pilgrimage, two years ago. Our house is now known as a ''hajj house''.
'Abd al- Rahman, a village artist, is always busy whenever anyone returns
from the hajj. My father hired him to paint colourful scenes on the outside
of our house. In Al-Khayriyyah village, there are several houses like ours.
I actually helped 'Abd al-Rahman paint some of the pictures; for example,
I painted the kiswah, or black covering over the kaa'bah and the Egyptian
flag on the passenger ship.

Insha'Allah, one day we will all be able to visit Holy Makkah and perform
hajj and meet millions of fellow Muslims on the Plain of Arafat on that
glorious day, and offer our heartfelt prayers knowing that they will all be
accepted.


3. Our Food 

In Arabic, we are known as fellahin 
or ''people of the countryside''. Our
life is hard but beautiful, and we
always offer thanks to Allah.

Our day begins with the Adhan, or
call to morning prayer, but quite
often it is our rooster that wakes us
up! Our masjid is in the middle of
Al-Khayriyyah so that everyone can
easily come for prayer. After salat
al-fajr, we always read from the
Holy Qur'an. Before starting our day,
reading from kitab Allah strengthens 
our imaan and our desire to be good
servants of Allah.



We all have chores to do immediately after prayers. The water buffalo need
to be milked and their milk is to be quickly transported to the city for sale. 
I collect the eggs our chickens have laid and sometimes sell them in the 
week-end market. My mother and sisters prepare for us a hearty breakfast.
Our breakfast table is full of delicious and nutritious food, Masha'Allah.  

The staple food of all fellahin is aysh, a wonderful coarse whole wheat flat
bread and ful medammes, stewed brown fava beans with salt and lemon juice.
We also have some white goat's cheese and gigantic fresh radishes. This 
morning, my mother has prepared a very special Egyptian drink - karkadi
or hibiscus tea. This is a delicious bright red drink made from the dried petal-
like parts of the karkadi plant. In Ramadhan, we very often break our fast with
a refreshing glass of hibiscus tea which can be drunk hot or cold.

The dark green soup you see on the table is another Egyptian favourite - 
melokhiyah. This is a very healthy vegetable, something like spinach.
It has been eaten in Egypt for thousands of years.

Egypt has always has its fellahin. Masha'Allah, we helped to build the 
pyramids and other ancient monumental buildings without the use of
modern technology. We also supplied  the food to the pyramid builders.
Our baladi or traditional home-cooked food keeps us strong and healthy,
al-Hamdulillah.

Islamic Village Stories
Written & Illustrated by
Luqman Nagy

Quran Teacher-Sheikh Mishary Rashid Alafasy.

Quran Teacher-Sheikh Mishary Rashid Alafasy (part 3)
Teaching Tajweed & Qir'a To children
Surah Nasr & Al kafiroon

Smoke

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم
In the Name of Allah,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

 

Once upon a time there was a man called Hatem.
He was a rich and generous man. He had many
herds of animals that grazed in the grassy fields,
and he loved to share his wealth with others.

Hatem had a pitch-black horse called Smoke.
Everybody admired this horse for its speed. It
ran like a flying eagle. Hatem regarded Smoke
as the apple of his eye, and he would not give it
up for anything.

Finally, the fame of Hatem's wealth and his
beautiful horse reached the ears of the Sultan.
When the Sultan heard about him he called his
Grand Vizier and said : 

''I want to test Hatem's generosity. Ask him to 
give me Smoke. Let's see what he does.''

The Sultan's men set off the next day. One night
when it was raining very hard they reached Hatem's
house and became his guests.

Hatem greeted them with joy and warmth. He ordered
his servants to prepare food for his guests. Soon an
excellent table was set for dinner and they all sat down
to eat. After the meal the guests were put up in very
comfortable beds, where they slept soundly.

The next morning when the guests explained why they
had come, Hatem became very sad and didn't know what
to do in his great sorrow.

''What a pity!''  he said, ''I wished you had told me what 
the Sultan wanted as soon as you had arrived. I know 
that you love horsemeat, and last night, as due to the 
bad weather I couldn't find anything else to offer you.
So, I slaughtered Smoke last night for us to eat, as I had
no other alternative.''

But even Hatem's generosity paled next to our Prophetصلى الله عليه وسلم's,
who once gave a single man a gift of a hundred camels!
  
Our glorious Prophetصلى الله عليه وسلم stated in the following
hadith how great a character trait generosity was :

''A generous person is close to Allah,
close to human beings, close to Paradise,
and far from Hell.''

السَّخِىُّ قَرِيبٌ مِن اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ مِن الجَنَّةِ
قَرِيبٌ مِن النَّاسِ بَعِيدٌ مِن النَّالرِ
رواه الترمذى