Al-Buq'a al-Mubaraka

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Al-Buqʿa al-Mubāraka (Arabic: الْبُقْعَةِ الْمُبَارَكَة, lit: the Blessed Spot), or al-Wādi l-Muqaddas Ṭuwā (Arabic: الْوَادِ الْمُقَدَّسِ طُوًى, lit: the Sacred Valley of Tuwa) or al-Wādi l-Ayman (Arabic: الْوَادِ الْأَيْمَن, lit: the right side of the valley), is a blessed piece of land, to which the Qur'an refers. God talked to Moses (a) and selected him as a prophet in the Blessed Spot. According to the majority of exegetes, the place is blessed because it is where God talked to Moses (a). It is located in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula. On the way from Madyan to Egypt, it is located on the right side of Mount Sinai.

Brief Introduction

Al-Buq'a al-Mubaraka, or the Blessed Spot, is a Quranic term that appears only once in the Qur'an.[1] When Prophet Moses (a) departed from Madyan (Midian) to Egypt overnight, his attention was attracted by a piece of fire in Mount Sinai, and thus, he went towards the fire.[2] According to the verse thirty of Qur'an 28,

فَلَمّا أَتاها نودِيَ مِن شاطِئِ الوادِ الأَيمَنِ فِي البُقعَةِ المُبارَكَةِ مِنَ الشَّجَرَةِ أَن يا موسىٰ إِنّي أَنَا اللَّهُ رَبُّ العالَمينَ

But when he came to it [the fire], he was called from the right side of the valley in a blessed spot - from the tree, "O Moses, indeed I am Allah, Lord of the worlds.

At this time, Moses (a) was selected by God as a prophet and was given the miracles of the staff and the bright hand.[3]

Spatial Location

The story of God talking to Moses (a) also appears in other parts of the Qur'an. In the Suras of Qur'an 20 and Qur'an 79, the place where Moses (a) heard God's voice is called "the Sacred Valley of Tuwa"[4]8 and because of its sanctity, God commanded Moses (a) to remove his sandals there.[5] Thus, Quranic exegetes take the Blessed Spot and the Sacred Valley of Tuwa to refer to the same thing.[6] It is located in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula, and on the way from Midian to Egypt, it is located on the right side of the mountain.[7]

However, there are hadiths in which al-Buq'a al-Mubaraka is taken to refer to the land of Karbala. These hadiths, cited in Kamil al-ziyarat[8] and Tahdhib al-ahkam,[9] interpret "shati'i l-wadi l-ayman" (the right side of the valley) as Euphrates, and al-Buq'a al-Mubaraka as Karbala. The hadiths were mentioned by al-Fayd al-Kashani,[10] and are also cited in al-Burhan fi tafsir al-Qur'an[11] and Bihar al-anwar.[12] Some authors take this interpretation to be contrary to the explicit content of the verse.[13] In some ziyaras for the Imams, their mausoleums are referred to as al-Buq'a al-Mubaraka (the Blessed Spot).[14]

Blessedness

The majority of Shia and Sunni exegetes believe that the spot is referred to as "blessed" (mubaraka) because it was where God talked to Moses (a) and selected him as the prophet.[15] 'Allama Tabataba'i maintains that the spot is blessed and dignified by virtue of God talking to Moses (a) there.[16] However, some people believe that the place was called "blessed" because it had a profusion of fruit trees.[17] Al-Tabrisi believes that it was the place where God asked Moses to remove his sandals.[18] According to 'Allama Tabataba'i, Moses (a) was ordered to remove his sandals because of the dignity and sanctity of the spot.[19] The author of al-Tibyan fi tafsir al-Qur'an appeals to a hadith from Imam 'Ali (a) to show that God ordered Moses (a) to remove his sandals for him to receive the blessings of the place.[20] Moreover, the removal of sandals is said to indicate the ultimate humbleness when receiving the message of prophethood.[21]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ḥaydarī, "Buqʿa al-Mubāraka", vol. 5, p. 612.
  2. ↑ Muṣṭafawī, al-Tahqīq fī kalimāt al-Qur'ān al-karīm, vol. 1, p. 315.
  3. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 16, p. 75-77.
  4. ↑ Qur'an 20:12.
  5. ↑ Qur'an 20:11-12; Qur'an 79:16.
  6. ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Aṣfā fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 2, p. 902.
  7. ↑ Ḥaydarī, "Buqʿa al-Mubāraka", vol. 5, p. 613.
  8. ↑ Ibn Qūlawayh, Kāmil al-zīyārāt, p. 48-49.
  9. ↑ Ṭūsī, Tahdhīb al-aḥkām, vol. 6, p. 38.
  10. ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Aṣfā fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 2, p. 927.
  11. ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 4, p. 265.
  12. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 13, p. 25.
  13. ↑ Ḥaydarī, "Buqʿa al-Mubāraka", vol. 5, p. 614.
  14. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 97, p. 160-161; vol. 107, p. 152.
  15. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 7, p. 392; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 7, p. 392; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 16, p. 32; Ibn al-Jawzī, Zād al-masīr, vol. 3, p. 383.
  16. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 16, p. 32.
  17. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 7, p. 392.
  18. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 7, p. 392.
  19. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 16, p. 32.
  20. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 7, p. 164.
  21. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 13, p. 168.

References

  • Baḥrānī, Hāshim b. Sulaymān al-. Al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Tehran: Bunyād-i Biʿthat, 1416 AH.
  • Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Mullā Muḥsin. Al-Aṣfā fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Intishārāt-i Daftar-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī, 1418 AH.
  • Ḥaydarī, Ḥasan. "Buqʿa al-Mubāraka" in Dāʾirat al-maʿārif Qurʾān karīm. 1382 Sh.
  • Ibn al-Jawzī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAlī. Zād al-masīr fī ilm al-tafsīr. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1422 AH.
  • Ibn Qūlawayh, Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad. Kāmil al-zīyārāt. Edited by ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn Amīnī. Najaf: Dār al-Murtaḍawīyya, 1356 Sh.
  • Ibn al-Mashhadī, Muḥammad. Al-Mazār al-kabīr. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī affiliated to Jāmiʿa-yi Mudarrisīn-i Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmīyya-yi Qom, 1419 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
  • Muṣṭafawī, Ḥasan. Al-Tahqīq fī kalimāt al-Qur'ān al-karīm. Tehran: Bungāh tarjuma wa nashr-i kitāb, 1360 SH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
  • Shahīd al-Awwal, Muḥammad b. Makkī. Al-Mazār. Edited by Muḥammad Bāqir Muwaḥḥid Abṭahī Isfahānī. Qom: Madrisa al-Imām al-Mahdī (a), 1410 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Jāmiʿa-yi Mudarrisīn-i Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmīyya-yi Qom, 1417 AH.
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Nāṣir Khusraw, 1372 Sh
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, [n.d].
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Tahdhīb al-aḥkām. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1407 AH.
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