Banu Hashim District: Difference between revisions

The District of Banu Hashim was located on the southeastern side of [[Masjid al-Nabi]] (the present building). It extended from Bab Jabra'il to [[al-Baqi']] Cemetery. There were two houses in this district known as "Dar 'Ali b. al-Husayn" (the House of Imam al-Sajjad (a)) and "Dar of Ja'far b. Muhammad" (the House of Imam al-Sadiq (a)). Some Shiite sources have recommended saying [[prayers]] in these two houses. According to al-Samhudi, the House of Imam al-Sadiq (a) was adjacent to the house of [[Abu Ayyub al-Ansari]]. There was a water well in this house which was donated by Imam al-Sadiq (a) as a charity. The grave of [[Isma'il b. Ja'far al-Sadiq (a)]] was located in the House of Imam al-Sajjad (a), which was later moved to al-Baqi' Cemetery.

During different expansions of Masjid al-Nabi (the Mosque of the Prophet) in different Islamic periods, parts of the historical structure of Medina were destroyed and added to the area of the mosque. One of the earliest changes made in the District of Banu Hashim happened in 91/709 when the mosque was expanded, at the command of [[Walid b. 'Abd al-Malik]], the [[Umayyad]] [[caliph]], on its eastern side where the Prophet's (s) chambers were located. He ordered that a wall be constructed around the Prophet's (s) grave and the mosque be expanded on that side as well. When the people of Medina heard about the destructions, they started to moan and cry. At that time, Fatima's (a) house was resided by [[Fatima al-Sughra]], the daughter of [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]]. People protested because they wanted to preserve the relics of the Prophet (s) so that future generations know about his simple life. [[Sa'id b. Musayyib]] said: "I wish the houses remained as they were so that visitors of Medina saw how parsimonious the Prophet (s) was, and how he instructed people to avoid gathering money and adopt asceticism instead."

The last expansion of Masjid al-Nabi which led to the complete destruction of the houses in the District of Banu Hashim occurred between 1985 and 1987. Before the latest destruction, the houses of Imam al-Sajjad (a) and Imam al-Sadiq (a) were well-known among people.

In his book, ''[[al-Ikhtisas]]'', [[al-Shaykh al-Mufid]] cited a [[hadith]] from [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]] about the usurpation of [[Fadak]] according to which, after the debate between [[Abu Bakr]] and [[Fatima (a)]], Fatima (a) went to Abu Bakr again and Abu Bakr wrote a letter to the effect that Fadak should be returned to her. When Fatima (a) left, [['Umar b. Khattab]] saw her in the alley and when she refused to return the letter back to him, he beat her, seized the letter by force, and tore it apart. After this, Fatima (a) had to stay in bed and was martyred after 75 days.

The material for this article is mainly taken from {{ia|[[:fa:محله بنی‌هاشم|محله بنی‌هاشم]]}} in Farsi Wikishia.