Sadd al-Abwab: Difference between revisions

[[Prophet Muhammad (s)]] planned to build a mosque in [[Medina]] when he entered the city, which later was called [[Masjid al-Nabi]] (The mosque of Prophet Muhammad). Afterwards a number of houses were built around the mosque for Prophet Muhammad (s) and a number of his wives. Then several [[companions]] of Prophet Muhammad (s) built their houses around the mosque. All these houses had an exit door and an extra door leading to this mosque. They used it for entering Masjid al-Nabi in [[praying]] time. However, God ordered Prophet Muhammad (s) to close all of the doors of houses which could be opened to Masjid al-Nabi, except for [['Ali b. Abi Talib]]'s house.

Some people including Qadi Nu’man Maghribi said in his Sharh al-akhbar, “Abbas, uncle of the Prophet (s) went to the Prophet (s) and said, ‘Are you prohibiting me, that I am your uncle, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar and only allowed Ali to leave his door open to the mosque?!’ The Prophet (s) said, ‘it was the order of God.’” Elsewhere, Qadi Nu’man said that this was a question of Hamza b. ‘Abd al-Muttalib from the Prophet (s). Sayyid Ja’far Murtada, did not consider this Hamza’s objection to the Prophet (s), but, according to him, it was a question about the secret behind it.

Exact time of the incident of Sadd al-Abwab is not mentioned in historical and hadith sources. Majlisi, without mentioning the year of its happening, mentioned that it happened on the Day of ‘Arafa. According to the mentioning of some names and other evidences, researchers have made guesses about the year of its happening and have made two major opinions:

* First years of Hijra (immigration): some, referring to the question of Hamza from the Prophet (s), have said that it happened in first years of Hijra. Mentioning the name of Ruqayya, daughter of the Prophet (s) in this story is a support for their opinion. In this report, it has been mentioned that ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan closed the door of his house to the mosque as well and that time, Ruqayya, his wife was still alive.

* Last years of the Prophet’s (s) life and after the conquest of Mecca: objection of Abbas, the Prophet’s (s) uncle for closing the door of his house shows that it was after the conquest of Mecca, because Abbas was settled in Medina after the conquest of Mecca. Another issue which supports this opinion is its concurrence with hadith of Manzilat. And even some believe that this hadith is mentioned to support hadith of Manzilat. According to some historians, hadith of Manzilat was mentioned in different times, most important one of which was after the battle of Tabuk.