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| Masjid As-Sayyid Hashim, Gaza |
Yāqūt Al-Ḥamawī[1] said: ‘In Gaza,[2] Al-Imam Abū ʿAbdullah Muḥammad Bin Idrīs Ash-Shāfiʿī was born, may Allah be pleased with him. As a child he moved to the Hijāz and acquired knowledge there, and it is related from him that he remembered [Gaza] by saying:
Indeed I yearn for the land of Gaza
To be taken far away from it is the cause of my silence
Allah sends rain upon a land; if only I had taken some of its earth
I would rub it on my eyelids out of my intense yearning
[Translated from Dīwān Al-Imām Ash-Shāfiʿī, p.391 (Beirut: Dar Al-Fikr, 2007/1428)]
[1] Yāqūt Bin ʿAbdullah Ar-Rūmī Al-Ḥamawī, Abū ʿAbdullah, Shihāb Ad-Dīn, reliable historian, master of geography and scholar of language and literature (d.626/1229).
[2] (tn): i.e. Gaza City, which is where Hāshim Bin ʿAbdul Manāf is buried, the grandfather of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, and this is why it is also known as Ghazzat Hāshim. (Muʿjam Al-Buldān: 4/202)
Bissmillah, As Salam alaykum wa Rahmatullah. It is ajib ! Tonight, I have began reading Martin Lings, Sirah on the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.
ReplyDeleteVery early on he speaks about Hashim (aka Amr ibn Abd Manaf) He mentions that after his marriage to Salma, ad after his son is born that he travels to the levant and dies in Gaza. Then I took note of Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Saco on my book shelf as I crept upstairs to my study, and thought what a tragic land it is. You see Saco's graphic novel by association, added emphasis in my mind after reading the sirah, to the death of Hashim ibn Abd Manaf. May Allah have mercy on his spirit.
I then remembered that Imam as Shafiee was also born there ( also from Abd manaf).Later I thought I would catch up with your blog. Lo and behold.
It is lesson to learn tonight on the 12th of Rabi al awal that Gaza is so intrinsically connected to the Sirah of the Noble Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and of course the Ahlul Bayt.
May Allah make room for us amongst them , as he made room for those on board the ship of the Prophet Nuh, may peace be upon him. Please forgive me Mahdi, for the long and involved comment, but tonight it comes from the heart Sidi. Hope to hear from you soon. Until . Ma-Salam.
Your brother Saleh,