From the Lakeland Echo of United Kingdom, we get this news on 23rd June 2009:-
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A BARROW IN FURNESS sailor is playing a vital role as part of a Royal Navy task group leading a major multi-national land and maritime exercise in and around Brunei, known as Exercise Commando Rajah.
It is the first time in more than a decade that such a series of exercises has taken place between the Royal Navy and Brunei's military and it forms part of the navy's task group deployment known as Operation Taurus. Logistician Carla Macaulay, 24, is an administration and pay expert onboard HMS Bulwark, the flagship for the deployment.
HMS Bulwark, an amphibious assault ship, is leading the task group of helicopter landing platform HMS Ocean, Type 23 frigate HMS Somerset, multi-role survey ship HMS Echo with embarked divers from the Fleet Diving Group and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker RFA Wave Ruler.
Speaking as the task group arrived in Brunei, Charlotte, a former pupil of St Bernard's RC High School, said: "This exercise will give us all really important training in amphibious warfare, essentially that's moving our landing forces ashore from our ships and then pushing them further into the jungles of Brunei where we will continue to command and support them from the sea.
"It's important for the sailors to maintain this capability as we never know when we'll be called upon to use it for real.
"It's key for our Royal Marines because they've become much more used to operating in very different conditions such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan. So again, it's vital for them to gain and maintain those sorts of skills.
"This is a great phase of the deployment for us all as the Royal Navy doesn't come to this part of the world very often."
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Relative Calm in Brunei Darussalam
The Oxford Business Group reported on 22nd May 2009 as follows:
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Brunei Darussalam: Relative Calm
Brunei's real estate sector appears to be little affected by the global recession, with transaction levels remaining stable and prices relatively flat, though it is unlikely the property market will experience strong growth in the short term due to a number of issues limiting investment activity.
According to Lim Poh Yeh, the general manager of White Castle Real Estate and Development, demand for residential property continues to be high, though this can depend on the location of the home offered for sale.
"It depends on the budget of the family or individual, but the demand for housing in Brunei is there, it's just a matter of what is available in the market," Lim said in an interview with local press at the end of March.
A large part of that demand comes from the lower-income segment of the community, those eligible for state housing support and who are unable to buy on the open market. Latest figures put the waiting list for subsidised housing at around 17,000, though this will be cut under a new programme announced in late February by the Brunei Economic Development Board.
As part of the state's National Housing Scheme, 2000 new houses will be built on a 180-ha greenfield site at Kampung Pandan in Kuala Belait, with the project to be completed within two years.
Though the market as a whole has not been negatively affected by the international economic crisis, there remains an oversupply of stock in some segments, especially in mid-range retail properties and the high-end residential segment. With fewer expatriate workers coming to Brunei, the call for more luxurious accommodation has dropped off somewhat, while more recently constructed commercial and residential properties built during the oil price boom - a time when the costs of construction materials were at a premium - are struggling to find takers willing to pay a price that will cover the building cost.
There are also a number of factors that are holding back the real estate sector's rate of growth according to local experts, with one of the main issues being the restrictions on foreign investment and ownership.
Though Brunei has approved legislation allowing foreigners to buy property within the Sultanate, it has not as yet come into force. This may soon change, with Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar, the minister of development, telling the Legislative Council in mid-March that, while complexities of one of its regulations have delayed its implementation, it was hoped the legislation would be enacted in the very near future.
If so, this could stimulate the local property market, as well as encourage overseas investment in residential and commercial developments.
The shortage of land for development is also a limiting factor for the sector, with less than 10% of land privately owned, mostly along Brunei's coastal strip, with a further 8% held under temporary occupation licences. A further 35% of Brunei's territory has been declared as virgin forest, and is strictly protected from development, while the remaining land is in state hands.
The lack of prime development sites and the slow pace at which freehold land is made available does impact on the sector, said Lim.
"Sometimes we have to wait for a very long time for the landowners to decide whether they want to sell their land or not," he said.
Some in the industry are also concerned that a newly instituted property tax may take some of the heat out of property sector, with local media citing real estate professionals as saying the new tax will slow down market growth and discourage prospective investors and businesses.
Announced in December last year and implemented as of April 1, the tax levies a 12% charge on the annual rental fees of commercial and residential properties in the greater Bandar Seri Begawan area, while buildings used by their owners for commercial or residential purposes are assessed at a standard rate of $3.60 per sq metre.
However, while there was a general consensus that commercial sales and rentals may be affected, the demand for residential properties would help sustain the market.
If, as expected, the property market in Brunei remains stable throughout the global financial crisis, it would have a sound platform to build on when the local and regional economies return to higher rates of growth. This platform will be further strengthened if more land is made available for private development and restrictions on foreign ownership are eased.
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Brunei Darussalam: Relative Calm
Brunei's real estate sector appears to be little affected by the global recession, with transaction levels remaining stable and prices relatively flat, though it is unlikely the property market will experience strong growth in the short term due to a number of issues limiting investment activity.
According to Lim Poh Yeh, the general manager of White Castle Real Estate and Development, demand for residential property continues to be high, though this can depend on the location of the home offered for sale.
"It depends on the budget of the family or individual, but the demand for housing in Brunei is there, it's just a matter of what is available in the market," Lim said in an interview with local press at the end of March.
A large part of that demand comes from the lower-income segment of the community, those eligible for state housing support and who are unable to buy on the open market. Latest figures put the waiting list for subsidised housing at around 17,000, though this will be cut under a new programme announced in late February by the Brunei Economic Development Board.
As part of the state's National Housing Scheme, 2000 new houses will be built on a 180-ha greenfield site at Kampung Pandan in Kuala Belait, with the project to be completed within two years.
Though the market as a whole has not been negatively affected by the international economic crisis, there remains an oversupply of stock in some segments, especially in mid-range retail properties and the high-end residential segment. With fewer expatriate workers coming to Brunei, the call for more luxurious accommodation has dropped off somewhat, while more recently constructed commercial and residential properties built during the oil price boom - a time when the costs of construction materials were at a premium - are struggling to find takers willing to pay a price that will cover the building cost.
There are also a number of factors that are holding back the real estate sector's rate of growth according to local experts, with one of the main issues being the restrictions on foreign investment and ownership.
Though Brunei has approved legislation allowing foreigners to buy property within the Sultanate, it has not as yet come into force. This may soon change, with Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar, the minister of development, telling the Legislative Council in mid-March that, while complexities of one of its regulations have delayed its implementation, it was hoped the legislation would be enacted in the very near future.
If so, this could stimulate the local property market, as well as encourage overseas investment in residential and commercial developments.
The shortage of land for development is also a limiting factor for the sector, with less than 10% of land privately owned, mostly along Brunei's coastal strip, with a further 8% held under temporary occupation licences. A further 35% of Brunei's territory has been declared as virgin forest, and is strictly protected from development, while the remaining land is in state hands.
The lack of prime development sites and the slow pace at which freehold land is made available does impact on the sector, said Lim.
"Sometimes we have to wait for a very long time for the landowners to decide whether they want to sell their land or not," he said.
Some in the industry are also concerned that a newly instituted property tax may take some of the heat out of property sector, with local media citing real estate professionals as saying the new tax will slow down market growth and discourage prospective investors and businesses.
Announced in December last year and implemented as of April 1, the tax levies a 12% charge on the annual rental fees of commercial and residential properties in the greater Bandar Seri Begawan area, while buildings used by their owners for commercial or residential purposes are assessed at a standard rate of $3.60 per sq metre.
However, while there was a general consensus that commercial sales and rentals may be affected, the demand for residential properties would help sustain the market.
If, as expected, the property market in Brunei remains stable throughout the global financial crisis, it would have a sound platform to build on when the local and regional economies return to higher rates of growth. This platform will be further strengthened if more land is made available for private development and restrictions on foreign ownership are eased.
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Saturday, April 18, 2009
Fuelling the Brunei Economy
The Oxford Business Group issued the following report on 17 April 2009:
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Brunei: Fuelling the Economy
Brunei is looking to maximise its hydrocarbon reserves in order to extend the working life of its energy sector, while at the same time expanding the country's industrial base to make best use out of its oil and gas fields.
The energy sector is the bedrock on which Brunei's economy is built, representing around 90% of exports and more than 50% of GDP. However, within a generation the economic balance is expected to change. Brunei's identified oil reserves, estimated to be around 1.3bn barrels, could be exhausted within 25 years at present rates of production, while the Sultanate's gas reserves of 335bn cu metres mean existing fields have a production life of 40 years.
This reliance on energy, especially on oil exports, for revenue means that Brunei's economy is exposed to price fluctuations on the international market. Though Brunei cut back production in the past two years to below 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), it easily made up any shortfall due to skyrocketing prices. Now, with the rate for crude having dropped to below $50 a barrel from its peak of $147 in July last year, earnings are expected to be down in 2009.
At the beginning of April, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) predicted Brunei's GDP would shrink by 0.4%, following on from an estimated contraction of 2.7% in 2008.
Though predicting the economy would rebound in 2010, expanding by 2.3%, the ADB warned this was contingent on Brunei's energy production declining by no more than 1% this year and the next.
"The main domestic risk to the growth forecasts is the performance of the oil and gas sector, as well as the level of progress in the Rancangan Kemajuan Negara 2007-12 - the national development plan," the report said.
Even though its reserves are dwindling, Brunei is still looking to develop its downstream energy sector to obtain added value from its natural resources. These include a proposal to build an aluminum smelter to be powered by local natural gas and a large oil refinery, planned as a joint venture between the private sectors of Brunei and Kuwait, and which would use Kuwaiti oil for feedstock.
One project that has long since got off the drawing board and is nearing completion is a $400m methanol processing plant at Sungai Liang that is scheduled to be fully operational in April 2010. The facility, a joint venture between the Brunei National Petroleum Company, which holds a 50% stake in the project, and Japanese firms Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and the Itochu Corporation, will produce 850,000 tonnes of methanol annually, with Petroleum Brunei committed to supplying 14bn cu metres of gas to the plant over a 22-year period.
While this represents a fraction of Brunei's total gas reserves, there have been warnings that while seeking to maximise the returns on its energy wealth projects should be carefully considered, least they drain away a disproportionate amount of reserves.
A recently published study assessing the methanol project, written by finance expert Jefri Salleh, said that the development could have the effect of optimising possible export return from natural gas. However, he also warned enthusiasm for similar projects should be tempered with caution.
"This is not to say, however, that the country's natural gas reserves should be made readily available for more projects like this one, given the risk of accelerating depletion of the country's natural gas reserves," Jefri said.
The energy sector received a boost in mid-March when long-running negotiations between the governments of Brunei and Malaysia finally resolved a dispute over offshore territorial demarcation. This will now allow for exploration of new undersea blocks with potentially rich oil deposits.
The dispute, which had been the subject of talks for more than six years, centred on delineating maritime territorial boundaries. Both Brunei and Malaysia had awarded exploration and production rights to overseas firms in 2003 in the same area off the coast of the island of Borneo.
The two countries have agreed to collaborate in the exploration and exploitation of the contested blocks, though no timeframe has yet been set for work in the region to begin. While there are no guarantees in oil exploration, a 440m-barrel field had been identified at a nearby block in 2002.
Similar successes in the new fields could help extend the life of Brunei's oil industry and see the energy sector continue its role as the mainstay of the country's economy into the middle of this century and possibly beyond.
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Brunei: Fuelling the Economy
Brunei is looking to maximise its hydrocarbon reserves in order to extend the working life of its energy sector, while at the same time expanding the country's industrial base to make best use out of its oil and gas fields.
The energy sector is the bedrock on which Brunei's economy is built, representing around 90% of exports and more than 50% of GDP. However, within a generation the economic balance is expected to change. Brunei's identified oil reserves, estimated to be around 1.3bn barrels, could be exhausted within 25 years at present rates of production, while the Sultanate's gas reserves of 335bn cu metres mean existing fields have a production life of 40 years.
This reliance on energy, especially on oil exports, for revenue means that Brunei's economy is exposed to price fluctuations on the international market. Though Brunei cut back production in the past two years to below 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), it easily made up any shortfall due to skyrocketing prices. Now, with the rate for crude having dropped to below $50 a barrel from its peak of $147 in July last year, earnings are expected to be down in 2009.
At the beginning of April, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) predicted Brunei's GDP would shrink by 0.4%, following on from an estimated contraction of 2.7% in 2008.
Though predicting the economy would rebound in 2010, expanding by 2.3%, the ADB warned this was contingent on Brunei's energy production declining by no more than 1% this year and the next.
"The main domestic risk to the growth forecasts is the performance of the oil and gas sector, as well as the level of progress in the Rancangan Kemajuan Negara 2007-12 - the national development plan," the report said.
Even though its reserves are dwindling, Brunei is still looking to develop its downstream energy sector to obtain added value from its natural resources. These include a proposal to build an aluminum smelter to be powered by local natural gas and a large oil refinery, planned as a joint venture between the private sectors of Brunei and Kuwait, and which would use Kuwaiti oil for feedstock.
One project that has long since got off the drawing board and is nearing completion is a $400m methanol processing plant at Sungai Liang that is scheduled to be fully operational in April 2010. The facility, a joint venture between the Brunei National Petroleum Company, which holds a 50% stake in the project, and Japanese firms Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and the Itochu Corporation, will produce 850,000 tonnes of methanol annually, with Petroleum Brunei committed to supplying 14bn cu metres of gas to the plant over a 22-year period.
While this represents a fraction of Brunei's total gas reserves, there have been warnings that while seeking to maximise the returns on its energy wealth projects should be carefully considered, least they drain away a disproportionate amount of reserves.
A recently published study assessing the methanol project, written by finance expert Jefri Salleh, said that the development could have the effect of optimising possible export return from natural gas. However, he also warned enthusiasm for similar projects should be tempered with caution.
"This is not to say, however, that the country's natural gas reserves should be made readily available for more projects like this one, given the risk of accelerating depletion of the country's natural gas reserves," Jefri said.
The energy sector received a boost in mid-March when long-running negotiations between the governments of Brunei and Malaysia finally resolved a dispute over offshore territorial demarcation. This will now allow for exploration of new undersea blocks with potentially rich oil deposits.
The dispute, which had been the subject of talks for more than six years, centred on delineating maritime territorial boundaries. Both Brunei and Malaysia had awarded exploration and production rights to overseas firms in 2003 in the same area off the coast of the island of Borneo.
The two countries have agreed to collaborate in the exploration and exploitation of the contested blocks, though no timeframe has yet been set for work in the region to begin. While there are no guarantees in oil exploration, a 440m-barrel field had been identified at a nearby block in 2002.
Similar successes in the new fields could help extend the life of Brunei's oil industry and see the energy sector continue its role as the mainstay of the country's economy into the middle of this century and possibly beyond.
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Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Maulid in Mekah According to Muslim Historians
[Photo: Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. house in Mekah before it was demolished.]In his book Akhbar Makkah, Vol. 2, p. 160, the 3rd-century historian of Makkah, al-Azraqi, mentions as one of the many places in Makkah in which the performance of salat is desirable (mustahabb), the house where the Prophet was born (Mawlid an-Nabi). According to him, the house had previously been turned into a mosque by the mother of the caliphs Musa al-Hadi and Harun ar-Rashid.
The Qur'anic scholar al-Naqqash (266-351) mentions the birthplace of the Prophet as a place where du`a by noon on Mondays is answered. He is quoted in al-Fasi's Shifa' al-gharam Vol. 1, p. 199, and others.
Earliest Mentions of the Public Mawlid
The oldest source that mentions a public commemoration of the Mawlid is in Ibn Jubayr's (540-614) Rihal ("Travels"), p. 114-115:
"This blessed place [the house of the Prophet] is opened, and all men enter it to derive blessing from it (mutabarrikin bihi), on every Monday of the month of Rabi` al-Awwal; for on that day and in that month was born the Prophet."
The 7th-century historians Abul `Abbas al-`Azafi and his son Abul Qasim al-`Azafi wrote in their unpublished Kitab ad-durr al-munazzam:
"Pious pilgrims and prominent travellers testified that, on the day of the mawlid in Makkah, no activities are undertaken, and nothing is sold or bought, except by the people who are busy visiting his noble birthplace, and rush to it. On this day the Ka`ba is opened and visited."
Three Tenth-Century Accounts of the Mawlid
The following description consolidates eyewitness accounts by three 10th-century authorities: the historian Ibn Zahira al-Hanafi from his al-Jami` al-latif fi fasl Makka wa ahliha, p. 326; Imam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami from his Kitab al-mawlid al-sharif al-mu`azzam, and the historian al-Nahrawali from al-I`lam bi-a`lam bayt Allah al-haram, p. 205.
Each year on the 12th of Rabi` al-Awwal, after the salat al-Maghrib, the four qadis of Makkah (representing the Four Schools) and large groups of people including the fuqaha' (scholars) and fudala' (notables) of Makkah, shaykhs, zawiya teachers and their students, ru'asa' (magistrates), and muta`ammamin (scholars) leave the mosque and set out collectively for a visit to the birthplace of the Prophet, shouting out dhikr and tahlil (LA ILAHA ILLALLAH). The houses on the route are illuminated with numerous lanterns and large candles, and a great many people are out and about. They all wear special clothes and they take their children with them. Having reached the birthplace, inside a special sermon for the occasion of the birthday of the Prophet is delivered, mentioning the miracles (karamat) that took place on that occasion. Hereafter the du`a' for the Sultan (i.e. the Caliph), the Emir of Makkah, and the Shafi`i qadi is performed and all pray humbly. Shortly before the salat al-`Isha', the whole party returns from the birthplace of the Prophet to the Great Mosque, which is almost overcrowded, and all sit down in rows at the foot of the Maqam Ibrahim. In the mosque, a preacher first mentions the tahmid (AL HAMDULILLAH) and the tahlil, and once again the du`a' for the Sultan, the Emir, and the Shafi`i qadi is performed. After this the call for the Salat al-`Isha' is made. After the salat, the crowd breaks up. A similar description is given by al-Diyarbakri (d. 960) in his Ta'rikh al-Khamis.
source: http://www.sunnah.org/arabic/mawldhouse/history_of_the_mawlid_house.htm
Monday, March 16, 2009
Maulud in Old Mekah
I have been reading about the controversies of celebrating Maulidur Rasul not realising that in our very own Brunei Times, Gabriel Haddad had written an article about the celebrations where Maulid was celebrated at the prophet's home. Gabriel Haddad's article was published on 20th March 2008:-
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FOR centuries, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, upon him blessings and peace, was celebrated in and around the actual house in Mekah where he was born. Since the Arabic words for "birthday" and "birthplace" are one and the same, it was literally a "Maulud within Maulud".
In his book Akhbar Makka the third-century historian of the Mother of Cities, al-Azraqi, mentions as one of the many places in Mekah in which the performance of salat is desirable the house where the Prophet was born (mawlid al-Nabi). The noble house (located in what became known as Suq al-Layl, Shuaab Bani Amir, Shuaab Ali and Shuaab al-Mawlid, present-day Qashshashiyya Street in Mekah), belonged to his father Abd Allah by inheritance from his father Abd al-Muttalib, then passed on to the Prophet himself. It is said that the Prophet passed it on to his cousin Aqil ibn Abi Talib in whose hand it remained even after the conquest of Mekah.
Aqil's son sold it to Muhammad ibn Yusuf the brother of al-Hajjaj. He expanded it and the house became known as al-Bayda' and Dar Ibn Yusuf. When al-Khayzaran the mother of the caliphs Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid performed pilgrimage, she brought out Ibn Yusuf from the house and turned it into a mosque, after which the house became known as Zuqaq al-Mawlid.
The Quranic scholar al-Naqqash (266-351) mentions this Birthplace Mosque as a place where doa by noon on Yawm al-Ithnayn (Mondays) is answered.
Ibn Jubayr (540-614) in his Rihla ("Travels") states: "This blessed place (the Birthplace Mosque of the Prophet) is opened, and all men enter it to derive blessing from it (mutabarrikin bih) on every Monday of the month of Rabi al-Awwal, for on that day and in that month was born the Prophet."
The 7th-century historians Abu al-Abbas al-Azafi and his son Abu al-Qasim al-Azafi wrote in their Kitab al-Durr al-Munazzam: "Pious pilgrims and prominent travellers testified that, on the day of the mawlid in Mecca, no activities are undertaken, and nothing is sold or bought, except by the people who are busy visiting his noble birthplace, and rush to it. On this day the Kaabah is opened and visited."
The famous eighth-century historian Ibn Battuta relates in his Rihla that on every Jumua after the salat and also on the birthday of the Prophet, the door of the Kaabah is opened by the head of the Banu Shayba the doorkeepers of the Kaabah while on the Maulud, the Shafii head judge of Mekah, Najm al-Din Muhammad ibn al-Imam Muhyi al-Din al-Tabari, distributed food to the descendants of the Prophet and to the people of Mekah.
The house is described in full by the ninth-century historian Taqi al-Din al-Fasi in his book Shifa' al-Gharam bi-Akhbar al-Balad al-Haram.
The following description consolidates eyewitness accounts by three 10th-century authorities: the historian Ibn Zahira from his Jami al-Latif fi Fadli Makkata wa-Ahliha; al-Haytami from his book al-Mawlid al-Sharif al-Muazzam; and the historian al-Nahrawali from al-Ilmam bi-Alam Bayt Allah al-Haram:
Each year on the twelfth of Rabi al-Awwal, after salat Maghrib, the four qadis of Mekah (representing the Four Sunni Schools) and large groups of people including the jurists and notables of Mekah, Shaykhs, zawiya teachers and students, magistrates and scholars, leave the Mosque and set out collectively for a visit to the birthplace of the Prophet, shouting out zikir and tahlil (a statement that there is no god but Allah).
The houses on the route are illuminated with numerous lanterns and large candles, and a great many people are out and about. They all wear special clothes and they take their children with them.
Inside the birthplace, a special sermon for the occasion of the birthday of the Prophet is delivered. Hereafter the doa for the (Ottoman) Sultan, the Emir of Mekah, and the Shafii qadi is performed and all pray humbly.
Shortly before the Isyak prayer, the whole party returns to the Great Mosque, which is almost overcrowded, and sit down in rows at the foot of Maqam Ibrahim. In the mosque, a preacher first mentions the tahmid (a statement that all praise only be to Allah) and tahlil. Once again the doa for the Sultan, the Emir, and the Shafii qadi is performed, followed by the Isyak prayer.
A similar description is given by al-Diyarbakri (d 960) in his great Sirah entitled Ta'rikh al-Khamis fi Akhbari Anfasi Nafis.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami al-Makki (909- 974) in the beginning of his commentary on al-Busiri's Hamziyya poem mentions "the present well-known mosque that was the house where the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, was born."
Muhammad Labib al-Battanuni in the year 1327/1909 in his book al-Rihlat al-Hijaziyya described the house in similar detail as others before him and the fact that "al-Khayzaran turned it into a mosque and it remains thus to our present day".
Knowledge and upkeep of the hallowed birthplace of the Prophet is mass-transmitted. From Abbasid times the Muslims upkept the Birthplace Mosque for centuries, each king and prince of Egypt, Yemen, Syria and the Ottoman Sultans buttressing it and lavishing upon it gifts and precious ornaments from East and West until the Hijaz was overrun by zealots 200 years ago, at which time the Mosque was destroyed and its endowments dispersed.
This act was committed in ignorance of the explicit hadith, "Do not raze the vestiges of the past for they are the adornment of Madina", as narrated from Ibn Umar by al-Tahawi in Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar.
Dr Muhammad Said al-Buti wrote in his preface to Sayyid Yusuf al-Rifai's book Advice to our brothers the scholars of Najd:
"I truly do not know if the Islamic World ever concurred in its indignation over a single matter in its entire history the way it does today over what is being perpetrated by the brethren who are in charge of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and by its scholars in the evisceration of Makka and Madina and their vicinities of all the historical remnants connected with the life of the Messenger of God, upon him blessings and peace, both as a private person and as a Prophet, and, subsequently, their perpetrating deeds that violate Islamic Law and violate the method which the pious Predecessors used to follow."
Years later, King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud gave the vacant land to the Amin al-Asima at that time, Shaykh Abbas ibn Yusuf al-Qattan, who built upon it the library known as Maktabat Makkat al-Mukarrama. The library still stands at the time these lines are written.
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FOR centuries, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, upon him blessings and peace, was celebrated in and around the actual house in Mekah where he was born. Since the Arabic words for "birthday" and "birthplace" are one and the same, it was literally a "Maulud within Maulud".
In his book Akhbar Makka the third-century historian of the Mother of Cities, al-Azraqi, mentions as one of the many places in Mekah in which the performance of salat is desirable the house where the Prophet was born (mawlid al-Nabi). The noble house (located in what became known as Suq al-Layl, Shuaab Bani Amir, Shuaab Ali and Shuaab al-Mawlid, present-day Qashshashiyya Street in Mekah), belonged to his father Abd Allah by inheritance from his father Abd al-Muttalib, then passed on to the Prophet himself. It is said that the Prophet passed it on to his cousin Aqil ibn Abi Talib in whose hand it remained even after the conquest of Mekah.
Aqil's son sold it to Muhammad ibn Yusuf the brother of al-Hajjaj. He expanded it and the house became known as al-Bayda' and Dar Ibn Yusuf. When al-Khayzaran the mother of the caliphs Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid performed pilgrimage, she brought out Ibn Yusuf from the house and turned it into a mosque, after which the house became known as Zuqaq al-Mawlid.
The Quranic scholar al-Naqqash (266-351) mentions this Birthplace Mosque as a place where doa by noon on Yawm al-Ithnayn (Mondays) is answered.
Ibn Jubayr (540-614) in his Rihla ("Travels") states: "This blessed place (the Birthplace Mosque of the Prophet) is opened, and all men enter it to derive blessing from it (mutabarrikin bih) on every Monday of the month of Rabi al-Awwal, for on that day and in that month was born the Prophet."
The 7th-century historians Abu al-Abbas al-Azafi and his son Abu al-Qasim al-Azafi wrote in their Kitab al-Durr al-Munazzam: "Pious pilgrims and prominent travellers testified that, on the day of the mawlid in Mecca, no activities are undertaken, and nothing is sold or bought, except by the people who are busy visiting his noble birthplace, and rush to it. On this day the Kaabah is opened and visited."
The famous eighth-century historian Ibn Battuta relates in his Rihla that on every Jumua after the salat and also on the birthday of the Prophet, the door of the Kaabah is opened by the head of the Banu Shayba the doorkeepers of the Kaabah while on the Maulud, the Shafii head judge of Mekah, Najm al-Din Muhammad ibn al-Imam Muhyi al-Din al-Tabari, distributed food to the descendants of the Prophet and to the people of Mekah.
The house is described in full by the ninth-century historian Taqi al-Din al-Fasi in his book Shifa' al-Gharam bi-Akhbar al-Balad al-Haram.
The following description consolidates eyewitness accounts by three 10th-century authorities: the historian Ibn Zahira from his Jami al-Latif fi Fadli Makkata wa-Ahliha; al-Haytami from his book al-Mawlid al-Sharif al-Muazzam; and the historian al-Nahrawali from al-Ilmam bi-Alam Bayt Allah al-Haram:
Each year on the twelfth of Rabi al-Awwal, after salat Maghrib, the four qadis of Mekah (representing the Four Sunni Schools) and large groups of people including the jurists and notables of Mekah, Shaykhs, zawiya teachers and students, magistrates and scholars, leave the Mosque and set out collectively for a visit to the birthplace of the Prophet, shouting out zikir and tahlil (a statement that there is no god but Allah).
The houses on the route are illuminated with numerous lanterns and large candles, and a great many people are out and about. They all wear special clothes and they take their children with them.
Inside the birthplace, a special sermon for the occasion of the birthday of the Prophet is delivered. Hereafter the doa for the (Ottoman) Sultan, the Emir of Mekah, and the Shafii qadi is performed and all pray humbly.
Shortly before the Isyak prayer, the whole party returns to the Great Mosque, which is almost overcrowded, and sit down in rows at the foot of Maqam Ibrahim. In the mosque, a preacher first mentions the tahmid (a statement that all praise only be to Allah) and tahlil. Once again the doa for the Sultan, the Emir, and the Shafii qadi is performed, followed by the Isyak prayer.
A similar description is given by al-Diyarbakri (d 960) in his great Sirah entitled Ta'rikh al-Khamis fi Akhbari Anfasi Nafis.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami al-Makki (909- 974) in the beginning of his commentary on al-Busiri's Hamziyya poem mentions "the present well-known mosque that was the house where the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, was born."
Muhammad Labib al-Battanuni in the year 1327/1909 in his book al-Rihlat al-Hijaziyya described the house in similar detail as others before him and the fact that "al-Khayzaran turned it into a mosque and it remains thus to our present day".
Knowledge and upkeep of the hallowed birthplace of the Prophet is mass-transmitted. From Abbasid times the Muslims upkept the Birthplace Mosque for centuries, each king and prince of Egypt, Yemen, Syria and the Ottoman Sultans buttressing it and lavishing upon it gifts and precious ornaments from East and West until the Hijaz was overrun by zealots 200 years ago, at which time the Mosque was destroyed and its endowments dispersed.
This act was committed in ignorance of the explicit hadith, "Do not raze the vestiges of the past for they are the adornment of Madina", as narrated from Ibn Umar by al-Tahawi in Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar.
Dr Muhammad Said al-Buti wrote in his preface to Sayyid Yusuf al-Rifai's book Advice to our brothers the scholars of Najd:
"I truly do not know if the Islamic World ever concurred in its indignation over a single matter in its entire history the way it does today over what is being perpetrated by the brethren who are in charge of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and by its scholars in the evisceration of Makka and Madina and their vicinities of all the historical remnants connected with the life of the Messenger of God, upon him blessings and peace, both as a private person and as a Prophet, and, subsequently, their perpetrating deeds that violate Islamic Law and violate the method which the pious Predecessors used to follow."
Years later, King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud gave the vacant land to the Amin al-Asima at that time, Shaykh Abbas ibn Yusuf al-Qattan, who built upon it the library known as Maktabat Makkat al-Mukarrama. The library still stands at the time these lines are written.
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