Jannat al-Mu'alla (), also known as the "Cemetery of Ma'la" ( ') and ''Al-Ḥajūn'' (), is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

to the north of ''

Al-Masjid Al-Haram Masjid al-Haram (), also known as the Sacred Mosque or the Great Mosque of Mecca, is considered to be the most significant mosque in Islam. It encloses the vicinity of the Kaaba in Mecca, in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia. It is among the ...

'', and near the

Mosque of the Jinn The Mosque of the Jinn () is a Sunni Islam mosque, located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, near Jannat al-Mu'alla. It is also known as the Mosque of Allegiance () and the Mosque of Guards () because the city's guards would patrol up to that point. The ...

Makkah Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above sea level. Its metropo ...

, Saudi Arabia. It is the place where the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

's wife, grandfather, and other ancestors are buried.

History

Many of Muhammad's relatives were buried in this cemetery before his

Hijrah The Hijrah, () also Hegira (from Medieval Latin), was the journey the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers took from Mecca to Medina. The year in which the Hijrah took place is also identified as the e ...

in 622. Many domes and structures have been built or rebuilt over known graves over the years. Tombs in this cemetery were demolished in 1925, the same year that the

Jannat al-Baqi' ''Jannat al-Baqī'' (, "The Baqi'", ) is the oldest and first Islamic cemetery of Medina located in the Hejazi region of present-day Saudi Arabia. It is also known as ''Baqi al-Gharqad'' (, meaning "Baqiʿ of the Boxthorn"). Al-Baqi is reported ...

cemetery in

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

was demolished by the Saudi King,

Ibn Saud Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

. According to Wahabi tradition of Sunni Islam, shrines are forbidden to be built over a grave so as to not take any saint or dead person for worship. This happened despite protests by the international Shia community. Some

Shiites Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

continue to mourn the day the

House of Saud The House of Saud ( ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi State, (1727–1818), and his brothers, though the ruling ...

demolished shrines in Al-Baqi, which has been named ''Yaum-e Gham'' or "

Day of Sorrow The Day of Sorrow ( ') is commemorated by some Muslims, marking the razing of the Al-Baqi' cemetery in Medina by Saudi King Abdulaziz ibn Saud. The cemetery housed the bodies of many of the ''Ahl al-Bayt'', members of the family of Muhammad, wh ...

", and protest the Saudi government's demolition of these shrines.

Notable interments

Historical figures buried here include:

References

External links

{{Commons category, Jannat-ul-Maualla Islamic shrines in Saudi Arabia Cemeteries in Saudi Arabia Burial sites of the Abbasid dynasty Muslim cemeteries

History

Notable interments

See also

References

External links