The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 13
I - Early Establishment of Madīnah and Foundation of the Islāmic Government 13 “This burden is not the burden of Khaibar’s commercial goods, which arrive loaded on the backs of animals; Rather, O our Lord! This is the burden of virtue and purity, which we bear for your pleasure. ” At times, the Companions would recite the following couplet of ‘Abdullāh bin Rawāhah ra : ْ ْفَارْحَم ِ الْاَنْصَار َ وَالْمُھَاجِرَة اَللّٰھُم َّ اِن َّ الْاَجْر َ اَجْر ُ الْاٰخِرَة “O Our Allāh! True reward is merely that of the hereafter. By Your Grace, send down Mercy upon the Anṣār and Muhājirīn. ” When the Companions would recite this couplet, at times, the Holy Prophet sa would also join in. In this manner, after a long period of hard work, the mosque was completed. 1 The structure of the mosque was made from slabs and bricks, which were assembled between wooden pillars. The roof was covered by trunks and branches of date palms. Trunks of date palms were placed inside the mosque to support the roof. Until the building of a pulpit was proposed, the Holy Prophet sa would lean upon one of these trunks when delivering his sermon. The floor of the mosque was unpaved, and since the roof would leak after heavy rainfall, the floor of the mosque would become muddy. As such, in light of this difficulty, later on a floor of gravel was paved. Initially, the direction of the mosque was towards Baitul-Maqdas, but after the alteration of the Qiblah , this orientation was changed. At that time, the height of the mosque was 10 feet, the length was 105 feet, and the width was 90 feet. Later on, however, this was extended. To one corner of the mosque, a veranda was built, which was referred to as Ṣuffah. This was for those destitute Muhājirīn who were homeless. These people would stay here, and were known as the Aṣḥābuṣ-Ṣuffah. As such, they would remain in the company of the Holy Prophet sa day and night, perform worship, and recite the Holy Qur’ān. These people possessed no means of permanent subsistence. The Holy Prophet sa would take care of them personally and whenever the Holy Prophet sa would receive a gift, etc. , or there was 1 * Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābu Manāqibil-Anṣār, Bābu Hijratin-Nabiyyi sa Wa Aṣḥābihī Ilal-Madīnah, Ḥadīth No. 3906 * Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 2, pp. 175-180, Dhikru Binā’il-Masjidin-Nabawī Wa ‘Amalil-Minbar…. . , Dārul-Kutubil- ‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)