ḤIJĀB (حجاب). A partition or curtain. Veiling or concealing.
(1) A term used for the seclusion of women enjoined in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xxxiii. 53]: “And when ye ask them (the Prophet’s wives) for an article, ask them from behind a curtain; that is purer for your hearts and for theirs.”
(2) A term used by the Ṣūfī mystics for that which obscures the light of God in the soul of man. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dict. of Ṣūfī Terms.)
ḤIJĀZ (حجاز). Lit. “A barrier or anything similar by which two things are separated.” The name al-Ḥijāz is given to that tract of country which separates Najd from Tahāmah, and is an irregular parallelogram about 250 miles long and 150 miles wide. It may be considered the holy land of the Muḥammadans, for within its limits are the sacred cities of al-Madīnah and Makkah, and most of its places are someway connected with the history of Muḥammad. It is a barren district consisting of sandy plains towards the shore and rocky hills in the interior; and so destitute of provisions as to depend, even for the necessaries of life, on the supplies of other countries. Among its fertile spots is Wādī Fāt̤imah, which is well watered, and produces grain and vegetables. Sajrah abounds in date trees. At̤-T̤āʾif, seventy-two miles from Makkah, is celebrated for its gardens, and the neighbourhood of al-Madīnah has cultivated fields. The towns on the coast are Jiddah and Yambuʿ, the former being considered the port of Makkah, from which it is distant about fifty-five miles, and the latter that of al-Madīnah. Al-Ḥijāz is bounded eastward by a lofty range of mountains, which, near At̤-T̤āʾif, take the name of Jabalu ʾl-Qura. The scenery there is occasionally beautiful and picturesque; the small rivulets that descend from the rocks afford nourishment to the plains below, which are clothed with verdure and shady trees. The vicinity of Makkah is bleak and bare; for several miles it is surrounded with thousands of hills all nearly of one height; their dark and naked peaks rise one behind another, appearing at a distance like cocks of hay. The most celebrated of these are aṣ-Ṣafā, ʿArafah and al-Marwah, which have always been connected with the religious rites of the Muḥammadan pilgrimage.
ḤIJR (حجر). In its primitive sense means interdiction or prevention.
(1) In the language of the law it signifies an interdiction of action with respect to a particular person, who is either an infant, an idiot, or a slave. (Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 468.)
(2) Al-Ḥijr is a territory in the province of al-Ḥijāz between al-Madīnah and Syria, where the tribe of S̤amūd dwelt. It is the title of the XVth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, in the 80th verse of which the word occurs: “The inhabitants of al-Ḥijr likewise accused the messenger of God of imposture.”
HIJRAH (هجرة). Lit. “migration.” (1) The departure of Muḥammad from Makkah. (2) The Muslim era. (3) The act of a Muslim leaving a country under infidel rule. (4) Fleeing from sin.
The date of Muḥammad’s flight from Makkah was the fourth day of the first month of Rabīʿ, which by the calculation of M. Caussin de Perceval was June 20th, A.D. 622. The Hijrah, or the era of the “Hegira,” was instituted seventeen years later by the K͟halīfah ʿUmar, which dates from the first day of the first lunar month of the year, viz. Muḥarram, which day in the year when the era was established fell on Thursday the 15th of July A.D. 622. But although ʿUmar instituted the official era, according to at̤-T̤abarī, the custom of referring to events as happening before or after the Hijrah originated with Muḥammad himself.
Professor H. H. Wilson in his Glossary of Terms gives the following method of ascertaining the Muḥammadan and Christian years:—