“The people of ʿĀd treated the Sent Ones as liars. When their brother Hūd said to them, ‘Will ye not fear God? I truly am your apostle, worthy of all credit; fear God then and obey me. I ask of you no reward for this, for my reward is of the Lord of the worlds alone. Build ye a landmark on every height, in pastime? And raise ye structures to be your lasting abodes? And when ye put forth your power, do ye put it forth with harshness? Fear ye God, then, and obey me; and fear ye Him who hath plenteously bestowed on you, ye well know what? Plenteously bestowed on you flocks and children, and gardens and fountains. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a great day.’ They said, ‘It is the same to us whether thou warn or warn us not; verily this is but a creation [tale] of the ancients, and we are not they who shall be punished.’ So they charged him with imposture and We destroyed them. Verily in this was a sign: yet most of them believed not.”
AL-ḤUDAIBIYAH (الحديبية). Al-Ḥudaibiyah, a well on an open space on the verge of the Ḥaram or sacred territory, which encircles Makkah. Celebrated as the scene of a truce between Muḥammad and the Quraish known as the truce of al-Ḥudaibiyah, when the Prophet agreed not to enter Makkah that year, but to defer his visit until the next, when they should not enter it with any weapons save those of the traveller, namely, to each a sheathed sword. (Muir, from Kātibu ʾl-Wāqidī.)
The treaty is referred to in the Qurʾān as “a victory,” in the XLVIIIth Sūrah, 1st verse: “We have given thee an obvious victory.” A chapter which is said to have been revealed on this occasion and to have foretold the final taking of Makkah, which happened two years afterwards. (See al-Baiẓāwī, in loco.)
ḤUJJAH (حجة). “An argument; a proof.” The word occurs in the Qurʾān.
[Sūrah ii. 145]: “Turn your faces towards it (the Kaʿbah) that men may have no argument against you, save only those of them who are unjust.”
[Sūrah vi. 84]: “These are our arguments which we gave to Abraham against his people.”
[Sūrah vi. 150]: “God’s is the perfect argument (ḥujjatu ʾl-bālig͟hah).”
ḤUJJATU ʾL-ḤAQQI ʿALA ʾL-K͟HALQ (حجة الحق على الخلق). Lit. “The demonstration of truth upon the creature.” A term used by the Ṣūfī mystics for the Insānu ʾl-kāmil, or the “perfect man,” as Adam was when he proceeded from the hand of his Maker, and when he became a demonstration of God’s wisdom and power before the angels of heaven. As is stated in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah ii. 29]: “Thy Lord said I am about to place a vicegerent (k͟halīfah) in the earth.” (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dict. of Ṣūfī Terms.)
ḤUJRAH (حجرة). The “chamber” in which Muḥammad died and was buried, which was originally the apartment allotted to ʿĀyishah, the Prophet’s favourite wife. It is situated behind the Masjidu ʾn-Nabī, or Prophet’s mosque, at al-Madīnah, and is an irregular square of fifty-five feet, separated from the mosque by a passage of about 26 feet. Inside the Ḥujrah are supposed to be the three tombs of Muḥammad, Abū Bakr, and ʿUmar, facing the south, surrounded by stone walls, without any aperture, or, as others say, by strong planking. Whatever this material may be, it is hung outside with a curtain, somewhat like a four-post bed. The outer railing is separated by a darker passage from the inner, and is of iron filagree, painted green and gold. This fence, which connects the columns, forbids passage to all men. It has four gates, the Bābu ʾl-Muwājihah (the Front Gate), the Bābu Fāt̤imah (the Gate of Fāt̤imah), the Bābu ʾsh-Shām (the Syrian Gate), and the Bābu ʾt-Taubah (the Gate of Repentance). The Syrian Gate is the only one which is not kept closed, and is the passage which admits the officers in charge of the place. On the southern side of the fence there are three small windows about a foot square, which are said to be about three cubits from the head of the Prophet’s tomb. Above the Ḥujrah is the green dome, surmounted by a large gilt crescent, springing from a series of globes. Within the building are the tombs of Muḥammad, Abū Bakr, and ʿUmar, with a space reserved for the grave of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom Muslims say will again visit the earth, and die and be buried at al-Madīnah. The grave of Fāt̤imah, the Prophet’s daughter, is supposed to be in a separate part of the building, although some say she was buried in Baqīʿ. The Prophet’s body is said to be stretched full length on the right side, with the right palm supporting the right cheek, the face fronting Makkah. Close behind him is placed Abū Bakr, whose face fronts Muḥammad’s shoulder, and then ʿUmar, who occupies the same position with respect to his predecessor. Amongst Christian historians there was a popular story to the effect that Muḥammadans believed the coffin of their Prophet to be suspended in the air, which has no foundation whatever in Muslim literature, and Niebuhr thinks the story must have arisen from the rude pictures sold to strangers. Captain Burton gives the annexed plan of the building.
