“The fourth mosque was erected in A.H. 191, by al-Mahdī, third prince of the Banū ʿAbbās or Baghdad K͟halīfahs—celebrated in history only for spending enormous sums upon a pilgrimage. He enlarged the building by adding ten handsome pillars of carved marble, with gilt capitals, on the northern side. In A.H. 202, al-Maʾmūn made further additions to this mosque.
“It was from al-Mahdī’s Masjid that Ḥakīm ibn Amri ʾllāh, the third Fāt̤imite K͟halīfah of Egypt, and the deity of the Druse sect, determined to steal the bodies of the Prophet and his two companions. About A.H. 412, he sent emissaries to al-Madīnah; the attempt, however, failed, and the would be violators of the tomb lost their lives. It is generally supposed that Ḥakīm’s object was to transfer the visitation to his own capital; but in one so manifestly insane it is difficult to discover the spring of action. Two Christians, habited like Maghrabī pilgrims, in A.H. 550, dug a mine from a neighbouring house into the temple. They were discovered, beheaded, and burned to ashes. In relating these events, the Muslim historians mix up many foolish preternaturalisms with credible matter. At last, to prevent a recurrence of such sacrilegious attempts, Māliku ʾl-ʿĀdil Nūru ʾd-dīn, of the Baharite Mamluk Sultans, or, according to others, Sultan Nūru ʾd-dīn Shāhid Maḥmūd bin Zengi, who, warned by a vision of the Prophet, had started for al-Madīnah only in time to discover the two Christians, surrounded the holy place with a deep trench, filled with molten lead. By this means Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, who had run considerable risks of their own, have ever since been enabled to occupy their last home undisturbed.
“In A.H. 654, the fifth mosque was erected in consequence of a fire, which some authors attribute to a volcano that broke out close to the town in terrible eruption; others, with more fanaticism and less probability, to the schismatic Banū Ḥusain, then the guardians of the tomb. On this occasion the Ḥujrah was saved, together with the old and venerable copies of the Qurʾān there deposited, especially the Cufic MSS., written by Us̤mān, the third K͟halīfah. The piety of three sovereigns, Mustaʿṣim (last K͟halīfah of Bag͟hdad) Muz̤affir Shems-ud-dīn-Yūsuf, chief of Yaman, and Z̤āhir Beybars, Baharite Sultan of Egypt, completed the work in A.H. 688. This building was enlarged and beautified by the princes of Egypt, and lasted upwards of 200 years.
“The sixth mosque was built, almost as it now stands, by Kaid Bey, nineteenth Sultan of the Circassian Mamluk kings of Egypt, in A.H. 888. Mustaʿṣim’s mosque had been struck by lightning during a storm; thirteen men were killed at prayers, and the destroying element spared nothing but the interior of the Ḥujrah. The railing and dome were restored; niches and a pulpit were sent from Cairo, and the gates and minarets were distributed as they are now. Not content with this, Kaid Bey established ‘waqf’ (bequests) and pensions, and introduced order among the attendants on the tomb. In the tenth century, Sultan Sulaiman the Magnificent paved with fine white marble the Rauẓah or garden, which Kaid Bey, not daring to alter, had left of earth, and erected the fine minaret that bears his name. During the dominion of the later Sultans and of Mohammad Ali, a few trifling presents of lamps, carpets, wax candles, and chandeliers, and a few immaterial alterations have been made.” (See Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah, by Richard F. Burton, 2nd edition, vol. i. p. 345.)
MASJIDU ʾT-TAQWĀ (مسجد التقوى). Lit. “The Mosque of Piety.” The mosque at Qubāʾ, a place about three miles south-east of al-Madīnah. It was here that it is said that the Prophet’s camel, al-Qaṣwā rested on its way from Makkah to al-Madīnah, on the occasion of the Flight. And when Muḥammad desired the Companions to mount the camel, Abū Bakr and ʿUmar did so, but she still remained on the ground; but when ʿAlī obeyed the order, she arose. Here the Prophet decided to erect a place for prayer. It was the first mosque erected in Islām. Muḥammad laid the first brick, and with an iron javelin marked out the direction for prayer. The Prophet, during his residence at al-Madīnah, used to visit it once a week on foot, and he always made a point of praying there the morning prayer on the 17th of Ramaẓān. A prayer in the mosque of Qubāʾ is said to be equal in merit to a Lesser Pilgrimage to Makkah, and the place itself bears rank after the mosques of Makkah and al-Madīnah and before that of Jerusalem. It was originally a square building of very small size, but the K͟halīfah ʿUs̤mān enlarged it. Sultān ʿAbdu ʾl-Ḥamīd rebuilt the place, but it has no pretensions to grandeur. (See Burton’s Pilgrimage, vol. i. p. 390.)
MASNŪN (مسنون). That which is founded upon the precept or practice of Muḥammad. [[SUNNAH].]
AL-MATĪN (المتين). “The Strong” (as a fortification is strong). One of the ninety-nine names or attributes of God. It occurs in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah li. 58]: “God is the provider, endowed with power, the Strong.”
MATN (متن). The text of a book. The notes, or commentary upon the text are called the sharḥ. A word frequently used by Muḥammadans in theological books.
MAʾŪDAH (موءودة). From waʾad, “to bury alive.” A damsel buried alive. A custom which existed before the time of Muḥammad in ancient Arabia, but which was forbidden by him. [Sūrah xvii. 33]: “Kill not your children from fear of want.” See also [Sūrahs xvi. 61]; [lxxxi. 8].
MAULĀ (مولى), pl. mawālī. A term used in Muslim law for a slave, but in the Qurʾān for “a protector or helper,” i.e. God Almighty.