0021-1818_islam_98-1-2-i-259

154 Daniella Talmon-Heller, Raquel Ukeles
taken the two holy cities (i.e., Mecca and Medina) until the prohibition of it was
repeated, and the treatise of […] the great hadith scholar. […] Mu1yi al-D\n al-
Nawaw\ regarding salat al-ragha#ib became well known among the people, may
God strike down the fabricator [of the two prayers of Rajab and Sha^ban]. And despite
the fact that the two are still performed by the people of Yemen to this very
day (i.e. early 8 th/mid 14 th century) I swear that it was not performed in the days of
the Prophet and the Companions. 60 […]
Al-Sakhaw\ (d. 902/1497): ^Umar b. A1mad b. al-Khadr […] al-qadi Siraj al-D\n
al-Ansar\ al-Khazraj\ al-Damanhur\ al-Suwaydaw\ al-Shafi^\, born on 635/1238 or
636–1239 […] studied law in Cairo under al-^Az\z ibn ^Abd al-Salam for a short
while […] and he preached (khataba) in Medina for forty years […] and passed
away on 726/1326. […] He used to lead the prayer of great rewards in congregation
in al-Rawda al-Nabawiyya 61 on the eve of the first Friday of the month of Rajab –
despite it being a bid^a on account of the weakness of its hadith, and in face of the
conflicting hadith „Do not single out the night before Friday for vigils (qiyam)“ –
and was followed by many Sufis. 62
11) Not performed in Alexandria and the Maghrib; banned in Egypt
Subk\ (d. 771/1369), probably quoting ^Izz al-D\n al-Sulam\ (d. 660/1262): This
prayer is not performed by the people of the Maghrib, a faction of whom, as foreseen
by the Prophet, will adhere to the truth until the last Hour. Likewise, it is
not performed in Alexandria, thanks to the adherence of its people to the sunna. 63
And when it became clear to Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil [d. 635/1238], may God have
mercy on him, that it is one of the bida^ falsely attributed to the Prophet, he abolished
it in Egypt. Blessed are (tuba) those who assume responsibility over some of
the affairs of the Muslims and support the suppression of bida^ and the revival of
sunan! 64
60 ^Abdallah b. As^ad al-Yafi^\, Mir#at al-jinan wa-^ibrat al-yaqzan (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-^Ilmiyya,
1994), 4: 118.
61 A small area in the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina extending from Mu1ammad’s tomb to his
pulpit. It was (and is – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Masjid_al-Nabawi) a favorite place
for supererogatory prayers, based upon a prophetic hadith saying: “The area between my house
and my minbar is one of the gardens of Paradise,” Sahih al-Bukhari, fadl al-salat fi Masjid Makka
wa-l-Madina, 1204).
62 Al-Sakhaw\, al-Tuhfa al-latifa fi ta#rikh al-madina al-sharifa, Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-^Ilmiyya
1994, 2: 328–331.
63 Al-Sulam\, “al-Targhib ^an salat al-ragha#ib, in al-Alban\, Musajala ^ilmiyya, 9; also in Subk\,
Taj al-D\n, Tabaqat al-shafi^iyya, ed. ^A.M. al-Hulu# & M. al-Tana1\, Cairo 1964–1971, 8: 255.
64 Subk\, Tabaqat, 8: 255.