Every Muslim yearns for the opportunity to pray inside the Kaaba, the most glorious structure in the world. Every Muslim how much he wants it. Usually on the 1st of Dzulhijjah the door of the Kaaba is opened by officers to be cleaned. Every time it is opened, many Muslims are hysterical and then crowd in hoping to get into it.
If we are among those who wish to enter and pray inside the Kaaba, why don't we just pray at Hijir Ismail? Yes, praying there is the same as praying inside the Kaaba!
Aisyah Ra, ummul mukminin, once said, "I used to really want to enter the House of Allah and pray in it, so Rasulullah SAW took my hand and took me into Hijir saying, 'If you want to enter the Kaaba, then pray in here (Hijir Ismail) because this is part of the Kaaba. Your people reduced it while rebuilding it.” (HR An Nasa'i)
What Hijir Ismail meant was a semi-circle located to the north of the Kaaba, marked by the building of a wall at chest height of an adult. The word hijir means a room or a place that is bounded by a safety wall.
In history, originally Hijir Ismail, the inside of the Kaaba building was said to be oval in shape, but when the Kaaba was rehabilitated in 606 AD by the Quraysh tribe, it experienced limited capabilities so that the size of the Kaaba was reduced and made rectangular as it is now. Hijir Ismail is considered to be the inner part of the Kaaba. People who pray in it are the same as praying in the Kaaba.
That is one of the virtues of Hijir Ismail, a plate-shaped building on the side of the Kaaba and above it is a golden fountain (midzab). This area is never empty of people, because there are so many people who want the opportunity to pray there to get the glory of praying in the Kaaba. One of the things that confirms that Hijir Ismail is part of the Kaaba is that Rasulullah SAW did not touch the two corners of the Kaaba opposite Hijir Ismail when he Saw did tawaf.
May we all be made easy to pray at Hijir Ismail.
10 Dzulqaidah 1444 H / 30 May 2023 (AFQ – Serial study towards the Hajj season 2023)
