Qualla: Hijr Ismail https://qualla.com/hijr-ismail en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/hijr-ismail-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Hijr Ismail https://qualla.com/hijr-ismail Hijr Ismail: Introduction https://qualla.com/hijr-ismail/ Photo credit Al Jazeera English, CC BY-SA 2.0. The wall is 1.33 meters high and 90 centimeters wide, made of white marble, curving in a crescent against the northwest face of the Kaaba without quite touching it. Pilgrims performing the Tawaf - the seven circuits around the Kaaba - walk outside it. Inside the crescent, bounded by that modest low wall, is a space no foot may press during pilgrimage. This is the Hijr Ismail, also called the Hateem. Millions pass within meters of it every year. Relatively few know why it is there, but the answer is one of the most grounded, strangely economic stories in early Islamic memory - a story about tribes running out of money.

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Image: Al Jazeera English | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/hijr-ismail-wp/sgu3-hijr-ismail-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Hijr Ismail: The Shelter of a Mother and a Son https://qualla.com/hijr-ismail/ Photo credit Al Jazeera English, CC BY-SA 2.0. According to Islamic tradition, this crescent of ground is the place where the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) built a shelter for his son Ismail (Ishmael) and Ismail's mother Hajar (Hagar) - the same family left in the desert, the same Hajar who ran between Safa and Marwah searching f...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/hijr-ismail-wp/sgu3-hijr-ismail-the-shelter-of-a-mother-and-a-son.mp3 0:06 2 full Hijr Ismail: The Flood and the Roman Ship https://qualla.com/hijr-ismail/ Photo credit Al Jazeera English, CC BY-SA 2.0. When Muhammad was 35 - about 605 CE - a flood damaged the Kaaba, which had already been weakened by an earlier fire. The Quraysh, Mecca's ruling tribe, decided to rebuild it. They took a principled stand: they would not use money gained from usury or from any non-halal source. Th...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/hijr-ismail-wp/sgu3-hijr-ismail-the-flood-and-the-roman-ship.mp3 0:06 3 full Hijr Ismail: Aisha's Question https://qualla.com/hijr-ismail/ Photo credit Al Jazeera English, CC BY-SA 2.0. The early Islamic community remembered this explicitly. A hadith recorded by Bukhari describes a conversation between Muhammad and his wife Aisha. She asked whether the Hateem was part of the Kaaba. He said yes. She asked why then it was not inside the walls. He answered: "Becaus...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/hijr-ismail-wp/sgu3-hijr-ismail-aishas-question.mp3 0:06 4 full Hijr Ismail: The Rule of the Tawaf https://qualla.com/hijr-ismail/ Photo credit Al Jazeera English, CC BY-SA 2.0. About three meters of the ground adjacent to the crescent wall count, in legal terms, as part of the Kaaba itself. Scholars determined that pilgrims performing Tawaf must circle the complete area of the Hateem - meaning the crescent of ground as well as the cube. If you watch the...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/hijr-ismail-wp/sgu3-hijr-ismail-the-rule-of-the-tawaf.mp3 0:06 5 full Hijr Ismail: A Small Wall That Holds the Memory https://qualla.com/hijr-ismail/ Photo credit Al Jazeera English, CC BY-SA 2.0. Architecturally, the Hijr Ismail is nothing - a low crescent of white marble a pilgrim could step over without thinking. Theologically, it is a piece of the Kaaba. Historically, it is a monument to a community that chose ritual purity over completeness: a tribe that said we will ...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/u/3/hijr-ismail-wp/sgu3-hijr-ismail-a-small-wall-that-holds-the-memory.mp3 0:06 6 full