al-Rukn al-Khamis
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- Dār Iqraʾ lil-Ṭibāʿah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ
al-Rukn al-Khamis (The Fifth Pillar) is a contemporary treatise on the rites and jurisprudence of the Islamic pilgrimage (Hajj and Umrah) by the Syrian researcher Muhammad Muhyi al-Din Hammadah al-Ghunaymi al-Maydani.
Composition and Context
The author completed the work on 19 Safar 1425 AH (9 April 2004 CE) in the al-Maydan quarter of Damascus, where he served as secretary of the Fawj al-Yaman pilgrimage delegation for the service of pilgrims. Hammadah composed the treatise to address deficiencies in the preparation of contemporary pilgrims, critiquing commercialization, the lack of religious instruction, and the neglect of the spiritual and communal objectives of the pilgrimage.
Structure and Methodology
Departing from the traditional arrangement of fiqh manuals that divide pilgrimage strictly into discrete categories of pillars (arkan), obligatory acts (wajibat), and recommended practices (sunan), Hammadah structures the book around the chronological progression of the Farewell Pilgrimage of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The narrative framework is built upon the comprehensive hadith of Jabir ibn Abd Allah recorded in Sahih Muslim, supplemented by variant reports and additional narrations from Ali ibn Abi Talib, Aisha, and other Companions.
The text is organized with segments of Jabir's hadith placed in parentheses, followed by detailed legal analysis, historical commentary, and spiritual reflections. While presenting comparative rulings across the four Sunni legal schools, the author adopts the Shafi'i school as the primary baseline, specifying that any ruling mentioned without attribution denotes the Shafi'i position. The commentary relies heavily on classical authorities, particularly al-Nawawi (through his Sharh Sahih Muslim and al-Idah fi manasik al-hajj), Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (his supercommentary on Sharh al-Idah and al-Minhaj al-qawim), and Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (Ihya' 'ulum al-din). Technical legal variants, verbatim classical quotations, and hadith source documentation (takhrij) are placed predominantly in the footnotes so that the main text remains accessible to a general readership.
Scope and Features
Beyond jurisprudence, al-Rukn al-Khamis incorporates multidisciplinary discussions:
- Historical and topographical analysis: Detailed backgrounds of pilgrimage landmarks such as Maqam Ibrahim, al-Safa and al-Marwa, al-Hudaybiyyah, al-Tan'im, and the various miqats (including Qarn al-Manazil).
- Physical and geographical data: Measurements of holy structures such as the Kaaba and Maqam Ibrahim, discussions on the properties of Zamzam water, and geographical arguments advocating for world cartography centered on Mecca.
- Practical guidance: Insights drawn from the author's direct administrative experience in leading pilgrimage groups and managing pilgrim logistics.
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