Masala fi al-Murabata bil-Thughur Afdal am al-Mujawara bi-Makka Sharrafaha Allah Taala
- Author died
- 728 AH
- Editions
- Adwa' al-Salaf
Mas'ala fi al-Murabata bil-Thughur Afdal am al-Mujawara bi-Makka Sharrafaha Allah Taala (Inquiry on Whether Guarding the Frontiers is Superior to Devotional Residence in Mecca, May God Honor It) is a legal treatise by Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE) examining whether military garrisoning (murabata) on the Islamic frontier is superior to devotional residence (mujawara) in the sacred sanctuaries .
Central Argument and Legal Reasoning
In this treatise, Ibn Taymiyya argues that residing in Muslim border outposts (thughur) with the intention of participating in jihad is superior to devotional stay in the Two Holy Sanctuaries or the three sacred mosques—namely the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, and Al-Aqsa Mosque—citing consensus among the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence and early authorities .
He grounds his ruling in the legal categorization that jihad as a genre of worship takes precedence over voluntary pilgrimage, citing scriptural evidence and statements of the Companions, including Abu Hurayra's remark that a single night spent guarding the frontier in the path of God was more beloved to him than standing in prayer on the Night of Destiny (Laylat al-Qadr) next to the Black Stone . He also notes that while classical jurists debated the status of mujawara itself—with Abu Hanifa disliking long-term residency in Mecca and Malik ibn Anas and Ahmad ibn Hanbal deeming it commendable—they maintained consensus on the superior merit of frontier defense .
Distinction Between Intrinsic and Accidental Virtues
Ibn Taymiyya addresses misconceptions surrounding the historical veneration of frontier locations such as Gaza, Ascalon, Alexandria, Acre, Qazvin, and Tarsus . He clarifies that praise of these regions by early scholars, and the presence of pious figures such as Al-Awza'i, Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, and Ibrahim ibn Adham there, was due strictly to their status as active military frontiers rather than any intrinsic holiness of the land itself .
He draws an ontological distinction between accidental attributes (sifat arida) and intrinsic attributes (sifat lazima):
- Accidental attributes include an area's status as a frontier outpost, an abode of Islam (dar Islam), an abode of war (dar harb), or a center of knowledge and faith; these qualities shift dynamically according to the identity and actions of the inhabitants .
- Intrinsic attributes belong exclusively to the three sacred mosques, whose sanctity is permanent and inalienable .
On this basis, he critiques individuals who withdrew to caves or mountains under the impression that the geography possessed innate spiritual sanctity, asserting that early righteous Muslims frequented those outposts for military vigilance rather than ascetic isolation .
Transmission and Publication
The treatise survived in a unique manuscript preserved within a collective volume (majmu') at Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya under shelfmark 444 Fiqh Taymur . Copied by Abd al-Hamid al-Hakim in Ruq'ah script across 75 pages (13 lines per page), the manuscript suffered from numerous omissions and clerical errors .
The work was edited by Ashraf ibn Abd al-Maqsud and published by Adwa' al-Salaf in Riyadh in 1422 AH (2001 CE) . It was also published in the fifth volume of the collection Jami' al-Masa'il, edited by Muhammad Uzair Shams .
Answer updated