Al-Ṣuffah ( ar, الصُّفّة), or ''Dikkat Ashab As-Suffah'' () was a sheltered raised platform that was available at the rear side of the

Prophet's Mosque Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (), known in English as the Prophet's Mosque, is a mosque built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the city of Medina in the Al Madinah Province of Saudi Arabia. It was the second mosque built by Muhammad in Medina, after Q ...

during the Medina period (622-632) of early

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

. It was initially available at the northeastern corner of the mosque and

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...

ordered it to be covered by palm leaves in order to provide shade, hence it was called ''al-Suffah'' or ''al-Ẓullah'' () "the shade". It was moved several decades later into another place in the mosque during an expansion project. Homeless and unmarried

Muhajirun The ''Muhajirun'' ( ar, المهاجرون, al-muhājirūn, singular , ) were the first converts to Islam and the Islamic prophet Muhammad's advisors and relatives, who emigrated with him from Mecca to Medina, the event known in Islam as the '' Hij ...

(

companions of the Prophet The Companions of the Prophet ( ar, اَلصَّحَابَةُ; ''aṣ-ṣaḥāba'' meaning "the companions", from the verb meaning "accompany", "keep company with", "associate with") were the disciples and followers of Muhammad who saw or m ...

who migrated from

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow val ...

) who did not have relatives in

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

, dwelt in al-Suffah where they were mainly learning the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

and

Sunnah In Islam, , also spelled ( ar, سنة), are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed ...

. These people were called ''Aṣhab al-Ṣuffah'' "Companions of the Ṣuffah".

Legacy

Muhammad used to sit with them, chat together, and used to call them to his meal, sharing together his drinks, so they were counted as his dependents. The

Companions of the Prophet The Companions of the Prophet ( ar, اَلصَّحَابَةُ; ''aṣ-ṣaḥāba'' meaning "the companions", from the verb meaning "accompany", "keep company with", "associate with") were the disciples and followers of Muhammad who saw or m ...

used to take two or three of the Ashab al-Suffah to feed them at home and used to select the best dates and hang them out in al-Suffah's ceiling for meals. Due to the scarcity of jobs caused by a combination of trade boycott and military threat, members of Ashab al-Suffah had little income. It is estimated that al-Suffah held up to 300 people at a time, but they were merely increasing and decreasing in numbers. They could have reached about 400 total members, and it lasted about nine years till they became rich before the death of Muhammad. Later, every one of them became a ruler or an

emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ce ...

Location

The Suffah was originally situated in the north-east corner of the Mosque. When Muhammad was ordered by

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", ...

to change the

qibla The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the s ...

(prayer direction) to be towards Mecca at the south of Medina, the Suffah was left at the rear of the mosque, where it remained. When

al-Walid I Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ( ar, الوليد بن عبد الملك بن مروان, al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān; ), commonly known as al-Walid I ( ar, الوليد الأول), was the sixth Umayyad caliph, ruling from ...

, the Umayyad Caliph, expanded the mosque, Al-Suffah's location was changed to where it is now called: ''Dikkat Al-Aghwat''.

References

Medina Al-Masjid an-Nabawi {{islam-stub

Legacy

Location

See also

References