'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. II' [‎1123] (172/688)

MAD—MAD
1123
fixed in the eastern wall, which was supposed to be opposite the head of the Prophet;
while a silver nail in the south wall indicated the point to which the corpse faced, an
from which the salutation of worshippers was to be addressed. The European fa ie
of the coffin suspended by magnets is totally unknown to moslem tradition, ihe smaller
chamber of Fatima is comparatively modern. In the time of Ibn Zubair and ot i n
Batuta (unless the latter, as is so often the case, is merely copying his predecessor)
theie was only a small marble trough north of the raudhah (or grave) which is said
to be the house of Fatima or her grave. It is more probable that Fatima was buried
in the Baki where her tomb was also shown in the 12th Century.
The mosque was again extended by the Khalif Mahdi in A. D. 781 and was biirnt
down in 1256. Of its appearance before the fire we have two authentic accounts by Ibn
'Abd Rabbih earlv in the 10th Century, and by Ibn Zubair who visited it in 1184. The
old mosque had a much finer and more regular appearance than the present one ; the
interior walls were richly adorned with marble and mosaic arabesques of trees an
the like, and the outer walls with stone marquetry ; the pillars of the south portico
(seventeen in each row) were in white plaster with gilt capitals, the other pillars were of
marble. Ibn 'Abd Rabbih speaks of eighteen gates, of which in Ibn Zubair's time
as at present all but four were walled up. There were then three minarets. After
the fire which took place just at the time of the fall of the Khalif ate, the mosque long
lay in a miserable condition. Its repair was chiefly due to the Egyptian Sultans especial
ly'to Qait Bey, whose restoration after a second fire in 1481 amounted almost to a
complete reconstruction. Of the old building nothing seems to have remained but some
of the columns and part of the walls. The minarets have also been rebuilt and two
new ones added. The great dome above the tomb, the railing round it, and the pulpit
all date from Qait Bey's restoration. , n j •
The suburbs which occupy as much space as the city proper and are partly walled m
lie south-west of the town from which they are separated by an open space, ^he halting
place of caravans. Through the suburbs runs the watercourse called Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. liuthan, a
tributary of Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Kanat, which the Yanbu road crosses by a stone bridge. The suburbs
are the quarter of the peasants. Thirty or forty families with their cattle occupy a
single courtyard (hosh) and form a kind of community often at feud with its neighbours.
The several clans of Al-Madinah must have live in much the same way at the time of the
Prophet.
The Turks after the conquest of Egypt held Al-Madinah for a time with a firmer hand,
but their rule grew wexk and was almost nominal long before the Wahhabis took the
qlty in 1804. A Turko-Egyptain force retook it in 1812, and the Turks now maintain a
pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. with a military establishment, while the Qadhi and chief Agha of the mosquo
are sent from Constantinople. In late years the influence of the Turkish Government
has been much strengthened, an important factor in this connection being the construc
tion of the railway from Syria to Al-Madinah which was effected in 1908.
There are two Colleges and many mosque-schools in the town. The climate of Al-
Madinah is one ofextermes the summer being very hot and the winter long and vigorous.
The rains begin in October and last off and on for six months.
MAD IN AH—
A small town in 'Iraq on the right bank of the Euphrates about 12 miles above
Qurnah village: under Turkish rule it was the headquarters of a Nahiyah of the same
name in the Qadha of Qurnah and the seat of a harbour master. Some maize is exported
and the reeds and mats used at Basrah Town mostly come from Madinah. Madinah
has perhaps 2,500 inhabitants. Near the town, on the South side of the river are^ great
marshes known as Hor-al-Yazair which communicate with the Shatt-al- Arab.
From these marshes the water of J the Euphrates in flood time finds it way down to the
tract between Zubair and Basrah. (Murphy.)
MADINAH—
A hamlet in Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. al-Hoqain, in the Western Hajar district of the Oman Sultanate;
See Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Bani Ghafir.
MADINATAIN—
A village in Yemen, situated about 24 miles north by west from Sana'a and on the
west side of the Yemen Hajj route.
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