The Masjid-ul-Haram is the holiest mosque in the world. It is located in the Kaaba Masjid al - Haram, where Muslims from all over the world face the five daily prayers. We often wonder why it was named Masjid al-Haram.Haram means forbidden in Arabic. Then why was that holy mosque called Masjidul Haram? Similarly, many people are skeptical about the proper use of Masjid al-Haram or Masjid al-Haram.The reason why even well-educated people are skeptical is because of their ignorance of the Arabic language. This is because the Arabic word haram (حرام) has a general meaning (ممنوع فعله) which means forbidden thing. But the word haram has another meaning. (يحل إنتهاكه)
So Masjid-ul-Haram means the Holy Mosque.
Some scholars say that it means that the Masjid al-Haram is forbidden.
The name of this holy house of Allah is due to the fact that Allah forbade war, bloodshed, hunting and destruction of trees in this holy land.The Masjid-ul-Haram is a large mosque located around the Holy Qaba. Allah clearly mentions this mosque in the Qur'an. In Surah Al-Isra ', Allah says:
سُبۡحَـٰنَ ٱلَّذِیۤ أَسۡرَىٰ بِعَبۡدِهِۦ لَیۡلࣰا مِّنَ ٱلۡمَسۡجِدِ ٱلۡحَرَامِ إِلَى ٱلۡمَسۡجِدِ ٱلۡأَقۡصَا ٱلَّذِی بَـٰرَكۡنَا حَوۡلَهُۥ لِنُرِیَهُۥ مِنۡ ءَایَـٰتِنَاۤۚ إِنَّهُۥ
هُوَ ٱلسَّمِیعُ ٱلۡبَصِیرُ
Glory be to Him Who travels in the night from the Sacred Mosque(haram) to the Sacred Mosque(aqsa), and We have blessed its surroundings.
We find that the word Allah has used the word Masjid al-Haram many times in the Holy Qur'an.
The Holy Kabbalah was first built by the angels and later rebuilt by Prophet Adam and later by Prophet Ibrahim and Prophet Ismail.Later, all the tribes who came there saw the Kaaba as very sacred. Over time, the Quraish rebuilt the Ka'bah. But no mention is made in history of the church surrounding it at this time.
From the time of Qusayb ibn Qilab, the people began to move around the Ka'bah. Finally, in the tenth year of the Hijra, the Prophet came to Makkah with his 114,000 followers for the farewell Hajj.
At this time the church around the Kaaba felt very cramped. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) soon passed away.Due to some internal problems that arose during the reign of the first Caliph Abu Bakr (ra), the mosque was not significantly renovated.
During the reign of the second Caliph 'Umar, Makkah Ibrahim was swept away in a flood, but with the help of his Companions,' Umar restored it to its original position.
Due to the inconvenience of praying in the church at this time, he bought a few houses around and added those places to the church.During the reign of the third Caliph 'Uthman, the Masjid al-Haram was further expanded due to the large number of pilgrims. Nearby houses were purchased and added to the church.
It was later renovated by Abdullah Ibn Zubair.
He expanded the Ka'bah in 64 AH. Two years later he bought all the houses nearby and increased the area of the Masjid al-Haram.The Masjid al-Haram was later rebuilt by Waleed bin Abdul Malik, the Amavi Caliph in 91 AH.
He enlarged the wall of the church, renovated the building and erected a wall around it. He also made a beautiful teak machete on top of the pillars (it is said that the required teak was brought from Kerala).
He was the first to use marble pillars imported from Egypt and Syria in the Masjid al-Haram.Later, the Abbasid and Ottoman rulers built and rebuilt the Kaaba and the Masjid al-Haram over a period of time.
Meanwhile, several fires and floods caused extensive damage to the Masjid al-Haram.
History has shown that the rulers of the time took the initiative to solve the problems and make the necessary restorations.Later, the most important restoration took place under the Saudi government.
The restoration work of the Hijra 1375 began under Abdul Aziz bin Abdurrahman, the founder of this government.With this renovation, the area of the Masjid-ul-Haram increased to 309,000 square meters.
Here 605,000 people could worship at the same time
With the recent renovation under King Fahad, the area of the Masjid al-Haram increased to 385,000 square meters.
A lot of development work has taken place since then. Restoration work is still underway in and around the Masjid al-Haram.