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Al-Madinah
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he arrived at the site of his mosque in al-Madinah where his camel knelt.[1] He dismounted. Then came abu-Aiyûb Khâlid ibn-Zaid …[2] ibn-al-Khazraj who took off the saddle of the Prophet's camel. The Prophet took up his abode at abu-Aiyûb's.[3] Certain Khazrajis invited the Prophet, but he retorted, "Man is where his camel's saddle is." He remained at abu-Aiyûb's for seven months. He took up his residence there after [Friday-] prayer, one month since his departure [from Makkah]. The Anṣâr presented to the Prophet all the unoccupied parts of their lands, saying, "O Prophet of Allah, take our own dwellings if thou wish." But he said, "No!"

The mosque of the Prophet. Abu-Umâmah[4] Asʿad ibn-Zurârah ibn-ʿUdas ibn-ʿUbaid ibn-Thaʿlabah ibn-Ghanm ibn-Mâlik ibn-an-Najjâr, Naḳîb-in-chief,[5] used to conduct Friday prayers for his Moslem followers in a mosque of his own in which the Prophet, too, used to pray. The Prophet, thereafter, requested Asʿad to sell him a piece of land contiguous to this mosque. The land was in the hands of Asʿad but belonged to two orphans in his custody whose names were Sahl and Suhail sons of Râfiʿ ibn-abi-ʿAmr ibn-ʿÂʾidh ibn-Thaʿlabah ibn-Ghanm.[6] Asʿad proposed to offer it to the Prophet and to pay its price to the orphans himself. But the Prophet refused and paid for its price ten dînârs,[7]

  1. Ibn-Saʿd, Kitâb aṭ-Ṭabaḳât, vol. i1, p. 160.
  2. In this and in other cases to come, the genealogical table has been cut short in the translation.
  3. Ad-Diyârbakri, al-Khamîs, vol. i, p. 386.
  4. Geschichte der Stadt Medina, p. 60.
  5. Naḳîb is the superintendent of a people who takes cognizance of their actions and is responsible for them; ibn-Ḥajar, vol. i, pp. 61–63.
  6. Ibn-Hishâm, p. 503.
  7. A gold coin worth about ten shillings.