of Saudi Arabia under no. 1/3317 dated 12/11/1386 AH; from the Ministry of Interior under no. 1867 dated 8/3/1378 AH; from the Governorship of Medina under no. 4248 dated 15/3/1378 AH; and from the Grand Court in Medina under no. 1139 dated 25/3/1378 AH. These directives are attached to the file now before the committee and were most recently forwarded to His Eminence the Mufti by the Chief Judge of the Grand Court in Medina under no. 2052 dated 26/2/1387 AH. The directives call for the formation of a scholarly committee to locate the exact limits of the Madinan sanctuary and to place boundary markers thereon.
The committee was composed of: His Grace Shaykh Muḥammad al-Ḥāfiẓ, judge at the Grand Court in Medina, as chairman; and, as members, Sayyid Maḥmūd Aḥmad, Sayyid ʿUbayd Madanī, Shaykh ʿAmmār ibn ʿAbd Allāh, Shaykh Abū Bakr Jābir, and Ustadh Asʿad Ṭarabzunī.
The committee convened immediately after its formation and carried out its mandate; however, certain points remained unclear, so it resolved to refer them to the Grand Mufti. When the file reached His Eminence, he directed that a representative on his behalf should accompany the committee, inspect the sanctuary boundaries with them, identify the traditional names of those boundaries, and then report back to him.
The pertinent texts describe the Haram at times as bounded by the two lava plains (al-lābatayn), at times by ʿAyr and Thawr, at times by the two narrow mountain passes (al-maʾzamayn), and at times simply by “the two mountains.” The hadiths that mention the two lava plains are more numerous than those that refer to the two mountains, and the two mountains intended are ʿAyr and Thawr.
The two maʾzamayn are likewise these two mountains. Now, ʿAyr and Thawr lie outside the Haram according to the standard delimitations, whereas the two lava plains fall within it, for the following reasons:
A. The account of Banū Ḥāritha, when the Prophet ﷺ said to them, “I see that you, O Banū Ḥāritha, have gone out of the Haram,” then turned back and said, “Rather, you are still within it.” Their dwellings were on the flank of the eastern lava field, facing the valley of al-ʿArid, and the ruins of their fortress remain visible to this day. This indicates that this lava field is part of the sanctuary, and it runs parallel to ʿAyr and Thawr. It is as though, when the Prophet ﷺ turned and saw ʿAyr, he said to them, “Rather…"