From the east: the volcanic plateau (ḥarra) of Banū ʿAmr of the tribe of Harb—formerly held by the tribe of Sulaym; this boundary is 12 kilometres wide.
From the north: the Naqīʿ Pass, 6 kilometres wide.
From the south: two black mountains, one called ʿAbbūd and the other Barām; this boundary is 8 kilometres wide.
The ḥimā of al-Naqīʿ lies 75 kilometres west of Medina and falls under the district known as Wādī al-Faraʿ.
Texts that attest to it:
– Imām Aḥmad transmits from Ibn ʿUmar that the Prophet ﷺ said, “It is a reserve for the horses of the Muslims.”
– In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhri states, “It has reached us that the Prophet ﷺ declared al-Naqīʿ a ḥimā.”
– Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār relates from al-Marwāʿ al-Muzani: “The Prophet ﷺ alighted at al-Naqīʿ and said, ‘What an excellent pasture for horses! It is to be protected for them so that they may strive in the path of Allah.’ The Prophet ﷺ designated it a ḥimā and appointed me over it.”
– Ibn Shabbah records in Tārīkh al-Madīnah, through a chain to Ibn ʿUmar, that “the Prophet ﷺ set aside al-Naqīʿ as a grazing reserve for horses.” Many other reports confirm this.
- Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr states: “Whatever the Prophet ﷺ has declared as ḥimā, no one may revoke or alter so long as the need for it endures, for any ruling issued by the Prophet ﷺ is a textual proof that cannot be overturned by personal reasoning.”
Sharḥ al-Iqnāʿ adds: “The privilege of declaring a ḥimā for himself belonged solely to the Prophet ﷺ, as he said, ‘There is no ḥimā except that of Allah and His Messenger’ (reported by Abū Dāwūd). Abū ʿUbayd likewise narrates that ‘the Prophet ﷺ designated al-Naqīʿ as a ḥimā for the horses of the Muslims.’”
Ibn Kathīr, commenting on Allah’s words, “It is not for a believing man or woman, once Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter…” (Al-Aḥzāb 33:36),