Ibn Khaldūn, nine miles away; from the Ṭāʾif road, via ʿArafah, from Batn Namirah, seven miles away; and from the Jeddah road, at Munqaṭiʿ al-ʿAshāʾir, ten miles away.

This, then, is the area that Allah has made sacred. By granting it this distinctive sanctity, He distinguished it in law from all other lands. Allah, Exalted is He, said: “And [remember] when Abraham said, ‘My Lord, make this a secure city and provide its people with fruits’” (2:126)—that is, Makkah and its Sacred Precinct.

There is disagreement concerning Makkah and its surrounding area: did it become a sanctuary through Abraham’s supplication, or had it already been a sanctuary before that? Some scholars held that it had always been a secure sanctuary, protected from tyrants who might gain power over it, as well as from sinkings of the earth and earthquakes. They held that Abraham merely asked his Lord to make it secure from drought and famine and to provide its people with all kinds of fruits.

This is the apparent meaning of Aḥmad’s statement in the report transmitted by al-Athram. He was asked about the saying of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), “Makkah was made lawful for me for an hour during the day, but it was not made lawful for anyone before me.” What is its meaning? He replied, “Its meaning is that it was a sanctuary and has always been one.” Thus, he explicitly stated that it had always been a sanctuary.

The evidence for this view is the report narrated by Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd—that is, al-Maqburī—who said: I heard Abū Shurayḥ al-Khuzāʿī say: “When the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) conquered Makkah, he stood and delivered a sermon, saying: ‘O people, Allah made Makkah sacred on the day He created the heavens and the earth, so it is sacred until the Day of Resurrection. It is not lawful for anyone who believes in Allah and the Last Day to shed blood there or to cut down its trees. Indeed, it is not lawful for anyone after me, nor was it made lawful for me except during this hour, as a consequence of My anger against its people. Indeed, it has now returned to the state it was in yesterday. Let those who are present convey this to those who are absent. If anyone says that the Messenger of Allah fought there, tell him: Allah made it lawful for His Messenger, but He did not make it lawful for you.’”

Others held that Makkah had been lawful, like all other lands, before Abraham’s supplication, and that through his supplication it became a secure sanctuary when he declared it sacred—just as Madinah became a sanctuary through the sacred designation of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace), after previously having been lawful. They based this on the report of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “Abraham was Allah’s servant and close friend, and I am Allah’s servant and Messenger. Abraham declared Makkah sacred, and I have declared Madinah sacred—the area between its two lava tracts, including its thorn trees and game. Weapons may not be carried there for fighting, and no tree may be cut there except to provide fodder for an animal.”

The rulings specific to the Sacred Precinct, by which it differs from all other lands, are five: