Dad, what exactly is Al-Baqî'?

Imagine that you are in Medina.

In front of you is the immense Mosque of the Prophet ﷺ.

And right next to it, behind a large wall, is a very special place.

A place that already existed more than 1,400 years ago, at the time of the Prophet ﷺ.

This place is called Al-Baqî‘.

But... Al-Baqî‘, what exactly is it?

Al-Baqî‘ is the famous cemetery of Medina.

Its full name is Baqî‘ al-Gharqad.

And you know what? This name has a meaning.

The gharqad is a kind of thorny shrub that used to grow in this place. That is why it was called Baqî‘ al-Gharqad.

But what makes Al-Baqî‘ so special is not only its age.

It is above all everything that happened there.

At the time of the Prophet ﷺ, Muslims were already buried there. And the Prophet ﷺ knew this place well.

He even accompanied funerals there.

One day, while some Companions were at Al-Baqî‘ for a burial, the Prophet ﷺ joined them. He sat down, and his Companions sat around him.

And there, in the middle of this cemetery, he gave them an important teaching.

He spoke to them about what Allah had decreed and taught them that they should continue to do good deeds.

But that is not all.

The Prophet ﷺ also went to Al-Baqî‘ to invoke Allah on behalf of the Muslims buried there.

‘Â'ishah رضي الله عنها reported that at the end of the night, the Prophet ﷺ would go to Al-Baqî‘ and greet its inhabitants.

He also asked Allah to forgive them.

In another authentic narration, ‘Â'ishah رضي الله عنها reported that Jibrîl عليه السلام came to the Prophet ﷺ. Allah had ordered him to go to the inhabitants of Al-Baqî‘ and ask for forgiveness for them.

The Prophet ﷺ therefore went there and invoked Allah on their behalf.

Do you now understand why this cemetery holds such a special place in the history of Medina?