The area between the Black Stone (Hajar al-Aswad) and the door of the Ka’bah is called the Multazam. This is the opinion of Hazrat Ibn Abbas (RA). It is also known as “Al-Mudda’aan” (the place of prayer) and “Al-Mutaa’uth” (the place of seeking refuge). (Azraki, Shafa’ul Gharam, and Al-Jaami’ al-Lateef). The meaning of the word “multazam” is “the place to hold on to.” People hold onto it and pray, which is why it is called Multazam. The virtue of Multazam is immense. It is one of the places where prayers are accepted.
Significance of Multazam
Hadiths prove that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) held on to it with his face, chest, hands, and two elbows and prayed.
Hazrat Abdur Rahman bin Safwan says, “On the day of the conquest of Makkah, I said that I would wear my clothes. My house was also on the road. I then went out. I saw that the Prophet (PBUH) and the Companions exited the Ka’bah and touched the wall between the door of the Ka’bah and the Hatim. They placed their faces on the door of the Ka’bah, and the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was among them.” (Abu Dawood) The narrator Yazid bin Abi Ziyad in the chain of this hadith is not reliable and proven.
In the book Bajlul Majhud, it is mentioned that in the Musnad of Ahmad, Hazrat Abdur Rahman bin Safwan says, “I saw the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) holding onto the wall between the Black Stone and the door of the Ka’bah, and others holding onto various parts of the Ka’bah.”
Ibn Majah narrates from Hazrat Amr bin As, who says, “I held onto the Multazam and prayed and said, ‘By Allah, this is the place where I saw the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) holding onto and praying.'”
In a narration by Abu Dawood, Abdullah performs Tawaf of the Ka’bah, touches the Black Stone, then stands between the Black Stone and the door of the Ka’bah, placing his chest, forehead, hands, and elbows as such. He then placed them on the floor and said, “I saw the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) do the same.”
Hazrat Ibn Umar used to place his chest and forehead on the Multazam and pray. The area between the door of the Ka’bah and the Black Stone is the Multazam. However, Hazrat Abdur Rahman bin Safwan mentions that he saw the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and the Companions holding onto the Ka’bah up to the Hatim. The answer to this is that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) prayed while standing at the Multazam. Due to the large number of companions and because not everyone could stand at the Multazam, some of them stood at the Hatim while others held onto the Ka’bah.
Multazam is a place where prayers are accepted. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said:
عن عبد الله بن عباس يقول: سمعت رسول الله يقول: الملتزم موضع يستجاب فيه الدعاء ما دعا الله فيه عبد دعوة إلا استجابها.
Translation: “The Multazam is a place where prayers are accepted. When a servant prays there, Allah certainly answers their prayer.”
Hazrat Ibn Abbas (RA) says, “By Allah, after hearing this hadith, whenever I prayed at the Multazam, my prayers were always accepted.” Hazrat Amr bin As (RA) says, “When I heard this hadith from Ibn Abbas, I began to pray at the Multazam whenever I faced a problem, and Allah always accepted my prayers and removed my difficulties.” The narrators of this hadith, Sufyan and Humaydi, have made similar statements. Many people have witnessed that their prayers were answered after praying at the Multazam.
Qadi Ayad mentions this hadith in his book Shifa. The language of the hadith mentioned in his book is as follows:
سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ما دعا أحد بشيء في هذا الملتزم إلا استجيب له.
Translation: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) say that when anyone prays for something at this Multazam, their prayer will certainly be answered.” Qadi Ayad then says, “After hearing this hadith, I and all the narrators of this hadith went to the Multazam to pray, and all our prayers were accepted.”
Azraki, while describing the virtues of the Multazam, mentions that after Hazrat Adam (AS) came down from Paradise to the Earth, he made Tawaf of the House of Allah seven times and performed two Rak’ah of prayer in front of the door of the Ka’bah. He then came to the Multazam and prayed:
اللهم إِنَّكَ تَعْلَمُ سَرِيرَتِي وَعَلَانِيَتِي فَاقْبَلْ مَعْذِرَتِي وَتَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِي وَمَا عِندِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي ذُنُوبِي وَتَعْلَمُ حَاجَتِي فَأَعْطِنِي سُؤْلِي اللهم إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ إِيمَانًا يُبَاشِرُ قَلْبِي وَيَقِينًا صَادِقًا حَتَّى أَعْلَمَ أَنَّهُ لَنْ يُصِيبَنِي إِلَّا مَا كُتِبَتْ لِي وَالرِّضَاءُ بِمَا قَضَيْتَ عَلَيَّ
Translation: “O Allah, You know my secret and my public life, so accept my excuse. You know what is in my soul and what is with me, so forgive my sins. You know my needs, so grant my request. O Allah, I ask You for faith that penetrates my heart and for certain conviction so that I know that nothing will happen to me except what You have written for me, and I am content with whatever You have decreed for me.”
Then Allah revealed to Hazrat Adam (AS), saying, “O Adam, the prayer you made has been accepted. If anyone from your descendants prays to Me, I will remove their grief and hardship, I will save them from losing what they have, I will remove poverty and need from their hearts, and I will create fountains of wealth and prosperity for them. I will provide for every merchant from their business, and even if they do not ask for the world, it will come to them.”
Since the Tawaf of the Ka’bah was established after the Tawaf of Hazrat Adam (AS), this became the Sunnah of performing Tawaf.
This long hadith has an excellent chain of narrators. However, it is a Mawquf hadith narrated from Abdullah bin Abu Sulaiman, a servant of Banu Makhzum, and is not directly narrated from the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). However, Alama Azraki has narrated this hadith directly from the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) through a different chain. Among the narrators of this hadith, Hafs bin Sulaiman is rejected, but all the other narrators are reliable.
Al-Faqihi narrates that Said bin Jubayr said, “I have never seen anyone more passionate about this house than the people of Basra.” He said, “A woman from Basra came to the Sacred House, stood at the Multazam, and cried while praying to Allah, eventually passing away there.” (14)
Al-Faqihi also mentions that Mujahid saw a man standing between the door of the Ka’bah and the Black Stone and said to him, “Hold on to the Multazam.” Mujahid further said, “Prayers are made at the Multazam. Few are the people who have prayed at the Multazam and been unsuccessful in their prayers; rather, everyone has been granted their requests.”
