the Ibrahimi Sanctuary (Haram al-Khalil)

The Ibrahimi Sanctuary is a great enclosure over the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron. Ibn Fadl Allah al-Umari describes it and reports traditions that were passed down to him. ²

In al-Umari's account, Abraham bought the site from Hibri for fifty dirhams. Sarah was buried there, then Abraham, then Rebecca and Isaac, then Jacob and Leah. He adds that Solomon built it when a column of light from heaven showed him the spot on the earth. ²

It had no door until the Muslims opened it after the conquest. Its construction includes enormous stones, one of them thirty-seven spans long. ²

In its qibla wall is a door, from which a long flight of steps goes down to a narrow passage under the ground. The author himself crawled along it until he reached a hollow with three graves, said to be those of Abraham, his wife and Isaac. ²

Above them are the cenotaphs: the graves of Isaac and his wife are in the qibla, and those of Abraham and Sarah are in the north under two facing domes, while the grave of Jacob is under a single dome. ²

Al-Harawi reports that a place in the cave collapsed in 513 AH in the time of King Baldwin. Franks entered it with his permission and found the three prophets in decayed shrouds, leaning against a wall. The king renewed their shrouds and sealed the place. This is a report transmitted from al-Harawi, and the data holds no verification for it. ²

Behind the sanctuary is a tomb ascribed to Joseph. It is said that a voice called out: "Leave him outside the sanctuary, for he owes the land tax of Egypt." ²

A table is spread there every day after the afternoon prayer, and bread is shared out to those who come. When the author visited in 745 AH, the attendants told him that on some nights of the first ten days of Dhu al-Hijja they had given out more than thirteen thousand loaves. It has servants, granaries, a mill and an oven attached to it. The Franks ran this table during their occupation and added to it. ²

An additional source is needed for a second source for these reports, and for the other views about them.