Mina

Mina means "granting" and "bestowal." In Arabic the word mina is also used for a place where people gather, or a place where blood is shed. Mina lies between Mecca al-Mukarramah and Muzdalifah, about 7 km northeast of the Masjid al-Haram, between Mount Sabir and Mount Mursalat, and lies within the boundaries of the Haram. The name Mina is said to derive from:

1. Its being a place where Allah's mercy and blessing flow abundantly,
2. Adam's (a.s.) having longed (tamanna) for Paradise here,
3. Allah's having granted (mann) favour here to Abraham (a.s.) and to all His servants,
4. The fact that people gather here on the days of the feast and slaughter sacrificial animals in the hope of drawing near to Allah and being safe from His punishment.

Mina, lying within the boundaries of the Haram, is the blessed place where Abraham stoned the devil, where he sacrificed a ram in place of his son Ishmael (a.s.), where Masjid al-Khayf stands, where the first and second Pledges of Aqabah were made with the Ansar, where Surahs al-Nasr and al-Mursalat were revealed during the Farewell Pilgrimage, and where the Prophet (s.a.w.) spent the nights during the days of Tashriq.

In keeping with the practice of the Prophet (s.a.w.), it is Sunnah to stay one day in Mina on the Day of Tarwiyah on the way to Arafat, and three nights during the days of stoning the devil. Likewise, it is considered more meritorious to slaughter the Hajj sacrifice, which must be slaughtered within the Haram, in Mina, and to perform the "cutting and shortening of the hair," an important part of the Hajj, in Mina as well, following the practice of the Prophet (s.a.w.). Since Mina, like Arafat and Muzdalifah, is a shared place of worship, the Prophet (s.a.w.) declared that its 812-hectare area likewise cannot be subject to private ownership. Whenever one comes here, one should offer supplication. Within the boundaries of Mina and its immediate surroundings there are several mosques that keep alive the memory of important events:

1. Masjid al-Khayf
2. Masjid al-Bay'ah
3. Masjid al-Kabsh
4. Masjid al-Nahr (Manhar)
5. Masjid al-Kawthar
6. Masjid al-Mursalat