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==Summary==
Dar al-Nadwah is where the nobles of the Quraysh in Makkah would gather for counsel and making decisions regarding various issues during the Era of Ignorance. Some of the important decisions made in Dar al-Nadwah include the treaty between the Khuzaah and the Bani Hashim, the laying of the foundations for the Hilf al-Fudul and the Quraysh’s decision to murder the Holy Prophet.

==Literal root==
The word ‘nadwah’ in this form is from the root letters ‘nadawa’ which means preparing and gathering. <ref name=":0">‘al-`Ayn, vol. 8, p. 76</ref> Therefore, Dar al-Nadwah means the place of congregation.

==Founder==
This place was a building belonging to Qusay ibn Kilab, an ancestor of the Holy Prophet. <ref name=":1">Ṭabaqāt, vol. 1, p. 52</ref> ((Tārīkh ‘al-‘Umam wa ‘al-Mulūk <ref name=":2">Tārīkh Ṭabarī), vol. 2, p. 259</ref> As he founded this place and brought the tribes of the Quraysh together, they titled him ‘Mujammi’ i.e. the one who gathers. <ref name=":3">Jamharaḧ ‘al-Nisab, vol. 1, p. 25</ref> <ref name=":4">‘al-Ma`ārif, p. 70</ref>
Dar al-Nadwah was Qusay’s house. <ref name=":5">‘al-Sīraḧ ‘al-Nabawiyyaḧ, vol. 1, p. 137 and vol. 2, p. 124</ref> <ref name=":6">‘al-Kāmil, vol. 2, p. 102</ref> It was situated to the west of Masjid al-Haram and its door would open towards the Kaabah. <ref name=":7">Ṭabaqāt, ibid</ref> <ref name=":8">Masālik wa Mamālik, p. 18</ref>
The Quraysh would consult each other and make decisions in Dar al-Nadwah regarding political and social matters such as declaring war, marriage, announcing that girls have reached the age of maturity and giving them special clothes and the circumcision of boys. Also, every business caravan in Makkah would leave from Dar al-Nadwah. <ref name=":9">‘al-`Ayn, ibid</ref> <ref name=":10">‘al-Sīraḧ ‘al-Nabawiyyaḧ (‘Ibn Hishām), vol. 1, p. 137</ref> <ref name=":7" /> <ref name=":11">Tārīkh Ya`qūbī, vol. 1, p. 240</ref> ((Tārīkh ‘al-‘Umam wa ‘al-Mulūk <ref name=":12">Tārīkh Ṭabarī), vol. 2, p. 259-60</ref>
By establishing Dar al-Nadwah, Qusay established Makkah’s civilisation <ref name=":13">Sīraḧ Rasūl ‘Allāh, p. 42</ref> as the first house other than the Kaabah to be built was Dar al-Nadwah and the others built their houses around it. <ref name=":14">Futūḥ ‘al-Buldān, p. 52</ref> <ref name=":15">Tārīkh Ya`qūbī, vol. 1, p. 239</ref>

==Members==
All of Qusay’s children were members of Dar al-Nadwah, but people from other tribes of the Quraysh could participate if they were forty years of age even though it is said that Abu Jahl was thirty years old when he became a member. <ref name=":16">Kitāb ‘al-‘Ishtiqāq, vol. 1, p. 155</ref> <ref name=":17">Sīraḧ Rasūl ‘Allāh, ibid</ref>
==Dar al-Nadwah after Qusay==
After Qusay’s death, the supervision of Dar al-Nadwah was passed down to his son Abd al-Dar <ref name=":18">Ṭabaqāt, vol. 1, p. 55</ref> and eventually, after conflict between the children of Abd al-Dar and the children of Abd Manaf over its supervision, the supervision fell to the children of Abd al-Dar <ref name=":19">Ṭabaqāt, vol. 1, p. 58-9</ref> until Hakim ibn Hizam bought Dar al-Nadwah from Mansur ibn Amir ibn Hisham ibn Abd Manaf ibn Abd al-Dar ibn Qusay. Ikrimah ibn Hisham then bought it from Hakim ibn Hizam. <ref name=":20">Kitāb Nisab Quraysh, p. 254</ref> In the Islamic era, he sold it to Muawiyah for one hundred thousand dirhams. <ref name=":21">Jamharaḧ ‘Ansāb ‘al-`Arab, p. 127</ref> Muawiyah made Dar al-Nadwah the governing headquarters of Makkah. <ref name=":22">Jamharaḧ ‘al-Nisab, vol. 1, p. 66</ref> <ref name=":23">‘al-Munammaq fī ‘Akhbār ‘al-Quraysh, p. 21</ref>
Later on, during the era of the Umayyads and the Abbasids, this place was the residence of the caliphs during the Hajj season. <ref name=":24">Ṭabaqāt, vol. 1, p. 59</ref> Despite this, Harun Abbasi ordered for another building to be built and from then on, the building of Dar al-Nadwah was in ruins. <ref name=":25">‘al-Munammaq fī ‘Akhbār ‘al-Quraysh, ibid</ref>
Towards the end of the third century A.H. during the era of al-Mutadid Billah (the Abbasid caliph), this building was joined to Masjid al-Haram and became part of it after repairing it and renovating its pillars and arches. <ref name=":26">‘al-Kāmil, vol. 2, p. 23</ref> <ref name=":27">Marāṣid ‘al-‘Iṭṭilā`, vol. 2, p. 508</ref> <ref name=":7" />

==Some important decisions made in Dar al-Nadwah==
One can consider the following decisions as the historical and important decisions of Dar al-Nadwah:
*       The treaty between the Khuzaah and the Bani Hashim <ref name=":23" />
*       Laying the foundations for Hilf al-Fudul <ref name=":28">Murūj ‘al-Dhahab wa Ma`ādin ‘al-Jawhar, vol. 3, p. 9</ref>
*       The decision to murder the Holy Prophet which resulted in his and all of the other Muslims’ migration to Madinah <ref name=":10" /> <ref name=":29">Ṭabaqāt, vol. 1, p. 193-4</ref>

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[[Category:History]]
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==References==
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