Who built the kaaba that is in Mecca?
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The following article is a sample article from the ?Encyclopaedia of the Qurn? at Brill Online. The article deals with some important aspects of the modern day hajj and its contradictions. Find the complete article at http//www.brillonline.nl/public/pilgrimage#content#content
Encyclopaedia of the Qurn
Pilgrimage
A journey to a holy place, and the religious activities associated with it. The words most often translated as pilgrimage, both in the Qurn and with regard to Muslim ritual (see ritual and the qurn ), are ajj and umra. The word ajj occurs nine times in five different verses (in q 2189, three times; in q 2196, three times; and once each in q 2197, q 93 and q 2227), umra twice in one verse only (q 2196) but there are also a number of related nominal and verbal forms for each. With reference to Muslim practice, ajj is sometimes distinguished as the major pilgrimage, umra as the minor, but whether one is speaking of the Qurn or of Muslim practice, the word pilgrimage is not really an adequate indication of what ajj and umra involve. The English word commonly suggests a journey to a sacred place made as a religious act. The focus is on the journey itself, even though the pilgrim may participate in religious ceremonies and rituals once the object of the pilgrimage has been reached. Those who make ajj and umra, it is true, have nearly always traveled long distances to Mecca (q.v.) in order to do so, and a substantial part of the journey has to be made in the sacral state known as irm, but it is the rites and ceremonies that are performed after arriving that really constitute the ajj or the umra. If consideration is restricted to the relevant qurnic passages without reference to Muslim practice, it is questionable how far they evoke the idea of pilgrimage as journey, although it could not be ruled out that traveling to perform ajj or umra is envisaged.
The traditional Arabic lexicographers associate the verbal forms ajja and itamara with the idea of travelling to a place (especially the sanctuary; see kaba) for the purpose of a visit (ziyra) but that possibly reflects standard Muslim practice and may not be an accurate guide to the basic meaning of the words. The roots -j(-j) (or -w-j) and -m-r occur in other Semitic languages apart from Arabic but it is difficult to determine basic meanings for them. The use of cognate words to elucidate the meaning of ajj and umra is complicated by the fact that Semiticists sometimes use Arabic materials influenced by Islam to attempt to clarify the vocabulary of, say, Hebrew or south Arabian. -j(-j), it has been suggested, has a number of possible meanings including procession, round, dance or festival. It has been argued that basically it refers to the act of dancing or processing around an altar or other cultic object, and that that relates to the ritual of the circumambulation (awf) of the Kaba, which is an important part of both ajj and umra. In the Bible the Hebrew aj is usually translated simply as festival or feast, although it could involve the participants in journeying to the place, Jerusalem or elsewhere, where the aj was to be held (e.g. Exod 2314-7; Deut 1616). In that light the Arabic ajj might be understood as a ?pilgrim festival.? The root -m-r is harder to document in any sense securely related to the Arabic umra.
As well as the nine qurnic attestations of ajj, q 397 proclaims ijj (sic) al-bayt (bayt referring to the house or sanctuary associated with Abraham; see abraham; house, domestic and divine) as a duty owed to God for anyone who can find a way to it (mani staa ilayhi sablan). This is the verse that is understood as establishing the obligation (farḍ for every Muslim to make ajj at least once in his lifetime; possible justifications for failing to meet the obliga-tion are discussed in commentary on the phrase ?for anyone who can find a way to it.? Generally, ijj is seen as no more than a dialectical variant of ajj without significance as to meaning, although there are some attempts to make distinctions in meaning between the two vocalizations. q 2158 uses the verbal forms ajja and itamara (man ajja l-bayta awi tamara). q 919 has the noun jj, apparently indicating someone making ajj, in the context of a rhetorical question ?Do you count providing water for him who makes ajj, and habitation of al-masjid al-arm (see profane and sacred ), as comparable with believing in God and the last day and making jihd (q.v.) in the way of God (see path or way; last judgment; faith)?? The references to ajj and umra sometimes occur in the context of more extended passages which contain regulations for those making them or which relate in some way to the sanctuary at which they take place. The qurnic verses do not, however, contain sufficient detail to enable us to use them as a blueprint even for those rituals to which they allude, and there are many aspects of the Muslim sanctuary and its pilgrimage ceremonies to which no allusion is made in the Qurn. The detailed Islamic regulations regarding these pilgrimages, therefore, do not depend primarily upon qurnic passages.
Furthermore, it sometimes seems that there is a degree of tension between Muslim practice or legal doctrines and some of the qurnic materials. The commentators, naturally, attempt to interpret the verses and the more extended passages, and to address the problems which they raise, with the Muslim forms of ajj and umra in mind. They assume that the passages are concerned with the Kaba at Mecca and its related sacred places and that they not only refer to, but to some extent provide a warrant for, the ajj and the umra as we know them from Muslim law and practice (see law and the qurn).
In some cases, however, the qurnic materials are problematical from that point of view, and much of the interest in reading the commentaries on the verses relating to ajj and umra consists in observing how the texts are accommodated to later Muslim assumptions. In general, it seems that while there are definite points of contact (e.g. in terminology and some proper names) between the qurnic passages and the pilgrimages as we know them from Muslim law and practice, it cannot be said that all the scriptural passages fit easily with the normative Muslim forms of ajj, umra, and the sanctuary with which they are associated. The following examples illustrate some apparent disjunctions and some of the interpretative strategies that seem to be adopted in order to overcome them.
q 2158 reads ?Al-af and al-Marwa (see af and marwa ) are among the signs (shair) of God. Whoever makes ajj of the sanctuary (al-bayt) or umra, no wrong attaches to him if he makes circumambulation of the two (l juna alayhi an yaawwafa bi-himā. Whoever performs something good voluntarily (wa-man taawwaa khayran), God recognizes and knows (it).? Commentators here unanimously identify al-af and al-Marwa as the two small elevations known by those names in Mecca, the former just to the south-east, the latter to the north-east, of the mosque which contains the Kaba, about 400 yards apart. The ritual of the Muslim ajj and umra includes a seven-times-repeated passage between al-af and al-Marwa, part of which has to be covered at a faster than walking pace. For that reason the ritual is ordinarily referred to as the say (literally, ?run?). The commentators, usually without discussion, identify the Islamic say with the circum-ambulation implied in the Qurn's an yaawwafa bi-him even though the Islamic ritual here can only questionably be described as a circumambulation. In discussions of the ritual in adth (see adth and the qurn) and jurisprudence (fiqh) it is usually referred to as say but awf is not infrequent. The major issue discussed in connection with this verse, however, is why it is stated that ?no wrong attaches to? (l juna alā the person who makes the awf of al-af and al-Marwa when it is virtually unanimously accepted in Islam that the ritual is an integral part of both ajj and umra. A well-known report tells us that Urwa b. al-Zubayr asked isha (see isha bint ab bakr) whether it meant that no wrong accrued to a person who did not make the awf between them, an interpretation which she strongly rejected.
There are several variant reports intended to explain how something which is regarded as meritorious, and by most as obligatory, should be described as incurring no wrong (jun is often glossed as ithm, ?sin?; see sin, major and minor). Most attempt to do so by referring, with variant details, to a group, which before Islam avoided al-af and al-Marwa because they were associated with idolatry (see idolatry and idolaters; polytheism and atheism ) and therefore had qualms about making the awf of them in Islam. The wording of the verse was intended to reassure them that God did not disapprove of the rite once its idolatrous associations had been removed. Another ?occasion of revelation? (see occasions of revelation) report refers to a group that did make this awf before Islam and were puzzled when God ordered the awf of the Kaba (q 2229 is understood to mean that) but did not mention the two hills. They asked the Prophet whether there was anything wrong in making the awf of al-af and al-Marwa and then the verse was revealed.
Some claimed that the passage between the two elevations is not an obligatory part of the ritual of ajj and umra and, in addition to suggesting that the verse may be read ?there is no harm in not making circumambulation of the two,? wanted to see its concluding words, ?whoever voluntarily does something good, God is thankful and cognizant,? as a reference to the voluntary nature of this say/awf. That was rejected by the majority who insisted that the ritual is an integral part of both ajj and umra, and said that the concluding words of the verse allude to those who make a voluntary ajj or umra ? it has nothing to do with al-af and al-Marwa. Among those who insisted that the ritual was obligatory, there were differences of opinion about the consequences of failing to perform the passage between al-af and al-Marwa when making the obligatory once-in-a-lifetime ajj (ijjat al-islm) can missing it be compensated for by a recompense (fidya) of a blood offering (see sacrifice ) like some of the other rites, or does it require a return to Mecca in person to perform it? There are conflicting views on this point.
Similar problems arise concerning the command at the beginning of the long verse q 2196 ?Complete the ajj and the umra for God.? Commentary on this phrase is fundamentally concerned to establish the distinction between ajj and umra (what rituals each involves) and with the issue of whether, as the wording might imply, the umra is obligatory (far wjib) like the ajj, or merely voluntary as the majority view in Islam holds.
Some proponents of the voluntary nature of umra read that word in the nominative case, giving the sense, ?complete the ajj but the umra is for God?.? Others who hold this understanding of the voluntary nature of umra maintained the standard reading, with umra in the accusative, but argued that ?complete? (atimmū means ?complete it when you have undertaken to perform it.? To the accusation that that could mean that the ajj also is voluntary, they responded by arguing that it is q 397 and not this verse which establishes the obligatory nature for every Muslim of at least one ajj. Those who held the umra to be obligatory preferred the standard reading and supported their argument with adths in which the Prophet included umra among the obligatory things required of a Muslim. Their opponents rejected the validity of those adths and countered with ones proclaiming the opposite.
The continuation of q 2196 then presents a different problem regarding the accommodation of the text to extra-qurnic considerations. One immediately noticeable and surprising feature in the commentaries is the amount of attention given to the meaning of the expression ?if you are detained? (fa-in uirtum) in the regulations about what should be done if you are unable to fulfil the verse's initial command to ?complete the ajj and the umra for God.? Generally it is agreed that this means, ?if you are detained when you have undertaken to make ajj or umra.? In that case, according to the verse, the person prevented from fulfilling the injunction made at its opening must make ?a convenient offering? (m staysara mina l-hady; see consecration of animals) and must remain in the sacral state of irm (?do not shave your heads?) until the animal offerings arrive at the time and place for slaughter (q.v.; att yablugha l-hadyu maillahu). There is, however, quite complex discussion about the circumstances that may lead to detention. Does it mean only such things as illness (see illness and health), injury to one's mount, and financial difficulties (see poverty and the poor); does it refer only to detention by an enemy (see enemies) or a human agent such as a ruler; or does it cover all of these possible causes? Those questions are related to the fact that it is widely accepted that this verse was revealed at the time when the Prophet and his companions were prevented by his Meccan opponents from completing an intended umra on which they had started (see opposition to muammad). Most of the reports about that incident say that the Prophet ordered his companions to slaughter the animal offerings (hady) at al-udaybiya (q.v.) where they had been stopped. Most agree that al-udaybiya was outside the sacred territory (the aram; see sacred precincts), that the Prophet did not imply that he and his companions had any further obligations once the hady had been slaughtered, but that in the following year he went to Mecca and performed an umra (known as umrat al-qa or umrat al-qaiyya, ?the umra of completion?). This tradition seems to conflict with the regulations set out in q 2196 concerning someone who is ?detained? from completing ajj or umra ? that abandoning the sacred state should not take place until the animal offerings reach their time and place for slaughter. The complex and detailed discussions in the commentaries on this verse display varying attitudes as to whether priority should be accorded to the tradition about the Prophet's behavior at al-udaybiya, to the regulations set out in the verse (and further elaborated by some of the scholars), or to practicality. Generally the Mliks emphasize the importance of the tradition about al-udaybiya as a model for someone intending to make umra but who is then prevented from completing it through detention by an enemy. Anyone detained by any other cause must not leave the consecrated state (except in the case of an illness the treatment of which necessitates this) until he has reached Mecca and performed an umra. Al-abar's (d. 310/923; Tafsr, ad loc.) account of the Mlik understanding of q 2196 and of the way in which they relate it to their doctrine is, however, hard to understand and does not seem completely logical. Others give priority to the wording of the verse and some attempt to harmonize it with the udaybiya tradition by excluding detention by an enemy from the cases covered by fa-in uirtum. In general, the complex arguments of the commentators on this part of the verse may be understood as the result of their attempts to interpret it in the light of existing practice, law and other material regarded as relevant for determining practice.
A further example of the difficulties which arise when attempting to interpret the qurnic material with the Muslim rituals in mind is provided by q 2198-9. q 2198 tells believers that after making ifa (fa-idh afatum) from Araft (q.v.) they should remember God by al-mashar al-arm; the next verse orders them to ?then? make ifa from where the people make it (thumma af min aythu afa l-nsu). In the Muslim ajj rituals, Araft, a hill about twenty-five kilometers to the east of Mecca, is the site of the ceremony of the wuqf, without which, according to several traditions and legal authorities, ajj is invalid. The wuqf, the ?standing? ritual, takes place on the flat ground on the side of the hill towards Mecca on the 9th of Dh l-ijja. Outside the Qurn the name of the hill often occurs in the form Arafa, and the commentators discuss and offer various explanations for the seemingly feminine plural form of the name in the Qurn and for its etymology associating it with the verb arafa, ?to know, to recognize,? they relate various stories involving earlier prophets (especially Adam or Abraham) who recognized people or things there (see adam and eve).The attempted identification of al-mashar al-arm is more complex and, to some extent, inconsistent. Al-mashar is understood to mean the same as al-malam, ?a place in or by which something is known, a place in which there is a sign? ? here, a place in which rituals of the ajj take place. Statements attempting to locate al-mashar al-arm give various specifications. Common to many of them is the idea that it is associated with al-Muzdalifa, the destination of a procession (ifa) from Arafa in the Muslim ajj. The simplest statement is of the form ?all of al-Muzdalifa is al-mashar al-arm.? Others are more specific but at the same time more confusing, while some seem to indicate a much wider area. For example, Ibn Umar is reported to have said when he stood ?at the furthest part of the hills (jibl) adjoining Araft? that ?all of it is mashir to the furthest point of the aram.? In notable reports cited by al-abar, Ibn Jurayj seems not to know the location of al-Muzdalifa while Abd al-Ramn b. al-Aswad said that he could not find anybody who could tell him about al-mashar al-arm. Al-abar comments on these traditions in ways which limit their apparent significance. The verbal noun ifa, literally a ?pouring out? or ?pouring forth,? is understood as referring to a sort of hasty procession when the pilgrims pour forth from one place, where they have been gathered together, to another. The name is given to various ?processions? involved in the ajj ceremonies, but it most commonly refers to that to al-Muzdalifa from the plain in front of the hill of Arafa. At al-Muzdalifa the pilgrims spend the night before going to Min on the next day. It may be this which leads to the attempts to identify al-mashar al-arm in connection with al-Muzdalifa. There is then a problem with the command, ?then make ifa from where the people make ifa,? at the beginning of q 2199, since it comes after the phrase ?when you have made ifa from Araft? in q 2198. Some understand the same ifa, i.e. that from Araft to al-Muzdalifa, to be referred to in both passages and see the latter command as addressed specifically to the Quraysh (q.v.) of Mecca who, in the Age of Ignorance (q.v.; jhiliyya), belonged to a group called the ums. The ums, we are told, regarded it as beneath them to go outside the aram at the time of the ajj. Since Araft lies outside the sacred area, they would not go to join in the ifa thence like the rest of the people. That explains the apparent difficulty of having the command introduced after the allusion which suggests that the duty had already been fulfilled. Another approach is to see the ifa commanded in the second passage as different from that in the former while the former is that from Arafa to al-Muzdalifa, the latter is that from al-Muzdalifa to Min (sometimes called the daffʿ. The command is understood as addressed to the Muslims generally while ?the people? (al-ns) is interpreted as a reference to Abraham. Al-abar himself prefers this second possibility even though it is a minority one and even though it involves explaining how the collective ns could refer to a single individual. His reasoning is that he does not think that God would say ?when you have made the ifa? in the previous verse and then begin this one with the words ?then make ifa? if the same ifa was meant both times.
In q 2203 the ?numbered days? (ayym maddt) on which we are commanded to remember God are generally identified as the so-called ayym al-tashrq of the Muslim ajj, the three days spent at Min following the slaughter of the animal offerings there. The following statement that no sin (ithm) is incurred by those who ?make haste in two days? (man taajjala f yawmayn) nor by those who ?delay? (man taakhkhara), so long as there is fear (q.v.) of God, is generally understood to mean that there is nothing wrong with departing from Min after two days nor with doing so after three. Since the latter is the normal accepted practice, however, that raises the same question which we have seen asked about the qurnic reference to al-af and al-Marwa why would God say that no sin is incurred by doing something regarded as a normal part of the ajj rituals? An alternative way of interpreting this verse ? that it is alluding to the Muslim belief that a properly accomplished ajj frees the pilgrim from some or all of his sins, and that that applies whether one cuts short the ayym al-tashrq or remains at Min until they have finished ? is probably to be understood as an attempt to avoid the difficulty inherent in the previous interpretation.The mention in q 396 of the ?first house (bayt)? at Bakka,? which is naturally understood as a reference to the Kaba at Mecca (Makka), involves the commentators in variant explanations as to why the Qurn uses the form Bakka. It seems obvious that all of the suggested explanations are simply attempts to account for something of which the commentators had no real knowledge, and the way in which it is done ? e.g. by reference to the crowding (izdim, a word the root of which is said to have the same meaning as that of bakka) of the people in the circumambulation of the Kaba ? again illustrates the way in which the commentators attempt to relate the qurnic material to the Muslim pilgrimage rituals.
Finally in this connection there may be noted the difficulties the commentators have with the expression al-ajj al-akbar, ?the greater ajj,? in q 93 (?a proclamation from God and his messenger to the people on the day of al-ajj al-akbar?). Here there is considerable diversity in interpretation of the phrase some wish to explain it as referring to a particular day or particular days of the ajj rituals ? the day of the ?standing? at Arafa, the day of the slaughter of the victims, etc.; most associate it with the ajj led by Ab Bakr immediately following the conquest of Mecca by the Prophet, but some with the ?Farewell Pilgrimage? (q.v.) led by the Prophet himself in the last year of his life, and they give variant explanations of why the one or the other should be called al-ajj al-akbar; yet others explain it by reference to the distinction between the ?major? pilgrimage (the ajj) and the ?minor? pilgrimage (the umra which may, allegedly, be called al-ajj al-aghar), or between a ajj combined with an umra and a ajj performed alone. Again it seems obvious that the commentators have no real understanding of the phrase but try to make sense of it by aligning it with Muslim practice and, in this case, with traditions relating to the life of the Prophet.
It might be argued that, in spite of disjunctions of the sort illustrated above, the qurnic materials nevertheless reflect institutions and practices that are not radically different from those of Islam. Much of the qurnic terminology, after all, is used also in Muslim law and ritual practice, and the few proper names that occur (al-af, al-Marwa, Araft) are those of places in or near Mecca. On the other hand, it might be thought that the relative paucity and lack of detail of the qurnic verses concerning ajj and umra make it impossible to judge the extent to which they envisage the same rites in the same places as does classical Islam. Not only are some rites and places which are of major importance in Muslim practice (e.g. Zamzam, Min, the wuqf, the stoning ritual; see stoning; springs and fountains) not mentioned at all in the Qurn, those names which do occur may not indicate the same things as they do in classical Islam. The traditional accounts of how the Meccan sanctuary and the rites associated with it came to be incorporated into Islam assume a basic continuity. According to tradition, the Prophet took over the Kaba and the other places in the vicinity of Mecca and did not radically change the rituals which at the time constituted the ajj and the umra. He cleansed them of the idolatry which polluted them and restored the pristine monotheism which had existed when Abraham built the Kaba and summoned humankind to make ajj and umra, but apart from that he made only minor and marginal alterations (see anf).
Some scholars have suggested that the changes involved in the identification of the Meccan sanctuary as the Muslim sanctuary were more significant. Following Snouck Hurgronje and Wellhausen, many have argued that the evidence points to a unification of a number of originally distinct and independent holy places and rituals in a way that focused them on the Kaba at Mecca. According to that view, the ajj originally had nothing to do with Mecca or the Kaba but concerned Mount Arafa and other holy places at some distance from Mecca. It was the umra which was originally the ritual associated with the Kaba.
The phrasing of q 2158 with its apparent concern to reassure the hearers that awf of al-af and al-Marwa was an acceptable part of ajj or umra has sometimes been explained by reference to that idea it reflects an early stage in the process in which the rituals of the umra came to be incorporated in the ajj and perhaps mirrors the objections of those who questioned the validity of that incorporation. (For a different approach, see Burton, Collection, 12, 16, 30-1.)
A particularly difficult passage in q 2196 might also reflect such a development. Following the section, discussed above, which establishes rules for those ?detained? from meeting the command to ?complete the ajj and the umra for God,? we then read ?and when you are in security, then whoever enjoys/benefits from the umra to/for/until the ajj (man tamattaa bi-l-umrati il l-ajji), then a convenient offering (m staysara mina l-hady).?
?When you are in security? (fa-idh amintum) is understood as meaning ?when the circumstances which detained you no longer pertain.? Commentary then concerns itself with the knotty issue of what is meant by the tamattu referred to in the following phrase. In their discussions commentators and other traditional scholars also use the forms muta and istimt and they reflect a variety of understandings of what the phrase means. The relevant phrase in q 2196 (man tamattaa bi-l-umrati il l-ajji) is difficult to translate, and attempts to interpret it reflect ideas current in Islamic practice or legal theory.
What most interpretations have in common is that tamattu (or istimt or muta) involves a premature abandonment of the consecrated state on the part of the pilgrim. For example, one of the most common understandings of the concept is that the pilgrim has begun by intending to perform both umra and ajj and has stated that intention when he adopted irm. On arriving at Mecca before the ajj has started he performs an umra and then leaves the state of irm, thus removing restrictions regarding such things as toilet, dress and sexual activity (see sex and sexuality; ritual purity ). He remains in this normal, desacralized state until the time for the ajj arrives, when he once more enters irm and remains in the sacralized state until the ajj is over. For that break in irm he is liable to the penalty of an offering or something in lieu of it. -
The issue is a contentious one and the traditions report disputes about it among the Companions and Successors (see companions of the prophet). In spite of this qurnic verse which treats tamattu in a rather matter-of-fact way even though it does say that an offering must be made by anyone who takes advantage of it, and in spite of traditions which tell us that the Prophet told his Companions to avail themselves of muta (but one often involving a different understanding of it to that just summarized) at the time of the Farewell Pilgrimage, there are reports that some Companions and caliphs (see caliph) disapproved of and even forbade it. The caliph Umar figures prominently in such reports. Nevertheless, the Sunn schools of law (madhhabs) all recognize the validity of the procedure and the Shs (see shism and the qurn ) even recommend it as the preferred way of performing ajj.
A related verbal form occurs in q 424 (m stamtatum bihi minhunna), where it clearly refers to the sexual enjoyment of women by men, and the word muta is more widely known as the name of a form of temporary marriage (q.v.), where the contract specifies for how long the marriage will last (see also marriage and divorce). This form of marriage, as is well known, is generally rejected by Sunn Islam but it is accepted as valid by the Sha. In order to distinguish between it and the muta that may be involved in making pilgrimage it is sometimes called mutat al-nis and the latter mutat al-ajj. Traditional scholarship and many modern scholars have insisted on the essential distinctness of the two forms of muta. A b. Ab Rab is quoted as insisting that the muta connected with ajj is so called because it involves making umra during the months of the ajj and ?enjoying? or ?benefiting from? the umra for (or until?) the ajj; it is not so called, he insists, because it makes permitted the enjoyment of women (wa-lam tusamma l-muta min ajli annahu yuallu bi-tamattui l-nisʾ. Some modern scholars, however, have argued that the two mutas were originally closely connected, essentially that the premature abandonment of irm in the case of mutat al-ajj was intended to allow the pilgrim to resume normal sexual activity and that the temporary liaisons allowed by mutat al-nis were associated with the making of ajj. The evidence and competing views have been extensively investigated by Arthur Gribetz.It may be that this qurnic passage also reflects the merging in early Islamic times of the previously distinct rituals of ajj and umra. The preferred way of performing ajj and umra ? whether both separately, both combined, or one of them only ? is much discussed and variously evaluated in Muslim law. A few scholars have gone further and envisaged more radical discontinuities in the development of the Muslim sanctuary and the rituals associated with it. Some have suggested the transference not only of ideas but also of ritual practices and nomenclature from other places to Mecca at a time in the emergence of Islam considerably later than the death of the Prophet. The qurnic materials are not inconsistent with such theories which, however, really depend on other evidence regarding the development of the sanctuary and the rituals associated with it in early Islam.
Gerald Hawting
Bibliography
Primary
Bukhr, a, ed. Krehl, 384-443, 443-51
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abar, Tafsr
Secondary
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id., The Kaba. Aspects of its ritual functions and position in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, in jsai 8 (1986), 97-131
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Hawting, Gerald. "Pilgrimage ." Encyclopaedia of the Qurn. General Editor Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC. Brill, 2006. Brill Online.http//www.brillonline.nl/public/pilgrimage
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Peace all,
I hope you read the following with an open and clear mind, without any bias or pre-conceived notions. My purpose is to present you with the relevant information, facts, and evidences and to convey the message and not to engage in a debate on this thread. This issue has already been comprehensively debated and discussed in the recent past on this forum and I would strongly urge you to go through all the relevant articles and threads, some of which have been referenced by the links provided below.
Several errors?
Ok! then what is your translation for it?I already pointed out the specific errors in my post and you even quoted that part of my post. Read it again
The above translation contains several errors. 2226 tells us about the "location" of the "bayt"/sanctuary/house, not establishing a "shrine".
2227 tells us to call the people with "the hajj", not "the hajj pilgrimage" ! There is only one "hajj" in that verse. It does not say "alhajj alhajj".
The red parts are your mistranslations and the blue parts are the corrections.
Is Kaaba a black shrine??
Why do you call it a Black Shrine??
Are you talking about the stone?
The stone is a dark reddish brown color and its diameter is about 12 inches (30.5 centimeters).
Are their any Idols in it?2226 talks about the sanctuary/house, not a shrine. A "shrine" is a place full of idols where those idols are venerated, and the "shrine" named as Kaaba in Mecca is also veiled with black cloth, hence a "black shrine".
The fertility goddesses of the Arab pagans were often in the shape of imperfect cubes just like the so called Kaaba in Mecca and were often veiled with a black "dress". A stone could be of any color, size, or shape, and if it is venerated, it becomes an idol. Stones like the one in Kaaba in Mecca were commonly associated with such goddesses. Then there is the dilated vulva shaped enclosure housing the stone, precisely aligned with the winter sunrise, symbolising the fertility goddess of the pagans. There are some other idols in the vicinity of the so called Kaaba too, like the "foot print" idol and the floral design around it which is a common pagan symbol. These idols were venerated by performing pagan rituals such as mindlessly spinning seven times around them and kissing them, just like it is done in Mecca.
Please read the following article for further details
http//free-minds.org/articles/history/ayman1.htm
Also please go through the following discussions on this forum in the past
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=13210.msg112065#msg112065
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=13210.msg112225#msg112225
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=13210.msg112042#msg112042
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=11105.0
Following are some of the reasons the so called Kaaba in Mecca could not have been the one appointed to Abraham, and the one at which Prophet Muhammad performed hajj
2226 clearly tells us that the location of the pure house is DO NOT SET UP PARTNERS WITH THE GOD. The so called Kaaba in Mecca cannot be the house talked about in 2226 because it is full of pagan idols as shown above, and per 2226 the house appointed to Abraham is where no partners are set up with The God, i.e. it should not contain any pagan idols. Where in the Qur'aan do you read of all those pagan structures that are to be found in the so called Kaaba at Mecca ? Where in the Qur'aan do you read of all the pagan rituals and pagan customs performed there during the hajj ?
- And the majority of them do not have faith in The God except while they are idolaters.
Also as per 397, there should be signs of Abraham IN it. What signs of Abraham do you see IN it (not outside it) ?
Per 397, the hajj is for the people (meaning all the people of the world, not just muslims), and all the people should be able to enter the house in safety and security. Does the so called Kaaba in Mecca fulfill this condition ? Are all the people, including non-muslims allowed to enter it safely per 397 ?
Another reason is that according to Qur'aanic evidence, Prophet Muhammad was not in the vicinity of Mecca but in the vicinity of the Dead Sea area. Also there is no evidence of Abraham and his sons and Moses and Jesus having ever come to Mecca.
Please read the following articles for details about the location of Prophet Muhammad
http//free-minds.org/articles/history/moh.htm
http//free-minds.org/articles/history/ayman1.htm
Also please go through all the links to an internet debate on google groups relevant to this topic, which I referenced in the following earlier post in this thread
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=14268.msg127132#msg127132
Yes that does not make them pure house becuase they are full of idols, so this is what I am saying; what is your point?
Exactly ! Those pagan temples cannot be the pure house because they are full of idols, even though a lot of people perform pilgrimage to them and go there walking and riding. Just like that the so called Kaaba at Mecca cannot be the pure house at which the people are asked to perform the hajj, unless it is cleansed and purified of all the pagan idols, pagan rituals, and pagan customs per 2226, and all the people including non-muslims are allowed to enter it safely and securely per 397.
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Another reason is that according to Qur'aanic evidence, Prophet Muhammad was not in the vicinity of Mecca but in the vicinity of the Dead Sea area. Also there is no evidence of Abraham and his sons and Moses and Jesus having ever come to Mecca.
Brother Tanveer are you serious about that? nope
Can I find any one complete article about that issue please?
Am already....... &
peace
Hamsa
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Peace bro Hamsa,
Can I find any one complete article about that issue please?
Looks like you did not read the articles I referenced right below the part of my post quoted by you. Please do your homework and go through ALL the referenced links ! P
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According to the article I've read
Baca is Jerusalem
City of Jerusalem was the home of Abraham and Mohammed and many other prophets. Then what does the following verse mean
- And you were not on this side of the mountain when We called, but a mercy from your Lord that you may warn a people TO WHOM NO WARNER CAME BEFORE YOU, that they may be mindful.
Why FM tranlsation is different
FM 302 The Romans have won.
Others
Yusuf Ali The Roman Empire has been defeated-
Pickthal The Romans have been defeated
Shakir The Romans are vanquished,peace
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Peace Hamsa,
The point was to show that Prophet Muhammad was not located in Mecca. I disagree with Layth's article that "bakka" is the proper name of a location. It is a common noun as used in al-qur'aan and not a proper name. Looks like you missed my post in which I commented on that
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=14268.msg127133#msg127133
2846 is actually proof that Prophet Muhammad was not located in Jerusalem either. He was probably from North Arabian Lakhmid province area in the vicinity of the ruins of the town of Lot. Brother Ayman's article gives this location of the Prophet based on orthographic evidence from the Qur'aan. Please read the first part of the following article I referenced
http//free-minds.org/articles/history/ayman1.htm
Also see the following
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9527.0
As far as 302 is concerned, please read the following discussion
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9510.msg39822#msg39822 (onwards)
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Thanks.......I'll come again after I read them... peace
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Peace all,
I have read about the Kaaba and I think tanveer's claim has some weight. However, a question which I think is not irrelevant, if Masjid is not a physical place, would someone please clarify the following verse
2240 Yusuf Ali (They are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right,- (for no cause) except that they say, "our Lord is Allah". Did not Allah check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of Allah is commemorated in abundant measure. Allah will certainly aid those who aid his (cause);- for verily Allah is full of Strength, Exalted in Might, (able to enforce His Will).
Thanks
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peace rasulhamsa,
2240 Yusuf Ali (They are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right,- (for no cause) except that they say, "our Lord is Allah". Did not Allah check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of Allah is commemorated in abundant measure. Allah will certainly aid those who aid his (cause);- for verily Allah is full of Strength, Exalted in Might, (able to enforce His Will).
thank you for this verse bro
peace
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peace all,
According to the Qur'an, the Kaaba was built by Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Ismail (Ishmael ). Islamic traditions assert that the Kaaba "reflects" a house in heaven called al-Baytu l-Mamur (Arabic ر and that it was first built by the first man, Adam. Ibrahim and Ismail rebuilt the Kaaba on the old foundations.
Circumbulation of The Kaaba
'Tawaf' or cicumbulation (the ritual encircling of the Kaaba) starts from the Hajar Aswad - the Black Stone. The circumambulator, if possible, may kiss the stone or may direct his hand towards it saying, "In the name of Allah, Allah is great." He must circle the Kaaba seven times with the Kaaba to his left (in anti-clockwise direction).
On examination, it will be found that the entire universe which is in constant circular or elliptical rotation, is in actual fact moving in the pattern as the Tawaf. The electrons of an atom revolve around its nucleus in the same manner as making Tawaf, in an anti-clockwise direction. The ovum, prior to fertilisation actually taking place, surrounded by sperms, turns remarkably in anti-clockwise direction, thereby resembling the Tawaf. Considering the globe as a whole, it could be found that the earth has two movements. It rotates on its own axis in 24 hours causing day and night. The various seasons of the year are due to the earth's simultaneous revolution around the sun in 365 days. It is really astonishing to note that the earth, in both these movements, rotates anti-clockwise. The entire universe from the atom to the galaxies is in constant circular rotation like a circumambulator who encircles the Kaaba in the anti-clockwise direction. All objects in the universe, atoms, moon, stars, electrical current, galaxies, etc. are rotating in the same way. Moreover, the angles encircle the heavenly Baitul Ma'mur in an ever-lasting Tawaf. In the same way, the Kaaba in Makkah is never free from circumbulators. "Know that the world has come to an end when no soul will circlembulate the holy Kaaba."
http//www.jannah.org/articles/kaaba.html
what is this heavenly BAITUL MA'MUR ?
peace
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Peace brother Agentxxx,
Yes, this verse also surprised me because Muslims dont like monasteries, churches, synagogues but Allah says His name is commemorated in those places and also used Masjid along with these places which shows that Masjid is a physical place like them. But lets see what others have to say about it.
Thanks
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Peace Hamsa
Please note there is a Salawatun in the verses along with Masjid.
Would you kindly explain it?
Thanks
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Allatheena okhrijoo min diyarihim bighayri haqqin illa an yaqooloo rabbuna Allahu walawla dafAAu Allahi alnnasa baAAdahum bibaAAdin lahuddimat sawamiAAu wabiyaAAun wasalawatun wamasajidu yuthkaru feeha ismu Allahi katheeran walayansuranna Allahu man yansuruhu inna Allaha laqawiyyun AAazeezun
this is 2240
can anyone please tell me what words here are being translated as "monataries, churches and synagoges?" -
It seems they couldn't avoid the word temples though have tried hard. And how does connection fit here by the way?
Free-Mind
2240. The ones who were driven out of their homes without justice, except that they said Our Lord is God! And if it were not for God defending the people against themselves, then many places of gathering, and markets, and connections, and temples where the name of God is frequently mentioned, would have been destroyed. God will give victory to those who support Him. God is Powerful, Noble.Oh my God, would anyone who has written this translation kindly enlighten us?
Salam
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Peace Hamsa
I checked with Samia once and I guess she said "place of Salat".
Thanks bro
here is another literal translation
Literal Those who were brought/driven out from their homes/countries/places without (a) right/justice except that they say "Our Lord (is) God." And were it not for God's pushing the people some of them with some elevated and secluded monasteries , and temples (for Jews and Christians), and prayers, and mosques/places of worshipping God, God's name is mentioned/remembered in it much, would have been demolished/torn down, and God will give victory/aid (E) (to) who gives Him victory/aid, that truly God (is) strong, glorious/mighty .
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Peace Hamsa
The context does not support "prayers" in between temples and masjids and "place of salat" seem contextually sound.Masjid is from Aramaic msgd meaning place of prayer. Similarly synagogues and churches are places of prayer in different languages.
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Peace Hamsa
The context does not support "prayers" in between temples and masjids and "place of salat" seem contextually sound.Masjid is from Aramaic msgd meaning place of prayer. Similarly synagogues and churches are places of prayer in different languages.
I agree, this verse is clearly mentioning the places. I don't know if the connections is also a some kind of place. Let the person first explain who has written that translation.
May be we could get some amazing ideas.
Salam