The Sacred Temple and the Focal Point

Supernaut

Salaam,

Think of the expression "to keep an eye on something".

Forgive me, but you're being vague. Was God telling the Israelites to keep an eye on their homes in Egypt? Also, there are other verses that seem to indicate that the Qiblah is a physical location, rather than just a spiritual one

2144 We see the shifting of your face towards the sky; We will thus set for you a focal point that will be pleasing to you ?You shall set yourself towards the Sacred Temple; and wherever you may be, you shall all set yourselves towards it.? Those who have been given the Scripture know it is the truth from their Lord. And God is not unaware of what you do.

anthonywallace

Salaam,

Forgive me, but you're being vague. Was God telling the Israelites to keep an eye on their homes in Egypt? Also, there are other verses that seem to indicate that the Qiblah is a physical location, rather than just a spiritual one

2144 We see the shifting of your face towards the sky; We will thus set for you a focal point that will be pleasing to you ?You shall set yourself towards the Sacred Temple; and wherever you may be, you shall all set yourselves towards it.? Those who have been given the Scripture know it is the truth from their Lord. And God is not unaware of what you do.

We are being instructed to turn that way. When we go out, that is were we should be going.

werever we at, we should turn in that direction.

when we pray face that direction...

Towrds the Sacred Temple is the focus.

ect...

liquiddharma

Ah, I think I get it now. The sacred temple is our private parts. The commandment to pilgrimage is the commandment to marry.

anthonywallace

Ah, I think I get it now. The sacred temple is our private parts. The commandment to pilgrimage is the commandment to marry.

stop it.

lali

Peace all,

Apologies as I'm normally just a lurker on this forum but as I read the posts today, something really struck me that hasn't before in the countless discussions on hajj in this forum. I will post a link at the bottom which funnily enough I read today, which after reading these posts has finally after much trying opened my eyes to what the concept of hajj could be about.

Focusing on the following ideas and concepts - the feast, believers volunteering to feed the hungry and 'those passing through' - meaning curious passers by? those looking for a free meal? - all bring up a vivid picture of a sense of community. I think maybe its been touched on that the hajj, the gathering of people for this marked occasion, is for all people not just those who are doing it for spiritual/religious reasons?

If you click on the link it might be worthwhile to keep these concepts in mind and see how the concept of hajj could be practised by us who consider ourselves on the straight path. I like that there are parallels of the richer members of the community donating to the langar and helping to sustain it even though they might not physically be volunteering ('making pilgrimage&#039

http//www.worldchanging.com/archives/006211.html

Sorry, no backing up from the quran's verses as I feel you guys have already done a brilliant job to open up the discussion on what a pilgrimage might constitute.

Hopefully, next step for us? Based on our collective understandings (we are requested to follow from the best of it?) maybe we can all join up once a year in our regions to make pilgrimages which purify us through the acts of service we offer to those on pilgrimage and those passing through, rather than feeling lost about what the key to pilgrimage as described in the book is. This way we don't sit on our hands, we do good in the hope that we are following on the straight path. And what could be straighter than what is described in the article and in the posts above?

Peace and look forward to your thoughts!

liquiddharma

stop it.

But think about all the domes and minarets of Islamic architecture. They're clearly fertility symbols, phallus's and breasts. The meaning of it is that the soul must be creative.

http//www.abhuk.com/images/kaaba.jpg http//farm3.static.flickr.com/2161/2025296727_6275e061fa.jpg?v=0

Supernaut

But think about all the domes and minarets of Islamic architecture. They're clearly fertility symbols, phallus's and breasts. The meaning of it is that the soul must be creative.

http//www.abhuk.com/images/kaaba.jpg http//farm3.static.flickr.com/2161/2025296727_6275e061fa.jpg?v=0

You're seeing what you want to. I see no breasts or phalli and breasts don't help much in reproduction.

liquiddharma

Have you never read any feminist literature in your life? Nor anything by Freud? Let's not try and take all the fun out of fundamentalism sun

rsw

You're seeing what you want to. I see no breasts or phalli and breasts don't help much in reproduction.

While I don't agree minarets or domes are reproductive symbols (feminists will tell you ANYTHING is a reproductive symbol because they want to keep your mind focused on sexual issues), breasts do help in reproduction. They play two parts

helping attract mates (in conjuction with the rest of the female's features and attributes)
as well as feeding the child after it's birth.

the first part is kind of insignificant (but definitely has effect) but the second part is necessary for reproduction. just having a kid doesn't end 'reproduction', if you don't feed it it's going to die and without breasts mammals couldn't exist.

But yeah; just because something is long doesn't mean the person who designed it had weiners on the mind (a minaret happens to be a very resource-efficient structure for reaching a high altitude with a small footprint), and just because something is semispherical doesn't mean it's designer was thinking about breasts (a dome roof is a novel method of achieving high ceilings indoors, plus it doesn't collect water and is incredibly sturdy).

rsw

Peace all,

Apologies as I'm normally just a lurker on this forum but as I read the posts today, something really struck me that hasn't before in the countless discussions on hajj in this forum. I will post a link at the bottom which funnily enough I read today, which after reading these posts has finally after much trying opened my eyes to what the concept of hajj could be about.

Focusing on the following ideas and concepts - the feast, believers volunteering to feed the hungry and 'those passing through' - meaning curious passers by? those looking for a free meal? - all bring up a vivid picture of a sense of community. I think maybe its been touched on that the hajj, the gathering of people for this marked occasion, is for all people not just those who are doing it for spiritual/religious reasons?

If you click on the link it might be worthwhile to keep these concepts in mind and see how the concept of hajj could be practised by us who consider ourselves on the straight path. I like that there are parallels of the richer members of the community donating to the langar and helping to sustain it even though they might not physically be volunteering ('making pilgrimage&#039

http//www.worldchanging.com/archives/006211.html

Sorry, no backing up from the quran's verses as I feel you guys have already done a brilliant job to open up the discussion on what a pilgrimage might constitute.

Hopefully, next step for us? Based on our collective understandings (we are requested to follow from the best of it?) maybe we can all join up once a year in our regions to make pilgrimages which purify us through the acts of service we offer to those on pilgrimage and those passing through, rather than feeling lost about what the key to pilgrimage as described in the book is. This way we don't sit on our hands, we do good in the hope that we are following on the straight path. And what could be straighter than what is described in the article and in the posts above?

Peace and look forward to your thoughts!

Also it's a shame to let this post get lost in the thread; you bring up some very good points. If 'hajj' is a 'food not bombs' type of affair that would make sense that those who can't participate can donate instead. Indeed it's a method by which we can participate in both introspective activities as well as maintaining a positive effect on those in our community and those "passing through." You put it well, better than I can. What confuses me is why is hajj designated for certain 'months,' this seems to be something we should do as often as we could, theoretically until charity and free meals takes over the 'your-money-or-your-life' method and humanity lives in peace & harmony etc. etc. etc. but that might be my own idealistic malarky from years ago bleeding through .