[nasional_list] [ppiindia] The Pilgrimage - 1: Myth and Truth About the Kaaba
- From: "Ambon" <sea@xxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 03:18:51 +0100
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Monday, 14, November, 2005 (12, Shawwal, 1426)
The Pilgrimage - 1: Myth and Truth About the Kaaba
Adil Salahi, Arab News
People often wonder why we kiss the Black Stone when we do
the tawaf around the Kaaba. Some people go further and kiss the corner before
it. Certain reports suggest that Prophet Abraham only renovated the Kaaba that
was built long before him. What is the truth in all this?
We may mention first that the Kaaba is subject to all natural
phenomena that affect buildings. Hence, at times it was in danger of collapse
and needed renovation. Indeed we know that it was rebuilt by the Quraysh
shortly before the beginning of Islamic revelations. Its foundation had been
weakened by floods. The story about arbitration among the Makkans as to which
of their tribes would have the honor of putting the Black Stone in its place is
well known. The arbiter was Muhammad (pbuh) who, at the time had not received
any revelations from on high, which means that he was not yet a prophet. His
ruling averted armed conflict between the tribes that could have led to much
bloodshed.
The Kaaba was rebuilt several times, whenever its structure
showed need for strengthening or rebuilding. Abdullah ibn Al-Zubayr and Abd
Al-Malik ibn Marwan were two people who rebuilt the Kaaba. They were
contemporaries of each other and lived close to the time of the Prophet.
It is believed that the semi-circle area next to the Kaaba,
which is known as Hijr Ismaeel or Al-Hateem, was originally part of the
structure built by the Prophets Abraham and Ismael (peace be upon them).
Reports mention that when Abdullah ibn Al-Zubayr, a companion of the Prophet,
rebuilt the Kaaba, he incorporated this area in the building, but when his
rival, Abd Al-Malik ibn Marwan, a caliph who rebuilt it, he left the
semi-circle area outside it, as it is today. The tawaf, which is the act of
worship performed by walking around the Kaaba seven times, is done outside this
area because it was originally part of it. However, the Kaaba was originally of
rectangular shape. The exact position of the two corners on the side of the
semi-circle is not known now for certain. By contrast, we are sure that the
other two corners known as the Black Stone and Al-Rukn Al-Yamani are in their
original places.
We kiss the Black Stone simply because the Prophet kissed it.
We do not kiss Al-Rukn Al-Yamani because the Prophet did not do so. This is all
part of the tawaf that is an act of worship that we perform in the same way as
the Prophet did. We are recommended, however, to do like him and touch Al-Rukn
Al-Yamani with our hands and pray: "My Lord! Forgive me and have mercy on me."
There are various reports that suggest different dates of
building the Kaaba. One report mentions that it was built by angels before the
creation of Adam. This report, mentioned by Al-Qurtubi, a leading scholar and
commentator on the Qur'an, is described by Hadith scholars as "strange."
Another similarly classified report mentions Adam as its first builder, and
that in completing his task he used stones brought from five different
mountains including Mount Hira' in the vicinity of Makkah, Mount Sinai, Mount
Zita in Palestine, the mountain of Lebanon and the mountain known as Al-Judi,
on which Noah's ark landed after the floods had subsided. A third report
suggests that the first builder of the Kaaba was Prophet Sheeth, one of the
early children of Prophet Adam.
According to Imam Ibn Katheer, a leading commentator on the
Qur'an, all these reports and similar ones are based on reports contained in
the scriptures of early religions. Our attitude to such reports is that we
neither accept them as correct nor reject them as false. We simply cannot base
any views on them, unless they are corroborated by an authentic Hadith. This
means that it is possible that the Kaaba was built sometime before Prophet
Abraham and that it was raised before he was assigned the task of building it
again, but we cannot say that with any degree of certainty. All we know for
certain is that Abraham and his son Ismael built the Kaaba, because God tells
us so in the Qur'an.
The Kaaba is the focus of Islamic worship. We face it when we
pray, wherever we are in the world, and we walk around it as part of the
pilgrimage rituals. Such walk, known as tawaf, is a form of prayer, while the
pilgrimage is described as a journey to the Kaaba. However, some people try to
add some romantic flavor to the pilgrimage. Once a reader wrote to me that
there are three types of pilgrims:
1. those who answer the call of Prophet Abraham: They perform
the pilgrimage as it should be performed and return home to live as good
Muslims until they die;
2. those who answer the call of the angel Gabriel: they die
during their performance of the pilgrimage; and
3. those who hear the call of Iblis: They go home after their
pilgrimage and engage in acts that are contrary to Islam.
This is one of the strangest things I ever heard about the
pilgrimage. To start with, if the angel Gabriel makes a call to people to do
the pilgrimage, God would have told us about it, either in the Qur'an or
through the Prophet. The fact that He has not means that there is no such a
call and, therefore, the claim concerning it collapses. There is no doubt that
a pilgrim who offers his pilgrimage with sincerity and devotion and dies in the
process is in a happy position because he has done a duty which ensures
forgiveness of past sins and he has died before he has committed any new ones.
To say that he has answered an angel's call suggests that the call is made to
us all, but he is one who has the privilege of answering it. This is false.
The call of Prophet Abraham is true in the sense that when he
completed the building of the Kaaba, God instructed him to call on people to do
the pilgrimage. This is mentioned in Verse 27 of Surah 22. When he received
this order, Abraham stood on top of the Kaaba and called out to mankind: "God
commands you to do the pilgrimage. Therefore, do it." God has made the message
given in this call known to people in a variety of ways. Muslims know it since
it is one of the most essential duties of their faith. Everyone who goes on
pilgrimage with the intention of fulfilling this Islamic duty may be described
as responding to the call of Prophet Abraham.
It is well known that the reward of a pilgrimage offered with
sincerity, conscientiousness and proper submission to God is complete
forgiveness of all one's past sins. Therefore, every pilgrim is expected to
review his pattern of behavior, his attitude to life and the choices he
normally makes. Having ensured the forgiveness of his past sins, he wants to
make sure that he will never be guilty of a cardinal sin. As for minor mistakes
and offenses, we all commit these and hope that God will forgive us our slips
and errors.
Nobody is expected to be perfect in every sense. If someone,
nevertheless, commits grave mistakes, he cannot be described as having answered
the call of Iblis, i.e. Satan, simply because Satan does not call anybody to do
the pilgrimage.
It is true that Satan tries to persuade everyone of us to
indulge in sin and disobedience to God, but anyone who yields to this
temptation may be said to follow Satan, not only those who have done the
pilgrimage and then yielded to such temptation. In short, the division of
pilgrims into these three groups is a myth that cannot be supported with any
reliable evidence.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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