Is The Black Stone an Idol- Is Pilgrimage A Pagan Rite-
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Creator: Abdus-Samad Sharafuddin
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Identifier: http://www.islamworld.net/black_stone.htm
Language: en
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Subject: hajj
Title: Is The Black Stone an Idol- Is Pilgrimage A Pagan Rite-
Created on: Wed Sep 26 17:12:39 -0400 2007
Updated on: Wed Sep 26 17:12:39 -0400 2007
Version: 1
Abstract: ... e to be dispensed with by some or many of them. At such times it is quite enough therefore, to face the Black Stone from any distance, and only point at it by one's right hand, at the start of each round. The pilgrim then recites his formula and proceeds on. HISTORY UNFOLDS A RARE ASPECT Assuming that the Black Stone is missing for one reason or another, does it render the Tawaf and Pilgrimage invalid and void on such account? Absolutely not. This is exactly what has already happened in the history of Islam. The Karamathians (Arabic: al-Qaramitah), the most un-islamic sect in Islam, had removed the Black Stone during their mad merrymaking in the year 317 AH/980 AD. They carried it away with them to their territory in Al-Ahsa (in the Arabian Gulf). After keeping it there for twenty years, they had returned it back to Makkah in the year 339 AH (see shorter Encyclopedia Leiden 1953, P. 219). In such an event, the Shariah (Law) maintains that the pilgrim shall perform his Tawaf without the Black stone. Instead of the Black Stone, the pilgrim shall touch its place at the corner of the Ka’bah, or point at its spot, and continue his Tawaf. Thus the total absence of the Stone itself makes no difference in the validity of the Tawaf and the Pilgrimage. This shows how tiny a part is being played by this stone. How ignorant of others and how childish, therefore, sounds the charge that it is the "most Precious Idol preserved by Islam"! DOES KISSING MEAN WORSHIPPING? Kissing a stone is not a sign of its worship at all. Kissing the Black Stone cannot be twisted into an idol worship, for the stone is no image, just as mere kissing is not worshipping by a mere imagination. Anyone might allege that Muslims do worship a certain ‘idol’. But the fact remains that they do not worship anything save God, the One. The idol and its worship simply do not exist. The Bible is kissed in lawcourts; does that mean then that it is worshipped? Moreover, parents kiss their children lovingly, without any trace of worship in it at all. A big question-mark that should come to one’s mind are the pre-Islamic Arab idolaters who had held the Ka’bah. With all their polytheism and idolatry, they too used to circle the Ka’bah and kiss the Black Stone. Had their kissing been an act of idol- worship, why then was there still a need for them-despite the presence of the "almighty" Black Stone-to install three hundred and sixty idols therein? This proves beyond a shadow of doubt that it is one thing to kiss the Black Stone under Divine Orders, and quite another to worship a stone or an idol. Most notable, perhaps, is the fact that One-God worshippers do nothing beyond simply kissing the Black Stone. They neither venerate it with folded hands, nor kneel down, nor prostrate themselves, nor squat before it. For all these is done only by idol-worshippers before their idols. IS THE PILGRIMAGE A PAGAN RITE? Some non-Muslims think or are made to believe that the Pilgrimage to Ka’bah is purely a pagan rite or one form of idol-worship. That it was being practiced by the Arab idolaters before Islam, and that Islam borrowed it from them. This assumption is further aided by the fact that the Ka’bah itself had been a temple housing no less than three hundred and sixty idols. Nevertheless, this is a pure conjecture belying facts and figures. For it was not the idolaters of Makkah, but prophet Abraham (Peace be upon him), who had initiated and established the holy Pilgrimage thereof, ages ago. On the contrary, it was these very idolaters, the degenerate descendants of Abraham and Ishmael (Peace be upon them), who had defiled Allah’s Holy Ka'bah into a huge pantheon. It was these rank idolaters who had injected pagan rites into the purely Islamic Pilgrimage laid down by prophet Abraham (Peace be upon him), one of the greatest worshippers of God. All honour is due to prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), the seal of the prophets and the last of Abraham's (Peace be upon him) line of Prophethood, who first swept clean the Holy Ka'bah from its heathen idols. It was he again who restored the original pilgrimage to its pristine purity. The Muslims, are in fact the true followers of the Religion of prophet Abraham (Peace be upon him), the grand-father of prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him), where pilgrimage to Makkah is a notable heritage as well as an important fixture of the religion. How different could these facts be from the Non-muslims' random conjecture? BUILDING THE HOUSE AND PROCLAIMING THE HAJJ This is how Allah declared to prophet Abraham (Peace be upon him) regarding his Sacred House after showing him the site thereof: " And Remember when We showed Ibrahim (Abraham) the site of the Holy House (the Ka’bah) at Makkah saying : Associate not anything in worship with Me, [La Ilaha ill-Allah (none has the right to be worshipped but Allah - Islamic Monotheism], and sanctify My House for those who circumambulate it, and those who stand up for prayer, and those who bow and submit themselves with humility and obedience to Allah), and make prostration in prayer." Qur’an 22:26. Abraham (Peace be upon him) is being himself ordained in this verse to keep perfectly away from idolatry. He is being told, as well, to sanctify the House of God from all kinds of impurities, especially from that of idol-worship. Then follows the two-fold purpose for which that House was being built. First, is its being the center of Tawaf for those who compass it round, and its being the prayer-place for those who pray therein their daily Prayers second. This is as much as to say that the Tawaf and the Pilgrimage do depend upon the house of God, as much as do the prayers. For this reason all those who pray all the world over do turn in the one direction of the Ka’bah at Makkah. After being ordained to build and sanctify God's Ka’bah, prophet Abraham (Peace be upon him) receives in the next verse the command to proclaim the Pilgrimage to the Ka’bah, in this manner: "And proclaim to mankind the Hajj. They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, they will come from every deep and distant wide mountain highway to perform Hajj." Qur’an 22:27. That definitely proves that it was Abraham (Peace be upon him) who built the Ka’bah, and that it was also he who proclaimed the Pilgrimage, facts that should equally refute the oft-repeated allegation put forth that pilgrimage was some pagan rite invented by the heathen idolaters, and retained by Islam. HIGHLIGHT OF PILGRIMAGE Initiated by Abraham (Peace be upon him), and reflected by the Seal of the Prophets, Pilgrimage to the House of God is a unique experience... [Full Article...]
