IS THE BLACK STONE AN IDOL?
IS THE PILGRIMAGE A PAGAN RITE?
Let us examine closely the square-structured Ka’bah (The Holy House) at
Makkah, in Arabia, wherein in its Eastern corner lies the Black Stone set up
chest-high. Every pilgrim in Makkah tries to kiss and caress it fondly, the
first thing upon arrival there. This action marks the start of the act of Tawaf.
The word "Tawaf" is an arabic infinitive noun which means to circle, compass or
move around something. A pilgrim has to circle the Ka’bah seven times, to
complete Tawaf. Each one of the seven rounds begins by kissing or caressing if
possible, or by simply pointing at the Black Stone. The Black Stone thus, serves
to mark the start of each round. Tawaf is one of the integral parts of
Pilgrimage (Hajj), which is also performed, as a separate act of worship at any
time. Thus we find the Ka’bah continually being circled by people day and night.
THE REAL IMPORTANCE OF TAWAF
Circumumbulating the Ka’bah and kissing the stone are in fact considered the
Tawaf’s outer aspects, apart from its inner significance. They resemble
something like the standing, bowing, prostrating and sitting postures observed
in the daily Islamic prayers. Yet, the prayer postures, as well as the circling
around the Ka’bah coupled with kissing, both form the outward shell of the
chaff, which preserves the grain. The grain of the Tawaf lies in the lofty
meanings of the Pilgrim’s recitation and prayers, in the soul-stirring emotions
surging in his heart - such as his extreme love for Allah, his awe of Him, and
his high hopes in Him. Examine, for instance, the words brimful of God's
oneness, which the pilgrim utters. It is his regular formula, at the start of
each round of the Tawaf, as he kisses, caresses, or points at the Black Stone,
declaring: "(I begin) in the Name of Allah who is Most Great. O Allah! (I
perform) believing in thee, confirming Thy Book, fulfilling Thy Pledge, and
following the Way of Thy Prophet, Muhammad - Blessing and peace upon him!" As
such, the Tawaf around the Ka’bah is done solely in the Name of the One Supreme
Allah, and that it is never done in the name of any other deity, nor for the
Black Stone itself, as others allege. The operation of Tawaf is in compliance
with the Holy promise the pilgrim has committed with His Lord. He does it as a
believer in the One God, not as an idolater, but as a conformer of Allah’s
revealed Books, and as a follower of His Prophet (Peace be upon him). Far from
worshipping the Stone, the Pilgrim is kissing it, or pointing at it, just as was
done by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) in his time.
GLORIFYING THE ONE GOD
Find out, how the pilgrim goes on glorifying Allah the most High, while
performing the rounds, with these noble hymns: "Glory be to Allah! All Praise be
to Allah! There is no deity save God. Allah is Most Great! There is no handling,
nor power, save by Allah's Help." A Monotheist (One-God worshipper) holds these
sublime prayers far more valuable than the earth's entire riches. With these, he
praises his One and Only Lord, as he circles a spot made Holy by the presence of
His House. Is there any remotest trace of Polytheism (multi-god worship) or
Idolatry in such an act?
A SELECT PRAYER
As he has left all his worldly affairs behind, the pilgrim, besides praising
Allah, also goes on praying for his worldly betterment, in between. Here is his
all-embracing prayer to Allah, the Benevolent: "O Allah! make me content with my
appointed lot, and bless me therein. And make good to me all, my losses and
needs."
THE TWO-WORLD PRAYER
Unlike unbelievers, the pilgrim has a living faith in the coming, eternal
hereafter. He does not fail here, therefore, to say the best possible prayer man
could ever ask. It is from the Qur'an itself, and combines both the good of this
world and the world to come in his supplication as follows: " O Lord! Bestow
upon us the good in this world and the good in the hereafter. And save us from
the torment of the fire" Holy Qur’an 12:201.
COULD A STONE BE GOD?
Although so reverently kissed and caressed during the Tawaf, the Black stone,
in one of the corners of the Ka’bah, is no graven image for the pilgrims to
worship. That is the last thing any One-God worshipper could ever imagine. For a
stone is just a mere stone after all. It has no power whatsoever to do good or
inflict harm to any one, apart from Allah, the Sole Deity of mankind. That is a
thing cherished either knowingly, ignorantly or figuratively - by those who take
to stone-worship instead of God-worship, a belief and practice as unholy as it
is senseless. This is why the Black Stone becomes a mystery to such people, and
so, some out of ignorance openly charge that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) did
break every Idol in Islam except one - meaning the Ka’bah, or the Black Stone.
Why, even unwitting Muslims get easily confused about the Black Stone. It was
hence that 'Umar the second Caliph, did well to remove this hidden doubt from
the mind. So when he came to kiss the Stone, he cried out publicly to it:
Narrated ‘Abis bin Rabi’a: ‘Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) came near the
Black Stone and kissed it and said, "No doubt, I know that you are a stone and
can neither harm anyone nor benefit anyone. Had I not seen Allah’s Messenger
(Peace be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you. Summarized Sahih
Al-Bukhari, Al-Hajj, page 396 No. 808 on the Black Stone..
TRUE STORY OF THE BLACK STONE
More than five thousand years ago today, the father of the prophets, prophet
Ibraham (Peace be upon him) the Upright (Haneef), had built the present
structure of the Ka’bah under Allah’s own orders. He (Peace be upon him) had
built it along with his youthful son, Ishmael (Peace be upon him), forefather of
the Arabs. This is how the Qur'an describes their building it together: "And
(remember) when Ibrahim (Abraham) and (his son) Isma'il (Ishmael) were raising
the foundations of the House (the Ka'bah) at Makkah, ( saying), ‘Our Lord!
Accept (this service) from us. Verily! You are the All-Hearer, all Knower.’" (
Qur’an 2:127). The father and the son, true Monotheists (Muslims), were thus
raising the foundations with trembling hearts, for the Muslims are Allah’s most
devoted servants, ever fearful of his displeasure. While building the Ka'bah,
therefore, both of them were afraid that Allah may not accept their humble
service, hence that prayer of theirs. How touching of such fidelity, how moving
of such humility towards Allah the Great! It is the essence of Monotheism, the
ideal pattern of Faith and Actions great and small for all Muslims to follow.
When raised to a certain height, Ibraham (Peace be upon him) ordered his son to
choose a piece of stone to mark the main cornerpoint. Even as the lad was
searching for it, the Archangel Gabriel appeared with the Black Stone from
Heaven.
Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: "The Black stone descended from
heaven, when it was whiter than Milk, but people’s sins have blackened it".
Tirmidhi, Kitab Al-Hajj, the Black stone,
Abraham (Peace be upon him) took it up and fitted it in, and there it stands
up to this day. It is a heavenly stone, then, and not an earthly one. It was
selected by Allah for His Holy House (the Ka'bah).
TEACHING THE PILGRIMAGE RITES
The building thus finished, this is how Ibraham and Ihmail (Peace be upon
them) went on further praying to Allah, in the next Verse; "Our Lord! And make
us submissive unto you and of our offspring a nation submissive unto You, and
show us our Manasik (all the ceremonies of Pilgrimage - Hajj and Umrah etc.) and
accept our repentance. Truly, You are the One Who accepts repentance, the Most
Merciful." ( Qur’an 2:128). Thereupon Allah taught them through revelation the
pilgrimage rites, which includes the Tawaf.
IS KISSING ESSENTIAL?
We have known the working procedure of the Tawaf, it consists of circling
around the Ka’bah seven times. Each circle begins by kissing the Black Stone, or
by caressing it, which is its normal procedure. But Tawaf is not a one-man
business, hundreds, even thousands, are circling the Ka’bah at one and the same
time. How could each person kiss the Black Stone separately? Naturally, when so
over-crowded, the kissing will have 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 to every true
Muslim. For a "Muslim" is essentially the one who shifts from the false to the
true Religion - from disbelief to Belief in God, and from multi-god to One-God
worship. This trait made Abraham (Peace be upon him) a "Perfect" Muslim when he
entered the Pantheon at Babylon, and smashed the idols therein to pieces. Allah
entrusted him with building His House at Makkah, and tasked him to proclaim the
Pilgrimage to it. Henceforth, Pilgrimage to the House of God becomes the most
predominant trait of being a Muslim. A haven of absolute freedom, and a
sanctuary of perfect peace and security, this Holy Mosque is the only spot on
earth set up by Allah for one and all the people alike, without any distinction.
It is the House of God wherein all men are equal, none being entitled to own it
exclusively. This is told in these words of Allah: "...and from Al-Masjid-al-Haram
at Makkah which We have made open to all men, the dweller in it and the visitor
from the country.... "(Qur’an 22:25) The message of this Surah 22, verses 26-27
named "The Pilgrimage" itself, is describing the construction of the Ka’bah and
its sanctification, it being the focal point of Tawaf as well as the center of
Prayers. Thus, the incumbency of Pilgrimage to this "first house of One-God
worship", etc. Verses 28-37, do contain the basic elements of the Monotheistic
religion of prophet Abraham (Peace be upon him), wherein one of the main
objectives emphasized is the need to celebrate the Name of Allah Alone over the
animal-whether ordinarily slaughtered, or offered as sacrifices to Allah, as
against those offered to the idolaters' idols, as evidenced particularly by
verses 28, 30, 34, 36 and 37. "Avoiding the abomination of idols", and
"neglecting the word that is false" (telling and witnessing falsehood), these
two cardinal sins, have been specially prohibited in Verse 30. But the crowning
message of unparalleled importance is the commandment: "Hunafa' Lillah (i.e. to
worship none but Allah), not associating partners (in worship, etc.) unto
Him...", which is the soul and the heart of Monotheism (one-God worship), and
the annihilator of all Polytheism (multi-god worship). This last, but not the
least message, is the essence of Pilgrimage, as also the topmost concern and
happiness of every Muslim. The Makkahn idolaters too, used to perform the
Pilgrimage, calling themselves thereby as "Haneefs" (followers of Abraham). And
therefore, Muslims are being told to perform the Pilgrimage, and call themselves
as "Haneefs" but with this difference: "Being true in faith to Allah, and never
assigning partners to Him". Thus the sublime Truths, the essence of the creed:
"There is no deity save God", seem to be beyond the comprehension of
idol-worshippers, all over the world, and in all ages.
THE FIVE-TIME PRAYERS
This performance of the Pilgrimage --- a colossal feat of Monotheism, is
closely knit around the Ka’bah and its surrounding environment. It occurs only
once a year, but far more important and surpassing is the performance of prayers
in Islam, which are equally connected with the Ka’bah. Prayers are an obligatory
duty upon every Muslim. This is why every Muslim anywhere around the world turns
towards Allah, facing in the direction of the Ka’bah five times daily. Of
course, the Ka’bah is for outward direction to face in one's prayers, though
inwardly, one faces his entire heart, to the Lord of the Worlds Himself. In this
manner, Muslims are so intimately related to the Ka’bah through their Pilgrimage
and Prayers, till the last moment of their lives. Not only this, but every
Muslim is made to face the direction of the Ka'bah when breathing his last. Nay,
even after death he is buried in his last resting place, i.e. in the grave, so
that he faces the same direction of the Ka’bah.
PRAYERS AND SACRIFICE
Both the Pilgrimage and the Prayers are equally connected with the Ka'bah.
And offering an animal and the Prayers are major Hajj ceremonies, where both the
Prayer and sacrifice are special tokens of the single worship of Allah, with
both being jointly dedicated to Him. It is a most sublime dedication the Prophet
Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was asked to offer in the following words: " Say [O
Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him)]: ‘Verily, my Salat (prayer), my sacrifice, my
living, and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and
all that exists), He has no partner, And of this I have been commanded, and I am
the first of the Muslims.)" (Qur’an 162-163). And this forms the only straight
path, that is the religion of our father Abraham (Peace be upon him), which is
referred to in the preceding verse: "Say [O Muhammad (Peace be upon him)]
"Truly, my Lord has guided me to a Straight path, a right religion, the religion
of Ibrahim (Abraham). Qur’an 6:161.
INTERNATIONAL GATHERING
On the whole, the Hajj is a unique annual gathering of its own kind. Herein,
true Muslims from all over the world come together on the basis of one-God
worship, that is pure Monotheism and true Islam. Forgetting their mutual
differences of caste, color and social status, they assemble in this
international city of Makkah to glorify the One Lord of all creation.
Incidentally, they get a rare opportunity here to discuss together all sorts of
communal, religious, economic, social and political problems on an all-world
scale, after which no better or more beneficial gathering could be imagined.
Such a high, all-embracing congregation has been held every year in the House of
Allah for thousands of years now. All these manifold benefits are hinted at in
the words: "......That they may witness things that are of benefit to them.."
Qur’an 22:28. Pilgrimage, therefore, is never a pagan rite, but rather the
fulfillment of an incumbent duty concerning One-God worship!
INVITATION TO NON-MUSLIMS
This is the legacy left behind by prophet Ibraham (Peace be upon him) for all
posterity to accept and follow, and no people of any country or nation, are an
exception to that posterity. Instead of regarding the Pilgrimage duty as a pagan
rite, people ought to reflect upon their own age-old idolatry, and accept and
follow the religion of our father Abraham (Peace be upon him). The hour has come
for these very people to proclaim of their own accord: "There is no God Worthy
of worship except Allah!" May they perform the Pilgrimage to the House of God at
Makkah! And may they offer their Prayers regularly facing towards that same
House! Ameen…
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