The document discusses the origins and history of the Kaaba in Mecca and the black stone within it, which are highly significant sites in Islam. It notes there is no archaeological or historical evidence that Mecca existed before the 4th century AD or that the Kaaba was built before the 5th century AD. This calls into question Islamic beliefs that the sites were established by Abraham thousands of years ago and have been centers of worship since then. The document suggests the sites originally had pagan origins associated with worshipping meteorites and the Arabian star family before being incorporated into Islam in the 7th century.
The document discusses the origins and history of the Kaaba in Mecca and the black stone within it, which are highly significant sites in Islam. It notes there is no archaeological or historical evidence that Mecca existed before the 4th century AD or that the Kaaba was built before the 5th century AD. This calls into question Islamic beliefs that the sites were established by Abraham thousands of years ago and have been centers of worship since then. The document suggests the sites originally had pagan origins associated with worshipping meteorites and the Arabian star family before being incorporated into Islam in the 7th century.
The document discusses the origins and history of the Kaaba in Mecca and the black stone within it, which are highly significant sites in Islam. It notes there is no archaeological or historical evidence that Mecca existed before the 4th century AD or that the Kaaba was built before the 5th century AD. This calls into question Islamic beliefs that the sites were established by Abraham thousands of years ago and have been centers of worship since then. The document suggests the sites originally had pagan origins associated with worshipping meteorites and the Arabian star family before being incorporated into Islam in the 7th century.
The document discusses the origins and history of the Kaaba in Mecca and the black stone within it, which are highly significant sites in Islam. It notes there is no archaeological or historical evidence that Mecca existed before the 4th century AD or that the Kaaba was built before the 5th century AD. This calls into question Islamic beliefs that the sites were established by Abraham thousands of years ago and have been centers of worship since then. The document suggests the sites originally had pagan origins associated with worshipping meteorites and the Arabian star family before being incorporated into Islam in the 7th century.
located directly above it. MECCA, THE KAABA, AND THE BLACK STONE, IN HISTORY
Tract M20
The Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi
Arabia, is considered by Muslims to be the most sacred and holy place in the world. It is said to have been built by Adam and became the first structure on earth. It is believed to have been commissioned by Allah in the shape of the House in Heaven called Baitul Maamoor around which the angels perform Tawaaf. The structure incorporates a black stone into one corner that is believed to have been sent down by Allah. So important is this site that Muslims from all over the world prostrate themselves toward the Ka'aba when they repeat their prayers to Allah five times a day. Muslims are also required to perform the "Hajj" at least once in their lifetime, which consists of traveling to Mecca, and circumambulating the Ka'aba. Crowd size permitting, each round is to begin by rubbing, or kissing the black stone as Muhammad did, or at least pointing to the stone on each of the seven circuits one walks around it. The Kaaba is said
According to the Quran, the Ka'aba
was re-built by Abraham and Ishmael, and has presumably been the center of worship for Allah's people, ever since. However in the 7th century AD in which Mohammed lived, the Ka'aba was a center of pagan worship, of some 360 rock idols that resided in and around the Ka'aba. Mohammed took issue with the polytheists and eventually gained the power to have all of the rock idols removed ..... except for the black stone - a meteorite - that still resides at the Ka'aba today. So the question begs, that if Allah commissioned the above described building to be constructed at the center of the world, and below the gate to heaven, why then did God give Moses specific instruction to build a tabernacle on Mount Moriah, that was completed almost 3,000 years ago, that stood 766 miles from where Mecca is today? One of the difficulties with Mohammed's view is that there is no record - outside of Islamic tradition - of Abraham ever having been in Mecca. An even greater indeed insurmountable difficulty is that there is no historical or archaeological record of Mecca ever having existed, prior to the first few centuries AD. While there is plenty of such evidence that confirms that Arabian cities like Qedar, Dedan and Teima were established long before, there is no such evidence that Mecca ever existed before the Christian era. Try a search like - archaeology of
mecca - or - historical and
archaeological evidence of mecca. If you can find some evidence that predates the first few centuries AD, that demonstrates that Mecca existed prior to the Christian era, we would appreciate you sharing it with us in the Islam-Christian Forum. In the absence of such archaeological and historical record, what can be concluded about Mohammed's 7th century religion? If Mecca has been the epicenter of Islam since the time of Abraham, it would follow that there would be increasingly more archaeological evidence in the form of artifacts and such, the closer one traveled to this focus of Mohammed's religion. It also follows that there should be a greater pre-Christian historical record for Mecca, than perhaps most any other Arabian city, but no such record exists. Compare this to Jerusalem, for example, the epicenter of Judeo/Christian beliefs. One can hardly pick up a shovel full of earth in Jerusalem that doesn't contain artifacts, and the closer one gets to Jerusalem, the more concentrated and abundant such artifacts become. Indeed there are even one million artifacts just on display. In short, no Mecca before the 4th century - no Kaaba before the 5th century = no Islam. Based on extensive historical and archaeological evidence presented by Dr. Rafat Amari, Mecca was built around the 4th century, by the Yemeni tribe of Khuzaa'h, that had migrated to that bleak barren desert wasteland. The Kaaba was constructed by Asad Abu Karb in the early 5th century A.D., when the black stone made it's way to Mecca, most likely also from
Yemen. It is said that prior to the
construction of the Kaabah, a tent existed on the spot where it was built. Geographers and historians from antiquity, note even small Arabian settlements before the Christian era that came and went within a few centuries, and while the historical accounts about, and artifacts from, ancient settlements confirm the existence of each other, there is no reference to Mecca or it's Kaaba to be found. This even though it was eventually built on one of the most established trading routes in Arabia about which historical record abounds, and in spite of the Muslim claims that Mecca was the center of the Islamic faith, for thousands of years before Mohammed. If this were the case, Mecca would certainly have been one of the most written about Arabian cities, by those early geographers and historians. There are references to lots of other temples, and even to a great temple "highly revered by all the Arabs, that was of the Bythemaneas, located near Ilat in the Aqaba gulf area. Even Mohammed's own tribe, the Quraish went on Hajj, or pilgrimage, to places to the north twice a year, long after the Kaaba in Mecca was built, indicating that the Kaaba in Mecca was a lesser temple. One of the journeys during the summer was to the city of Taif where there was also a temple called Kaabah of Ellat, or Kaabah of the Sun. "This Kaabah was more significant and much older than the Kaabah of Mecca. All Arabs, including the tribe of Quraish from which Mohammed came, venerated this Kaabah."
Back in those days when a
meteorite was discovered in Arabia a temple would be built at the site. Quoting Dr. Amari: "The stone was considered the main shrine, or sacred element, in each temple, called Kaabah in Arabic. This revered stone, which represented the moon, was considered to be divine. The worship of the Arabian Star Family with Allah, who was the moon as its head, revolved around the black stone. Ellat, Allahs wife, was the sun, and al-'Uzza and Manat, his daughters, represented two planets." There was no shortage of Kaabas in Arabia each with it's own black stone. Arabian Star Family temple design left its indelible fingerprints on those temples as well as on the Kaaba in Mecca, demonstrating that Abraham could not have built it, even if the city of Mecca had existed before the 4th century AD. Indeed no Muslim will deny that there may have been as many as 360 stone idols located in and around the Kaaba in Mohammed's day. Mohammed took issue with the polytheists, and finally gained the power to expel all of the stone idols, which he did ...... except for the black stone that Muslims still bow toward five times a day. In Islam, each Muslim is required to travel to Mecca to circumambulate the stone, just as the pagans did before Mohammed. It is also interesting to note that the name of Islams holiest city is mentioned - at most - three times in the Quran. Compare this with the name Jerusalem, which is mentioned 814 times in 767 verses, in the Word or God.
Some Muslims suggest that there is
at least a scriptural record of Mecca mentioned in the Old Testament as "Baca", by removing the following verse from context and suggesting a similarity with the name "Bakka", from the Quran. Psalms 84:6 [Who] passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. But the most obvious difficulty with this claim is the very next verse: 84:7 They go from strength to strength, [every one of them] in Zion appeareth before God. Zion is mentioned 153 times in God's Word because it is the name of the easternmost hill of ancient Jerusalem. Thus the passage is describing a journey to ZION - to Jerusalem - to the Holy Land. Baca simply being a stop along the way. In conclusion, in the absence of archaeological or historical record, notions of a pre-first century Mecca or Kaaba it would seem, become nothing more than a desert mirage. There is, however, abundant historical record of veneration of meteorites, including men venerating black rocks in the many Kaabas throughout Arabia. Perhaps before too long Islam will cease to exist, at least in the mind of any rational person that is exposed to adequate historical resources, in this information age. For much more, please visit brotherpete.com, and to join us in discussion please visit the IslamChristian Forum.