where was mohammed? (Part 5)
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Written by Layth (e-mail: laytth@hotmail.com)

[DISCLAIMER: THIS ARTICLE IS CONTROVERSIAL IN ITS FINDINGS AND ONLY REPRESENTS THE VIEWS OF THE AUTHOR. IT MAY NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OF OTHER FREE-MINDS MEMBERS. HOWEVER, IT HAS BEEN POSTED FOR ITS THOUGHT-PROVOKING CONTENT]

Part V – Mecca Arabia

Ø       What of Today's Mecca?

Today's Mecca - Arabia, seems to have been an insignificant town at the time of the prophet. This city was not on any significant trade-route at the time nor does its name even have mention in any historical manuscripts which covered the area.

Mecca appears to have been a pagan center where the religion of the Nabataens (worship of Allat, Uzzah, and Manaat) flourished like other Nabataen towns. The Kaba (cube) which was used as the center of pagan rituals, is an emulation of the Kaba of Abraham which the Nabataens may have certainly come to know through the call of Abraham to the pilgrimage many centuries ago.

Points that are worth reflecting when studying the subject of Mecca - Arabia include:

1.        The mosque in Medina with 2 qiblas did not correctly point to Mecca - Arabia.

The physical evidence which shows that the turning of the qibla away from Jerusalem was simply in the ‘opposite’ direction and not towards Mecca has been conveniently destroyed by the Saudis and a new mosque has been rebuilt with two qiblas, but with the second `new` qibla now aligned towards Mecca.

The Mosque in Medina with the two focal points (Qiblas) seen above has been re-built by the Saudi Royal Family during the last 30 or so years.

2.        A number of mosques built in the early days after the prophet’s death have their qiblas aligned away from Mecca and further north, closer to Jerusalem.

"According to archaeological research carried out by Creswell and Fehervari on ancient mosques in the Middle East, two floor-plans from two Umayyad mosques in Iraq, one built at the beginning of the 8th century by the governor Hajjaj in Wasit (noted by Creswell as, "the oldest mosque in Islam of which remains have come down to us" - Creswell 1989:41), and the other attributed to roughly the same period near Baghdad, have Qiblas (the direction which these mosques are facing) which do not face Mecca, but are oriented too far north (Creswell 1969:137ff & 1989:40; Fehervari 1961:89; Crone-Cook 1977:23,173). The Wasit mosque is off by 33 degrees, and the Baghdad mosque is off by 30 degrees (Creswell 1969:137ff; Fehervari 1961:89)."   - http://debate.org.uk/topics/history/bib-qur/qurarch.htm

3.        The location of the Kaaba in Mecca at the floor of a valley (where it is prone to flash floods) is more in-line with pagan rites than those of offering people sanctuary and safety at God’s Temple.

“The Ka’bah is situated in a wadi between two low hills, Marwah and Safa and was thus frequently exposed to flash floods caused by upper Meccan rainwater which ran down into the wadi and was channeled towards the Ka’bah. It is on the face of it, strange to find a religious center built in such a dangerous position, but it is precisely in such a position – low on the slopes of a wadi subject to flash floods – that cult centers were situated in the Negev.” (The Origins of the Muslim Descriptions of the Jahili Meccan Sanctuary; Yehuda D. Nevo, Judith Koren, Jan. 1990)

4.        The rituals associated with Mecca until today are all indicative of the pagan rites known and recorded for the region at the time.

Pagan elements associated with the Kaba in Mecca.

“The precise alignment of the Black Stone with the winter sunrise is not coincidental. Allat, the main idol of the prophet's people, was a fertility goddess and this is confirmed by archeological evidence from Nabataean sites. As typical of such fertility goddesses their symbols and rituals are related to the sun. In this case, the direction of the winter sunrise marks the location where the sun is "reborn". Now if you take a closer look, you will see that the enclosure of the Black Stone is in the shape of a dilated female vulva and the Black Stone is in the shape of the crown of the head of the newborn baby deity as it is coming out of the vulva.

Come closer yet and you will see that people are kissing the head of the newborn baby deity. Kissing the head is an ancient Arab tradition for asking for forgiveness. So kissing the top of the head of the newborn idol as traditionally done to ask for forgiveness, results in the pagan's sins being wiped out as if he or she was a newborn.

Hang around for a while and you will observe that people spin seven times around the Black Stone. A pre-quranic manuscript written by Epiphanius in the fourth century CE describes the ritual of spinning seven times as part of the birth festivals of the Nabataean idols Allat and Dhushara around the winter solstice. The number seven was considered sacred in Arab and pagan symbolism in general because of the five sacred planets plus the sun and the moon that the ancients venerated. To this day many people in the Arab world celebrate what is termed in Arabic Subu', which is a traditional festival that takes place on the seventh day after the birth of a newborn and on the seventh day after a pilgrims' return. Like the pagan pilgrimage that we observed and Epiphanius described, as part of the Subu' birth celebrations, people traditionally go around the house seven times while carrying the newborn baby. (http://free-minds.org/articles/history/ayman1.htm)

Ø       What of the Safa & Marwa and other sites at Mecca?

“The Safa and Marwa are amongst God’s symbols. So whosoever makes Pilgrimage to the Sanctuary, or is merely passing through, commits no error that he should traverse them. And whoever donates for goodness, then God is Appreciative, Knowledgeable.” (The Message 2:158)

The entire story of ‘Abraham marrying his slave girl Hajar and then leaving her in the wilderness with Ismail based on the wishes of his wife Sarah’ not only has no basis whatsoever in the Book of God, but also conflict greatly with the character of a Prophet who is devoted to God and who would never be pressured by any human into abandoning or harming another person(s). As far as we can ascertain, Abraham was married to one woman, the same woman who gave him Ismail and then, many years later, Isaac. We can also ascertain that Abraham lived near the area of the Temple (Jerusalem)  and therefore would not have traveled many thousands of kilometers to carry out such an act of inhumanity.

With regards to Jerusalem, if we are looking for two high points, then they are easily located. The Temple area is surrounded by two prominent mounts: Mt. Zion, and Mt. of Olives. It is therefore not unlikely that pilgrims would be moving between one mount to the next, or camping at or around these mounts, during their time in Jerusalem for the pilgrimage.

Topographical model showing the Temple (Mt. Moriah) and the Mt. of Olives immediately east.

Ø       What of the ‘People of the Elephant’ 

“Have you not seen what your Lord did to the people of the elephant? Did He not cause their schemes to go astray? And He sent upon them formations of birds in flight. Striking them with fiery projectiles. Until He turned them like devoured hay.” (The Message 105:1-5)

The Mecca propagandists have attributed he above verses to their religious town claiming that God, before the birth of Mohammed, sent birds to destroy the elephant army of Abraha, who had journeyed all the way from Africa (Habasha) to destroy the temple at Mecca since it was competing with his call for an organized religion.

However, upon closer examination of the verses, it appear that the people who are being referred to as ‘people of the elephant’ are none other than the people of Lot who were identified in the Scripture as being destroyed by ‘fiery projectiles’:

“Have you not seen what your Lord did to the people of the elephant? Did He not cause their schemes to go astray? And He sent upon them formations of birds in flight. Striking them with fiery projectiles. Until He turned them like devoured hay.” (The Message 105:1-5)

 “They said: ‘O Lot, we are your Lord’s messengers; they will not be able to harm you, so travel with your family during the cover of the night and let not any of you look back except for your wife, she will be afflicted with what they will be afflicted. Their appointed time will be the morning. Is the morning not near?’ So when Our command came, We turned it upside down, and We rained on it with hardened fiery projectiles.” (The Message 11:81-82)

“Thus We turned it upside down, and rained upon them with fiery projectiles.” (The Message 15:74)

Such understanding perfectly matches the view that the city of Lot was the original `Mecca` mentioned in the Quran as being defiant to the prophet and his campaign.

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Click here to read: Part VI - Questions/Misc.