The True Birthplace of Islam is Not Petra But Mecca Monday, October 22, 2018

From origin title: Is Mecca or Petra Islam’s true birthplace?

For well over a millennium Muslims have revered Mecca as the site of their holiest shrine, the Kaaba. And until recently Western scholarship always accepted the traditional Muslim origins narrative, which says that was where Muhammad began, in Arabia. But in the late 1970s, John Wansbrough and two of his students, Patricia Crone and Michael Cook, published books arguing for a radically different approach to Islam’s origins.[1]

Among other things, these revisionists said that Mecca was not Islam’s birthplace, which they located somewhere in the Fertile Crescent. Though Crone and Cook later repudiated the theory their book advanced, Crone at least held fast to the idea that Islam originated in the Fertile Crescent, possibly in Nabatea.

The Kaaba is now surrounded by towers, including one of the world’s tallest buildings.

While the trend among Western scholars of Islam is away from such radical doubt, four decades later some scholars still promote the idea that the Kaaba was not originally in Mecca.

Some of these revisionists say it was in or near Petra, while others refuse to speculate on the exact location. And this notion has begun to trickle down to others in the West, through the work of popular historian and documentary filmmaker Tom Holland, for example.[2] Since Muslims pray facing Mecca’s Kaaba multiple times a day, one thing this view would mean is that Muslims everywhere naively face the wrong direction in their most frequent act of worship.

Revisionists variously claim the following evidence supports their theory:

• The qur’anic data
• Other early written evidence
• The hadith’s data on Mecca
• The archeological record
• Al-Tabari’s historical record
• Mecca’s geographic conditions

It is important to recognize that ancient history rarely offers the absolute proof of an airtight case. Instead, we must base our conclusion on the preponderance of the evidence. Besides these six lines of evidence, we must also consider how plausible it is that the early Muslim community reassigned its origins to a different city than that of its actual birthplace.

Most revisionists allege that Muslims made this change during Islam’s classical period for political reasons. Yet how believable is it that Islam originated not in Mecca, but in Petra or elsewhere in Nabatea?

The evidence

Regarding the qur’anic evidence, the fact that the Qur’an names Mecca just once[3] may look suspicious when compared with the New Testament’s naming Jerusalem, for example, almost 180 times. However, the two scriptures are radically different books. By way of comparison, the former names only a few contemporary geographic locations and none more than a couple of times, while the latter names many towns and other geographic features multiple times. Likewise, the Qur’an names Muhammad just four times, while the New Testament uses the name Jesus well over a thousand times. Thus, the important point with reference to the Qur’an’s naming of Mecca is that it names it in relation to its own story,[4] whereas Petra (al-Raqim) is mentioned only in relation to a past event.[5]

Roses grown in Ta’if, near Mecca.

Some scholars think the Qur’an’s other data point to Islam’s having originated in Nabatea. For example, a literal reading of Q 37:137 locates Muhammad’s audience beside Sodom’s Nabatean ruins. A freer reading allows for the traditional interpretation, which puts the ruins beside the Arabs’ caravan route to Syria. Q 80:24-32 and other Meccan passages speak of God’s provision of fruit and anʿām—sometimes translated “cattle”—which Mecca’s climate would not have allowed. But anʿām can also be translated “beasts,” which includes camels. This would make the verse’s provisions “for you and your beasts” relevant to traders and camel herders alike. Q 6:136-139 implies that Muhammad’s opponents were themselves agriculturalists. But such passages may well detail practices of residents of pagan Ta’if, just 87 kilometers (54 miles) from Mecca. In fact, most of the Qur’an’s agricultural references require a locale no further afield than Ta’if, famous for its grapes, pomegranates, figs, etc. Only olives would require the growing conditions found in Yemen and Nabatea-Palestine, at the two ends of western Arabia’s overland trade route. Thus, almost everything in the Qur’an’s early suras is compatible with its Hijazi origins. There is also no reason to reject the traditional Muslim view that these texts speak universally (possibly after the pattern of the biblical psalms[6]).

Revisionists must reckon with two other facts which argue against Islam’s Nabatean origins:

• The presence of 200 Amharic and Ethiopic loanwords in the Qur’an[7]
• Qur’anic references to the pagans’ practices of idol worship and animal sacrifice

Significant linguistic borrowing suggests extensive cross-cultural interaction. When goods and ideas are exchanged, words often are as well. Cultural dominance may play into linguistic borrowing also, and Ethiopia ruled the Hijaz for a time during the 6th century. If the Qur’an’s early suras were addressed to the inhabitants of Petra, one might expect more Coptic than Amharic and Ethiopic loanwords since Nabatea was much closer culturally to Egypt than to Ethiopia. Yet Amharic and Ethiopic words in the Qur’an stand in a 20:1 ratio to Coptic words.[8] While this simple numerical comparison is not conclusive, it certainly raises questions.

Regarding pagan practices, the Byzantines had forbidden both idol worship and animal sacrifice long before Muhammad’s time—including in their province of Arabia Petraea.[9] Yet the Qur’an repeatedly refers to idolatry as a contemporary practice, calling the unbelievers to forsake their idols, which they look to for protection (e.g., Q 2:256-57, 16:36). 

G.R. Hawting has argued that Muhammad challenged only the “spiritual idolatry” of retrograde monotheists.[10] But in its listing of proscribed foods, Q 5:3 says, “Forbidden to you are carrion, blood, pork…  whatever has been sacrificed to idols.” This was clearly pagan idolatry, which points to a region like Arabia’s Hijaz, beyond the bounds of the Byzantine Empire. Q 22:30 also warns against contamination by “the filth of idols” (awathan). The Qur’an also condemns “sacrificial stones” and the meat sacrificed on them (Q 5:3, 5:90). But since sacrifice had long ceased to be part of Jewish practice and was never practiced by Christians, this can only relate to idolatrous practice. The Qur’an repeatedly bans “that on which any name other than God has been invoked” (e.g., Q 2:173, 5:3). Likewise, Abraham is repeatedly presented as the prophetic hero who challenged his people’s idolatry (e.g., Q 26:69-102) as Muhammad is now doing.

The fact that the idolaters the Qur’an addresses believe that God (Allah) created the heavens and earth is consonant with what we know of widespread polytheistic belief in a High God.[11] Q 6:136 even describes the pagans as offering some portion of their produce to God, while other passages present them as ascribing offspring to God, swearing by God and even praying to God when in distress (e.g., 6:63-64, 6:109, 16:57). But not only is this qur’anic picture of pre-Islamic paganism consonant with polytheistic belief in a High God. It is also generally consistent with both pre-Islamic poetry and the Book of Idols. And epigraphic evidence from both Palmyra and South Arabia attests to the pre-Islamic Arabs’ ascription of daughters to God. To sum up, the Qur’an condemns not adulterated monotheism, but rather literal idolatrous polytheism, something that had by the early seventh century been long forbidden in Byzantine Nabatea.[12]

Thus, the Qur’an’s mention of Mecca, its Ethiopic loanwords, and its references to idolatrous practice all make the Hijaz a location more likely for Islam’s emergence than Nabatea.

The qibla of the ancient Mosque of the Prophet in Medina faces Mecca’s Kaaba, not Petra

Second, some scholars believe the lateness of the earliest written extra-qur’anic evidence for Mecca renders it unreliable. Since revisionists reject the idea that Ptolemy included Mecca, as “Makoraba,” on his second century CE map of Arabia, they conclude that the first map documenting Mecca’s existence is late also. Regarding textual evidence, only a small percentage survives from any ancient culture. And unlike the Mediterranean world at the time of Christ, Arab culture was oral during Islam’s first two centuries, producing little written Arabic before the ninth century, beyond inscriptions and graffiti, business and administrative records, and the Qur’an. The earliest mention of Mecca comes from the late seventh century, with most of the early record being from the late eighth century or later. However, wishing we had earlier evidence does not license us to discount the evidence we do have. And all the earliest written accounts of Islam’s origins point to Mecca, none to Petra or Nabatea.[13]

Except in the oases that dot the region, the barren Hijazi landscape permits no agriculture beyond animal husbandry.

Third, we should take hadith descriptions of Mecca’s grandeur and lush vegetation as hyperbole designed to glorify Mecca, like the Qur’an’s designation of its home base as the “Mother of Settlements” (Q 6:92, 42:5). Crone is doubtless right to argue that western Arabia’s economy was unable to support the populations mentioned in the hadith.[14] Neither was Mecca on a major trade route. But again, we should not allow the Qur’an’s hyperbolic designation or the hadith’s hyperbolic elaborations to mislead us into looking for a large city at the nexus of a trade empire.

Hadith sources consistently disagree when hyperbolizing. It is where they consistently agree that we should pay attention. And they invariably make Mecca Islam’s birthplace.

Fourth, revisionists make two claims about the archeological record. The first relates to the fact that we have no archeological evidence that Mecca was inhabited in the seventh century. Due to the Saudi Arabian government’s mortal dread of shirk, or polytheism, it has strictly forbidden all archeological study of Mecca’s historic sites, lest it lead to relic worship. Indeed, the Saudis seem determined virtually to obliterate the city’s archeological record in their rush to ring the Kaaba with skyscrapers. An estimated 95% of Mecca’s historic buildings have been demolished to allow for this building spree. Any remaining historic sites are treated with a combination of fear, contempt and scholarly avoidance, lest they be idolized.[15]

Unfortunately, this leaves us with no archeological evidence either for or against Mecca’s being Islam’s birthplace.

Jerusalem’s ancient Mosque of Omar Ibn al-Khattab faced Mecca, by the standards of the day.

The other archeological claim some revisionists make relates to early mosque orientation. Following Crone, writer and documentary filmmaker Dan Gibson claims close agreement in the qibla, or prayer direction, of most of Islam’s early mosques—but to Petra, not Mecca.[16] Some enthusiasts of Gibson’s view claim that the reliability of his assertions is easily demonstrated simply by using the satellite imagery of early mosques accessible through Google Earth. But any confirmation this tool yields is unreliable due to the fact that many early mosques have multiple foundations, representing various qibla orientations.

The level of qibla agreement Gibson claims to have found is also impossible for a number of reasons. To begin, their builders used conflicting methods to determine the qibla, just as American Muslims do today.[17] Reflecting these conflicting methods, the mosques they built do not agree, though all their builders did their best to orient them to Mecca. In addition, the early Muslims had a very basic understanding of geography. As Islamic science historian David A. King explains, “The first generations of Muslims had no means whatsoever for finding the direction of Petra [or Mecca either] accurately to within a degree or two, not least because they had no access to any geographical coordinates, let alone modern ones, and no mathematics whatsoever.” The early Muslims determined the qibla accurately by the standards of the day, using the best folklore-based methods at their disposal.[18]

However, with only primitive astronomy and maps and no mathematics, they were unable to achieve anything close to modern-day accuracy.[19] Thus, while the early Muslims oriented their mosques toward Mecca, their limited abilities and conflicting methodologies makes this far from self-evident.

Fifth, Gibson, reading between the lines, suggests that al-Tabari’s account of Ibn al-Zubayr’s trip to Mecca in 70 AH (689-90 CE) may point to the Muslim community’s relocation from Petra to Mecca.[20] Tabari says Ibn al-Zubayr took “many horses and camels and much baggage” with him to Mecca. But had the rebel Ibn al-Zubayr’s trip represented a communal move and a relocation of the Black Stone to Mecca, why would his enemies not have reversed it upon his defeat? As for the horses mentioned, he would have needed them to mount the defense of his chosen refuge. Ibn al-Zubayr needed the money since transferring power from Damascus involved outfitting and rewarding his supporters, and money was bulky in those days. Tabari also says that many camels were slaughtered on his arrival in Mecca—doubtless to celebrate his victory, fleeting though it was. There is nothing to suggest that this points to the Muslim community’s relocation of Islam’s holiest shrine.[21] And while Tabari never mentions Petra, he elsewhere repeatedly names Mecca as home of the Kaaba.

Unlike the pagan Arabs before them, Muslims do not worship the Black Stone, but they do highly revere it.

Sixth, some believe Mecca’s harsh conditions and geographic isolation make it a wretched choice for the spiritual center of the world.[22] But however ambitious Muhammad was, it seems likely that he initially hoped to make his hometown simply the center of his Arabian theocracy. When he first began, he could not have known how much of the globe his armies would subdue.

The question of plausibility

The last issue for us to consider in assessing the theory that Petra or some other city in the Fertile Crescent is Islam’s real birthplace is that of the plausibility. That is, how plausible is the move the theory necessitates from Islam’s alleged birthplace to Mecca?

Specifically, how could the Muslim community have seamlessly made and accepted the move from Islam’s “real birthplace” to Mecca, its “pseudo-birthplace,” without leaving any trace of that move in the written record?

Of the proposed answers to this question, two call for our consideration. Gibson puts forward a highly implausible hypothesis that Muslims formerly called Petra “Mecca,” a hypothesis endorsed by Christian apologist Jay Smith. This would mean there were two Meccas, the first being Petra, the second being the Kaaba’s current home in Saudi Arabia. Thus, the hadith accurately describe the Nabatean Mecca before the Muslim community gave the Kaaba’s new Hijazi home the same name. Gibson bases his notion that “Mecca” referred to Petra on the testimony of a 9th-10th century Christian historian named Thomas Artsruni. He wrote that Muhammad had preached in Mecca, located in “Arabia Petraea Paran.” According to Gibson, Thomas locates Mecca in Petra, “in southern Jordan.”[23]

According to the hadith, Muhammad received his first revelations in the Cave of Hira, outside of Mecca.

However, Thomas locates Mecca, not in the city of Petra at all, but only in the Byzantine province of Arabia Petraea, specifically in its Paran, or Sinai, region. Two things explain Thomas’s mistake. First, he wrote in distant Armenia of places he had never seen. Second, he undoubtedly placed Mecca in Paran because Muslims claim that Mecca was the site of Hagar and Ishmael’s exile, an event Genesis 21:22 locates in Paran. In other words, Thomas mistakenly assumed that Mecca must be in Paran since the author of Genesis set Hagar and Ishmael’s story there.[24] Thus, we should overlook Thomas’s error, not build on it.

The other explanation for the hadith’s total silence on the topic of the Muslim community’s alleged move of its central shrine is that the early Muslims determined to cover their tracks. They allegedly did not want move of the qibla known, lest it diminish Mecca’s sanctity and legitimacy. But the import of such a move and the realities of the period in which the alleged move was made are incompatible with the hadith’s complete failure to mention it:

We know that the Muslim community was widely distributed within a few years of 632 CE, when Muhammad is said to have died.

The community was so deeply divided from that point on that Sunni, Shia, Khariji and other Muslim groups fought violently to gain or hold onto power.

The alleged change of qibla would have been a matter of paramount importance since Muslims have always worshipped in a single prescribed direction.

The hadith reflect the early Muslim community’s regional, sectarian and other divisions and disagreements in numerous respects.[25]

Yet, despite the community’s broad geographic distribution and deep division and the central importance of the qibla, the hadith register no disagreement whatsoever on this point. To think that so sprawling and so unruly a community could have unanimously agreed to relocate its sacred center or that it somehow managed to do so without leaving a single trace of the move in the hadith record is highly implausible to say the least.

To sum up, since ancient history seldom offers the sort of proof that enables us to build an airtight case, we must simply decide which conclusion most of the best evidence supports. As I have shown here, none of the six lines of evidence revisionists use to support their view is compelling. Instead, the preponderance of the evidence points to Mecca as Islam’s true birthplace. That is especially true when we allow that oral history—like that later recorded in the hadith—is not inherently false and consider the implausibility of the alleged relocation of the Kaaba.

Hence, contrary to what most revisionists claim, we can affirm with reasonable confidence that Muslims do not mistakenly face the wrong direction when they pray.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Patricia Crone and Michael Cook, Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977) 23-24, John Wansbrough, Qur’anic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977). Other Western scholars had previously questioned the hadith basis of the traditional origins story, but Wansbrough, Cook and Crone can be credited with beginning Islamic revisionism as a school of thought.

[2] Tom Holland, In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire (New York: Doubleday, 2012) and the film Islam: The Untold Story.

[3] It also names Becca—said to be an alias for Mecca—as the site of Abraham’s sacred house, the Kaaba.

[4] Though the Qur’an never tells its story in any detailed chronological fashion, it frequently alludes to events and infrequently names places in it also. The fact that Mecca is one of the few places named in that context is highly significant.

[5] Mehdy Shaddel argues convincingly that “al-Raqim” in Q 18:9 is actually the Arabic name for Petra, “Studia Onomastica Coranica: al-Raqīm, Caput Nabataeae” in Journal of Semitic Studies 42: 303-18.

[6] Angelika Neuwirth, “Qur’anic Reading of the Psalms,” in The Qur’an in Context: Historical and Literary Investigations into the Qur’anic Milieu, ed. Angelika Neuwirth, Nicolai Sinai and Michael Marx (Leiden: Brill, 2010) 733-78.

[7] Arthur Jeffery, The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qur’an (Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1938).

[8] Aramaic and Syriac, on the other hand, exerted a major influence on the entire region, even far-off Yemen.

[9] Nicolai Sinai, The Qur’an: A historical-critical introduction (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017) 61.

[10] G.R. Hawting, The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam: From Polemic to History (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999).

[11] It is tempting to read passages like Q 27:91, 28:57, 29:67 and 106:3 as supporting the idea that Mecca’s pagans considered God (Allah) the Lord of the Kaaba or of Mecca. But that inference is faulty for the speaker in each case is the qur’anic speaker, never his pagan hearers. It is more likely that the pagans considered Hubal the Lord of the Kaaba, as the Book of Idols attests.

[12] Nicolai Sinai, The Qur’an: A historical-critical introduction (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017) 66-72.

[13] See pp. 9-10 below for my treatment of the 9th-10th century testimony of Thomas Artsruni.

[14] Crone, Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2004).

[15] One example of this fear and contempt is that the house of Khadijah, Muhammad’s first wife, has been turned into a block of toilets. Likewise, while radical clerics have repeatedly called for the demolition of the house in which Muhammad was born, the Saudis have used it as a cattle market for many years. Ziauddin Sardar, Mecca: The Sacred City (New York: Bloomsbury, 2014) 346-47.

[16] Gibson claims the exceptions face halfway between Petra and Mecca. Dan Gibson, The Sacred City: Discovering the Real Birthplace of Islam (Glasshouse Media, 2017); also Qur’anic Geography (Surrey, BC: Independent Scholars Press, 2011). Missing in both Gibson’s book and film is precise archeological evidence for each of the mosques studied. And no amount of cinematic wizardry can make up for this lack.

[17] Many American mosques face southeast, based on Mecca’s direction on a flat map, while others face northeast, based on the shortest distance around the globe.

[18] http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/from-petra-back-to-makka   Accessed July 8, 2018. King has written numerous books and articles on early qibla determination.

[19] Hence, the only explanation for any early mosques accurately oriented toward either Petra or Mecca—if, indeed, any exist—is coincidence.

[20] Gibson, The Sacred City.

[21] https://archive.org/stream/TabariEnglish/Tabari_Volume_21#page/n9/mode/2up
Accessed July 8, 2018.

[22] Most revisionists hypothesize that the early Muslims relocated Islam’s center to Mecca for its remoteness, in order to make the Kaaba (with its vital Black Stone) immune to political intrigue. But it is not hard to imagine every rebel spiriting the stone off and rebuilding its shrine in his preferred location. That did not happen in all the centuries since the stone was allegedly moved to Mecca because it is precisely Mecca’s Muhammadan history that sanctifies it to Muslims.

[23] Gibson, “Petra in the Qur’an,” 14.

http://thesacredcity.ca/Petra%20In%20The%20Qur%27an.pdf   Accessed September 14, 2018.

[24] Gibson’s presupposition that the original Kaaba was in Petra led him to see Thomas as explaining why Muslim accounts always named Mecca, never Petra, as Islam’s birthplace—or as he sees it, “why Petra is continually referred to as Mecca in the Islamic accounts”; Gibson, “Petra in the Qur’an,” 14. But even supposing that Muslims used the name Mecca for Petra before relocating the Black Stone to the Hijazi Mecca, this does not explain why they never again referred to Petra as Mecca (or “Old Mecca”) after that historic move.

[25] Even if every Muslim alive at the time of the alleged move vowed to keep it secret, how likely is it that the next generation of Muslims would not have leaked multiple versions of the story into the hadith?

[By Mark Anderson | Understanding Islam]

Is Ka'bah The Worshipped Idol? Monday, June 25, 2018

Many among non-Muslims have the impression that Muslims worship the Ka'bah like the way Idolatry is practiced in some other religions. So they ask questions thinking that Muslims really consider the Ka'bah as an object of worship. Among them are:

1. Why do Muslims prostrate and worship at the Ka'bah?
2. Muslims believe that to supplicate in front of the Ka'bah is efficacious, just as devotees of other religions pray in front of their idols.
3. The Muslims seem as though they are sanctifying Ka'bah by kissing the Hajar Aswad stone.

1. Why do Muslims prostrate and worship at the Ka'bah?

In Islam, the Muslims are taught about the “direction of prayer”, or kiblat. Previously, the Muslims’ kiblat was towards Baitul Maqdis in Palestine, until Allah revealed the commandment to change it to the direction of the Ka'bah (Surah al-Baqarah:142-144). The Ka'bah, also known a House of Allah, is therefore only a kiblat and not a deity worthy of worship. If it is decreed that the Ka'bah is moved to another location, Muslims will still pray (Solah) in the same direction.

It is a symbol of unity and uniformity. If there is no specific direction to pray (Solah) towards, people will pray to whichever direction they pleased such as facing the north, south, etc. Similar to when we see soldiers marching with uniformity and unity in a parade, so too is the harmony and unity of Muslims during worship by being united upon one kiblat. This case is proven when we look at how thousands of pilgrims go around the Ka'bah forming orderly lines (saf) in prayer and they follow an imam in unity even though they are from various continents of the world, and even those who are there for the first time can follow the prayer rhythm in unison and unity.

In fact, the Ka'bah had been rebuilt and had its size changed. Muslims today know that the original shape of the Ka'bah was wider, enclosing Hijr Ismail, compared to the smaller present construction.

The proof that Kabah is not a deity is, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad, the caller of azan (muazin) will stand on top of the Ka'bah. If the Kabah is truly an idol worthy of worship, the question should be posed: why would a worshiper stand on top of the idol which he’s expected to worship? Is that not insulting?

In fact, now there are many pictures and drawings of the Ka'bah on prayer mats that people walk on and step on. If the Ka'bah is really an idol, Muslims wouldn’t be doing this.

The question is: can images of idols be stepped on in any religion?

Similarly, history has recorded that the Ka'bah had collapsed several times and reconstructed. However, will the Muslims stop praying once the Ka'bah collapses? Surely not, because the Ka'bah itself is not worshipped in Islam, instead it is a clear and united direction of prostration. Surely not, because the Ka'bah itself is not a worshipped idol in Islam.

2. Muslims believe that to supplicate in front of the Ka'bah is efficacious, just as devotees of other religions pray in front of their idols.

These two are not the same. Based on evidence in several Hadith, supplicating and praying in front of the Ka'bah is efficacious and rewarded greatly, but in the same way in Islam, supplicating at certain other times or places can make the supplication potent as well. For example, supplications is efficacious at a certain time, such as during the last 1/3 of the night (found in Hadith Bukhari no. 1145 and Muslim no. 758), and praying in Masjidil Haramain is greatly rewarded (Hadith Muslim no. 1394). That is not the same as idolatry because there is a difference between praying in front of an idol and praying at a certain recommended place or time.

This question points out correctly the situation by stating “supplicating in front of the Kabah is efficacious “and not “supplicating to the Ka'bah is efficacious”. This is only practiced by Muslims because it is found in text and revelation sources.

Interestingly, if we turn this question around and ask the religions who actually worship idols, the question is: is the sculpting and worshipping clay idols a practice commanded from within their main religious texts?

Let’s contemplate upon God’s true commandment, translated as:

“And part of the signs of His greatness is the night, day, the sun and the moon, but worship Allah who created them, if you only worship Him” (Surah al-Fussilat:37)

3. The Muslims seem as though they are sanctifying Ka'bah by kissing the Hajar Aswad stone.

In Islam there is the practice of following the Sunnah. The Sunnah are acts practiced by Prophet Muhammad that is emulated closely by his followers. Regarding the kissing of Hajar Aswad stone, it is something that Prophet Muhammad used to practice which Muslims emulate, however the stone itself brings no advantages whatsoever.

In fact, the Prophet’s Companion, Sayidina Umar al Khattab used to say to the stone, translated as: “I know you are a stone and do not bring any benefit nor harm. If it was not because I saw the Prophet touching (and kissing) you, surely I would not touch (and kiss) you” (found in Sahih Bukhari, volume 2, book of Hajj chapter 56 no. 675). This act of following the Sunnah is done out of love for the Prophet.

In fact, in following the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad, Muslims also kiss their children (in Bukhari no. 5997, 5998 and Muslim no. 2318, 2317). Are children the symbol of idolatry to Islam because the Prophet Muhammad enjoined kissing them? Definitely not. It is done because it is the Sunnah, and not because they are the object of worship.

In fact, history has recorded that the Hajar Aswad stone was stolen by the Qaramitah tribe for 22 years. During the time it was stolen, the Muslims still performed prostration, umrah and Hajj as usual. This is because it is not compulsory to kiss the Hajarul Aswad stone but instead it is encouraged to remember and follow the way of the Prophet Muhammad during the circummambulation of the Kabah.

Summary

The Ka'bah is a House of Allah and not an object of worship, but it is a symbol of unity in worship.

Allah knows best.

MRM R&D Team | Ask Islam

The Armour of King David Wednesday, November 29, 2017

This is not a rebuttal but simply a light respons to a stupid question from an old dude who keeps on repeating same silly questions about many verses of Al-Quran since 7-8 years ago untill today.

One of the question is, Wikipedia tells that body armor, or mail armour, was found in 3 BCE. How come QS. 34:11 tells that Prophet Dawud Pbuh (King David) who live in 10 BCE already wore a body armour? This must have been a terrible mistake!

To see whether it is a terrible mistake or not, let us check first 1Samuel 18:4 in The Bible. It's written in Hebrew as follows:

וַיִּתְפַּשֵּׁ֣ט יְהֹונָתָ֗ן אֶֽת־הַמְּעִיל֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָלָ֔יו וַֽיִּתְּנֵ֖הוּ לְדָוִ֑ד וּמַדָּ֕יו וְעַד־חַרְבֹּ֥ו וְעַד־קַשְׁתֹּ֖ו וְעַד־חֲגֹרֹֽו׃   

And Parallel Verses of 1Samuel 18:4 translate it to:

NEW AMERICAN STANDAR BIBLE 

Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt.

KING JAMES BIBLE

And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

HOLMAN CHRISTIAN STANDARD BIBLE

Then Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his military tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt. 

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD VERSION

Jonathan took off the robe that he had on and gave it to David, along with his coat, his sword, his bow, and his belt. 

NET BIBLE

Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with the rest of his gear, including his sword, his bow, and even his belt. 

GOD'S WORD® Translation

Jonathan took off the coat he had on and gave it to David along with his battle tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

KING JAMES 2000 BIBLE

And Jonathan removed the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his belt.

As for the dude's stupid curriousity, now let us take a good look at how a battle tunic, military tunic, armour, or body armor actually looks in 1000-400 BCE, the era between Bronze age and Iron age.

During the bronze age, armors had been tried to be made, but they were ineffective at providing protection, which was why they used clothe since it was lighter and it provided about the same protection. The Iron Age body armor was completely different from the Bronze Age amor. It provided a great about of protection since it was perfected. 

In the picture to the left, there is a body armor during this time. The green color shows that there was bronze in this armor. They used a combination of iron and bronze because soldiers liked like armor, so they combined iron and bronze to make a armor that can protect the soldier and that was light enough for the soldiers to move quickly. The armor was a huge change because the bronze weapons were not strong enough to pierce the armor, and it changed how soldiers fought. The weapons also had a significant change. Much like the change from stone weapons to bronze weapons, iron weapons were more durable and stronger than the bronze weapons when Iron age II began.

Back to 1Samuel 18:4, most likely this is the kind of body armor  that Jonathan gave to David who on the later dates developed it into a much more stronger and lighter as mentioned in QS. 34:11.

The bottom line is, body armor already existed in King David's time! 

So, shame on you dude! 

Apparently your Bible also tells a story that matched with the fact being told in Al-Quran concerning King David's armour, doesn't it?

Sources: 

1. Biblehub.com

2. Michael Miltih Time Line 

What Does Quran Mean By Seven Earth? Friday, July 15, 2016

THE CASE

''It is Allah who has created seven heavens and of the earth, the like of them. [His] command descends among them so you may know that Allah is over all things competent and that Allah has encompassed all things in knowledge.'' (QS. 65:12)

In the above verse Allah says He has created seven Heavens and earth of the same number. How is it possible? In some other verses Allah says that Planets and Stars are confined within the domain of the First heaven. Moreover does it imply that Earth is flat and there are 6 more earths under this Earth? Does it also mean that Earth is not a planet? Some say it's directing to the seven layers of earth for example lithosphere, mesosphere etc,  but there not specifically seven layers. There are less than that. It confusing.  Some are using this to say that according to Quran Earth is Flat.

THE ANSWER

Let's see!

As to Noble Verse 65:12, Allah Almighty didn't say the same number.  He Said a "similar" number (Google Translation):

[065:012]  God is He Who created seven Firmaments and of the earth a similar number ومن الارض مثلهن. Through the midst of them (all) descends His Command: that ye may know that God has power over all things, and that God comprehends, all things in (His) Knowledge. 

‏65:12 الله الذي خلق سبع سموات ومن الارض مثلهن يتنزل الامر بينهن لتعلموا ان الله على كل شئ قدير وان الله قد احاط بكل شئ علما 

Each Heaven has so many Earths in it.  But it is quite clear from this Noble Verse that the number of earths are not exactly the same.  Now the proof that Allah Almighty didn't say that each Heaven has ONE EARTH is the fact that the Almighty used the Word مثلهن (similar to; like).  If each Heaven had only one earth, then all of their numbers would be exact.  But the fact that Allah Almighty Said مثلهن proves that:

1.  There are more than one earth.

2.  The number of earths in each Heaven vary.

3.  The number of earths between in all Heavens are similar to each others.

Not only that, but it is also worth noting that the properties of earth are in harmony with the number 7.  For example, see  our little  note here  and here as well; 

In addition to 7 layers of skies and earths, we also noticed that therea are 7 "official" continents in our world namely: 

1. North America

2. South America

3. Australia

4. Asia

5. Africa

6. Antarctica

7. Europe

So the earths that exist out there should be similar to the one that we are living in; at least for the mankinds that are like us. You may refer this to any information ragrding UFO, for instance.

 The Angels were concerned about creating humans on earth

Another proof that there are other earths are the following Noble Verses:

"And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the living creatures that He has scattered through them: and He has power to gather them together when He wills."  (QS. 42: 29)

"Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: 'I will create a vicegerent on Earth.' They said: 'Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?- whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?' He said: 'I know what ye know not."  (QS. 2: 30)

Certainly here the Angels had a previous "bad experience" with mankind before even Adam was created.  So Adam, peace be upon him, was not the first human. 

This proves that:

1.  Either previous humans existed before us here on earth.

2.  Or previous and current humans exist elsewhere outside earth.

But let it be just like it as Allah Almighty always Knows Best.

So, this verse ...

''It is Allah who has created seven heavens and of the earth, the like of them. [His] command descends among them so you may know that Allah is over all things competent and that Allah has encompassed all things in knowledge.'' (QS. 65:12)

Means, there are 7 Earths that are similar to our Earth. Read carefully; 7 heavens AND OF THE EARTH, THE LIKE OF THEM.

That means the 7 planets, that are beneath Earth, being MARS, JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS, NEPTUNE , PLUTO,  SAQAR (NIBIRU).  Nibiru is called Saqar (Saqar is another name for Hell Fire)in the Quran, and scientists only discovered Nibiru as they call it, quite some years ago

As for MARS and MERCURY they are not classed as Earths, because they are too close to the Sun.

The correct tafsir is that of the 7 planets being the 7 Earths besides our own Earth. The verse about Abraham trying to find Allah, and he watches the stars, till he decides he can not worship them is a clue as to the QS. 65:12 verse above.

Now let us check NIBIRU for further information .

Nibiru as shown in the Noble Quran

• And what will make thee know what that is?  (QS. 101:10)
• A burning Fire  (QS. 101:11)
• By no means! Surely it is a flaming Fire  (QS. 70:15)
• Flucking out the extremities  (QS. 70:16) 
• It shall claim him who retreats and turns his back  (QS. 70:17)
• And hoards then withholds. But they deny the Hour, and We have prepared a burning Fire for him who denies the Hour  (QS. 70:18)
• When it sees them from a far-off place, they will hear its raging and roaring (QS. 25:12)

And if We had made it a Quran in a foreign tongue, they would have said: Why have not its messages been made clear? What! a foreign (tongue) and an Arab! Say: It is to those who believe a guidance and a healing, and those who believe not, there is a deafness in their ears and it is obscure to them. These are called to from a place afar. (QS. 41:44) 

Allah the most Merciful the most Wise said in the Holy Quran about the Hour when Planet Nibiru which is Sijjeel/ Saqqar as we know it, as Hell itself, that it would come all of a sudden, as it's stated here:

"They ask you about the Hour, when will it come to pass? Say: The knowledge thereof is with my Lord only. None but He will manifest it at its time. It is momentous in the heavens and the earth. It will not come to you but of a sudden. They ask you as if you are in control thereof. Say: Its knowledge is with Allah only, but most people know not." (QS. 7:187)

The Orbit of Nibiru

In this ayah the city of Lot, 11:82" "............When Our Decree issued, We turned (the cities) upside down, and rained down on them brimstones made of baked clay (FROM SIJIL).(QS. 11:82)

The verse is also translated as  "made high low", or,  "we overthrew", so the town was not turned upside down but the order of the planets was turned upside down as planet sijil/saqar appeared from the North Pole and the order of the planets reversed. This was 4166 years and 8 months ago (1 Nibiru Year). The Next passing will be from the South Pole. This passing will be the 12th year of Nibiru. This is the 12th time ( FINAL PASSAGE ) the Planet Sijil passes making the total years 12 X 4166.66=50.000 years in line with the ayah:

A questioner asked about a Torture to befall-

The Unbelievers, the which of there is none to ward off,-

(A Torture) from Allah, Lord of the Ways of Ascent.

The angels and the spirit ascend unto him in a Day the measure whereof is (as) fifty thousand years:

Therefore do thou hold Patience,- a Patience of beautiful (contentment).

They see the (Day) indeed as a far-off (event):

But We see it (quite) near.  (QS.70:1-7)

The verse continues as such ..

The day when the sky will become as molten copper, And the hills become as flakes of wool, And no familiar friend will ask a question of his friend Though they will be given sight of them. The guilty man will long to be able to ransom himself from the punishment of that day at the price of his children And his spouse and his brother  And his kin that harbored him  And all that are in the earth, if then it might deliver him. But nay! for lo! it is the fire of hell Eager to roast; It calleth him who turned and fled (from truth), And hoarded (wealth) and withheld it. (QS. 70:8-18)

Nibiru will traverse around from the poles. Allah speaks of the Poles as its extremities, the furthest points,  borders,  outlaying  parts, sides,  depending on your translated version; also the mention of reducing it, of land and population.

And verily We sent messengers (to mankind) before thee, and We appointed for them wives and offspring, and it was not (given) to any messenger that he should bring a portent save by Allah's leave. For everything there is a time prescribed. Allah effaceth what He will, and establisheth (what He will), and with Him is the source of ordinance. Whether We let thee see something of that which We have promised them, or make thee die (before its happening), thine is but conveyance (of the message). Ours the reckoning. See they not how we visit the land, reducing it of its outlying parts? (When) Allah doometh there is none that can postpone His doom, and He is swift at reckoning. (QS. 13:38-41)

Nibiru and the 7 Earths

Without the discovery of the tenth planet Nibiru*, we would not of been able to understand surah 74, and others that make mention of Saqar, Nibiru.

Next to our earth there are seven Earths (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and NOW Nibiru)  A predestined arrival. The scientists call it the tenth planet, in line with all the planets mentioned above, including Mercury and Venus. 

As you will see, Mercury and Venus are between the Sun and the Earth, and are therefore not considered Earth type planets. Allah states there are 7 Earths after our Earth, and with the arrival of Nibiru, we now see the seventh Earth. As our Earth is classed as the Center of the Universe, as stated in the Quran, and the Universe thus expands outwards from it, and that all the others Earths were taken out and created from our Mother Earth called the Realm of the Heavens and the Earth.

Thus did We show Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth that he might be of those possessing certainty: (QS. 6:75)

Allah it is who hath created seven heavens, and of the earth the like thereof. The commandment cometh down among them slowly, that ye may know that Allah is Able to do all things, and that Allah surroundeth all things in knowledge.  (QS. 65:12)

Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were of one piece, then We parted them, and we made every living thing of water? Will they not then believe? (QS.21:30)

And if all the trees in the earth were pens, and the sea, with seven more seas to help it, (were ink), the words of Allah could not be exhausted. Lo! Allah is Mighty, Wise. (QS.31:27)

The last verse QS 31; 27, is implying, that there are 7 Earths beyond our Earth, as implyed by the 7 seas, as we know well that the Earth is mostly made up of seas. The word more, underlined in the verses, is perhaps not enough to understand the verses, as in some translations, it says; seven seas beyond it to add to its supply.

Soon will I cast him into SAQAR

And what will explain to thee what SAQAR is?

Naught doth it permit to endure, and naught doth it leave alone!-

Waving to man!  (QS.74 : 26-27)

The last Ayah proves it is not going to CRASH into Earth but PASS by it as it always has done before.

Rising of the Sun from the West

Planet Nibiru/Saqar/Sijil (tenth planet also called Planet X or the Purifyer) will cause the earth to rotate in the opposite direction, the sun will rise from the West, it will raise the temperature (Heat) of the sun in summer, Allah will declare war against all the ones who intend to extinguish Allah's Light;

The attaining of these signs  started in the month Dhil Hija year 1427 Hijri (2007-2008). You must understand that this planet passed several times near the earth (Orbit) in the past in order to purify earth from evil man effectively in line with the ayah:

Now I do call to witness the Lord of all points in the East and the West that We can certainly-Substitute them with better (men) than they; 

And We are not to be defeated (in Our Plan). (QS.70; 40)

At its passage, the people in Mecca and Yemen will be able to see it in the evening of that day.

The signs of Saqars (Nibiru)'s Arrival

The sign of EDRAK, the Sun catching up with the Moon, because of Nibirus ever nearing the Sun. Allah states the order of things;

A token unto them is night. We strip it of the day, and lo! they are in darkness. And the sun runneth on unto a resting-place for him. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Wise. And for the moon We have appointed mansions till she return like an old shrivelled palm-leaf ( the phase of a New Moon). It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the night outstrip the day. They float each in an orbit. (QS. 36:37-40)

Here Allah states that it is not for the Sun to catch up with the Moon. That is, until the signs of the Last Hour appear, and the night precedes the daytime, that is when the Moon follows the Sun.

By the sun and his brightness, And the moon when she followeth him.  (QS. 91:1-2)

One of the great signs is, that the Sun will rise from the West, and it will not happen until the night precedes the daytime. Astronomers will understand this, and could explain it better than us, but here goes the story; The Moon meets the Sun in the New Moon Phases (New Dark Moon), when the Sun and the Moon forma straight angle, alignment of Moon, Sun and Earth. The New Moon is followed by the birth of the waxing crescent as the Moon moves slightly to the East which makes the Sun follow it from the West. 

The Sun appears higher than the Moon, but the Moon is ahead of the Sun towards the East because the Moon moves faster.

The phases of the Moon  start the minute the waxing crescent is born right after the New Moon phases has passed.

The New Moon is the position of the Moon before waxing crescent phases start, when the Moon is Dark reflecting nothing of the Sun rays. 

The the Moon moves slightly towards the East and the first minutes of the waxing crescent of the New Month comes, then a new phase, till the Moon is opposite the Sun, when the Full Moon appears in the East while the Sun is in the West (at Sunset). The the Moon comes back to the old New Moon phases which is the position of the Moon before any waxing crescents.

How the Sun catches up with the Moon

This happens when the Moon sets ( disappears in the West) before the Sunset in spite of the birth of the waxing crescent of the New Month !. All the astronomers ibn the world will find out that the Moonset is before the Sunset, although their precise calculations show that the waxing cresent of the New Moon was born. And none of them will be able to explain this phenomenona until they believe that the Sun caught up with the Moon, which caused the waxing crescent to be born before the eclipse, which means that the Sun, the Moon and the Earth were in approximate alignment while the Moon was a waxing crescent ( not a Dark New Moon).

So when the night precedes the daytime, nothing will save those in disbelief.

Wait they, indeed, for nothing less than that the angels should come unto them, or thy Lord should come, or there should come one of the portents from thy Lord? In the day when one of the portents from thy Lord cometh, its belief availeth naught a soul which theretofore believed not, nor in its belief earned good (by works). Say: Wait ye! Lo! We (too) are waiting. (QS. 6:158)

The Overflowing Seas

 By the Mount, And a Scripture inscribed On fine parchment unrolled, And the House frequented, And the roof exalted, And the sea kept filled, Lo! the doom of thy Lord will surely come to pass; There is none that can ward it off. On the day when the heaven will heave with (awful) heaving, And the mountains move away with (awful) movement, Then woe that day unto the deniers  Who play in talk of grave matters;  The day when they are thrust with a (disdainful) thrust, into the fire of hell  (And it is said unto them): This is the Fire which ye were wont to deny.  Is this magic, or do ye not see?  (QS. 52:1-15)

This verse again has a few different translations, as in the mentioned Sea underlined; the over flowing sea,  or the Sea filled with fire. The filling of over flowing of the seas is a sgn of the bad deeds of mankind, who lay corruption in the Earth.

Corruption doth appear on land and sea because of (the evil) which men's hands have done, that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return. (QS. 30:41)

This is a minor torment before the coming of Nibiru, which when it appears there will be signs of pieces of the sky falling!

And if they were to see a fragment of the heaven falling, they would say: A heap of clouds. Then let them be (O Muhammad), till they meet their day, in which they will be thunder-stricken, A day in which their guile will naught avail them, nor will they be helped. And verily, for those who do wrong, there is a punishment beyond that. But most of them know not.  (QS. 52:44-47)

And Allah brings a minor torment, chastisement before the major chastisement.

And verily We make them taste the lower punishment before the greater, that haply they may return.  (QS. 32:21)

Now, the verse below is a timing in when to expect the overflowing sea to occur;

By the Dawn  And ten nights,  And the Even (SHAFA is a prayer of two RAKAT, BOW DOWN, symbolising the 11th and 12th nights), and the Odd (WATR ... meaning ... ONE BOW DOWN, refers to the 13th of the Lunar Month),  And the night when it departeth, (refers to the 14th of the Lunar Month) There surely is an oath for thinking man. Dost thou not consider how thy Lord dealt with (the tribe of) A'ad,With many-columned Iram,The like of which was not created in the lands; And with (the tribe of) Thamud, who clove the rocks in the valley; And with Pharaoh, firm of might,  Who (all) were rebellious (to Allah) in these lands, And multiplied iniquity therein? Therefore thy Lord poured on them the disaster of His punishment. Lo! thy Lord is ever watchful. (QS. 89:1-14)

This verse is obviously talking about the Month of Ramadam and a Lunar Eclipse. which follows after the night precedes the day. 

Nay, by the Moon And the night when it withdraweth And the dawn when it shineth forth, Lo! this is one of the greatest (portents) As a warning unto men, Unto him of you who will advance or hang back. (QS. 74:32-37)

Nibirus sudden Appearence

And when those who disbelieve behold thee, they but choose thee out for mockery, (saying): Is this he who maketh mention of your gods? And they would deny all mention of the Beneficent. (36) Man is made of haste. I shall show you My portents, but ask Me not to hasten. (37) And they say: When will this promise (be fulfilled), if ye are truthful? (38) If those who disbelieved but knew the time when they will not be able to drive off the fire from their faces and from their backs, and they will not be helped! (39) Nay, but it will come upon them unawares so that it will stupefy them, and they will be unable to repel it, neither will they be reprieved. (40) Messengers before thee, indeed, were mocked, but that whereat they mocked surrounded those who scoffed at them.  (QS. 21: 36-42)

And they say: When will this promise be fulfilled, if ye are truthful? (48) Say: I have no power to hurt or benefit myself, save that which Allah willeth. For every nation there is an appointed time. When their time cometh, then they cannot put it off an hour, nor hasten (it). (49) Say: Have ye thought: When His doom cometh unto you as a raid by night, or in the (busy) day; what is there of it that the guilty ones desire to hasten?  (QS.10: 48-50)

Say (O Muhammad): Yours is the promise of a Day which ye cannot postpone nor hasten by an hour.  (QS. 34:30)

When Nibiru comes in view of the Earth, from behind the Sun, all of a sudden a white cloud of smoke will come down.

But watch thou (O Muhammad) for the day when the sky will produce visible smoke That will envelop the people. This will be a painful torment. (Then they will say): Our Lord relieve us of the torment. Lo! we are believers.  (QS. 44: 10-12)

What will Nibiru look like

Nibiru, Saqar will look like it has holes in it, whereby piercing brightness shines out from them. As we know, this planet is Hell itself. And Hell, Saqar has seven gates, assigned for various type of disbelievers. There are three gates to one side and three to the other side, and the center gate is reserved for the hypocrites. 

By the heaven and the Morning Star - Ah, what will tell thee what the Morning Star is! - The piercing Star!  (QS. 86: 1-2)

This verse above is from At Tariq, the Night Comer, or as its real translation is the one who knocks at the door.

Lord of the heavens and of the earth and all that is between them, and Lord of the sun's risings. Lo! We have adorned the lowest heaven with an ornament, the planets;  With security from every froward devil. They cannot listen to the Highest Chiefs for they are pelted from every side, Outcast, and theirs is a perpetual torment; Save him who snatcheth a fragment, and there pursueth him a burning flame, piercing in brightness. (QS. 37:5-10)

Nibiru looks like it has wings or that of a cloak over its shoulders.

O thou enveloped in thy cloak, Arise and warn! Thy Lord magnify, Thy raiment purify, Pollution shun! (And show not favour, seeking wordly gain! For the sake of thy Lord, be patient!  For when the trumpet shall sound, Surely that day will be a day of anguish, (QS. 74: 1-9)

The sound Nibiru will make

And they say: When will this promise be fulfilled, if ye are truthful? (48) They await but one Shout (Nibiru approaching with a knocking sound/explosion), which will surprise them while they are disputing. (QS. 36: 48-49)

When it sees them from a far-off place, they will hear its raging and roaring. (QS. 25:12)

The Past Towns of Destruction

 "Then We save Our messengers and those who believe — even so (now); it is binding on Us to save the believers." (QS. 10:103) 

Why were there not then among the generations before you those possessing understanding, forbidding mischief in the earth, except a few among them whom We saved? And the unjust pursued the enjoyment of plenty, and they were guilty." (QS. 11:116) 

And when Our commandment came to pass, We delivered Hud and those who believed with him with mercy from Us; and We saved them from a hard chastisement." (QS. 11: 58)

So when Our commandment came to pass, We saved Salih and those who believed with him by mercy from Us from the disgrace of that day. Surely thy Lord — He is the Strong, the Mighty." (QS. 11: 66) 

 And when Our decree came to pass, We saved Shu‘aib and those who believed with him by mercy from Us. And the cry overtook those who were iniquitous, so they were motionless bodies in their abodes" (QS. 11: 94)

There were many towns and cities destroyed as mentioned, by Allah in the Quran. And Allah made mention of a few of them in surah 7, the level of destruction varied and some were ultimately destroyed by Nibiru (Saqar), Sijjil.

When Our Decree issued, We turned (the cities) upside down, and rained down on them brimstones made of baked clay (FROM SIJIL). (QS. 11:82)

Striking them with stones of baked clay (FROM SIJIL). The Elephant

The Destruction to come

When the event befalleth - There is no denying that it will befall - Abasing (some), exalting (others); When the earth is shaken with a shock And the hills are ground to powder So that they become a scattered dust.  QS. 56:1-6 is the event

The Reality!  

What is the Reality?  Ah, what will convey unto thee what the reality is! (QS. 69: 1-3)

Lo! when the waters rose, We carried you upon the ship  That We might make it a memorial for you, and that remembering ears (that heard the story) might remember.  And when the trumpet shall sound one blast  And the earth with the mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with one crash, Then, on that day will the Event befall.  And the heaven will split asunder, for that day it will be frail. (QS. 69:11-16)

The Calamity!  

What is the Calamity? Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Calamity is! A day wherein mankind will be as thickly-scattered moths  And the mountains will become as carded wool. Then, as for him whose scales are heavy (with good works), He will live a pleasant life.  But as for him whose scales are light, The bereft and Hungry One will be his mother, Ah, what will convey unto thee what she is! - Raging Fire. (QS. 101:1-11)

Nay, but the Hour (of doom) is their appointed tryst, and the Hour will be more wretched and more bitter (than their earthly failure). Lo! the guilty are in error and madness.  On the day when they are dragged into the Fire upon their faces (it is said unto them): Feel the touch of hell. (QS. 54: 46-48) 

And brought [within view], that Day, is Hell - that Day, man will remember, but what good to him will be the remembrance? (QS. 89:23)

There are many surahs in the Quran that deal with Saqar, even whole surahs just about Saqar. What we have to realise here with these events of Saqar and it being Hell, coming in view of Earth, and people being sent their, that this does not detract away from Judgement Day. 

Rather we must realize this; that when we die we go straight to Hell of Paradise. 

There is no hanging around in the grave, or torture in the grave. The Quran makes this quite clear. Then when Judgement Day comes, we are handed our books of life and thus sent back to Hell of Heaven again.

There is a reason for this, AND ALLAH KNOWS BEST!

Now, back to the topic,

What does Quran mean by SEVEN EARTHS?

Meaning of the verse “It is Allah Who has created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof”

What is the meaning of the verse at the end of Soorat at-Talaaq (interpretation of the meaning): “It is Allah Who has created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof (i.e. seven). His Command descends between them (heavens and earth), that you may know that Allah has power over all things, and that Allah surrounds (comprehends) all things in (His) Knowledge.” [at-Talaaq 65:12]?

Praise be to Allah.

Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“It is Allah Who has created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof (i.e. seven). His Command descends between them (heavens and earth), that you may know that Allah has power over all things, and that Allah surrounds (comprehends) all things in (His) Knowledge.”

[at-Talaaq 65:12]. 

In this verse Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, tells us that He created seven heavens and seven earths, between which His command descends; this refers to His laws and commandments, and His decrees by which all things are controlled and His signs are made clear, so that His slaves may know that to Him belong the creation and the command, and that He has the utmost wisdom and perfect might; to Him belong the most beautiful names and sublime attributes; not even the weight of an atom (or small ant), in the highest heaven or the lowest earth, is beyond His power and knowledge; and so that they may know that He is able to bring people back to life after they have died, and raise them up and resurrect them from their graves, so that they will love Him and worship Him, and they will be obedient to Him and to His Messengers. This is the purpose for which He created mankind. 

Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

Allah, may He be exalted, tells us of His perfect might and absolute power, so that this will motivate us to venerate the true religion that He has ordained. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“It is Allah Who has created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof (i.e. seven).”

[at-Talaaq 65:12].

End quote from Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 8/156 

Ash-Shawkaani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “and of the earth the like thereof” means, and He created the earth something like them, i.e., seven. There was a difference of opinion concerning the nature of the levels of the earth. Al-Qurtubi said in his Tafseer: They (the scholars) differed concerning them, and there are two opinions. One of them, which is the view of the majority, is that there are seven earths in layers, one above another, and between each two earths there is a distance like that between heaven and earth. Ad-Dahhaak said: They are in layers, one above another, with no gap in between, unlike the heavens. But the former view is more correct, because the reports indicate that.

End quote from Fath al-Qadeer, 5/346 

As-Sa‘di (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

Allah, may He be exalted, tells us that He created all of creation, including the seven heavens and all that dwell therein, and the seven earths and all that dwell therein, and whatever is between them, and that He sent down His command, which is the laws and religious rulings that He revealed to His Messengers to remind and exhort His slaves, and His decrees by means of which he controls all of creation. All of that is so that His slaves will know Him and will understand that His power encompasses all things and His Knowledge encompasses all things. Then they will know Him by His holy attributes and beautiful names, and they will worship Him, love Him and fulfil their duties towards Him. This is the purpose behind creation and the command: to know Allah and worship Him. Those of the righteous slaves of Allah who were guided understood this and acted accordingly, but those who wronged themselves turned away from that.

End quote from Tafseer as-Sa‘di, p. 872 

At-Tabaraani narrated in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabeer (8987) with a hasan isnaad from Ibn Mas‘ood that he said: The distance between the lowest heaven and the next one is the distance of five hundred years’ travel, and the distance between each heaven and the next is the distance of five hundred years’ travel. 

So the heavens are seven, and the earths are seven, and that is by the perfect might of Allah, may He be exalted, and the command and decree of Allah descend between them. 

What is required of us is to adhere to what is known from sharee‘ah, and not overstep the mark. The Qur’an and the saheeh Sunnah have told us that there are seven heavens and seven earths. 

We know from the Sunnah that each heaven has its inhabitants, but there is nothing that tells us about the earths other than the one in which we live. So what we must do is adhere to what the reports say, and believe that there are seven earths, without seeking to know further, or to find out whether this is proven by modern science or not, or other things that may generate doubt and uncertainty. Rather we must believe that complete knowledge and power over these higher and lower realms belongs to Allah alone. This is part of knowing that He has power over all things, and that He encompasses all things in His knowledge. Nevertheless, we say: We hear, we obey and we believe. 

See also the answer to question no. 112059 

And Allah knows best!

[Source: Answering Christianity | Islam Question & Answer]

The Islamic View of Creation Tuesday, May 24, 2016

CREATION OF MAN

In the 19th century Charles Darwin put forward a theory that man came into being through a long process of evolution and not all of a sudden in one stroke as stated in the Bible. He concluded that the evolutionary process which produced man in his present form probably took millions of years. The second main point in Darwin's theory is that man evolved from lower forms of animal life. In the beginning there existed only small types of animals which during the course of time were followed by larger and larger ones. Eventually one of these kinds of animals developed into man as we know him but it has now become extinct although it can be maintained that a better form of that animal, the missing linkage is represented by the monkey. This theory is based on the fact that ancient human skeletons which have been unearthed in various places show remarkable differences from one age to another in the size or structure of the bones or skull. This is taken to indicate that there has been a slow development and progress of the species from era to era. It is also argued that the embryo in the womb, at different stages of its development, successively resembles a number of lower animals such as a rabbit, fish or something else. This is taken to furnish ground for the conclusion that the stages which the embryo passes through represent, so to say, the stages which man has passed through from a lower animal to that of a human being. A further argument advanced in support of the theory of evolution is that there are a number of similarities which seem to indicate that man and these lower animals are one and the same thing and that the structure of the human body is not an exclusive feature of the human species as it has evolved from the bodies and structures ures such as those shared by the apes.

The second point in Darwin's theory was that man and apes developed from a common link which is now extinct. The basis of the argument is that certain kinds of monkeys have a striking resemblance to man. Darwin surmised that in this chain one link is missing as indicated by the gulf which should not have otherwise existed between man and the apes on one side, and the apes and animals on the other. Since there is a remarkable degree of similarity between man and the apes, and since, on the other hand, a gulf seems to separate the apes from other animals, it appears that some link has disappeared which bridged this gulf---the link from which man and the apes have evolved during the process of time.

Haeckel, after Darwin, was of the opinion that the missing link was an animal which he called Lipotylu which has become extinct leaving no trace behind it. If this animal, or its remains, could be found then the missing link which breaks the chain of continuity would come to hand and leave no vagueness or uncertainty about the theory of evolution. Thinkers of this kind believe that the gorilla and chimpanzee stand in the line of human ancestry.

Darwin's theory was subjected to criticism by many thinkers who pointed out that the wide gulf separating man from the apes precluded a common ancestry for both. In these differences, however, Huxley found further support for the theory of evolution. He pointed out that the difference found between different kinds of monkeys was greater than the one found between man and the apes. In spite of the wide differences between varieties of monkeys, all were taken and accepted as monkeys. Huxley argued that when differences between different species of monkeys were so wide then why could not man have also traveled a long way from the ape during the course of time? He concluded, therefore, that this gulf did not stand against evolution but on the other hand tended to support it.

More recent research which is supported by Professor Jones and Professor Osborne, tends to conclude that although man has developed through an evolutionary process he branched off from other animals at a much earlier period; and during that time he developed on independent exclusive lines as compared with other animals. In other words, man did not branch off from some kind of ape, as Darwin believed, but a long time before that during the development of animal life.

Archaeologists and anthropologists have found that human civilization has passed through very distinct stages. In the Stone Age man took his first step towards culture and civilization. Since that time he had evolved into a state of only the most rudimentary human existence and, in contrast with other forms of animal life, he did not have the advantage of claws and fangs, he used stones as weapons for offense and defense. Then came the Bronze Age when man made use of this metal. This was followed by the iron age. As a result of excavations archaeologists are agreed that all the stages of his life man has been a bearer of culture of one kind or another.

QURAN ON THE CREATION OF MAN

First I would like to refer to the following passage from the Holy Quran:

What is the matter with you that you hope not for greatness and wisdom from Allah? And He has created you in different forms and different conditions. See you not how Allah has created seven heavens in perfect harmony, and has placed the moon, therein a light and made the sun a lamp? And Allah has caused you to grow out of the earth as a good growth. Then will He cause you to return, thereto, and He will bring you forth a new bringing forth. (71:14-19)

A close paraphrase of this passage would be:

O you human beings! What is the matter with you that you fail to understand that Allah does not do anything unless there is wisdom and purpose underlying it? You yourselves are not ready to accept the assumption that you do things with no aim or purpose in view. Why do you therefore assume that Allah, the Most Wise and All Knowing does things without purpose? Why do you jump to the thoughtless conclusion that He created man with no purpose in view? Why do you fail to grasp the evident truth that your creation has not been the result of a sudden meaningless impulse? It was the result of wise planning and deliberate execution in a succession of stages from one point to another. Do you not see that Allah has created the seven heavens in perfect harmony with each other and similarly the sun and the moon? Also that the earth was one of the stages through which you passed in a process of slow growth to the point of perfection?

This is the description of the origin and emergence of man given in the Quran. The law of evolution working in the universe which Europe claims to have discovered was clearly defined in the Holy Quran more than fourteen hundred years ago that man was not created in an instant in the form in which he is today. God did not make a model of clay and breathed life into it to become the first man. No! Man has reached his present stage after passing through many intermediary stages. Man originated from and on this earth---Allah caused you to grow out of the earth as a good growth.

It is particularly distressing to note, however, that the present day popular Muslim belief has lost sight of the two crucial points that man's creation and emergence did not take place in an instant. He was created from the earth and on the earth. Popular Muslim belief has come to have it that man was created in paradise from where he was put down on earth. It is also believed by a large section of Muslims that God has a bag of souls which, from time to time, He releases singly to become human beings. In view of the prevalence of such foolish fancies that the popular Muslim mind, through some irony, is peculiarly bent upon holding views contrary to the clear teachings of the Holy Quran.

The Quran tells us that the creation of man took place in gradual stages, the underlying wisdom being that through this slow development defects should be eliminated from his constitution and nature. The gross ignorance of the views held by some Muslim religious leaders may be gaged from the following. Maulvi Syed Sarwar Shah, a prominent member of the Ahmadiyya Movement and companion of the Promised Messiah, used to relate that one of his teachers once said that the explanation for one man being handsome and another ugly, and yet another middling, is that at the time God decided to make man He awarded a contract to the angels for carrying out the job fixing a daily quota which had to be fulfilled. The angels started kneading the clay well and shaping from it nice and handsome figures. They worked steadily, without hurry, until noon giving careful attention to each piece. After a while they found that they were lagging behind the quota fixed and began to work only with the idea of completing it. They ceased paying careful artistic attention to their work with the result that the beings formed during the first spell of their work were very attractive while those formed in the early part of the afternoon were middling. As the afternoon wore on the angels realized with dismay that they were still lagging far behind the quota for the day so they threw all care to the wind. They hurriedly shaped a figure from the clay with a finger-poke to make the mouth and two pokes to make the eyes. No wonder these ungainly dented figures could not be compared with those made during the first spell of work.

This example shows how, through ignorance, unwarranted beliefs among Muslims, Christians, Jews and others have turned beautiful truths into distressing caricatures and spurious myths.

FIRST STAGE

The next point revealed by the Quran in connection with the creation of man is that the first stage was a condition of non-existence. A controversial subject. The view of the Arya Samajists is that matter from which the universe has been shaped, is eternal. God did no more than to bring the soul to matter together into a close relationship and so man was created. This belief is repudiated by the Quran which teaches that matter is not eternal but it is a creation of God and that man was created. God says in the Holy Quran:

Does not man remember that We created him before, when he was naught? (19:68)

Human birth now takes place from the seed of the male. This verse refers to the first original creation of the species, or the first man. it should be carefully noted that the Quran does not say that existence was created from non-existence. It says that prior to the stage when matter and other things came into being, there was a stage when nothing existed. We say that a chair can be made from a piece of wood; or we say that a chain can be made from a piece of iron. Here we have matter in one form which can be utilized to make another article. Atheists often raise the objection that it is not possible to shape out anything from nothing. This, however, is not what is meant by the Quran. What is meant is that prior to the creation of the universe there was a stage when nothing existed. Then came creation and the creation of man. God has not given knowledge to man as to how this came about, possibly because it is beyond the comprehension of man to grasp. If man could visualize how creation took place then he would be in a position to create man himself.

SECOND STAGE

It appears from the Holy Quran that the second stage in the creation of man was a state of existence when the human body was there but the brain or its active faculties which distinguish a human being from the lower animals were not operative and active as they came to be later. There was, so to say, a human body which was not yet a human being or, in other words, there was the physical human body minus the evolved and perfected human brain or mind. We are not in a position to say whether in this state he was a kind of rock formation or a kind of plant. We can say, however, that he was not yet an animal. The Quran says: There has certainly come upon man a period of time when he was not a thing spoken of. In other words, there has been a stage in the history of man when it was not madhkur, i.e., it was not aware of itself, lacked consciousness at the time and was not capable of recognition. He was a form of being without consciousness and intelligence, not aware of himself or of other things.

THIRD STAGE

The third stage in the evolution of man was reached when he attained to a state of being where the production of the species began to take place through the seed of the male planted in the body of the female through sexual intercourse. From this point onwards occurs the almost infinite variety of individual human temperaments. Among animals there are varieties not characterized by sex. God says in the Quran that a stage came in the course of the evolution of man when he developed into an animal characterized by sex, divided into males and females, when his procreation began to take place through the seed of the male which is a characteristic of the higher forms of animal life. His procreation began to occur from a nutratin amshajin, from the male sperm drop embracing a combination of a number of elements. God says in the Holy Quran:

Indeed: We have created man from a mingled sperm-drop, that We might try him, so We made him hearing, seeing. From this stage his procreation began to be compounded from many elements because his role in the universe was to be many sided which necessitated that he should possess a wide range of qualities.

FOURTH STAGE

The fourth stage came when the human brain reached perfection and characterized by a highly developed form of awareness and intelligence. From having the capacity of hearing and seeing which are qualities also to be found in the lower animals, he became capable of exercising his intelligence to a point where, through a sustained spirit of inquiry and search, inference and invention came within the range of his faculties. Here he rose one very distinct step higher than the other forms of animal life, an animal capable of sustained thought and speech.

These links in the chain of the evolution of man are the initial links of the various stages, The intervening periods between the emergence of these links have not been clearly brought out by the Quran for it is not a scientific treatise on the subject. The Quran refers to these matters which were necessary for bringing out a point of moral spiritual truth, leaving the filling in of the gaps to the human mind. We glean from other passages in the Quran that there are also other links in the chain of human evolution:

And Allah created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then he made you pairs.

Elsewhere the Quran says: 'And Allah caused you to grow from the earth, a good growth ', while here it is said: 'Allah created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop'. The remaining links have been omitted, till He made you pairs. i.e., a being capable of living in social units the point from which emerges what we call civilization and culture, with a system and order of life.

The meaning of Azwaj used in the Arabic text of the verse which I have just quoted does not mean division into male and female because that point has already been covered in the mention of creation by a sperm-drop. Then he made you pairs, coming after sperm-drop has to be interpreted to mean something beyond the emergence of sex. In Arabic the word zauj also means kind, variety or complimentary groups; and this is the meaning implied here. When the human mind fully developed and a variety of temperaments emerged, individuals began to evince leanings towards or away from certain other individuals. This gave rise to the emergence of social units on this or that basis such as family groups or combination of certain individuals well disposed towards each other.

The evolution of man may be summed up by saying that at first man was only a clod of earth or some kind of rock formation. After some intermediary stages which the Quran has not mentioned, man reached a stage where he became a kind of animal growth divided into male and female and procreating through sexual intercourse. Again the Quran leaves out some intermediary stages until man emerges as a social being divided into several groups as a result of which there sprung up a variety of mental, physical or economic affiliations. This is the point where the story of human civilization begins.

Among the stages of the evolution of man is when water mingled with the particular dust, clod of earth or rocky substance. This mingling of the dry clod with water which resulted in a kind of life being born in it is mentioned in the Quran:

And We made from water every living thing... (21:31)

He Who has made perfect everything He has created. and He began the creation of man from clay. (32:8)

The word in the Arabic text for clay is teen which means earth mixed with a quantity of water which becomes adhesive. According to the Quran, therefore, human life originated in a substance which was a mixture of earth and water which, in the course of time, developed into man. In the fore-going verses we are told that an early initial stage in the evolution of man was when he was given a particular form from wet earth. That was followed by a stage when man began to be procreated through function of the sex organs of the male and female of his species. In the words of the Holy Quran:

Then He made His progeny from an extract of an insignificant fluid. (32:9)

Did We not create you from an insignificant fluid, and we placed it in a safe place? (77:22)

These verses indicate very clearly that man's origin in dry earth or rock was one stage from which step by step he passed through a stage when it was mixed with water causing the development of a rudimentary form of life which later on began to procreate through the functioning of the sex organs which had developed in the male and female. All these stages represent different periods of time the duration of which can at best be only vaguely conjectured or imagined.

The Holy Quran mentions a general principle with regard to the creation of man:

And that with thy Lord is the final judgment; and that it is He Who makes people laugh and makes them weep; and it is he Who causes death and gives life; and that He creates the pairs, male and female, from a sperm-drop when it is emitted; and that it is for Him to bring forth the second creation. (53:43-48)

CONCLUSIONS

From these verses of the Quran which I have quoted emerge the following conclusions:

( 1 ) The material from which man has been created is not eternal. It was created by God.

(2) Man's creation involved an evolutionary process extending over a long period of time. He was not created in a moment.

(3) Man was created from an origin of his own species. It is not correct that he evolved from a species of monkeys or apes which is the theory advanced by Darwin.

(4) One of the evolutionary stages through which he passed was something akin to stone or rock.

(5) He next passed through a stage of animal life but intelligence had not yet developed in him although he moved about, ate and drank like other animals.

(6) He became an intelligent being able to speak and communicate.

(7) In his final stage he devised a system of life and started on the road to civilization and culture. Instead of each individual living for himself, as is the case with other and lower animals, he began to work in co-operation with others of his species evolving a system and law of life.

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Courtesy of Mr. Zia Shah, zshah@ix.netcom.com.

June 6, 1995

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THE ORIGIN OF LIFE

The Quran provides a clear cut answer to the question: At what point did life begin? In this section, I shall set forth the verses of the Quran in which it is stated that the origins of life are aquatic. The first verse also refers to the formation of the universe:

Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together, then We clove them asunder and We got every living thing out of water. [21:30]

The notion of 'getting something out of something else' does not give rise to any doubts. The phrase can equally mean that every living thing was made of water (as its essential compone- nt) or that every living thing originated in water. Life is in fact of aquatic origin and water is the living component of all living cells. Without water, life is not possible. When the possibility of life on another planet is discussed, the first question is:

Is there a sufficient quantity of water to support life?

Modern data leads us to think that the oldest living beings probably belonged from the vegetable kingdom: Algae have been found that date from the pre-Cambrian period, the time of the oldest known lands. Organisms belonging to the animal kingdom probably appeared slightly later: They too came from the sea.

The words translated here as 'water' is in fact 'ma', which means both water in the sky and water in the sea, or any kind of liquid. In the first meaning, water is the element necessary to all vegetable life:

[God is the One Who] sent water down from the sky and thereby We brought forth pairs of plants each separate from the other. [20:53]

This is the first reference to a 'pair' of vegetables; we shall cause to return to this notion later. In the second meaning, which refers to any kind of liquid, the words is used in its indeterminate form to designate the substance at the basis of the formation of all animal life.

God created every animal from water. [24:45]

Thus the statement in the Quran on the origins of life, whether referring to life in general, the element that gives to birth to the plants in the soil, or the seed of animals, are all strictly in accordance with modern scientific data. None of the myths on the origins of life that abounded at the time the Quran was communicated to man are mentioned in the text.

Reference: What is the Origin of man?; The Answers of Science and the Holy Scriptures, By Dr. Maurice Bucaille, Translated from the French by Alastair D. Pannell and the Author, Second Edition, Revised. Publisher: SEGHERS, 6 Place Saint-Sulpice, 75006 PARIS.

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courtesy of Mr. Ali Abbas.

August 1, 1995

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[Source: Lambert Dolphin | The Islamic view of creation]