{"id":228,"date":"2009-07-19T19:57:04","date_gmt":"2009-07-20T00:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/?p=228"},"modified":"2016-01-18T22:44:43","modified_gmt":"2016-01-19T03:44:43","slug":"is-the-kaba-sacred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/2009\/07\/19\/is-the-kaba-sacred\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Ka’ba sacred?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though the Arab religion has embraced the worship of Allah as the one true God of Islam it still hasn\u2019t separated itself from its devotion to its polytheistic past.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ka\u2019ba which is a cube like building located in Mecca is the most sacred site of Islam yet before the advent of Islam it was used as a pagan shrine.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cornerstone of this structure is a black meteorite that was said to have fallen from heaven and its blackness was associated with the darkness of human sin. Today Muslims kiss this stone as an act of veneration or worship during the Hajj. <\/span><\/p>\n

In preislamic culture ancient Arabs were under the influence of a cultish rock fetishism\u00a0 which valued these black stones as a part of their own ritualistic practices. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Arabs were stone worshipers in which their tribal groups had their own Ka\u2019ba sanctuary which housed their own black rock in which they worshipped. <\/span><\/p>\n

One of the rituals associated with the Ka\u2019ba is the encircling or circumambulation of the shrine. A theory on how this pagan practice originated was that these tribal groups would circle the Ka\u2019ba which was likened to the movement\u00a0 of the heavenly objects with regards to the worship of the moon,sun, and stars. This practice would also include these tribes kissing the stone which was believed to be inhabited by a god or spirits. This kissing of the rock and touching of this stone was thought to bring a blessing. <\/span><\/p>\n

Also in connection with the black rock of the Ka\u2019ba was the worship of the moon god Hubal. <\/span><\/p>\n

Other aspects of Arab culture that are associated with their ancient pagan past regarding Arab society is “The stone throw” at Mina, \u201cThe Run\u201d Safa and Marwa which is just a reenactment of the pagans that used to run in between two idols, and lastly “The Praise” which mimics the ancient ritual of\u00a0 praising their dead ancestors and now this act has been redirected with praise towards Allah. <\/span><\/p>\n

Arab culture seems not to have made a clean break from its pagan past even though it lays claims to this\u00a0 under their new banner of monotheism. This syncretistic practice of incorporating Arab culture into the religion of Islam has created a mixture rather than purity to its religious component and for the Ka\u2019ba to be a prominent fixture as a pillar of Islam reveals that there are some cracks to the edifice of this religious structure. <\/span><\/p>\n

So how far has Islam really come in bringing about its own unique identity as being the one true faith? It is obvious that it has borrowed its structure from Judeo Christian beliefs and has decorated and filled its interior from the likes of its pagan past. <\/span><\/p>\n

Is this really the true faith or just a borrowing of a conglomeration of various ideas uniting the practice of local religion alongside of incorporating other religious world views? <\/span><\/p>\n

Are you willing to swear\u00a0 allegiance and submit towards a religion that has not purified its association with its cultic past? Has Islam just remodeled and reorganized the same structure of idolatry by covering it with a thin venner and marketing it as a new religion based on a\u00a0 revelation given from an angelic being? Perhaps what is hidden behind the veil of Islam is simply just a one headed idol versus a totem pole of gods. <\/span><\/p>\n

In writing this blog I\u00a0 have pooled together many different resources concerning this matter and I have tried to make an honest and fair assessment of this information while compiling the data. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00a0 would just ask you not to merely dismiss the content of this blog as just a smear campaign of defamation. I would encourage you to do your own research regarding this matter while keeping an open mind. <\/span><\/p>\n

Through this blog I have offered a challenge to Islamic belief while attempting to avoid needless slander and false accusations towards Muslims and what they hold to be sacred. I recognize many of my Muslim friends are zealous in their devotion and sincere to their conception of God and I respect that. Yet what I am asking them to do is to allow factual information to guide\u00a0 them in making better decisions regarding their allegiance and submission.<\/span><\/p>\n

In closing if you are a Muslim\u00a0 I would encourage you through prayer to\u00a0 ask God regarding the truth behind\u00a0 Islamic faith and practice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

How to know God<\/a><\/p>\n

Muslim Resources of Jesus<\/a><\/p>\n

Islam and Jesus<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An overview to the history of the the Ka’ba<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-muslim"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}