Kaaba: A Christian Church before Islam?
Khalid M. Baheyeldin
By Khalid M. Baheyeldin
Salam to all!
[I have posted this 3 days ago and have not appeared
so far in soc.religion.islam, so I am posting again]
Dr. Christoph Heger has posted to this group about
the Kaaba being a church at some point before Islam,
extrapolating from the reports that pictures of Jesus
and Mary INSIDE the Kaaba.
"Dr. Christoph Heger" wrote:
<snip>
> It should be noted that, contrary to these vivid reports
> about the Christian pictures in the Kaaba, we don't have
> any comparably precise description of the pagan idols
> which allegedly had been in the interior of the Kaaba.
> This adds to other evidence that the Kaaba served as
> a church for some time prior to the advent of Islam.
>
I have responded briefly to this, in a previous post
(that up to the time of this writing has not reached
my news server) post from memory. Below, I try to give
a fuller discussion of the topic.
For my background, I work as an Information Technology
Consultant in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. I do visit Makkah
often. In other words, I am no expert in history, but
I can read Arabic (my native language) and I do read a
lot of history, ...etc.
So here we go:
1. Kaaba was rebuilt several times in history.
The first confirmed one (at least from the Muslim point of
view) was by Abraham with Ismail's assistance. The building was
very much like the current one, except it had no raised
door, and the northern side was curved, so the current Hijr
Ismail portion was inside the Kaaba itself. It was rebuilt
in 605/606 C.E. by the tribe of Quraish, following a fire, 5
years before Muhammad received revelation). Quraish could not
built it on the same foundation, since they ran short of money,
and this is why the northern side was made into a straight line,
and not curved, and so the Hijr was excluded. They also raised
the door "so they would grant access only on the basis of favor
to whom they like and deny access to those they dislike" as
related by the Prophet Muhammad. The prophet wanted to rebuilt
the Kaaba on Abraham's foundations (including the Hijr), and
make 2 doors on the ground level so people would be able to
enter from one and exit from the other. Ibn Al Zubair rebuilt
the Kaaba in 683 C.E. on the Abraham foundation (including
Hijr), but Al Hajaj in 693 C.E. reverted it back to what it
was and this is the same plan that exists today.
Note 1: Some traditions attribute that the Kaaba was built first
by the Angels, then Adam, then Seth, ...etc. None of these
accounts are confirmed, nor related by the Prophet in a strong
tradition.
Note 2: The Prophet Muhammad participated in this rebuilding before
receiving revelation. The tribes quarreled between them on who whould
have the honor of fitting the Black Stone in its original place, and
they almost fought over it. Muhammad was chosen by them to put the
stone himself. This indicates that he was respected by his people
before receiving revelation. He was called "Al Sadiq, Al Ameen"
(The Truthul, the Honest).
Note 3: Some Muslim rulers (e.g. Harun Al Rashid - the famous Abbasid
Caliph), after knowing that the Ibn Al Zubair rebuilding was
in accordance to the Prophet's tradition wanted to rebuild the
Kaaba as per Abraham's foundations, so he asked the reknown
scholar Imam Malik for his opinion. Malik advised him to keep
it as is "so that the Kaaba would not be a playground for kings"
(Basalama p. 90)
2. Kaaba is too small to be a church.
Please note that all rituals before and after Islam
(circumbulation, prayer) are performed outside the Kaaba.
The inside measurments are: 10.15 m x 8.1 m (Basalamah p. 137
based on his own measurment). This is the same area as a large
living room.
Note: If you have the Saudi TV Channel 1 (via Satellite) you
can watch the prayers live at sunset (Maghrib) and sunset + 1.5
hours (3eshaa'), and on Friday noon as well. All times in Saudi
Arabia local time: GMT + 3 hours).
3. Kaaba's door is too high for frequent entry.
That is with exception apart from the period of 683 to 693 C.E,
where the 2 doors were on the ground level. This was clearly in
Islamic times, and not a church.
I have not measured it myself, but a reasonably tall person would
be able to reach the BOTTOM of the door if he stretches his arms
fully upwards. So it would be about 2.5 m.
There are no stairs to the door at any time (except when visiting
heads of state are inside the mosque and may be granted access
by a portable ladder or something similar.
4. The pictures of Jesus and Mary on the INSIDE of the Kaaba were
painted by a Byzantine Christian called Baqum.
Baqum was a carpenter/mason (maybe an architect as well?) and
a ship was wrecked on the shores of Jeddah (or Sho3aibah - both
being ports to Makkah). Quraish bought the timber from the merchant
(Baqum himself or someone in his company) and agreed to take the
goods on the ship via caravan to its destination. Quraish also
granted them tax free access to Makkah in exchange to assistance
in rebuilding the Kaaba.
5. There were many idols outside the Kaaba prior to Islam.
Sources quote as many as 360 idol outside Kaaba.
All the idols were removed on the day of Makkah's conquest
in 631 C.E. one year before the Prophet's death.
Mahran p. 187, Basalama p. 49-67
6. At least one idol was inside the Kaaba: Hobal.
The idol Hobal was inside the Kaaba BEFORE the Quraish
rebuilding of 605 C.E., and was there until the Islamic
conquest of 631 C.E.
Contrary to Dr. Christian's claim, there were idols INSIDE
BEFORE Quraish's rebuilding in 605 C.E. and after that
rebuilding to the day of the conquest in 631 C.E.
Mahran Ibid. Basalama Ibid.
7. The Horns of the Ram were on the Kaaba's door up till 683 C.E.
Quraish maintained that the horns of the ram (sheep) that
was sent by Allah to Abraham when he was about to sacrifice
his son were fitted above the door of the Kaaba.
Arabs are descendants of Ismail, and they maintain that Ismail
was the son of Abraham that was about to be sacrificed, as opposed
to the Judeo-Christian biblical view of Isaac being the one.
The horns were present when Quraish rebuild the Kaaba in 605 C.E.
but they were burnt during the siege of Makkah in 683 C.E., when
the Kaaba caught fire.
8. The Kaaba is respected but not worshipped.
The Kaaba is not a divine object, nor is it holy or sacred
(in the Judeo-Christian sense of the word at least).
This could be the subject of another thread.
To end this whole issue I offer some first hand account of
little known information about the Kaaba, as well as a lighter
note to cheer everyone up:
During late 1996 , the Saudi government was doing a comprehensive
maintenance project for the Kaaba itself. Even though I was there
several times, I do not know what exactly was being done. The whole
Kaaba was surrounded by white wooden shielding it from view, and
there was even a crane right next to the Kaaba.
I tried to take a peek at what was going on inside but could see
nothing. I asked the guard tending to the door to the wooden
shield what was going on, and he said maintenance. I kept
speculating that they would rebuilt the Kaaba as per the Prophet's
wish, I kept watching live broadcasts to (perhaps) try to reveal
something, but the cameras never showed Kaaba during this
overhaul.
The construction was completed before Ramadan of 1417 A.H.
(i.e. approx. January 1997), and nothing dramatic happened, it
was all speculation on my part. However, I have noticed that the
brass parts on the base of the Kaaba were renewed, and some
mortar (cement) was a bit changed. Once possibility is that
the Kaaba was dismantled and rebuild AS IS (thus the crane,
so it can lift the huge boulders of the Kaaba). There were
lots of labor participating in this, and what really happened
could be verified by any one of them.
Now to the humor part: My younger daughter, Sarah, was 4.5 years
when this construction/maintenance was going on. When we went
there while the white board shield was there (a perfect white
cube) she said: "Father, why have they removed the BLACK Kaaba
and replaced it with a WHITE one?". Me and her mother could
only laugh heartily about her comment!
:-)
I do ask posters to stick to facts, and not begin with pieces
of truth (e.g. pictures inside Kaaba), extrapolating them
to conclusions concealed as facts (e.g. Kaaba was a church,
no idols inside Kaaba).
Salam to all.
May this be helpful to those seeking the truth.
==
Main References:
- Hussein Abdullah Basalama: "Tareekh Al Kaaba Al Mo3adhama"
(History of the Great Kaaba). First Ed. 1354 A.H. (circa
1934 C.E). Reprinted 1982 by Tihama Publishing, Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia. (no ISBN available - sorry!)
The author was a native of Makkah. His book is a
comprehensive one on the subject, and draws from 67
references including many history sources, including history books
specific to Makkah, many of which were manuscripts in 1934.
These include: Akhbar Makkah by Al Azraqi, Al3eqd AlThameen
by Taqi Al Din Al Fasi, Shifaa' Al Gharam by Fasi as well,
It7af Al Wara by Najm El Din Ibn Fahd, Bulugh Al Qira by
Ibn Fahd as well.
- Mohamed Bayoumi Mahran, Ph.D. Professor of History of Egypt
and Ancient Near East, Faculty of Arts, University of
Alexandria. "Tareekh Al 3Arab Al Qadeem" (Ancient History of
Arabs). 11th Ed. 1994 C.E. Dar Al Ma3rifah Al Game3eya,
Alexandria, Egypt Volume II. (no ISBN available - sorry!)
This is an excellent reference on Arabia before Islam, including
geography, politics, religion, culture, society, ...etc. It is
mainly intended to serve as a text book for history students.
It has reems and reems of references (25 PAGES of Arabic references,
and 11 pages of Western sources), since .
Both books are in Arabic, and translation is my own.
--
Khalid M. Baheyeldin
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