a brief history Islam

Hajj literally means 'to set out for a place'. Islamically however
it refers to the annual pilgrimage that Muslims make to Makkah with
the intention of performing certain religious rites in accordance
with the method prescribed by the Prophet Muhammad .

Hajj and its rites were first ordained by Allah in the time of the
Prophet lbrahim [Abraham] and he was the one who was entrusted by
Allah to build the Kaba - the House of Allah - along with his son
Ismail [Ishmael] at Makkah. Allah described the Kaba and its
building as follows:

"And remember when We showed Ibrahim the site of the [Sacred] House
[saying]: Associate not anything [in worship with Me and purify My
House for those who circumambulate it [i.e. perform tawaaf] and
those who stand up for prayer and those who bow down and make
prostration [in prayer etc.]."
[Surah Al-Hajj 22:26]

After building the Kaba, Prophet Ibrahim would come to Makkah to
perform Hajj every year, and after his death, this practice was
continued by his son. However, gradually with the passage of time,
both the form and the goal of the Hajj rites were changed. As
idolatry spread throughout Arabia, the Kaba lost its purity and
idols were placed inside it. Its walls became covered with poems and
paintings, including one of Jesus and his mother Maryam and
eventually over 360 idols came to be placed around the Kaba.

During the Hajj period itself, the atmosphere around the sacred
precincts of the Kaba was like a circus. Men and women would go
round the Kaba naked, arguing that they should present themselves
before Allah in the same condition they were born. Their prayer
became devoid of all sincere remembrance of Allah and was instead
reduced to a series of hand clapping, whistling and the blowing of
horns. Even the talbiah [1] was distorted by them with the following
additions: 'No one is Your partner except one who is permitted by
you. You are his Master and the Master of what he possesses'.

Sacrifices were also made in the name of God. However, the blood of
the sacrificed animals was poured onto the walls of the Kaba and the
flesh was hung from pillars around the Kaba, in the belief that
Allah demanded the flesh and blood of these animals.

Singing, drinking, adultery and other acts of immorality was rife
amongst the pilgrims and the poetry competitions, which were held,
were a major part of the whole Hajj event. In these competitions,
poets would praise the bravery and splendor of their own tribesmen
and tell exaggerated tales of the cowardice and miserliness of other
tribes. Competitions in generosity were also staged where the chief
of each tribe would set up huge cauldrons and feed the pilgrims,
only so that they could become well-known for their extreme
generosity.

Thus the people had totally abandoned the teachings of their
forefather and leader Prophet Ibrahim. The House that he had made
pure for the worship of Allah alone, had been totally desecrated by
the pagans and the rites which he had established were completely
distorted by them. This sad state of affairs continued for nearly
two and a half thousand years. But then after this long period, the
time came for the supplication of Prophet Ibrahim to be answered:

"Our Lord! Send amongst them a Messenger of their own, who shall
recite unto them your aayaat (verses) and instruct them in the book
and the Wisdom and sanctify them. Verily you are the 'Azeezul-Hakeem
[the All-Mighty, the All-Wise]."
[Surah Al-Baqarah 2:129]



Sure enough, a man by the name of Muhammad ibn 'Abdullaah was born
in the very city that Prophet Ibrahim had made this supplication
centuries earlier. For twenty-three years, Prophet Muhammad spread
the message of Tawheed [true monotheism] - the same message that
Prophet Ibrahim and all the other Prophets came with - and
established the law of Allah upon the land. He expended every effort
into making the word of Allah supreme and his victory over falsehood
culminated in the smashing of the idols inside the Kaba which once
again became the universal center for the worshippers of the one
True God.

Not only did the Prophet rid the Kaba of all its impurities, but he
also reinstated all the rites of Hajj which were established by
Allah's Permission, in the time of Prophet Ibrahim. Specific
injunctions in the Quran were revealed in order to eliminate all the
false rites which had become rampant in the pre-Islamic period. All
indecent and shameful acts were strictly banned in Allah's statement:

"There is to be no lewdness nor wrangles during Hajj."
[Surah al-Baqarah 2:197]

Competitions among poets in the exaltations of their forefathers and
their tribesmen's achievements were all stopped. Instead, Allah told
them:

"And when you have completed your rites [of Hajj] then remember
Allah as you remember your forefathers; nay with a more vigorous
remembrance."
[Surah al-Baqarah 2:200]

Competitions in generosity were also prohibited. Of course, the
feeding of the poor pilgrims was still encouraged as this was done
during the time of Prophet Ibrahim but Allah commanded that the
slaughtering of the animals which was done for this purpose should
be done seeking the pleasure of Allah rather than fame and the
praise of the people. He said:

"So mention the name of Allah over these animals when they are drawn
up in lines. Then, when they are drawn on their sides [after the
slaughter], eat thereof and feed the beggar who does not ask, and
the beggar who asks."
[Surah al-Hajj 22:36]

As for the deplorable practice of spattering blood of the sacrificed
animals on the walls of the Kaba and hanging their flesh on alters,
then Allah clearly informed them that:

"It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it
is Taqwaa (piety) from you that reaches Him."
[Surah al-Hajj 22:37]

The Prophet also put a stop to the practice of circling the Kaba in
a state of nudity and the argument that the pagans put forward to
justify this ritual was sharply rebutted in Allah's question:

"Say: Who has forbidden the adornment [i.e. clothes] given by Allah
which He has produced for His Slaves?"
[Surah al-A'raaf 7:32]



Another custom which was prohibited through the Quran was that of
setting off for Hajj without taking any provisions for the journey.
In the pre-Islamic period, some people who claimed to be
mutawakkiloon (those having complete trust in Allah) would travel to
perform Hajj begging for food through the whole journey. They
considered this form of behavior a sign of piety and an indication
of how much faith they had in Allah. However Allah told mankind that
to have sufficient provisions for the journey was one of the
preconditions for making Hajj. He said:

"And take a provision [with you] for the journey, but the best
provision is at-Taqwaa (piety)."
[Surah al-Baqarah 2:197]

In this way, all the pre-Islamic practices, which were based on
ignorance, were abolished and Hajj was once more made a model of
piety, fear of Allah, purity, simplicity and austerity. Now, when
the pilgrims reach the Kaba, they no longer find the carnivals and
the frolic and frivolity that had once occupied t