The Hajj to Mecca is not only one of the pillars of the religion of Islam, but it has proved one of the strongest bonds of union and has always exercised, a tremendous influence as a missionary agency. The Mecca pilgrimage is without rival although from an ethical standpoint its superstitious ritual is a blot upon Islam’s monotheism. From Sierra Leone to Canton, and from Tobolsk to Cape Town, the faithful spread their prayer carpets, build their houses and bury their dead toward the meridian of Mecca. If the Muslim world could be viewed from an aeroplane, the observer would see concentric circles of living worshippers and also vast areas of Muslim cemeteries with every grave dug all pointing toward the sacred city.
Mecca and the precincts of the Ka’aba
Long before the time of Muhammad the earliest settlements at Mecca were undoubtedly established by the caravan trade from South Arabia which stopped at the spring of Zam Zam. The sacred Mosque, Masjid al Haram, with the Ka’aba as its centre, is located in the middle of the city. Mecca lies in a hot, sandy valley, absolutely without verdure and surrounded by rocky, barren hills, destitute of trees or even shrubs. The valley is about 300 feet wide and 4,000 feet long, and slopes toward the south. The Ka’aba or the House of God (Beit Allah) is located in the bed of the valley. The entire streets slope towards it, and it occupies, as it were the pit of a theatre.
The Ka’aba proper stands in an oblong space 250 paces long and 200 broad, surrounded by colonnades, which are used as schools and as a general meeting place for pilgrims. The outer enclosure has nineteen gates and six minarets; within the enclosure is the well of Zam Zam, the great pulpit, the staircase used to enter the Ka’aba door, which is high above the ground, and two small mosques called al Kubat-tain. The remainder of the space is occupied by pavements and gravel, where prayers are said by the four orthodox sects, each having its own allotted space. In the south-east corner of the Ka’aba, about five feet from the ground, is the famous Black Stone, the oldest treasure of Mecca. The stone is a fragment resembling black volcanic rock, sprinkled with reddish crystals, and worn smooth by the touch of centuries. It was undoubtedly an aerolite and owes its reputation to its fall from the sky. Muslim historians do not deny that it was an object of worship before Islam. In Muslim tradition it is connected with the history of the patriarchs, beginning as far back as Adam.
The word Ka’aba signifies a cube, although the measurements, according to Ali Bey, one of the earliest writers who give us a scientific account of the pilgrim ceremonies, do not justify its being so called. Its height is thirty-four feet four inches, and the four side’s measure: thirty-eight feet four inches, thirty-seven feet two inches, thirty-one feet seven inches and twenty-nine feet. The cloth covering is renewed every year. Formerly, we are told the whole of the Quran text was woven into the Ka’aba covering. Now the inscription contains the words, “Verily, the first house founded for mankind to worship in is that of Mecca, a blessing and a direction to all believers.” Seven other short chapters of the Quran are also woven into this tapestry, namely the chapter of the Cave, Miriam, Al Amran, Repentance, T.H, Y.S. and Tabarak.
The meanings behind the Hajj rituals (Leaving alone the details of the pilgrimage ceremony, we would like to enquire about the why and wherefores of the performances).
If the Jews and Christians had hearkened to the call of Muhammad at Medina when he made the Qibla, Jerusalem, the course of Muslim history might have been that of an oriental Unitarian sect. But when the Prophet changed the Qibla from Jerusalem to Mecca he compromised with idolatry. The transformation of the old Pantheon of the Arabs into the house of God which Abraham rebuilt and which Adam himself founded was the legend to justify the adoption of these pagan practices. Other ceremonies which had nothing to do with the Ka’aba but which were performed at certain places near Mecca were also adapted to the new religion. In 10 A.H. Muhammad made his pilgrimage to Mecca, the old shrine of his forefathers, and every detail of superstitious observance which he fulfilled has become the norm of Islam. As Welhausen says the result is that “we now have the stations of a Calvary journey without the history of the Passion.” Pagan practices are explained away by inventing Muslim legends attributed to Bible characters, and the whole is an incomprehensible jumble of fictitious lore.
The Ka’aba itself in its plan and structure is a heathen temple. The covering of the Ka’aba goes back to old heathenism. The Temple was the bride and she received costly clothing. The building stands with its four corners nearly to the points of the compass; not the sides of the building but the corners point north, south, east and west. We may therefore expect, as is the case that the holy objects were at the corners of the building. The Black Stone is in the east, south-east corner; the other four corners also had sacred stones which are still places of special worship. The front of the Ka’aba is in the north-east side, and the door is not in the middle but near the Black Stone. Between the Stone and door is the Multazam, the place where the pilgrim presses himself against the building, hugs the curtain and calls upon God. On the north-west side there is an enclosure in the shape of a half-circle called the Hajr, or the Hatim.
There seems to be no doubt that the Black Stone was the real idol of the Ka’aba. Bait Allah and Masjid, according to Welhausen, originally signified “the stone” and not “the temple.” In ancient days there was an empty well inside the Ka’aba to receive votive offerings. In front of the well stood a human image, that of the god Hobal. It has been thought that Hobal, the main god of the Ka’aba, was perhaps Allah himself. Others say that the word has connection with Baal the sun-god. When we remember the circumambulation of the Ka’aba seven times rapidly and four times more slowly in imitation of the inner and outer planets, it is not strange to find Baal the sun-god chief of the temple. The present place called Maqam Ibrahim (Surah 2:11) was originally a stone for offerings.
A short distance outside of Mecca are the two hills Al Safa and Al Marwa; both of these names signify “a stone,” i.e. an idol. The road between them runs almost parallel with the front of the Ka’aba and directly east is the well of Zem Zem, originally also a place for sacred offerings. It contained two golden gazelles among other things. There are many other sacred places in the vicinity formerly associated with idol-worship now transformed by Muslim legend into graves of saints, etc. Arafat and Muzdalifa are at present only situations where one stops on the pilgrimage. No offerings are brought there. Formerly Muzdalifa was a place of fire-worship. Wackidi says: “Muhammad rode from Arafat towards the fire kindled in Muzdalifa; this is the holy fire.” The mountain was called Quzah and Welhauen thinks it may have been the place of the thunder-god whose sign was the rainbow. (Quzah.) Wensinck says: “The god of Muzdalifa was Quzah, the thunder-god. A fire was kindled on the sacred hill also called Quzah.
The early history of Mecca shows that it was a place of pilgrimage long before Muhammad yet also its calendar goes back to paganism. The names of the Arabic have many of them a pagan significance. Of course the calendar was solar, but Muhammad changed it into a lunar calendar. Muharram was the month of the great feast. A number of sacred trees or groves between Mecca and Medina which formerly were idol temples are now visited because “Muhammad resided their or prayed their.
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