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Pastimes : THE SLIGHTLY MODERATED BOXING RING -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (19221)	8/11/2002 6:30:29 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21057

Tell us more. Well, like I said there are libraries written on the subject but in a nutshell: Muslims believe that Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son at an Alter to God (and of course was stopped once he had made a commitment to obey God). Muslims believe he built the Alter on this site (the Kaaba). It is further believed that this site has been a Holy site of worship since Adam. Its existance calls to the spirits of men to come to this site to give homage to God. So through out time people, tribes, religions, and cultures have felt the need to come to this site. Historical records seem to confirm the role of this site as an ancient place of worship. When Mohammad was given the message of Islam, he found it unbearable to know that the Kaaba had become a storage place for idols. Whenever a caravan or travelers passed through Mecca, their leaders would enter the Kaaba and locate an idol to pay their respects to. Mohammad was eventually successful in having the idols removed and establishing the Kaaba as a Holy site for giving worship to the God of Abraham. All Muslims today face the direction of the Kaaba when praying to symbolize a unity of faith in God. At one time in recent history the walls of the Kaaba were washed away by annual flash floods. When the Muslims decided to rebuild it, they found that there was an underground foundation that was indestructable. There are a couple of speculative stories about this involving Angels and such but I had not heard the one about a meteor until reading Joe's article. Near-by is a well called the "Well of Zim Zim". Muslims believe this is the spring that came forth when Hagar took her son Ishmael (Son of Abraham and father of Arab nations) to the wilderness and was disraught that they might parish. The pilgrims that go to this site (the Kaaba) during the two weeks of the annual Hajj period now number aproximately 2.5 million. The well has maintained a level of output that accomodates the pilgrims comming. It has maintained a steady level from when it was a few thousand visitors to what it is now.