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The Building of the Kaaba
In the ancient time of Abraham, there
were many temples in the world for worshiping gods and offering sacrifices, but
no place to show reverence to God almighty. The first house built for this
purpose was the Kaaba in Macca. Its shape is like a square, not leaning to any
side—a symbolic way to say that the owner of this house (almighty God) is not
biased towards any nation or any person. When the Quran talks about the Kaaba
it uses the word lil nas for human
beings. The Kaaba’s purpose is to guide all the nations and to create a safe haven
for humanity; it is a sanctuary where there is peace for anyone who enters into
it. Moreover, adherence to this center will keep anyone safe from every type of
danger. For the first time in the history of the world, a house with this
underlying idea was built by Abraham and his son Ismail. God told him that Muslims
comprise an international nation which is raised for the well-being of
humanity. He said that it would be their duty to keep watch for the peace and
security of human beings, and to work for the uplifting of the downtrodden and
oppressed.
The Quran gives a graphic picture of
father and son busy in building the Kaaba. Abraham, after laying the foundation
of the Kaaba, was building its walls, and Ismail was helping him. While their
hands were busy with work, they were praying to the sustainer of the entire
universe to accept their work and make them Muslims (those who obey Allah’s
laws and surrender to them.) They were saying, “Teach us the method to achieve
this grand aim of serving humanity; in our coming generations raise people who
obey your laws. We seek your help because your help is always ready for those
who cherish it. Give our coming generations a prophet who will teach them your
laws, and the reason for establishing them, and help them to form good
character.”
Abraham pointed out that the correct
way of solving the problems of nations is by discussion and arguments under the
guidance of revelation. For this purpose the Hajj was announced. The Hajj is
the Annual All World Muslim Conference to solve their problems. The word Hajj
comes from the root ha-j-j which means reason and discussion, and the Kaaba is
the place where Muslims are to convene their meetings every year. In the case
of emergency, they could convene emergency meetings known as Umra. The time of the Hajj also can be used for solving
difficult law cases. In a way, for the first time, under the guidance of God,
the international court of justice was formed by Abraham.
God made a covenant with Abraham
and Ismail to keep his house (the Kaaba) free from all misleading ideas. The Muslims
must follow the path that Abraham adopted. God ordered Abraham and Ismail to
keep this place clean from destructive ideas of any kind. This place should be
an international center for the representatives who are going to be responsible
for the safety and well-being of all humanity.
In the book of world history a new
page was added, where the problems of the nations were to be solved by reason
under the guidance of revelation. In order to successfully carry on this
procedure, Abraham settled his elder son in the non-arable land. This was the
great sacrifice for which Ismail was chosen. He spent all his life away from
luxury, propagating and working for these ideals.
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