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Hajj-Pilgrimage To Makkah (aka Bacca in the Quran) Psalm 84:4-7
"Blessed are those who dwell in your house;they are ever praising you.Selah Blessed are those whose strength is in you,who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.As they pass through the Valley of Baca,they make it a place of springs;the autumn rains also cover it with pools.They go from strength to strength,till each appears before God in Zion.Hear my prayer, O Lord God Almighty;listen to me, O God of Jacob.Selah Look upon our shield,c O God;look with favor on your anointed one.Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the Lord God is a sun and shield;the Lord bestows favor and honor;no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Lord Almighty,blessed is the man who trusts in you.

Pilgrimage of Ezekiel to Mecca:
http://www.answering-christianity.com/ezekiel_pilgrimage.htm


Makkah in the Bible (below in quotes from the thread whose link appear right under here):
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-804239.64.html#msg9633958

@ those in page #1 talking about archaeolohy and what the Quran mentions specifically about Abraham and the Ka'bah in particular,let me first bring to your notice that in your very own bible Hagar,the mother of Ishamel,who we believe along with his father Abraham rebuilt the ka'ba and placed the black stone is mentioned to have being in arabia.

Galatians 4:25
Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.
(note that the above verse cannot be taken figuratively as the christian would speculate because Hagar is not from arabia but from egypt).so if really Hagar (as) was in arabia,why do you find it hard to believe Abraham stepped foot in Makkah?

here is even more explicit verse regarding the "wilderness of Paran" which is Arabia:

Genesis 21:20-21 (KJV) “And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.”

and you can read here for archaelogical finding that mount sinai is actually in saudi arabia (note that the israelites according to the bible are said to have roamed the desert for years.that could only be in arabia):

http://www.arkdiscovery.com/mt__sinai_found.htm
http://antipas.net/15faq.htm


read about Paran (Faran in arabic):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_of_Paran

Numbers 10:12
Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran.




In Surah 3:96, Makkah (refered to as Mecca) is given the name Bakkah:
Verily, the first House (of worship) appointed for mankind was that at Bakkah (Makkah), full of blessing, and a guidance for Al-`Alamin (the mankind and jinns).

The Bible, in Psalm 84:5,6, mentions the valley of Baca:
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs: the autumn rains also cover it with pools. (NIV)

furthermore we read about Paran (arabia) in the bible:

Numbers 10:12 (KJV) “And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran.”

Numbers 13:1-3 (KJV)
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.”


Habakkuk 3:3
God came from Teman, the Holy One from [b]Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth.[/b]
(we know that the first revelation that descended upon Muhammad (sa) was in a cave called hira in a mountain known as Jabal an-Nur in Makkah).

Pilgrimage of Prophet Ezekiel (mentioned in the bible) to Makkah:
http://www.answering-christianity.com/ezekiel_pilgrimage.htm

this sounds like trying to justify the Quran really hard!

HISTORY OF MECCA

The Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is considered by Muslims to be the most sacred and holy place in the world. It is said to have been built by Adam and became the first structure on earth. It is believed to have been commissioned by Allah in the shape of the House in Heaven called Baitul Ma’amoor around which the angels perform Tawaaf. The structure incorporates a black stone into one corner that is believed to have been sent down by Allah. So important is this site that Muslims from all over the world prostrate themselves toward the Ka'aba when they repeat their prayers to Allah five times a day. Muslims are also required to perform the "Hajj" at least once in their lifetime, which consists of traveling to Makka, and circumambulating the Ka'aba. Crowd size permitting, each round is to begin by rubbing, or kissing the black stone (ew! After all these years! Isnt that idolatry?) as Muhammad did, or at least pointing to the stone on each of the seven circuits one walks around it. The Kaaba is said to be situated at the center of the world with the gate of heaven located directly above it.

According to the Quran, the Ka'aba was re-built by Abraham and Ishmael, and has presumably been the center of worship for Allah's people, ever since. However in the 7th century AD in which Mohammed lived, the Ka'aba was a center of pagan worship, of some 360 rock idols that resided in and around the Ka'aba. Mohammed took issue with the polytheists and eventually gained the power to have all of the rock idols removed , except for the black stone - a meteorite - that still resides at the Ka'aba today.

So the question begs, that if Allah commissioned the above described building to be constructed at the center of the world, and below the gate to heaven, why then did God give Moses specific instruction to build a tabernacle on Mount Moriah, that was completed almost 3,000 years ago, that stood 766 miles from Mecca?

One of the difficulties with Mohammed's view is that there is no record - outside of Islamic tradition - of Abraham ever having been in Mecca. An even greater - indeed insurmountable - difficulty is that there is no historical or archaeological record of Mecca ever having existed, prior to the 4th century AD. While there is plenty of such evidence that confirms that Arabian cities like Qedar, Dedan and Teima were established long before, there is no such evidence that Mecca ever existed before the Christian era.

Try a search like - archaeology of mecca - or - historical and archaeological evidence of mecca. If you can find some evidence that predates the first few centuries AD, that demonstrates that Mecca existed prior to the Christian era, we would appreciate you sharing it with us in the forum. In the absence of such archaeological and historical record, what can be concluded about Mohammed's 7th century religion?

If Mecca has been the epicenter of Islam since the time of Abraham, it would follow that there would be increasingly more archaeological evidence in the form of artifacts and such, the closer one traveled to this focus of Mohammed's religion. It also follows that there should be a greater pre-Christian historical record for Mecca, than perhaps most any other Arabian city, but no such record exists. Compare this to Jerusalem, for example, the epicenter of Judeo/Christian beliefs. One can hardly pick up a shovel full of earth in Jerusalem that doesn't contain artifacts, and the closer one gets to Jerusalem, the more concentrated and abundant such artifacts are. Indeed there are even one million artifacts on display.

In short, no Mecca before the 4th century - no Kaaba before the 5th century = no Islamic history.

Based on extensive historical and archaeological evidence presented by Dr. Rafat Amari (quotes and links below), Mecca was built around the 4th century, by the Yemeni tribe of Khuzaa'h, that had migrated to that bleak barren desert wasteland. The Kaaba was apparently constructed by Asa’d Abu Karb in the early 5th century A.D., when the black stone apparently made it's way to Mecca, most likely also from Yemen. It is said that prior to the construction of the Kaabah, a tent existed on the spot where it was built.

Geographers and historians from antiquity, note even small Arabian settlements before the Christian era that came and went within a few centuries, and while the historical accounts about, and artifacts from, ancient settlements confirm the existence of each other, there is no reference to Mecca or it's Kaaba to be found. This even though it was eventually built on one of the most established trading routes in Arabia about which historical record abounds, and in spite of the Muslim claims that Mecca was the center of the Islamic faith, for thousands of years before Mohammed. If this were the case, Mecca would certainly have been one of the most written about Arabian places, by those early geographers and historians.

There are references to lots of other temples, and even to a great temple "highly revered by all the Arabs”, that was likely the one of the Bythemaneas, located near Ilat in the Aqaba gulf area.

Even Mohammed's own tribe, the Quraish went on Hajj or pilgrimage twice a year - one to the north - long after the Kaaba in Mecca was built, indicating that the Kaaba in Mecca was a lesser temple. One of the journeys during the summer was to the city of Taif where there was also a temple called Kaabah of Ellat, or Kaabah of the Sun.

Quoting Dr. Amari "This Kaabah was more significant and much older than the Kaabah of Mecca. All Arabs, including the tribe of Quraish from which Mohammed came, venerated this Kaabah."

"The stone was considered the main shrine, or sacred element, in each temple, called Kaabah in Arabic. This revered stone, which represented the moon, was considered to be divine. The worship of the Arabian Star Family with Allah, who was the moon as its head, revolved around the black stone. Ellat, Allah’s wife, was the sun, and al-'Uzza and Manat, his daughters, represented two planets.

There was no shortage of Kaabas in Arabia each with it's own black stone. Arabian Star Family temple design left its indelible fingerprints on those temples as well as on the Kaaba in Mecca, demonstrating that Abraham could not have built it even if the city of Mecca had existed before the 4th century AD."

I[b]ndeed no Muslim will deny that there may have been as many as 360 stone idols located in and around the Kaaba in Mohammed's day. Mohammed took issue with the polytheists, and finally gained the power to expell all of the stone idols, which he did [/b], except for the black rock that Muslims still bow toward five times a day. In Islam, each Muslim is required to travel to Mecca to circumambulate the stone, just as the pagans did before Mohammed.

About Kaaba and how it is viewed in terms of importance to the jews of old, watch this video below and freeze it at the 6.21 minutes to read what it is written, even by a christian.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0jCHk7M1hw

If there is a real tabernacle of the Lord built [rebuilt by Abraham after the flood of Noah], that was it, the Kaaba.

Allah has made Islam a system that is victorious and will overcome all forms of difficulties on earth and on the Day of Judgment, the Mercy of The Almighty shall be on the "muslims' from Adam all the way to the last of them. Amin.

the christians forgot that their bibles spoke about water that God used to save the life of son and mother Ishmael and Hagar. The water still exist; Zam Zam in Makka.

@brentkruge

what you call "idol worship" is biblical.we are following the examples in the bible of "stone worship" by the holy men of Jehovah!

Genesis 28:18
The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it.

Genesis 35:14
Jacob set up a stone pillar to mark the place where God had spoken to him. Then he poured wine over it as an offering to God and anointed the pillar with olive oil.

Daniel 6:10
Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Jonah 2: 4-7
“Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet ‘I will look again’ toward thy holy temple…When my soul fainted within me I remembered Yahweh; and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.”

2 Chronicles 6:18-21
18 “But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 19 Yet, LORD my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. 20 May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 21 Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.

1 Kings 8:27-29
27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place.

brentkruge:

this sounds like trying to justify the Quran really hard!

i know right.

LagosShia:

Hajj-Pilgrimage To Makkah (aka Bacca in the Quran) Psalm 84:4-7
"Blessed are those who dwell in your house;they are ever praising you.Selah Blessed are those whose strength is in you,who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.As they pass through the Valley of Baca,they make it a place of springs;the autumn rains also cover it with pools.They go from strength to strength,till [size=15pt]each appears before God in Zion[/size].Hear my prayer, O Lord God Almighty;listen to me, O God of Jacob.Selah Look upon our shield,c O God;look with favor on your anointed one.Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the Lord God is a sun and shield;the Lord bestows favor and honor;no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Lord Almighty,blessed is the man who trusts in you.

I thought we had already debunked this nonsense. How do these men appear in Mecca and Zion (Jerusalem) at the same time?

davidylan:

i know right.

I thought we had already debunked this nonsense. How do these men appear in Mecca and Zion (Jerusalem) at the same time?

are you an id.iot?

did it say they appeared in mecca and zion? didn't you read the word "till"?

may be you are blind.

debunked? may be you need to revisit this thread:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-804239.64.html#msg9640239

Sweetnecta: the christians forgot that their bibles spoke about water that God used to save the life of son and mother Ishmael and Hagar. The water still exist; Zam Zam in Makka.

THE WELL OF ZAM ZAM WAS NOT MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE. MECCA IS IN THE DESERT, A PLACE OF LITTLE WATER. ARABIANS DUG NANY WELLS FOR WATER, THE WELL OF ZAM ZAM IS ONE OF THOSE WELLS DUG BY ARABIANS. ANGEL GABRIEL AN HAGAR HAVE NO CONECTION WITH ZAM ZAM WELL BECAUSE HAGAR DID NOT GO TO ARABIA (MECCA) WHEN SHE LEFT THE HOUSE OF ABRAHAM. HAGAR WAS AN EGYPTIAN, HAGAR WAS TRYING TO GO BACK TO HER PEOPLE AND THAT WAS WHY HAGAR GOT AN EGYPTIAN WIFE FOR ISHMAEL. MUSLIMS PLEASE GET YOUR RECORDS STRAIGHT AND STOP REWRITING HISTIORY.

The illustrations are really interesting. I have always known that Islam is built on lies.

interesting thread. interesting lies upon Makka, Ibrahim [AS] and his family; wife Hajar and son Ismail [AS].

lack of ancient record does not mean lack of existence. it simply means for one reason or another, it not recorded. maybe it was undiscovered. or when discovered it was deemed unworthy of any mention. even there is a tribe [people, clan] just discovered in the past year or so in nigeria. with all the connecting roads, etc, who would have thought some were yet unaccounted for in nigeria.

so no big deal that Makka was not until. Ibrahim [AS] knew where he relocated his first and only Ismail [until birth of baby brother [as to both]] and his mother.

the jews know. but envy would make them deny the details.

@okpuruka; i am a sucker for truth. please tell me how you know the truth from what the arabs say of their bloodline with Ibrahim [AS]? you must tell me and while you at it, tell me the story of your tribe that is closer to your heart and dearer to your soul than what they say for arabs.



@mustang44; did any of the other arab wells survived, as long as Zam Zam has, continually?