The Ka'ba

[Andrew21091]

I've recently been reading a book about the life of Muhammad by Daniel Peterson. In the chapter about pre-Islamic Arabia he talks about how many Christians would pray at the Ka'ba.

From the book:
"It is even said that Christians occasionally came to the Ka'ba, to honor the sanctuary constructed by the prophet and patriarch Abraham."

Now according to Islamic tradition, it is said that the Ka'ba was built by Abraham and Ishmael. The book states that the sanctuary was originally built to honor the God of Abraham (Allah) and that it was a site of strict monotheism. However, after some time, many of the descendants of Ishmael had to leave Mecca and they took away stones from the area around the Ka'ba in order to have a piece of it with them. These stones ended up being worshiped and made into idols and were placed inside the Ka'ba and it became dedicated to the Arabian god Hubal.

It would seem that the belief that Ishmael and Abraham built the Ka'ba predates Islam since the way it is talked about in the Qur'an. Its almost presented like it was already well known who built it and that Muhammad didn't introduce the idea. Who introduced the belief that Abraham and Ishmael built it? Is it possible that they actually did originally?

I have also heard the story that there was an icon of the Theotokos and Christ in the Ka'ba before Muhammad's time and that he actually saved it before the Muslims destroyed all the idols. Where does this tradition come from? What sources talk about this? (Hadith, Qur'an)

Did the Christian community in Arabia believe that the Ka'ba was built by Abraham and Ishmael? Were there any Christian writers who wrote about the Ka'ba?

[orthonorm]

Google returns many books and links and pages regarding the story of Muhammad protecting an icon of the Theotokos and Child and perhaps one of Abraham.

You can check it out if you like.

[Theophilos78]

I've recently been reading a book about the life of Muhammad by Daniel Peterson. In the chapter about pre-Islamic Arabia he talks about how many Christians would pray at the Ka'ba.

From the book:
"It is even said that Christians occasionally came to the Ka'ba, to honor the sanctuary constructed by the prophet and patriarch Abraham."

Now according to Islamic tradition, it is said that the Ka'ba was built by Abraham and Ishmael. The book states that the sanctuary was originally built to honor the God of Abraham (Allah) and that it was a site of strict monotheism. However, after some time, many of the descendants of Ishmael had to leave Mecca and they took away stones from the area around the Ka'ba in order to have a piece of it with them. These stones ended up being worshiped and made into idols and were placed inside the Ka'ba and it became dedicated to the Arabian god Hubal.

It would seem that the belief that Ishmael and Abraham built the Ka'ba predates Islam since the way it is talked about in the Qur'an. Its almost presented like it was already well known who built it and that Muhammad didn't introduce the idea. Who introduced the belief that Abraham and Ishmael built it? Is it possible that they actually did originally?

The association of the Cube with Abraham and Ishmael is peculiar to Islam. Muhammad was most likely the first person to make this claim. Read the appendix of this article to see Muhammad's evolving ideas and teachings about Ishmael's supposed ties with the Cube and Mecca: http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/masihiyyen/imran_father2.html

I have also heard the story that there was an icon of the Theotokos and Christ in the Ka'ba before Muhammad's time and that he actually saved it before the Muslims destroyed all the idols. Where does this tradition come from? What sources talk about this? (Hadith, Qur'an)

Read about the Cube here: http://www.answering-islam.org/Index/K/kabah.html

Did the Christian community in Arabia believe that the Ka'ba was built by Abraham and Ishmael? Were there any Christian writers who wrote about the Ka'ba?

NO. Read this article: http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/toler/abraham_kaaba.html

[Andrew21091]

Ok thank you. So it really didn't have much significance to the Christians or Jews of Arabia then?

[Theophilos78]

Ok thank you. So it really didn't have much significance to the Christians or Jews of Arabia then?

No. The Cube was essentially a pagan shrine at that time, thus, nothing more than the pantheon of the Meccan paganism/mythology.

The author of the Qur'an even adopted from the Meccan pagans the legend concerning the protection of the pantheon against Abraha's Christian army.
   

  "Hast thou not seen how your lord dealt with the owners of the elephants? Did he not bring their stratagem to naught, and send against them swarms of flying creatures which pelted them with stones of baked clay."

All Muslim scholars affirm that this event took place many years before the proclamation of Muhammad’s prophethood. Some said maybe during the time of his birth. What really happened was that Abraha, king of Yemen, constructed a church in San’a. An Arab man came and defiled the church and did some damage to it. Abraha decided to demolish the Ka’ba which was a sacred site for the heathen people of Quraysh and the site of their annual pilgrimage before Islam.

Abraha headed the invasion operation along with his generals who rode on elephants. It was said that there was a huge, strong elephant called Mahmud. God sent black or green birds to attack the invading army. Each bird carried one piece of gravel in his beak and two in his claws and hit the owners of the elephants. They claim that each piece of gravel penetrated the head of a man and exited from the backside (anus - lower opening of the rectum). On each piece of gravel was written the name of the victim. Abraha suffered a violent death (refer to the Zamakh-shari in the Kash-shaf, part 4, page 797; Baydawi, page 811;Jalalan, page 519; also the "Prophet’s Biography" by ibn Hisham, part 1, pages 38 and 39).

The Qur’an does not tell us why God sent these vultures to assist the heathens against the Christians. The Qur’an was content to record the episode of this battle between the vultures and the elephants. Thus, a chapter in the Qur’an was inspired under the title of Chapter of the Elephant.    http://answering-islam.org/BehindVeil/btv13.html

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