Nearly four thousand years ago,
in the Sumerian town
of Ur in the valley of the river Euphrates,
lived a young man named
Abraham. The people of Ur had once worshipped
Allah but as time passed
they forgot the true religion and started
praying to idols, statues
made of wood or clay and sometimes even of
precious stones. Even as a
small child Abraham could not understand
how his people, and especially
his father, could make these images
with their own hands, call them
gods, and then worship them. He had
always refused to join his people
when they paid respect to these
statues. He would leave town to sit
alone and think about heavens and
the worlds around him.. He was sure
his people were doing wrong and
so alone he searched for the right way.
One clear night as he sat
staring at the sky he saw a beautiful shining
star, so beautiful that
he cried out: 'This must be Allah!' He looked
at it in awe for some
time, until suddenly it began to fade and then it
disappeared. He
turned away in disappointment saying: I love not things
that set.
(Koran vi.77)
On another night
Abraham was again
looking at the sky and he saw the rising moon, so
big and bright that
he felt he could almost touch it. He thought to
himself: This is my
Lord. (Koran vi.78) But it was not long before
the moon set as well.
Then he said, Unless my Lord guides me, I
surely shall become one of
the folk who are astray. (Koran vi.78)
Abraham then saw the beauty and
splendor of the sunrise and decided
that the sun must be the biggest
and most powerful thing in the
universe. But for the third time he was
wrong, for the sun set at the
end of the day. It was then that he
realized that Allah is the Most
Powerful, the Creator of the stars, the
moon, the sun, the earth and
of all living things. Suddenly he felt
himself totally at peace,
because he knew that he had found the Truth.
When he said unto his father and his folk: What do you
worship? They said: We worship idols, and are ever devoted to them.
He said: Do they hear you when you
cry?
Or do they benefit or harm you? They said: Nay, but we found our
fathers
acting in this manner.
He said: See now
that which you worship, You and
your forefathers! Lo! they are (all)
an enemy to me, except the Lord of
the Worlds. Who created me, and He
guides me, And Who feeds me and
waters me. And when I sicken, then
He heals me. And Who causes me to
die, then gives me life (again) And
Who, I ardently hope, will forgive
me my sin on the Day of
judgement. (Koran xxvi.70-82)
One day,
while all the townspeople were out, Abraham
angrily smashed all the
idols with his right hand except for one which
was very large. When
the people returned they were furious.
They
remembered the things Abraham had said about
the idols. They had him
brought forth before everyone and demanded, 'Is
it you who did this
to our gods, 0 Abraham?' Abraham replied, "But this
their chief did
it. Ask them, if they are able to speak". The people
exclaimed,"'You
know they do not speak".
'
'Do you worship what you
yourselves have carved when Allah created
you and what you make?'
Abraham continued, 'Do you worship instead of
Allah that which cannot
profit you at all, nor harm you?' (Koran
xxxvii.95-6)(Koran xxi.66)
Finally,
Abraham warned them, Serve Allah, and keep
your duty unto Him; that
is better for you if you did but know. You
serve instead of Allah
only idols, and you only invent a lie. Lo! those
whom you serve
instead of Allah own no provision for you. So seek your
provision
from Allah, and serve Him, and give thanks unto Him, (for)
unto Him
you will be brought back.(Koran xxix. 16-17)
The people of Ur decided to give
Abraham the worst
punishment they could find: he was to be burnt to
death. On the
chosen day all the people gathered in the centre of the
city and even
the King of Ur was there. Abraham was then placed inside
a special
building filled with wood. The wood was lit. Soon the fire
became so
strong that the people were pushed back by the flames.
But Allah said: "O fire, be coolness and peace for
Abraham". (Koran xxi.69)
The people waited
until the fire had completely died
down, and it was then that they
saw Abraham still sitting there as
though nothing had happened! At
that moment they were utterly confused.
They were not, however, moved
by the miracle that had just happened
before their very eyes.
Still Abraham tried to persuade his own dear father,
who
was named Azar, not to worship powerless, un-seeing, un-hearing
statues.
Abraham explained that special knowledge had come to him and
implored
his father, 'So follow me and I will lead you on the right
path. 0
my father! Don't serve the Devil.' But Azar would not listen.
He
threatened his son with stoning if he continued to reject the gods
of
Ur. He ordered Abraham to leave the city with these words: 'Depart
from
me a long while.' Abraham said, 'Peace be upon you! I shall ask my
Lord's
forgiveness for you. Surely He was ever gracious to me.' (Koran
xix.43-7)
Imagine how terrible it must have been
for him to leave his home,
his
family and all that he knew,
and set out across the wilderness into
the unknown. But at the same
time, how could he have remained among
people who did not believe in
Allah and who worshipped statues?
Abraham always had a sense that Allah
cared for him and he felt Allah
near him as he traveled. At last, after
a long hard journey, he
arrived at a place by the Mediterranean Sea,
not far from Egypt.
There he married a noble woman by the name of Sarah
and settled in
the land of Palestine. Many years passed but Abraham and
his wife
were not blessed with any children. In the hope that there
would be a
child, and in keeping with tradition, Sarah suggested that
Abraham
should marry Hagar, her Egyptian handmaid. Soon after this took
place,
Hagar had a little boy named Ishmael. Some time later Allah
promised
Abraham another son, but this time the mother of the child
would be
his first wife, Sarah. This second son would be called Isaac.
Allah
also told Abraham that from his two sons-Ishmael and Isaac-two
nations
and three religions would be founded and because of this he
must
take Hagar and Ishmael away from Palestine to a new land
These events were an important
part of Allah's plan,
for the descendants of Ishmael would form a
nation from which would
come a great Prophet, who would guide the
people in the way of Allah.
This was to be Muhammad (pbuh), the
Messenger of Allah (pbuh). From
the descendants of Sarah's child,
Isaac, would come Moses and Jesus.
So it was that Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael left
Palestine.
They traveled for many days until finally they reached the
arid
valley of Bacca ( later to be called Mecca), which was on one of
the
great caravan routes. There was no water in the valley and although
Hagar
and Ishmael only had a small supply of water left, Abraham left
them
there knowing Allah would take care of them. Soon all the water
was
gone. The child began to grow weak from thirst. There were two
hills
nearby, one called Safa and the other Marwah. Hagar went up one
hill
and looked into the distance to see if she could find any water,
but found none. So she went to the
other
hill and did the same. She did this seven times. Then sadly she
returned
to her son, and to her great surprise and joy she found a
spring of
water bubbling out of the earth near him. This spring, near
which the
mother and child settled, was later called Zamzam. The area
around
it became a place of rest for the caravans travelling across the
desert
and in time grew into the famous trading city of Mecca.
From time to time Abraham traveled from Palestine to
visit
his family and he saw Ishmael grow into a strong young man. It
was
during one of these visits that Allah commanded them to rebuild the
Ka'bah-the
very first place where people had worshipped Allah. They
were told
exactly where and how to build it. It was to be erected by
the well
of Zamzam and built in the shape of a cube. In its eastern
corner was
to be placed a black stone that had fallen to earth from
heaven. An
angel brought the stone to them from the nearby hill of Abu
Qubays.
Abraham and Ishmael worked hard to
rebuild
the Ka'bah and as they did so they prayed to Allah to send a
Prophet
from among their descendants. And when Abraham and Ishmael were
raising
the foundations of the House, (Abraham prayed): 'Our Lord!
Receive
this from us; Thou, only Thou, art the All-hearing, the
All-knowing;
Our Lord! And make us submissive unto Thee and of our seed
a nation
submissive unto Thee, and show us our ways of worship, and
turn
toward us. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Relenting, the Merciful.
Our
Lord! And raise up in their midst a messenger from among them who
shall
recite unto them Thy revelations, and shall instruct them in the
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and in wisdom and shall make them grow. Lo!
Thou, only Thou, art the
Mighty, Wise. (Koran ii.127-9) When the Ka'bah
was completed, Allah
commanded Abraham to call mankind to pilgrimage to
His Holy House.
Abraham wondered how anyone could hear his call. Allah
said, 'You
call and I will bring them.' This was how the pilgrimage to
the
Ka'bah in Mecca was established and when Muslims make the
pilgrimage
today they continue to answer the age-old call of Abraham.
The Children Of Ishmael
Over the years Ishmael's children themselves had
children.
His descendants increased and formed tribes which spread out
all
over Arabia. One of these tribes was called Quraysh. Its people
never
moved away from Mecca and always lived near the Ka'bah. One of
the
duties of the leader of Quraysh was to look after those who came on
pilgrimage
to the Ka'bah. The pilgrims would come from all over Arabia
and it
was a great honor to provide them with food and water.
As time passed, however, the Arabs
stopped worshipping
Allah directly and started bringing idols back with
them from the
different countries they visited. These idols were placed
at the
Ka'bah, which was no longer regarded as the Sanctuary of Allah,
as
Abraham had intended it. It was, however, still respected by the
Arabs.
Around this time the well of Zamzam disappeared beneath the sand.
Also at this time, Qusayy, one of
the
leaders of Quraysh, became ruler over Mecca. He held the keys of
the
temple and had the right to give water to the pilgrims, to feed
them,
to take charge of meetings, and to hand out war banners before
battle.
It was also in his house that Quraysh settled their affairs.
After
Qusayy's death, his son 'Abdu Manaf, who had become famous during
his
father's lifetime, took over the leadership of Quraysh. After him
came
his son Hashim. It is said that Hashim was the first to begin the
two
great caravan journeys of Quraysh, one in the summer to Syria and
the
north, and one in the winter to Yemen and the south. As a result,
Mecca
grew rich and became a large and important centre of trade.
One summer Hashim went north to
buy goods to
sell in Yemen. On his way he stopped in Yathrib to trade
in the
market and there he saw a beautiful woman. She was Salma', the
daughter
of 'Amr ibn Zeid, who was from a much respected family.
Hashim proposed marriage to her and was
accepted because he was an honorable and distinguished man.
In time, Salma' gave birth to a beautiful son and as
some
of his hair was white they called him Shaybah, which in Arabic
means
grey-haired'.
Mother and son stayed
in the
cooler, healthier climate of Yathrib, while Hashim returned to
Mecca,
but he would visit them each time he took his caravan to the
north.
During one of these journeys, however, Hashim became ill and
died.
Shaybah, a handsome, intelligent boy, grew up in his uncle's
house in
Yathrib. He was proud of being the son of Hashim ibn 'Abdi
Manaf, the
head of Quraysh, guardian of the Ka'bah and protector of
the pilgrims,
even though he had not known his father, who had died
while Shaybah was
very young.
At
Hashim's death his brother al-Muttalib took over
his duties and
responsibilities. He traveled to Yathrib to see his
nephew, Shaybah,
and decided that as the boy would one day inherit his
father's place
