Prophet Ezekiel’s account of Performing
Hajj
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمدلله رب العالمين والصلوة والسلام على اشرف الانبياء
وسيدالمرسلين نبينا محمد صل ا لله عليه وعلى آله واصحابه وازواجه اجمعين - امابعد
All the praises and
thanks be to Allaah, Sustainer of the Universe, and blessing and salutation to
be the most distinguish of the Messengers and foremost among the
Prophets, our Prophet Muhammad, peace
and blessings of Allaah be on him and on his wives, children and Companions.
In the Old Testament's Book of Ezekiel (Chapters 40 through 47) is the detailed account of Hajj performed by Prophet Ezekiel like Prophet Dawud (David).
We read in verses 40:1-2 the exact time and date when the Hajj was performed by Prophet Ezekiel, even it mentions the 10th day of Hajj i.e. Eid-ul-Adha. It must be remembered that Judaism and Islaam both have lunar calendar. The city in the south with mountain is Makkah.
040:001 In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the
beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth
year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD
was upon me, and brought me thither. 040:002 In the visions of God brought
he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which
was as the frame of a city on the south.
This is Ka’bah, as Prophet Ezekiel describes (since there is no most holy place on face of earth which is in square shape) in chapter 41:
041:001 Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle. 041:002 And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits. 041:003 Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits. 041:004 So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place. 041:005 After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side.
Following verses describes the animal scarify that is done
by all pilgrims at Hajj in remembrance to the Abraham's scarify of Ishmael:
042:013 Then said he unto me, The north chambers and the south
chambers, which are before the separate place, they be holy chambers, where the
priests that approach unto the LORD shall eat the most holy things: there shall
they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the sin
offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy. 042:014 When the
priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the
utter court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister; for
they are holy; and shall put on other garments, and shall approach to those
things which are for the people.
We get further confirmation of this Hajj, city of south with
mountain by reading further about the shape of the place described by Prophet
Ezekiel in verses which is four square or square:
042:015 Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house,
he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and
measured it round about. 042:016 He measured the east side with the measuring
reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. 042:017 He
measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round
about. 042:018 He measured the south side, five hundred reeds, with the
measuring reed. 042:019 He turned about to the west side, and measured five
hundred reeds with the measuring reed. 042:020 He measured it by the four
sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred
broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.
Allaah commands Prophet Ezekiel in the following verses to
preserve the records of this most holy place in the following verses:
044:005 And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and
behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee
concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws
thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of
the sanctuary. 044:006 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house
of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of
all your abominations,
Description
of Hajj and Hajjees (Pilgrims & Pilgrimage) in chapter 44
(the terms of "priest of Levites" is used for pilgrims): The verses 17 to 19 are a precise description if Ihraam that
Muslim pilgrims use for Hajj in compliance of Divine command.
044:015 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept
the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they
shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to
offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD: 044:016 They shall
enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto
me, and they shall keep my charge. 044:017 And it shall come to pass, that
when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with
linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the
gates of the inner court, and within. 044:018 They shall have linen bonnets
upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall
not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat. 044:019 And when
they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people,
they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the
holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not
sanctify the people with their garments. 044:020 Neither shall they shave their
heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.
044:021 Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner
court.
Prophet Ezekiel
predicts further expansion of this most holy house in verse 41:7 of Book of
Ezekiel as we reads: ("041:007 And there was an
enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the
winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore
the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest
chamber to the highest by the midst"). Ka’bah has been expanded to hold over two million
pilgrims for Hajj.
Chapter 47 of Book of Ezekiel describes the Zamzam fountain
and circumambulation of Ka’bah by the pilgrims as we read in verses:
047:001 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the
house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house
eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters
came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the
altar. 047:002 Then brought he me out of
the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter
gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the
right side. 047:003 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth
eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters;
the waters were to the ankles. 047:004 Again he measured a thousand, and
brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured
a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. 047:005
Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass
over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be
passed over.
At this point it is important to examine and compare the description of Temple built by King Solomon (Prophet Sulaiman عليه السلام), which is found in Old Testament (Book 1 King 6:1-10):
006:001 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year
after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth
year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second
month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. 006:002 And the house
which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was threescore
cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty
cubits. 006:003 And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was
the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was
the breadth thereof before the house. 006:004 And for the house he made windows
of narrow lights. 006:005 And against the wall of the house he built chambers
round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and
of the oracle: and he made chambers round about: 006:006 The nethermost
chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the
third was seven cubits broad: for without in the wall of the house he made
narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the
walls of the house. 006:007 And the house, when it was in building, was built
of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither
hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in
building. 006:008 The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of
the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and
out of the middle into the third. 006:009 So he built the house, and
finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar. 006:010 And
then he built chambers against the entire house, five cubits high: and they
rested on the house with timber of cedar.
As
we can see in the above verses, the architecture of temple is not even close to
Ka’bah and way off of the details we find in the Book of Ezekiel.
Glorious Qur’aan sets the record straight about the Qibla:
سَيَقُولُ السُّفَهَاءُ مِنَ
النَّاسِ مَا وَلَّاهُمْ عَنْ قِبْلَتِهِمُ الَّتِي كَانُوا عَلَيْهَا قُلْ لِلَّهِ
الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ يَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ (142) وَكَذَلِكَ
جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا لِتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ وَيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ
عَلَيْكُمْ شَهِيدًا وَمَا جَعَلْنَا الْقِبْلَةَ الَّتِي كُنْتَ عَلَيْهَا إِلَّا
لِنَعْلَمَ مَنْ يَتَّبِعُ الرَّسُولَ مِمَّنْ يَنْقَلِبُ عَلَى عَقِبَيْهِ وَإِنْ
كَانَتْ لَكَبِيرَةً إِلَّا عَلَى الَّذِينَ هَدَى اللَّهُ وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُضِيعَ
إِيمَانَكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِالنَّاسِ لَرَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ (143) قَدْ نَرَى تَقَلُّبَ
وَجْهِكَ فِي السَّمَاءِ فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةً تَرْضَاهَا فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ
شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنْتُمْ فَوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُ
وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ لَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ
وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ (144)
The
fools among the people (pagans, hypocrites, and Jews) will say, "What has
turned them (Muslims) from their Qiblah (prayer
direction (towards Jerusalem)) to which they used to face in prayer." Say,
(O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) "To Allāh belong both, east and the west. He guides whom
He wills to the Straight Way." (143) Thus We have made you (true Muslims -
real believers of Islāmic Monotheism, true followers of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم
and his Sunnah (legal ways)), a just (and the best)
nation, that you be witnesses over mankind {1} and the Messenger
(Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) be a witness over you. And We made the Qiblah
(prayer direction towards Jerusalem), which you used to face, only to
test those who followed the Messenger (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) from those who would turn on their heels
(i.e. disobey the Messenger). Indeed it was great (heavy) except for those whom
Allāh guided. And Allāh would never make your faith (prayers) to be lost (i.e.
your prayers offered towards Jerusalem). Truly, Allāh is full of Kindness, the
Most Merciful towards mankind. (144) Verily! We have seen the turning of your
(Muhammad’s صلى الله عليه وسلم) face towards the heaven. Surely, We shall turn you to a Qiblah (prayer direction) that shall please you, so turn your
face in the direction of Al-Masjid-al-Harām (at
Makkah). And wheresoever you people are, turn your faces (in prayer) in that
direction. Certainly, the people who were given the Scripture (i.e. Jews and
the Christians) know well that, that (your turning towards the direction of the
Ka‘bah at
Makkah in prayers) is the truth from their Lord. And Allāh is not unaware
of what they do.
{1}
(V.2: 143) Narrated Abu Sa‘īd Al-Khudrī رضي الله عنه: Allāh’s Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم
said "Nūh will be called on the Day of Resurrection and he will say, ‘ Labbaik and Sa’daik, (I respond to Your Call and I am
obedient to Your Orders) O my Lord! Allāh will say, ‘Did you convey Our Message
of Islāmic Monotheism?’ Nūh will say, ‘Yes’. His nation will then be asked,
‘Did he convey Our Message of Islāmic Monotheism to you?’ They will say, ‘No
warner came to us.’ Then Allāh will say (to Nūh), ‘Who will bear witness in
your favor?’ He will say, ‘Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and his followers.’ So they (i.e.,
Muslims) will testify that he conveyed the Message - and the Messenger
(Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) will be a witness over you, and that is what is meant by the
Statement of Allāh عز وجل: We made you (true Muslims - real believers of Islāmic
Monotheism, true followers of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله
عليه وسلم and his Sunnah (legal ways)) a just (and the best) nation that you be
witnesses over mankind and the Messenger (Muhammad صلى
الله عليه وسلم) will be a
witness over you." (Sahih Al-Bukhāri,
Vol.6, Hadīth No.14).
Conclusion!
Judeo-Christian spin-doctors and especially the Christian missionaries
have used every method to distort the truth of Islaam, since its advent, but
their dilemma has always been the proof, which Allaah has preserved in their
own scriptures despite of redaction and/or adulteration. Thus, their own
arguments seem to buckle under their own weight without too much external force
in the presence of evidence cited above in this treatise. Christians’
gobbledygook to redefine New Testament is self-defeating as the parts of New
Testament being interpreted by them must be construed with reference to the
significance of the whole. An interpretation must be consistent with the rest
of the Bible. This simply means that no parts of the New Testament, for
example, can contradict Moses, the Prophets, the Writings, or Jesus and be correct!
This is yet another undeniable and unexplainable proof from the Bible
impeaching anti-Islaam distortion and setting the record straight.
Also read: Ka’abah
and its superiority was foretold in the Bible!
Sunday,
May 15, 2005