Pre-Islamic Arab Religion in Islam: Difference between revisions

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==Veneration of the Black-stone==
==Veneration of the Black-stone==
{{Main|Black Stone}}


The pagan gods of pre-Islamic Arabia were worshiped in the form of rectangular stones or rocks. For example, the pagan deity 'Al-Lat', mentioned in {{Quran|53|19}}, and believed by pre-Islamic pagans to be one of the daughters of Allah, was once venerated as a cubic rock at Ta'if in Saudi Arabia according to Islamic sources on the subject written after the rise of Islam. An edifice was built over the rock to mark it apart as a house of worship.  
The pagan gods of pre-Islamic Arabia were worshiped in the form of rectangular stones or rocks. For example, the pagan deity 'Al-Lat', mentioned in {{Quran|53|19}}, and believed by pre-Islamic pagans to be one of the daughters of Allah, was once venerated as a cubic rock at Ta'if in Saudi Arabia according to Islamic sources on the subject written after the rise of Islam. An edifice was built over the rock to mark it apart as a house of worship.  
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{{Quote|[https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14059-stone-and-stone-worship Stone and stone worship] - Emil G. Hirsch and Immanuel Benzinger, The Jewish Encyclopedia|The worship of sacred stones constituted one of the most general and ancient forms of religion; but among no other people was this worship so important as among the Semites. The religion of the nomads of Syria and Arabia was summarized by Clement of Alexandria in the single statement, "The Arabs worship the stone," and all the data afforded by Arabian authors regarding the pre-Islamitic faith confirm his words. The sacred stone ("nuṣb"; plural, "anṣab") is a characteristic and indispensable feature in an ancient Arabian place of worship.}}
{{Quote|[https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14059-stone-and-stone-worship Stone and stone worship] - Emil G. Hirsch and Immanuel Benzinger, The Jewish Encyclopedia|The worship of sacred stones constituted one of the most general and ancient forms of religion; but among no other people was this worship so important as among the Semites. The religion of the nomads of Syria and Arabia was summarized by Clement of Alexandria in the single statement, "The Arabs worship the stone," and all the data afforded by Arabian authors regarding the pre-Islamitic faith confirm his words. The sacred stone ("nuṣb"; plural, "anṣab") is a characteristic and indispensable feature in an ancient Arabian place of worship.}}


Touching the black stone seemed uncomfortably close to idolatry for some early Islamic scholars, though the tradition was accepted based on the practice of the earliest Caliphs.<ref>Adam Bursi (2022) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17458927.2021.2020604 You were not commanded to stroke it, but to pray nearby it], debating touch within early Islamic pilgrimage, The Senses and Society, 17:1, 8-21, DOI: 10.1080/17458927.2021.2020604</ref>
Touching the black stone seemed uncomfortably close to idolatry for some early Islamic scholars, though the tradition was accepted based on the practice of the earliest Caliphs.<ref>Adam Bursi (2022) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17458927.2021.2020604 You were not commanded to stroke it, but to pray nearby it], debating touch within early Islamic pilgrimage, The Senses and Society, 17:1, 8-21, DOI: 10.1080/17458927.2021.2020604</ref><ref>{{Quote|{{Bukhari|2|26|667}}|Narrated `Abis bin Rabi`a:


The Black Stone seems to have been one among many stones and idols venerated at the Ka’aba by the pre-Islamic pagans of Arabia. The Black Stone was kissed during pre-Islamic pagan worship. Though Muhammad is asserted to have thrown out 360 other objects at the Ka’aba, he retained this Black Stone and continued the practice of kissing it. It is this same stone that the pre-Islamic pagans once kissed, that Muslims kiss today when visiting Mecca.
`Umar came near the Black Stone and kissed it and said "No doubt, I know that you are a stone and can neither benefit anyone nor harm anyone. Had I not seen Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) kissing you I would not have kissed you."}}</ref>
 
According to a tradition in Ibn Ishaq's Sira, Muhammad was chosen by the Quraysh to place the black stone in the newly rebuilt Kaaba when he was 35 years old, 5 years before his prophethood commenced.<ref>{{citation|page=86|trans_title=The Life of Muhammad|title=Sirat Rasul Allah|author1=Ibn Ishaq|author2=Ibn Hisham|editor=A. Guillaume|year=1955|publisher=Oxford UP|ISBN=0196360331|location=Karachi|url=https://archive.org/details/GuillaumeATheLifeOfMuhammad/page/n65/mode/2up}}</ref>


==Praying 5 Times Towards Mecca==
==Praying 5 Times Towards Mecca==
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