Islam
is a religion of relatively few symbols because it is an open, rational and
practical faith. Where symbols do occur, their nature conforms with and confirms
the nature of the faith.
The central and foremost symbol
of Islam is the Ka`bah and the rituals associated with it. In the Qur’an, God
calls the Ka`bah Al-Bayt al-Haram (the Sacred House) and Bayt Allah (House
of God). This Sanctuary of God is a tangible point in space and time to assemble
and “visit”. It represents how the Muslim’s world and life revolve around
an exclusive and pure devotion to the One True God. The pilgrim who visits the
Ka`bah must be motivated by a consuming faith and pure devotion, for there is
little worldly enjoyment there in the midst of the burning desert.
The Ka`bah is the simple cube
stone building in Makkah. Within a few hundred meters of it are other sites
associated with the sanctification of Umm Al-Quraa (the Mother of Cities,
i.e., Makkah). These sites are two little hills named Marwa and Safa and the
Well of Zamzam. The water of this well originally sprang from under the feet of
the infant Ishmael (Isma`il) and has flowed ever since then for the pilgrims.
Indeed, this water made settlement in Makkah possible. These sites are integral
to the rites of Hajj and are enclosed in the Noble Sanctuary.
The foundations of the Ka`bah
were laid by Abraham (Ibrahim) and his son Ishmael (Isma`il — peace be upon
them), and it was consecrated to the worship of the One True God. However, over
the millennia, human folly added to the Ka`bah so that by the half millennium
preceding Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), the worship
conducted there had degenerated into paganism and idolatry. The Ka`bah was
surrounded by more than three hundred idols. The Abrahamic origins of the faith
and its heritage of pure monotheism were all but buried. Yet it retained its
aura of sacredness, and one “heretic” sect refused the customs of the people
to nurture a memory and conviction of the One True God. Another residue of the
Abrahamic tradition was a cult of peace and asylum related to the Sanctuary.
|
The message of Islam was not
new - what was new was the form of this message, its dimensions and scale
|
By the time Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings be upon him) was born, Makkah was submerged in polytheism
and idolatry. Only vestiges of the pure faith remained in a symbol and a
tradition. Thus, the mission of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be
upon him) was the fulfillment of Revelation, of the Message of Guidance, not its
beginning. It came to restore the faith to its original purity.
Hence the message of Islam was
not new. What was new was the form of this message, its dimensions and scale.
The message would henceforth be preserved in a Book (the Qur’an)
that would be immune to the ravages of time and the folly of man but that would
be accessible to all who sought the Guidance. The repository of the faith was in
the Community at large. No group could claim the privilege of special knowledge
or a mission not open to others. No group or individual could come between the
human being and Creator. Clergies and theocracies would be obsolete. These are
the chief implications of the new form of this Last Guidance. They underline the
liberating essence of its core concept and foundation: tawheed.
This liberating essence
constitutes the revolutionary component and the regenerative momentum of the
faith. These elements continue to retain their force and relevance because of
the uncontaminated purity of its sources and its core tenets. Here are some
aspects of the enduring symbolism of the Ka`bah:
- The Ka`bah is symbolic
of an essence: the idea of the prime and the core. It has remained at the
center of a continuous tradition of human worship and devotion. It
symbolizes the integrating and unifying power of monotheism in human life.
- The idea of the prime
and the core reinforces and confirms the basic concepts of Islam as the
religion of pure monotheism, and hence as the one true religion for all men
and for all time. Abraham is upheld in the Qur’an not for his ancestry of
the Arabs, but for being the model and the archetype of the Muslim. In its
association with the Abrahamic tradition and its commemoration of it, the
Ka`bah symbolizes the unity of all true religion, celebrates the brotherhood
of all prophets, and the essential unity of their message.
- The Ka`bah is not just
associated with the beginnings of the pure faith and of religion. It
symbolizes the message that was addressed to the People of the Book — the
Jews and Christians — in order to resolve the points of dispute among
them.
- The mission of the last
messenger, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), was to inaugurate an
era in which Divine Guidance was openly universal, wider and more
comprehensive in scope, with its injunctions spelled out in detail. The
responsibility for man's fate and moral well-being would come to rest
squarely on his own free choice and on a willing initiative to respond to
his Creator.
- The Ka`bah also
symbolizes the common orientation and common goal of mankind: its response
to the One True God. Every mosque has a mihrab (niche) that points in
the direction of the Ka`bah. Wherever a Muslim stands to pray, bow and
prostrate, he faces in the direction of the Ka`bah, thus reminding him of
the source of identity and common purpose and goal that binds him to his
community in faith.
- The Ka`bah is symbolic
both of permanence and constancy and of renewal and renewability. Upon
entering the precincts of the Holy Sanctuary, every Muslim makes a pledge as
he approaches the Ka`bah. He faces its door and, before beginning tawaf
(circumambulation), he renews his commitment by professing the Shahadah, the
Testimony of Faith (“I bear witness that there is no god but Allah; I bear
witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”). Standing in solemn
humility at this station, the Muslim identifies with a whole series of
similar stations and situations in which the oath of allegiance was taken,
whether during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be
upon him) or at any time since Abraham and Ishmael (peace be upon them)
pledged to God and laid the foundations of the Ka`bah. For this reason, the
door of the Ka`bah is known as Bab Al-Multazim, the door of the one
who takes the oath or makes the pledge.
- Bab Al-Multazim is
just one detail of the entire state of ihram, the state of sanctification
and abstinence of the pilgrim. The pilgrim settles all his worldly debts,
and then removes his worldly attire. He bathes and dresses in the fresh
attire of the pilgrim and rededicates himself to the Way of his Creator.
The preservation of the Ka`bah as
a living symbol down the generations to this day and age and its continuity as a
haven of devotion, a shelter of refuge, and a site of grace is, in itself, a
sign that invites serious reflection by all those who truly care to think.
*Summarized
from Introducing
Islam from Within by Mona Abul-Fadl (Leicester, UK: The
Islamic Foundation, 1991). Used with permission.
- 
