My World: A Story for Hamza..

My grandchildren are in Makkah today with their parents. Hamza called me from there. He was excited. Jaddo, it is awesome, he said. What is awesome Hamza?, I asked.

Everything, said Hamza. The Holy Mosque was not very crowded during the middle of the night, he said in long sentences. His voice broken only when he would stop to take a deep breadth. I got to touch the Kabaa, I got to the door of the Kaaba, continued the child. As if he had received a perfect gift. He might not realize it, but he surely had.

The door to the Kaaba. Long time ago, there lived a man by the name of Uthman ibn Talha. He was a very influential man. And wielded power. The power that comes from holding the Key to the doors of the Kaaba. Entrance to the Kaaba was solely at his discretion. People would be pushed and kicked away from It's doors.
Many suffered injuries and even death as a result of the show of force by Uthman and his people.

It so happened that there lived another man in the same town of Makkah. One day, this man went to visit the Kaaba. On wanting to enter the Kaaba, the door keeper,
Uthman, refused him entry.

This man, on being refused entry to the Kaaba, told Uthman that one day he ( Uthman ) would see the other person in a position where he could give the keys to the Kaaba to whomsoever he pleased. To which Uthman is reported to have said that that would certainly mean the end of the Tribe of Quraish and its power. Uthman, in his anger, forgot that the person he was addressing was also a member of the Quraish tribe.
But Uthman was rich, powerful with very powerful friends.

Many years had passed, when one day fear gripped Makkah and its inhabitants. There was an army and they had defeated the combined forces of Makkah in battle. They entered Makkah. They entered the Kaaba. They were led by the very same person whom Uthman had denied entry to the Kaaba years back.

" Surely, Allah commands you to render back things held in trust to their rightful
owners; and that if you judge between mankind, that you judge justly ". The Holy Koran.

The leader of the conquering forces, took the Keys to the Kaaba and entrusted them to the sons of Abu Talha. He said, " Uthman, Allah Almighty is trusting you with His House. Take His Trust. Uthman, take your keys ".

The tradition continues to this day.

The name of the man whom Uthman had denied entry to the Kaaba was Mohammed ( PBUH ).

Keys break. New ones were made. The image below is of one of the earliest copies of the Keys to the Kaaba.


I wonder if Hamza knows of this story. I shall tell him when he returns from Makkah. It is important he knows.

p.s. Edited to mention that the image is not mine but from a book by Hilmi Aydin. It is being used here
as an illustration for non-commercial, editorial and educational purposes only. The interested traveler can see the
real item at the magnificent Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul, Turkey.

Ayesha has a video made inside the museum of this and other items on display.

Hi, Fahim,

Thank you for that very nice story.

Best regards,

Doug

Doug Kerr said:

Hi, Fahim,

Thank you for that very nice story.

Best regards,

Doug

Click to expand...

Thanks Doug.

Hope you guys are settling in. Or it is still too early for the move?

Our best to you both.

The Holy Kaaba at night a few days ago. Sent by Hamza via his iPhone.


The door mentioned in my story is next to the corner as you look at it.

As a matter of interest, the white tiles you see in the foreground and all around the Holy Kaaba are made

of similar material as the tiles used on the U.S. space shuttles. It is to protect the worshippers from the

heat during the sunlit hours. The area covered by these tiles is very large.

The Grand Mosque itself covers a huge area. There are multiple floors with air conditioning. Water from the

well of Zamzam is available in coolers all around the Mosque. The refrigeration plant for the Zamzam water

is one of the largest of its kind in the world.

For physically impaired people there are motorized vehicles similar to golf carts.

Visible but difficult to point at are various significant places around the Holy Kaaba. The Place Of Ibrahim (

PBUH ) is prominent on the right at the back. Prophet Ibrahim ( PBUH ) and his son Ismail ( PBUH )

stood around here building a similar structure long long time ago. At the exact place where you see the

Holy Kaaba. After that old structure was completed Ibrahim ( PBUH ) was commanded to call the people to

prayers in the House of the One God.

Not forgetting that what I narrate happened thousands of years ago, Ibrahim ( PBUH ) asks Allah for

mercy. There is nothing but desert all around. How would the people hear Ibrahim ( PBUH ), an old man

with a feeble voice.. Ibrahim is instructed to call and told that that is his duty. To make the people hear the

voice is The Lord's responsibility.

To this day when any Muslim embarks on a pilgrimage to Makkah, he/she recites words that mean..

paraphrased.." We hear the call Our Lord. And we obey. There is no God But Allah."

The Mosque is open to all worshippers 24/7/365.

Thanks for sharing these important images. I so like the fact that we see symbology not pictures of people which has the risk of then leading to worship of the people instead having thoughts for humility and values that are worthy of there being a heaven.

Humans have a great weakness for worshipping things and people. Respect is one thing, but devotion to people above all others, as in some religions, with statues, is a thin edge to balance on. So I appreciate the attention given to designing safe access and geometric decorated forms, rather than using supernatural or mythical forms.

It's so impressive. I'd love to be able to go myself!

Asher

Thank you Asher.

The Holy Kaaba is empty fom inside. There was a time in history when the

Kaaba was the center of idol worship.

During the times of Prophet Mohammed ( PBUH ) the Kaaba held 365 statues..one god for

each day of the year.

The first act of Prophet Mohammed ( PBUH ) on entering Makkah

victorious, was to cleanse the Kaaba by removing all images and statues contained around and

within it.

Paraphrasing the Holy Koran; Mohammed, you are commanded by your Lord, to purify the house

built by Ibrahim ( PBUH ). Purify the House of God for those that believe in His Oneness and enter

here in submission to Him.