Qur’an is a Cosmological Sharia.
Some may ask why we Moslems take Makkah as their qiblah in prayer. Why do we go around the Kaaba that includes the Black Stone (Al Hajar Al Aswad) in one of its sides?
Why do we go around the Kaaba anticlockwise? Why do we start every round from the Black Stone (Al Hajar Al Aswad) salute it at the end of each, try to kiss it if possible, or point to it while uttering the prayer (in the name of Allah and Allah is greater)? And why are there only seven rounds whether it is Hajj, Umra, or a supererogatory performance?
Regardless any other considerations, following these rituals without a glance is an integral part of worshipping Allah and imitating the Prophet (PBUH). These are things to be taken for granted and we – being Moslems – have to obey Allah’s orders in the Qur’an and the Prophet’s orders in Hadiths because he tells us: “take your rituals from me and pray as you saw me praying.”(1[a2]) It is the same case with the soldier who obeys the orders to win the battle. Yet, whether or not we know the foresight behind these orders, we believe for sure that there is a benefit for us because our Creator knows us better than we know ourselves. He says in the Qur’an: “Will He not know, (He) Who created? And He is The Ever-Kind, The Ever-Cognizant.” (The Kingdom 14[a3])Thus, His orders are ultimately for our interest and they suit our disposition, our nature and our surrounding universe.
Allah, the Creator, the Great and Almighty, is not in need of our obedience or our worship. It is all for our benefit as mentioned in the Divine Hadith: “O, my worshippers! If your first and your last (created) and your humans and Jinn were all most pious, this would add nothing to my dominion …” (2[a4]) In all types of worship, there are secrets, benefits, and foresights for the individual and the community. So, there is nothing wrong in searching for these foresights, benefits and hints that are in tune with the universe, the humans, and life. For Islam is a cosmological sharia as well as a comprehensive life system:
1) Regarding praying to Makkah at whose middle the Kaaba and the Inviolable Mosque lie, Allah orders us in the Qur’an to do so: “So turn your face towards the Inviolable Mosque; and wherever you are, then turn your faces towards it.” (The Cow 144[a5]) Various studies, among which one was done by Dr. Hussein Kamal Ad Din, Head of the Department of Survey Engineering at RiyadhUniversity, proved that Makkah is the center of earth. Dr. Robert G. Coleman (3[a6]), StanfordUniversity in USA, did a study on the center of earth gravity and the point in which gravity cosmological radiations meet (the meeting point magnetic gravitational radiations) on earth; he found that this center is Makkah. Makkah, then, is the center of the seven continents as well as the meeting point of magnetic gravitational radiations. Allah describes it in the Qur’an as “the Mother of the Towns”: “And thus we have revealed to you an Arabic Qur’an, that you may warn the Mother of the Towns and whomever are (dwelling) around it, and to warn the Day of Gathering, wherein there is no suspicion: a group in the Garden, and a group in the Blaze.” (Counsel 7[a7])
Allah, the All–Wise, choose the Kaaba in the Inviolable Mosque, the “the first Home laid down for mankind” (The House of Imran 96[a8]), to be the qiblah for Moslems all over the world. Thus it is dubbed as “the Mother of the Towns” and the Moslem nation is described as “the middle nation”: “And thus We have made you a middle nation to be witnesses over mankind, and (for) the Messenger to be a witness over you.” (The Cow 143[a9]) Thus, the nation of Islam, which is the middle nation in every aspect, directs to “the mother of the Towns”, the middle and center of earth; it is also the center of spiritual pull as well as the gathering point of magnetic rays of gravity.
2) As for going around the Kaaba anticlockwise, it is consistent with the movement of the whole universe: from the atom to the galaxy. Going around is a cosmological phenomenon that includes everything. The electron goes around the nucleus, the moons go around their planets, the planets go around their suns, the suns and the stars go around the centers of their galaxies, and even energy goes around in its paths; all these movements are anticlockwise. It is the same direction of the Hajji going around the Kaaba. It is a symbol of the evident phenomenon of the whole universe: “ … and each is swimming in an orbit.” (Ya Sin 40[a10]) and “…each one running to a stated term.” (Thunder 2[a11])
3) As for going around the Black Stone (Al Hajar Al Aswad), which lies in one side of the Kaaba, it may be a reference to the Black Hole. Each of the 130 billion galaxies known to date (each has around 100 billion star as our Milky Way) goes around a specific center in which there is that extraordinary-dense Black Hole whose density swallows up near light and galaxies (if our Earth should become a Black Hole, its mass would be as big as a ping pong ball; hence imagine the density and weight of this small ball). This Black Hole holds the planets and stars of its galaxy while going symmetrically and harmoniously around it and prevents them from breaking loose: “ … and each is swimming in an orbit.” (Ya Sin 40) It also prevents them from colliding into one another. In the same way, all Hajjis go around the Kaaba, and the Black Stone (Al Hajar Al Aswad), in a splendid symmetrical and harmonious manner that shows the Power of Allah the Almighty.
The symmetrical and harmonious non-colliding movement of the above-mentioned planets and galaxies around the Black Hole match the words of the Qur’an: “It does not behoove the sun to overtake the moon.”(Ya Sin 40[a12]) This applies to all planets and suns, not only to the sun and the moon. Likewise, for the Hajjis, the Black Stone (Al Hajar Al Aswad) is the starting and finishing point of every round as if it were the harmonizer of their movement around the Kaaba that prevents them from going astray in life. The Black Hole manages the turning of the solar groups and planets and other entities in spite of their extraordinary speed and mass that may help them break away centrifugally; yet, due to the extraordinary pulling power of these Black Holes, these bodies remain until Doomsday in their orbits in such an exact system. This connotes that the Moslems should be connected to their religion throughout their lives and should adhere to the Divine system in what they do.
The Holy Mosque , a picture snapped from space
4) Why do we kiss the Black Stone (Al Hajar Al Aswad)? It is a stone that neither hurts nor benefits as once Omar, may Allah be pleased with him, said to it: “You are just a stone that neither hurts nor benefits; if I had not seen the Prophet kissed you, I would not have done so.”(4[a13]) The foresight in this kissing may lie in this connection between the Prophet and his nation. It is a connection of a special kind: emotional, spiritual, and humane. It seems that the Prophet kissed the Black Stone (Al Hajar Al Aswad) to be like a material and sensual connection between him and his nation. Did not he say “I wish I could see my lovers!” Some orientlists and enemies of Islam say that kissing the Black Stone (Al Hajar Al Aswad) is a remnant of paganism, but they do not know the wisdom behind this: it is the love between the Prophet and his lovers who never saw each other: “Blessed be this who sees and believes me, blessed twice be this who believes me without seeing me.”(5[a14]) “I wish I could see my brothers, (the Companions said) aren’t we your brothers O Prophet of Allah? He replied: No, you are my Companions. My brothers are those who come after me and believe in me without seeing me.”(6[a15])The Companions saw the Prophet, they shook hands with him, they embraced him, and they heard the inspiration from his own mouth. This gave them a unique advantage as the first and greatest generation. But the believers who came after them did not experience all these material events; yet, they believe in them. Thus it seems as if the Prophet, through kissing the Black Stone (Al Hajar Al Aswad), wanted to reward every one of them and convey his feelings to them by kissing the same spot he kissed.
5) Why are there seven rounds around the Kaaba? The whole universe moves according to exact systems and rules set by Allah the Almighty: “and He created everything, so He has determined it an (exact) determination.” (The Criterion 2[a16]) This applies to all creatures including man: “He created the heavens and the earth with the Truth, and He fashioned you (and) so made fair your fashioning; and to Him is the Destiny.” (Mutual Fraud 3[a17]) “And in the earth are ayaat fro the ones having certitude; And in your selves; do you then not behold?” (The Winnowers 20-21[a18]) Because the Qur’an is the code for the whole universe and the eternal words of Allah, the Creator of the Worlds, and because the universe and the Qur’an share the same source, there must be mutual laws and systems that govern both, especially that the Qur’an predates the universe. One of these universal and Qur’anic laws is the hepta system. The heavens are seven, the earths are seven, the layers of the atmosphere are seven, the solar spectrum has seven colors, the orbits of the atom are seven, the week is seven days etc.
In the order of its suras, verses, and letters the Qur’an follows this hepta system. Allah says: “And indeed We have already brought you seven of the oft-repeated and the magnificent Qur’an.” (Al Hijr 87[a19]) These seven oft-repeated verses are the Opening sura, which follows the same rule as well. The Prophet said: “The Qur’an was revealed in seven letters (dialects).” So, as this rule is one of the systems that govern the whole universe, some rituals are in harmony with it, such as the seven rounds (7[a20]) around the Kaaba, which are an example of the harmony between the man and the universe on one hand, and between his intuition and universal phenomena on the other. Allah says: “(this religion is) the original disposition from Allah upon which He originated mankind. There is no exchange for the creation of Allah. That is the most upright religion, but most of mankind do not know.” (The Romans 30[a21])
By: Dr. Mohammad Jamil Al Habbal
Consultant Internist and Nephrologist
Islamic scholar
E-mail: alhabbal45@yahoo.com
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[a1]I use the word “sharia” here not only in the sense of“The Islamic religious law, including the teachings of the Koran and the traditional sayings of Muhammad” as defined in OED, but also in the sense of “law or code”. The word is mentioned twice in the article.
[a2]Narrated by Muslim and An-Nasaey
[a3]All translations of the meanings of the Qur’an verses mentioned here are by Dr. Muhammad Mahmud Ghali. Yet, in the comments I mention other three translations by Marmaduke Picktall, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, and Muhammad Muhsin Khan Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali respectively for comparison. It is noteworthy that the names of the suras are sometimes translated differently in the four translations. [Should He not know what He created? And He is the Subtile, the Aware. Should He not know He that created? And He is the One that understands the finest mysteries (and) is well-acquainted (with them). Should not He Who has created know? And He is the most Kind and Courteous (to His slaves), All-Aware (of everything).]
[a4]Narrated by Muslim (a Divine Hadith)
[a5]So turn thy face toward the Inviolable Place of Worship, and ye (O Muslims), wheresoever ye may be, turn your faces (when ye pray) toward it. Turn then thy face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque: wherever ye are, turn your faces in that direction. so turn your face in the direction of Al-Masjid Al-Haram (at Makkah). And wheresoever you people are, turn your faces (in prayer) in that direction.
[a6]Science Magazine – Vol. 68 – P. 92 – 1992. This is his photo. He is now Professor Emeritus at Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences. More about him can be known from the homepage of Stanford University.
[a7] And thus We have inspired in thee a Lecture in Arabic, that thou mayst warn the mother-town and those around it, and mayst warn of a day of assembling whereof there is no doubt. A host will be in the Garden, and a host of them in the Flame. Thus have We sent by inspiration to thee an Arabic Qur’an that thou mayest warn the Mother of Cities and all around her and warn (them) of the Day of Assembly, of which there is no doubt: (When) some will be in the Garden, and some in the Blazing Fire. And thus We have revealed to you (O Muhammad) a Qur’an in Arabic that you may warn the Mother of the Towns (Makkah) and all around it, and warn (them) of the Day of Assembling of which there is no doubt, when a party will be in Paradise (those who believed in Allah and followed what Allah’s Messenger brought them) and a party in the blazing Fire (Hell)
(those who disbelieved in Allah and followed not what Allah’s Messenger brought them).
[a8] the first Sanctuary appointed for mankind The first House (of worship) appointed for men Verily, the first House (of worship) appointed for mankind.
[a9]Thus We have appointed you a middle nation, that ye may be witnesses against mankind, and that the messenger may be a witness against you. Thus have We made of you An Ummah justly balanced, that ye might be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger a witness over yourselves. Thus We have made you [true Muslims – real believers of Islamic Monotheism, true followers of Prophet Muhammad and his Sunnah (legal ways)] , a just (and the best) nation, that you be witnesses over mankind and the Messenger (Muhammad) be a witness over you.
[a10] They float each in an orbit Each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to Law). They all float, each in an orbit.
[a11]each runeth unto an appointed term Each one runs (its course) for a term appointed. each running (its course) for a term appointed.
[a12]It is not for the sun to overtake the moon It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon.
[a13]Mentioned by Al Jindi under “The Merits of Makkah”, Abu Al Hassan Al Qattan in Al Mutawwallat (lit: the long Hadiths), and Al Hakim and Al Bayhaqi under “The Divisions of Iman”.
[a14]Mentioned by Imam Ahmad in his “Musnad” and Ibn Habban in his “Sahih”.
[a15] Narrated by Imam Ahmad and Abu Ya’la.
[a16]He hath created everything and hath meted out for it a measure. It is He Who created all things, and ordered them in due proportions. He has created everything, and has measured it exactly according to its due measurements.
[a17] He created the heavens and the earth with truth, and He shaped you and made good your shapes, and unto Him is the journeying. He has created the heavens and the earth in just proportions, and has given you shape, and made your shapes beautiful: and to Him is the final Goal. He has created the heavens and the earth with truth, and He shaped you and made good your shapes. And to Him is the final Return.
[a18] And in the earth are portents for those whose faith is sure, And (also) in yourselves. Can you then not see? On the earth are signs for those of assured Faith, and also in your own selves: will ye not then see? And on the earth are signs for those who have Faith with certainty. And also in your own selves. Will you not then see?
[a19] We have given thee seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the great Qur’an. And We have bestowed upon thee the Seven oft-repeated (Verses) and the Grand Qur’an. And indeed, We have bestowed upon you seven of Al-Mathani (seven repeatedly recited Verses), (i.e. Surat Al-Fatihah) and the Grand Qur’an.
[a20]When asked about Laylat Al Qadr (i.e. the Night of Determination), Ibn Abbas said: “Allah the Almighty is One and He likes odd numbers. He made the week seven days; He created man from seven (elements); He put up seven heavens and put underneath seven earths; He gave His Prophet seven oft-repeated (verses); He prohibited seven types of marriage among relatives; He divided inheritance into seven groups; we prostrate in our prayer on seven bones; the Prophet went around the Kaaba seven rounds and between Assafa and Al Marwa seven times; he threw seven pebbles, and I think that the Night of Determination is in the last seven days of Ramadhan.” In Ad-Dorr Al Manthour in Al Tafsir Al Ma’thor (lit: scattered pearls of interpretation) by Imam Sayouti.(3578)
[a21]the nature (framed) of Allah, in which He hath created man. There is no altering (the laws of) Allah’s creation. That is the right religion, but most men know not. (Establish) Allah’s handiwork according to the pattern on which He has made mankind: no change (let there be) in the work (wrought) by Allah: that is the standard Religion: but most among mankind understand not. Allah’s Fitrah (i.e. Allah’s Islamic Monotheism) with which He has created mankind. No change let there be in Khalqillah (i.e. the religion of Allah - Islamic Monotheism), that is the straight religion, but most of men know not.
Dr. Mohammad Jamil Al Habbal
Translated by : Mr. Amaged Amash
Reviewd by: Magdy Abd Al-Shafy
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