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Hi there,
I happened to have in my YouTube suggestions a video of a floating stone in Jerusalem.
As I'm currently trying to work out when al Aqsa and Dome of the Rock were built and by
whom I went to the referenced page, thinking there might be something interesting there.
The person who writes there, seems to say the rock-picture is a fake. So this was just
another stupid con-job to mislead gullible Muslims into believing their Koran, which
is the base for the entire religion, is something special.
http://islamgreatreligion.wordpress.com/
When looking for the page on the floating stone, I came across some other information
which I consider to be symptomatic for Muslims and their belief system, which is based on
superstitions and gullibility.
Let's start with the big pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj. It is one of the 5 pillars of Islam:
The pillars are the result of the interpretation of an account in the Hadiths of different
people talking about something which today is known as the "Hadith of Gabriel".
1) the shahada (creed) 2) daily prayers (salat)
3) fasting during Ramadan (sawm) 4) almsgiving (zakat)
5) the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) at least once in a lifetime
This pilgrimage is not always considered kindly by Allah:
In 1990, 1,426 pilgrims were trampled to death or suffocated in a stampede .
In 2004, 251 pilgrims were trampled to death. In 2006, 364 pilgrims were killed in a stampede
at the entrance to a bridge leading to the stoning site in Mina, outside Makkah
I can think of nicer ways to die and I'm a bit surprised Allah can't.
Anyway, in the meantime, some non-Muslims, the Chinese, were commissioned to build a
railway to efficiently and conveniently transport the pilgrims between different locations prescribed
in the various rituals. >>
>> These rituals range from the appearance regarding
hairstyle and clothing all the way to this weeks all-important stoning of the devil by
throwing pebbles at Jamrat Al-Aqabah.
How about sending the folks back home a greeting card with Shaun, the sheep? Highly original.
Oh and here's a funny incident: because I find that Islamic sites copy from each other
without any research of their own or even understanding what they are copying, I often
find things such as this:
Where the order of the words doesn't seem to have bothered anyone.
He throws seven consecutive pebbles at Jamrat Al-Aqabah which is the closest monument to
Mecca, saying Greatest," as he: "Allah is the throws
each pebble.
Should more likely say: He throws seven consecutive pebbles at Jamrat
Al-Aqabah which is the closest monument to Mecca,
saying: "Allah is the Greatest" as he throws each pebble.
It was simply formatted differently in the version they copied, but a non-believer notices
this mistake, a Muslim does not.
Or I come across a page, where we have 1 and a quarter lakh Indians arrived in Saudi in
2011, reporting further that 2 and a half million Muslims converged on Jeddah, amongst
which we have 1 comma 24 comma 948 Indians. This number is repeated and out of this huge
number only 3 made it to Medina. Sadly, 75 pilgrims expired.
Doesn't anyone care what goes out to the public anymore?
But what they have in common is that omnipresent donate button and - like here - an entire
banner selling their stuff to make more money. Get real, guys.
In summary, someone in the 21st century is required to believe that following and copying
what is said what someone did in the 7th century is beneficial in the eyes of a god. Like drinking
the water that Muhammad had used to wash himself and had spit into. (Bukhari 1.4.187)
Yech!
Or, as described only a few sentences earlier, using an odd number of stones to clean your
private parts in the toilet. I feel like Sly Stallone in Demolition Man, where he is unaware
of what to do with the shells.
But it seems that if the rituals are based on religious superstitions and ancient fairy-tales,
some people today will think nothing of it. Just following an old book. Amazing.
Like throwing yourself on the ground 5 times a day in a specific direction and going through
some rituals is expected to appease some god and provide some reward at a later date. Just
following an old book. Amazing.
Or like assembling at a specific place on Earth and performing yet more rituals. Just
following an old book. Amazing.
No, not everybody is allowed to go, there are some basic conditions before people can
go on Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca: The person
- is Muslim - has reached the age of discernment
- is of full mental capacity - has sufficient funds
- is not a slave
I will bite my tongue and not even comment on the last one. Or any of them for that matter.
Because women are considered to be equal in Islam, there are some special rules and regulations
for them.
In the 21 paragraphs or verses I found on the Hajj in the Koran, I could not see anywhere
that women are in any way discouraged from going on Hajj. On the contrary, 22:27 clearly
states: And proclaim unto mankind the Pilgrimage. No gender restrictions here.
The rituals for both genders are prescribed down to the last detail, such as: "A woman
clips her hair the length of a finger tip" and even the order, in which these actions
need be performed.
There is an entire booklet for women who are instructed what they are allowed to do or
not, because men are not as predisposed by nature.
So what does a woman have to consider to not have all her efforts invalidated by a minor
slip-up?
Let's start with Traveling
The whole story starts with the question whether a woman is allowed to go on Hajj in the first
place. Now we need to read page after page of Islam scholars all providing their 2 cents
on the entire range of possibilities. If a woman travels with her husband and his other
wives and some slaves, the situation is perfect and requires no restrictions.
But what about a woman travelling with her fiancée? What about a woman travelling with
her female friend? What about a woman travelling with her aunt? Her sister? Her brother? Her
cousin? Her brother-in-law? Alone? All these are different cases and each needs to be carefully
examined. You get different opinions from different madhabs (i.e. regions) and scholars
within these. Because the Koran is not clear about something, humans need to step in. In
other words: it is one big mess. We also see quite clearly why the application of ancient
rules makes absolutely no sense as here it is spelled out that a 3-day travel will cover
only 48 miles.
What about Showering?
Abu Dawood and others narrated that Ibn Abbas - radi Allahu `anhu - asked Abu Ayyoob Al-Ansaari,
“While he was in a state of Ihraam, how did Rasul Allah - sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam
- wash his head?” Abu Ayyoob (who was bathing at the time) replied
by asking someone to pour water on his head. He then rubbed his head with his hand, going
back and forth. He then said, “In such a way I saw the Prophet - sal Allahu alayhi
wa sallam - wash.”
In other words: how did Muhammad wash his head? The answer: rubbing his head with his
hand, going back and forth
This narration is used by the scholars as proof that it is permissible for a male or
female in Ihraam to take a bath and pour water over their head and to pass their hand through
their hair.
There is no mention here of drinking this "holy" water.
BTW: Ihraam is a set of rituals and prescriptions to get into a clean and holy state. As always,
they vary from madhab to madhab and fiqh to fiqh. The list can become quite extensive
and difficult to follow.
Combing one's hair during Ihraam
It is Makrooh (or highly discouraged) for a woman (or man) in Ihraam to aggressively
comb their hair - causing excessive amounts of hair to fall out - or to brush un-necessarily.
This is because doing so may lead to hair being cut - which is one of the forbidden
acts when someone is in Ihraam. As for brushing lightly or scratching one's head, this is
permissible. There is a famous saying in the books of Fiqh where they suggest that someone
should scratch with the insides of their hands - i.e. softly.
The color of clothes a woman in Ihraam may wear
It is permissible for the woman to wear any women's clothes she pleases which are not
attractive or resemble the clothes of men, or are tight-fitting showing the dimensions
of her limbs, or transparent - not concealing what is underneath, or too short - not covering
her legs or hands, but instead should be abundant, thick and wide. Ibn al-Mundhir said, as quoted
in al-Mughni: There is consensus among the scholars that the woman in Ihraam can wear
shirts, vests, baggy trousers, khimaars, and leather socks. She does not have to wear a
particular color (such as green) and can instead wear any colors she desires from among those
specific to women (such as dark red, green or black). It is also permissible for her
to change these colors if she wishes.
Kissing the stone
Because Muslims only worship Allah - but still want to kiss the stone, the meteorite.
As a woman might stand next to a man when doing so, it needs to be restricted to ensure
they don't accidentally touch.
During her period
This is another hot potato, requiring many, many pages of opinions and balancing Hadiths
and jurisprudence. All because a woman is supposedly unclean during her period according
to ancient beliefs. Superstion at its best.
Wearing Jewelry in Ihraam
Covering the face
A woman in Hajj should not cover her face or wear gloves, just as a male should not
cover his head. There is no difference of opinion on this issue, based on the clear
statement of Rasul Allah - sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, “The Muhrimah (a female in Ihraam)
should not cover her face, nor should she wear gloves.” Having said that, it is permissible
for her to cover her face if she fears the gaze of non-Mahram men upon her.
As you can see it can vary.
Touching one's spouse intimately or non-intimately
If a male in Ihraam touches his wife with desire, or kisses her, then he would be obliged
to pay the Fidyah (penalty) - and the same would go for women. This is the opinion of
the Hanaabilah. More so, the male is between two situations after touching his wife: either
he releases some fluid or not. If he does not release anything, then the penalty for
him is that he must slaughter a sheep. If he does release something, then he must slaughter
a camel.
We see that humans making rules weigh more than what is said in the Koran. The Koran
states that all mankind should go and worship the various relics in Mecca, but humans put
their feeble conditions on that command, specifying all the nitty, gritty details and especially
if women want to follow the command. Very strange indeed.
Oh and if a Muslim complains about my usage of the term worship, s/he needs to learn that
worshiping is any type of ritual and special reverence for something. All definitions include
the object or thing, not just a god being worshiped. So creating special rituals and
reverence for the Koran, Muhammad, the Kaaba, the meteorite, etc etc are all objects of
worship. Fact.
So, in closing, we see that there is no single rule to hardly anything in Islam. We also
see that humans today, in the 21st century, try to emulate someone who lived over 1000
years ago. Complete with reliving all ancient superstitions I would have thought humanity
has long overcome. And finally, there is hardly any equality between men and women in Islam.
Thank you for your time