Dr.Mazhar Naqvi
At the outset, blogger would like to clarify that this article has been written in response to the claim made by a fanatic who says that Allah is an idol and Al Lat was his daughter.As he has done it as a part of the ongoing campaign to make claim over Islamic places of worship,the blogger is producing below the text to prove the allegation as malicious and false:
The Qur'an mentions a number of the idols revered by the Arabs but interestingly makes no mention of Hubal, said to have been the chief deity in the Ka`aba. The Quraysh attributed victory to Hubal when overcoming Muhammad's warriors at the Battle of Uhud of which more will be said later. His identity probably derives from Baal, the pagan deity to whom the Israelites were so often distracted and whose existence was challenged by Elijah on Mount Carmel. Hubal's image stood over a well in the hollow of the Ka`aba and was destroyed by Muhammad when he conquered Mecca towards the end of his life. A Nabatean inscription predating Islam still exists on which his name is inscribed and it is said that an image of the idol existed in carnelian with a golden hand attached after the original had broken off. The pagan Arabs are said to have consulted Hubal by divination with arrows.
Three feminine deities mentioned by name in the Qur'an were al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat(Surah 53:19). Al-Lat belonged principally to the Thaqif tribe at at-Ta'if, a settlement to the east of Mecca, and a massive statue of the goddess was venerated in the town. When Muhammad set about destroying all the idols around Mecca the demise of this one alone brought cries of grief from her worshippers.
A certain `Amr b. Lu`ayy was said to have set up the image of al-Uzza at Nakhla, a village nearby, and her devotees did not consider themselves discharged from their pilgrimage to Mecca until they had made a circuit of her shrine as well. Manat was worshipped by the Aus and Khazraj tribes to the north of Mecca at a town called Yathrib, later to be known as al-Madina (Medina) when Muhammad became the leader of the peoples there and converted these two tribes to Islam. The same `Amr set up an image of Manat at Qudayd on the shore of the Red Sea and pilgrims to Mecca who revered her would not shave their heads until they had paid their respects to her shrine as well. `Amr b. Lu`ayy is also said to have erected an image of Hubal in the Ka`aba, having obtained it during one of his journeys to Syria.
These three feminine deities were apparently believed to be the "daughters of Allah", the Supreme Being to whom the Ka`aba is today dedicated (being known as baitullah, the "House of Allah"). The Qur'an ridicules the idea that Allah should have daughters while the pagan Arabs preferred to have sons as offspring (Surahs 16:57, 52:39). They were also believed to be intercessors with Allah.
The Qur'an recognises Allah alone as the Supreme Deity, the one and only Lord of all the worlds. The worship of Allah was known before the advent of Islam as the Qur'an itself shows. It speaks of the pagans as calling on Allah exclusively to protect them when they set sail in a boat but as being ungrateful to him when he delivers them safely to dry land, giving a share of their worship to other gods as well (Surah 29:65). On another occasion it states that they swear their strongest oaths by him (Surah 6:109). No record of an image of Allah exists and, although some writers have tried to identify Allah with other Arabian gods, no real evidence exists to support the theory.(References available on request)
No comments:
Post a Comment