THE SMALL HAJJ CALLED UMRA

[Peter]

Better viewed on the original webpage with links to footnotes.
http://religionresearchinstitute.org/Hajj/umra.htm

THE SMALL HAJJ CALLED UMRA

By Dr. Rafat Amari

 Historically, the Umra Hajj was a ceremony of the Jinn religion of Arabia which revolved around two defiled priests' figures.

We will examine the small Hajj called Umra, and the occultism at Mecca which accompanied it. In the area around Mecca people practiced what was called Umra, or the "visit." It was a small Hajj, or pilgrimage, which dates back to pre-Islamic times. The Umra was connected to the ceremonies of the Arabian Jinn religion, especially as they treated some of the stones and idols. Two of the idols were priests of the Jinn. One was male and was named Asaf, and the other was female and named Naelah. According to tradition, they were priests inside the temple of Mecca, called Kaabah.  Arabian mythology claims they committed fornication together in the Kaabah, and the gods transformed them into two stone statues.

There were many copies of the statues for people to worship. The most important statues were placed on Safa and Marwa, two stones on a hill near the well of Zamzam. Al-Shahrastani, an Islamic historian, claimed that Amru Bin Lahi had put the statues on the two stones of Safa and Marwa.[1] But Amru Bin Lahi is not a real historical figure. Muslim tradition endeavors to attribute all their Arabian paganism to him, accusing him of bringing all the statues, idols, and pagan worship to Arabia. This is an unhistorical excuse, since paganism and the worship of the stars and the moon in Arabia existed from ancient times, as attested to by the inspired writers of the Bible and by Assyrian inscriptions dating back to the 9th century B.C. They described the idols of many Arabian tribes who came in contact with the Assyrians. Greek historians who visited Arabia, starting from Herodotus in the 5th century B.C., also confirm what the writers of the Bible and Assyrian inscriptions relate. Therefore, it's absurd to think that Islamic tradition could separate Islamic worship and locations from their original pagan background and origins by attributing all of this to Amru Bin Lahi, a man for whom there is no evidence that he ever existed.

  In pre-Islamic times, the Asaf and Naelah statues were placed on the main stones of the Kaabah of Mecca and on the two stones of Safa and Marwa. In the Umra' Hajj the pilgrims had to circle these statues seven times. This helps us understand the real worship at Mecca in pre-Islamic times, and the Umra' Hajj, which was connected with it.

The worship at Mecca was a combination of two creeds: Arabian Star worship and Arabian occult worship. Arabian Star worship was under the administration of the Kuhhan, the priests of the Arabian Jinn religion which was the only organized pagan religion in Arabia. There were no priests in Arabian Star worship. The Kuhhan dominated the various Kaabahs and temples where the Star Family was worshipped. The Kaabah of Mecca had Kuhhan who were responsible for the Kaabah activities. One of them was a famous priest of the Jinn named Wake'a  ????. Wake'a recited a rhymed prose which is similar to the rhyming prose of the Qur'an.

There was also a serpent in the Kaabah, which lived in the well of the temple where the worshippers threw their gifts.[ii][2]  The serpents were considered by the Arabians to be Jinn and devils.[iii][3]  This suggests that the serpents as Jinn were worshipped by pilgrims visiting Mecca. Their gifts were thrown to the serpent as signs of their worship, honor and fear because it was a Jinn-devil. This is the same thing we encounter in many Indian temples where a serpent is presented food and gifts because it is the main deity of the temple .

Our hypothesis about the Jinn worship in the temple at Mecca is supported by the fact that the name Allah, according to old Arabian writers, is derived from Allaha, the title given to the serpent.[iv][4]

What was the True Religion of Abdul Mutaleb, the man who dug the Well of Zamzam to Venerate Asaf and Naelah?

The statues of Asaf and Naelah were placed on the well of Zamzam. Ibn Hisham, who edited the oldest book on the life of Mohammed, says these statues were worshipped at the well of Zamzam. He tells us the worshippers sacrificed their animals to the statues there[v][5]. This suggests to us that the well of Zamzam was dedicated to the worship of the two priests of the Jinn, which the statues represented. It was Abdel Mutaleb, the grandfather of Mohammed, who dedicated the well of Zamzam to the two venerated Jinn priests and their statues. We draw this conclusion for many reasons. First, Abdel Mutaleb dug the well of Zamzam.[vi][6]  Second, Abdel Mutaleb was one of the worshippers of the statues of the two Jinn priests. He was so consumed by occult worship that he wanted to sacrifice one of his own sons at the feet of the two statues at Zamzam. That son was Abdullah, the father of Mohammed. When Abdel Mutaleb was at the point of  killing Abdullah with his knife, Abdel Mutaleb's brother rescued the boy.[vii][7]

The idea of sacrificing one's son to the Jinn or their representatives, the venerated leaders and priests, is known, not only in Arabia, but also in other parts of the ancient world. Even to this day worshippers in the occult religions sacrifice children to devils. The fact that Abdul Mutaleb chose to sacrifice his son before these two statues reveals that the religion of the Jinn of Arabia was the religion to which he was most attached.

The third reason for concluding that Abdul Mutaleb dedicated the well of Zamzam to the statues of the Jinn priests who were venerated in Mecca is that Abdul Mutaleb showed he had a close relationship with the representatives of the Arabian Jinn religion. Those representatives, or priests, were called Kuhhan, the singular of which is Kahen. Abdul Mutaleb consulted the Kuhhan when he faced a problem. They were his counselors, and he used to travel great distances in order to meet and consult a famous Kahen. When a dispute between the tribe of Quraish and Abdel Mutaleb occurred because of the well of Zamzam, Abdel Mutaleb chose a famous Kahinah of Jinn to rule in the matter. This Kahinah was the one who appointed two dangerous Kuhhan of the Jinn, Satih and Shak', to be priests of the Jinn after her death.[viii][8] Al-Halabieh says about these two Kuhhan of the Jinn:

They were the chiefs of the Kuhhan and the ones with knowledge about occultism and the priesthood to the Jinn.[ix][9]

Ibn Hisham mentions about this Kahinah, "She was the Kahinah of the clan of Saad Hutheim."[x][10] When a dispute arose between Abdel Mutaleb and Beni Kilab, which means the clan of Kilab, Abdel Mutaleb went to a Kahen of the Jinn called Rabiah Bin H'thar al-Asadi to judge the matter.[xi][11] Consulting the Kuhhan of the Jinn was something that the grandfathers of Mohammed practiced. Hisham, the father of Abdel Mutaleb, was known to consult a main Kahen of the tribe of Khuzaa'h.[xii][12]  Many examples such as these shed light to the affiliation of the family and the ancestors of Mohammed to the religion of Jinn in Arabia.

 As if this were not convincing enough, two more considerations prove that Abdul Mutaleb was a leader in the Arabian Jinn religion. When Abdel Mutaleb dedicated his son Abdullah, who became the father of Mohammed, he did it through a Kahinah, a female Kahen, under the instruction of the Jinn to whom she was connected. The biographers of Mohammed, including Ibn Hisham, Mohammed's most authoritative biographer, tell us that Abdel Mutaleb took Abdullah to a Jinn priestess named Khutbah. She lived in the city of Khaybar located in north central Arabia.[xiii][13]  When he visited Khutbah, Abdul Mutaleb expressed his readiness to kill his son if the priestess of Jinn ordered him to do so. It is clear that children born to the followers of occult sects were to be sacrificed to the malignant spirit connected with the medium or priest of the occult community. The spirit may ask that the child be killed as a sacrifice to the devil, or the priests may ask the child's parents to present dogs or other animals to the malignant spirit as sacrifices. It is clear that, in the case of Abdul Mutaleb, we encounter the same occult phenomenon which is practiced among various occult sects. The spirits of Jinn-devils rule over the destiny of children who are born within the occult community. This was the reason many children were sacrificed to the devil.

 We see the dedication of Abdel Mutaleb to the religious system which Khutbah represented. Abdel Mutaleb was ready to obey the decision of the Jinn-devil to whom Khutbah was a medium and a priest, in whatever the Jinn decided for his son. Ibn Hisham reports the answer the Jinn priestess gave to Abdel Mutaleb's request: "Return to me after one day until the one to whom I am connected comes to me."[xiv][14] By this she meant the Jinn-devil. The Jinn-devil came to her and told her that camels should be sacrificed instead of Abdullah, who became the father of Mohammed.

       To decide the religion of any person, one needs only to look at where he consecrates his children. If he dedicates his children in a church, we know he is a Christian. If he dedicates them in a Jewish synagogue, we can be sure he is a Jew. If he dedicates them in a Sabian temple, then he is member of the Sabian sect. But when he dedicates his children in an occult ceremony by a medium of the order of a Jinn-devil, then he belongs to the occult sect that the medium or priestess represents. That's his religion. Not  far from Mecca, there were many Christian churches, particularly in the city of Najran. There were also many synagogues near Mecca, but Abdul Mutaleb avoided all these and went to dedicate his son through Kahinah, a priestess of the Jinn.

  Another thing to consider was his willingness to find a wife for his son Abdullah from among the priestesses of the Jin. He introduced Abdullah to many young Jinn priestesses. On one occasion reported in the book of Halabieh, which contains the life of Mohammed:

When Abdel Mutaleb accompanied his son Abdullah in preparation for marriage, he passed by a Kahinah who was a priestess of Jinn from Tubbalah, a small town in Yemen. The name of the woman was Fatimah, daughter of Mur al-Khathmieh ????????.[xv][15]

Another priestess of Jinn to whom Abdullah was introduced was Ruchieh Bint Naufal ????. She was also a Kahinah priestess of Jinn. Ibn Hisham, Mohammed's main biographer, showed that Abdul Mutaleb encountered Ruchieh in the Kaabah, which suggests that she was part of the occult functions that took place in the Kaabah of Mecca.[xvi][16]

 

Khadijah, the First Wife of Mohammed, and her Cousin Waraqa

Ruchieh was the sister of Waraqa bin Naufal, the Ebionite occult priest who was the cousin of Khadijah, the first wife of Mohammed. Waraqa was the one who convinced Mohammed to be a prophet. After returning home from the cave of Harra', where he often went, Mohammed was frightened. He told his wife that a spirit claiming to be Gabriel appeared to him and choked him three times. Mohammed was convinced after this encounter that he had a devil inside him. But Khadijah insisted that Mohammed become a prophet of Allah. It's interesting to note that when angels appeared in the Bible, they never threatened anyone or imposed the prophetic role upon him.

Khadijah was married to Nabash Bin Zarareh Bin Wakdan???? ?? ????? ?? ?????, a visionary for the Jinn, before she met Mohammed. The Jinn appeared to Nabash in the form of an old man to give him information[xvii][17]. As a wife of a visionary of Jinn, this gave Khadijah some prestige, because many Arabians consulted Jinn visionaries, and gave them money. This also explains why Khadijah was wealthy. She had caravans which brought goods from Syria to Mecca. After Nabash died, she employed Mohammed in her caravans, then married him, although Mohammed was twenty years younger than she.

After the negative experiences which depressed Mohammed, Khadijah sent him to her cousin, Waraqa, to convince him that Mohammed was called to be a prophet of Allah. Waraqa succeeded in his task and became responsible for most of the Qur'anic verses at the beginning. Waraqa inserted Ebionite doctrines about Jesus in the Qur'an, stating that Jesus was a prophet, and that He was not crucified, but God made someone to resemble Jesus. That one  was crucified because the crowd thought he was Jesus. This doctrine was first initiated by Simon, the magician from Samaria, who later founded a heresy which took his name, Simonianism. In reality, Simon created the root for such doctrine, before it was developed by the Gnostics in later times.  Here, I present Simon the magician's idea about Jesus, which Hyppolytus reported in  "The Refutation of all heresies:"

Jesus Christ being transformed, and being assimilated to the rulers and powers and angels, came for the restoration (of things). And so (it was that Jesus) appeared as man, when in reality he was not a man. And (so it was) that likewise he suffered, though not actually undergoing suffering, but appearing to the Jews to do so.[xviii][18]

The idea that the people crucified someone whom God made to resemble Jesus was embraced by some heresy-believing groups which were known to have immoral values, such as free sex and connections with occultism. Waraqa belonged to one of these cults.

Waraqa was one of the founders of the group called Ahnaf. In the first narration of the life of Mohammed, written by Ibn Hisham in the 8th century A.D., we read:

The Honafa', or Ahnaf, was a small group  started when four Sabians at Mecca agreed. Those four were Zayd bin Amru bin Nafil, Waraqa bin Naufal, Ubaydullah bin Jahsh, and Uthman Bin al-Huwayrith.[xix][19][1]

The four founders of Ahnaf were all related to Mohammed. They  were descendants of Loayy, one of Mohammed's ancestors. Furthermore, Waraqa bin Naufal and Uthman Bin al-Huwayrith were cousins of Khadijah. We know this from Mohammed's genealogy presented by Ibn Hisham.[xx][20]  Ubaydullah Bin Jahsh was a maternal cousin to Mohammed. Mohammed married his widow, Um Habibeh. All this reveals the close connection between Mohammed and the founders of the group.

This group was unknown outside Mecca, but Umayya bin Abi al-Salt, a maternal cousin of Mohammed, is considered by some to be a member of the group. He lived in the city of Taif. We know many people joined them. They belonged to different religions, and thus had various doctrines. Each religion  contained some form of polytheism, paganism and occultism. This makes them the most unlikely group in history to claim that they espoused the faith which Abraham and other prophets in the Old Testament professed and preached. It's ridiculous that Muslims would believe that this pagan group represented the true and devout faith.

The myths which they believed and incorporated into their poetry were also written into the Qur'an because Mohammed belonged to the group from the time he was a youth. He boasted that he believed in their creed, and he was known to have connections with many members of this group. He was influenced by their teachings, as well as by the  immoral concepts and the use of slogans of sex to draw people to them, such as a paradise of free sex. All this reflects Mohammed's deep  affiliation to this group. Mohammed used their ideas. In the Qur'an we encounter some of the same myths.

It was not known if this group called themselves Honafa' or Ahnaf, or if they were called this by the society as such, but they knew the terminology had a negative meaning and reflected negative behavior. The word hanif means "astrictive, confined, awry, biased and errant." The Arabic word comes from the verb hanafa which means "to become Astrictive."[xxi][21] Although the Qur'an would convey a positive meaning to the term hanif today, it was not so at the time of Mohammed. Jawad Ali, the Iraqi scholar I referred to earlier, says, "The Hanaf is straying from the right way." Jawad Ali quotes many old Islamic authors who maintained this was the meaning of hanif at the time of Mohammed.[xxii][22]  According to Jawad Ali,  the word also is derived from an Aramaic word that means "atheist, guileful, hypocrite, infidel or perverted."[xxiii][23]

No matter how you look at it, the term hanif was a negative one at the time of Mohammed, as we see it in the Arabic and  Aramaic languages. This suggests that since the group's members were called by this term, not by themselves but by the society in which they lived, is a reflection on their immoral conduct and the perversions in which they participated.

The Immoral Reputation of Ahnaf and its Impact on Mohammed

Their immoral behavior is seen in their poems, such as the poem composed by Waraqa Bin Naufal, one of the four founders of the group. He boasted of his own experience raping a girl in her home and enjoying sex with her. In his poem he encourages others to enjoy experiences like this.[xxiv][24]  Waraqa's immoral ideas left a special impact on Mohammed, who learned under him.

   When Waraqa died, the biographers of Mohammed said the "inspiration cooled down or languished."[xxv][25]  Because of this, Mohammed wanted to throw himself many times from a mountain. The narrators are in disagreement about the duration of such period in which he tried to kill himself; some claimed it was forty days, others say it was three years.[xxvi][26]   It took time before Mohammed found other resources for his verses .

How Should we Label the Grandfather of Mohammed who dug the Well of Zamzam?

I mentioned that when Abdel Mutalib wanted to find a wife for his son Abdullah, the eventual father of Mohammed, he rejected many priestesses of Jinn before he selected a wife. Finally he selected a wife for Abdullah. She was  Amneh, a niece of Soda Bint Zehra, the main priestess of the Jinn at Mecca. Al-Halabi, a biographer of Mohammed, states that the reason Abdel Mutalb took Amneh as a wife for Abdullah was due to her aunt Soda Bint Zehra.[xxvii][27] Abdul wanted to be near the chief priestess and embrace the kind of dedication to the worship of Jinn which she represented.

An important test of the level of someone's dedication and his attachment to his religious convictions is the partner he has selected for himself or for his son to marry. If he's satisfied with any female of the sect, we might consider him a normal follower of his own religious system, but if he looks for wives only among women dedicated to his religion he ceases to be a simple follower of his religion, and becomes an activist and a fanatic. He shows that he desires to promote the religion by building a family totally dedicated to it, so that such family may have a leading role in his religious system.

 This helps us see the religious affiliations of the man who dug the well of Zamzam, and gives us the purpose for which he dug the well. It was a custom for Arabians to dig a well and dedicate it to the gods they worship and venerate. The fact that Abdul Mutaleb dug the well of Zamzam and erected the two statues of the priest of Jinn, Asaf and Naelah, on the well, is sufficient to convince us of the nature of his religion and the zeal he had to promote it. Because he considered killing his son Abdullah before those two statues, indicates that the Arabian Jinn worship was his main religion and he was fully dedicated to it.

The literature which gives us background to the life of Arabians at the time of Mohammed, mentions the custom of some Arabians to present sacrifices to the Jinn-devils after they dug a well.[xxviii][28] The fact that Abdul Mutaleb had erected the two statues of the priests of Jinn on the well of Zamzam, and that he was ready to kill his son at the feet of these statues,  indicates that he wanted to bring a sacrifice to the Jinn, and that he dug the well of Zamzam for the express purpose of honoring the worship of the Jinn religion of Arabia.

How ironic it is to connect this occult place with Abraham! Muslims today receive no benefit from traveling so far to drink water from a well like the one at Zamzam. Neither do they benefit from performing rituals from this pagan occult system. Christ is the one who gives the true water of life. He gives the gift of the Holy Spirit and eternal life to each one who accepts Him as personal Savior. Shouldn't our Muslim friends be among those who follow Christ?

[Peter]

THE UMRA' HAJJ WHICH IS INCORPORATED IN ISLAM, AND ITS PAGAN AND OCCULT ROOTS

We want to look at the small Hajj, called Umra'. It was the occult Hajj of Mecca, and its temple. This small Hajj is different from the great Hajj which took place outside Mecca. Mecca had nothing to do with it. The small Hajj was incorporated into Islam by Mohammed, although it is historically documented that the ceremonies of this Hajj were closely connected with the Arabian Jinn religion.

The Islamic small Hajj, or Urma, which can be performed any time during the year, begins at the temple of Mecca by performing the  "tawaf" where pilgrims walk in a circle around the Kaabah. Then they proceed to drink from the water of the well Zamzam. Afterward, they walk seven times between the two stones, Safa and Marwa, where the two statues of Asaf and Naelah were erected in pre-Islamic times. Finally, they cut their hair at the Marwa stone.

The pre-Islamic Umra' was a ritual of the Jinn religion of Arabia which revolved around the statues of the two priests of Jinn and a statue of a wind-devil.

We want to see how this small Hajj was originally part of the Jinn religious ceremonies and had as its focus the venerating of four idols placed on four stones. Although the idols were later removed by Islam, the stones where the idols were placed continue to be the subject of Hajj and its worship. Those idols were the two statues of Asaf and Naelah. They were the most venerated priests of Jinn. Two other idols were placed over the two stones, Safa and Marwa. There were also two statues of Asaf and Naelah on these stones.[xxix][29] Safa and Marwa were located on two hills near Mecca, close to the place where Abdel Mutaleb, the grandfather of Mohammed, dug the well of Zamzam and erected the two statues of Asaf and Naelah as the deities of the well. Muslims still go there in their small Hajj to venerate the two stones on the two hills.

Arabians venerated Asaf and Naelah because they considered them to be sacred priests of the Kaabah at Mecca in the service for the Jinn. They also were important symbols of Jinn religious worship. Tradition claims Asaf and Naelah became two stones.

Al-Ya'akubi, the famous Arabian historian and geographer of the 9th century who wrote about the life of Arabia before and after Islam, records that two idols were placed over the Safa and Marwa. The idol placed on the Safa was named Mujawer al-Rih' ????? ????? , which means in Arabic  "the shelter or place of sanctuary for the wind."[xxx][30]  The wind at Mecca was considered as a Jinn-devil. We know this from the writings of many people. Many biographers of the life of Mohammed mentioned that Mohammed was visited by a priest of the Jinn-devils who came to embrace Islam. The name of the priest was Thamad al-Azdi. The book of Halabieh says:

The delegation of Thamad al-Azdi who came to Mohammed was reported by Ibn Abbas:"Thamad came to Mecca and he was from Izd Shina't, which is the name of his tribe, and he used to cast spells or conjure through the wind which was a devil of Jinn. He greeted Mohammed embracing Islam."[xxxi][31]

Thus, we see that the wind was one of the titles for the Jinn-devil at Mecca at the time of Mohammed. The Arabians believed that the wind was a Jinn. The storm was also among the devils worshipped at Mecca.[xxxii][32]  An idol named Khazeh was believed to cause storms, so he was placed in the Kaabah at Mecca. Many scholars believe Khazeh was a devil.[xxxiii][33] Previously, when we discussed the stations of the great Hajj, we saw there was a place at Muzdalifah which had a mountain called Khazeh ???, named after this devil. The person who led the ceremonies at Muzdalifah was to stand on this mountain. All this sheds light on the Temple of Mecca and its occult practices.

  Arabian authors, such as al-Azruqi ???????, who wrote about Mecca before Islam, mentioned the wind was worshipped at Mecca, and there was an idol there named Nahik who represented the wind. People used to make a pilgrimage to see this idol[xxxiv][34]. The idol of the wind on Safa  was called "the shelter or place of sanctuary for the wind." The idol of the wind was worshipped as part of a ritual for the worship of the Wind-devil on the hills of Safa and Marwa. The Wind-devil, along with the statues of Asaf and Naelah which were in the temple at Mecca and over Safa and Marwa, was the subject of the pilgrimage for what became the small Hajj, or Umra.

Further Proofs That the Safa and Marwa were a Center of Worship of the Jinn Religion of Arabia

Other proofs support that the idea that Safa and Marwa, the two stones near the well of Zamzam, became a center of Jinn worship.

The Jinn had a special way to call worshippers. They played music similar to a clanging occult sound. It was heard at night as a drum or timpano. Ibn Abbas, the cousin of Mohammed, and the authoritative reporter of his Hadith, says: "The Jinn used to play all night between the two stones of Safa and Marwa."[xxxv][35] These things demonstrate that the place between Safa and Marwa was an important center of worship in the Arabian Jinn religion .  It had the following occult elements: the statues of Asaf and Naelah- the famous deified  priests of Jinn- and the idol of the Wind- Devil. These idols encouraged the Jinn worshippers to make the pilgrimage to Safa and Marwa. In fact, those worshippers connected their pilgrimage to the stones where the idol of the Wind-Devil and the statues of Asaf and Naelah were placed. They visited the two statues of Asaf and Naelah, the venerated Jinn priests, and went to Zamzam which we saw was dedicated to the statues of Asaf and Naelah.

Proofs That the Umra Hajj Revolved Around the Statues of the two Priests of Jinn

The four stones over which the four idols were placed are still venerated in Islam today. I will discuss the connections of these idols with the old, small Hajj. We will also see that these idols, especially the statues of Asaf and Naelah, were the subject of the small Hajj of Mecca.

The venerating of Asaf and Naelah, the two statues of the priest of Jinn, was rooted in the worship of Mecca and the Kaabah. There are many proofs that lead us to conclude the Hajj inside Mecca was dedicated to these statues. The Hajj was the main ceremony for worshippers of the Arabian Jinn religion. Al-Ya'akubi mentions that the statues of Asaf and Naelah were placed over the main sacred stones of the Kaabah. He goes on to say that people who performed the Hajj used to kiss these two statues before they proceeded with the Hajj. They went full circle by ending the Hajj with a return to the same statues of Asaf and Naelah[xxxvi][36].

Al-Ya'akubi shed light on the origin of Meccan Hajj which became the Umra' Hajj. We can only conclude from his writings that there was a Hajj before the Islamic era, which involved the two statues of the priests of Jinn. From his writings we can see that the stones called Rukun at the temple of Mecca were not the main worship elements of the temple.  Because Asaf and Naelah were placed on the Rukun meant they were significantly important. The custom of many pagan peoples was to put the gods they considered precious on stone platforms, rather than on the ground of the temple. This explains why Arabians who venerated the temple at Mecca put Asaf and Naelah on the two main stones of the Kaabah.

 Another thing we can conclude from the description of the small Hajj in Ya'akubi's writings is that the course of the small Hajj was around the two priests of Jinn. Asaf and Naelah were worshipped and may be considered as intercessors between the worshippers of Jinn and the Jinn-devils themselves. The Hajj started from their statues and concluded when they returned to kiss the same statues.

This also explains why the statues of Asaf and Naelah were erected at the well of Zamzam. Arabians used to dig a well for each temple to which they went to sacrifice to the gods they worshipped. This would build Hajj around the statues of the gods. Among the ceremonies, they drank water from the well which was dedicated to the deity. The worshippers in the Arabian Jinn religion erected two statues on the well of Zamzam in honor of the two statues they represented. Ibn Hisham, the first book narrating the life of Mohammed, mentions that the Arabians presented sacrifices to the statues of Asaf and Naelah, which were erected at the well of Zamzam.[xxxvii][37]  This confirms that Asaf and Naelah were the deities in whose honor the worshippers drank the water of the well of Zamzam, and to whom they made the ceremonies of the Hajj.

The two tribes of Medina that supported Mohammed in his plot to subdue their Arabian neighbors and require them to embrace Islam, performed the same occult Hajj to Asaf and Naelah.

The fact that the Umra' Hajj to Mecca revolved around the two priests of the Jinn statues, and that it was part of a ceremony of the Arabian Jinn religion, is supported by other historical factors, one of which is the way Aisheh interpreted one verse of the Qur'an in Surah 2:158, called Al-Baqarah. The Qur'an says:

Behold Al-Safa' and Marwa are Allah's ceremonies. So those who visit the Kaabah in season or at other times, should encompass them around so that there is no sin in them.

Aisheh, the youngest wife of Mohammed, spoke about the rite to encompass the Safa and Marwa which Mohammed incorporated in the Qur'an. She said:

Ansar, in pre-Islamic times, went to worship the two idols placed on the seashore. [By Ansar she meant the two tribes of Yathrib who helped Mohammed subdue the Arabians and require them to accept Islam by making war against them.] These idols were Asaf and Naelah. Then the two tribes came to encompass Safa and Marwa. Afterwards, they cut their hair. When Islam came, they were not as eager to encompass Safa and Marwa, as they did before Islam.  Allah inspired the verse "Behold Safa and Marwa are Allah's ceremonies." As a result, the two tribes returned to the practice of encompassing the Safa and Marwa.[xxxviii][38]

Aisheh explained how and why many verses of the Qur'an came to be, and she reported many of Mohammed's Hadiths. Her words quoted above, reveal and confirmed important facts. Concerning the occult religion of the two tribes, Oas and Khazraj, you may remember that these two tribes made a treaty with Mohammed in which they would say "there is no god but Allah, and Mohammed his prophet." In exchange, Mohammed promised to lead them in war against neighboring Arabian tribes, promising them special privileges. They were to enjoy the wives and daughters of the Arabians they conquered by making them concubines, enslaving their children, and taking their neighbors' possessions. From the words of Aisheh we understand the two tribes used to worship Asaf and Naelah and go to Safa and Marwa, the two places which were at the center of Jinn worship, as we saw previously. There they would also worship the statues of Asaf and Naelah. This shows that the true worship of these two tribes was occult in nature. They worshipped the same elements as those revered by the Arabian Jinn religion.

 The second thing we see is that they performed a Hajj which started with the same statues of Asaf and Naelah, and passed by Safa and Marwa. Then they cut their hair, showing that this is the same occult Hajj performed by other pre-Islamic Arabians mentioned by al-Ya'akubi. The difference is that the two tribes began their Hajj at the two statues of Asaf and Naelah on the seashore near Mecca, while the others started the Umra' Hajj from the statues of Asaf and Naelah placed over two stones at the temple in Mecca, then proceeded to the Safa and Marwa hills. The same ceremonies contain the same elements of Jinn worship, except one places the statues on the seashore and the other places them in the Kaabah at Mecca. They both encompassed Safa and Marwa, where they found the statues of Asaf and Naelah and the idol of the Wind-devil.

The reason the two tribes chose the statues of Asaf and Naelah on the seashore, and not at the temple of Mecca, was because they considered the Kaabah to be a place of worship for the tribe of Quraish. They preferred to start the Hajj from the statues on the seashore. However, they did confirm that the Hajj had to begin from Asaf and Naelah, the venerated priests of the Jinn, the first element of worship to begin the Hajj of Mecca. The two tribes could not miss the other pillar of the Hajj of Umra', which was the same Safa and Marwa, which we saw as the center of Jinn activity, where the idol of wind which represented the Jinn was placed and worshipped, and where the same statues of Asaf and Naelah were placed as important figures in the leadership of the Jinn religion.

 It doesn't make sense for Muslims to build monotheistic claims on an occult Hajj which clearly revolved around elements of worship of the Jinn religion. Today, Islam practices the same ceremonies of this occult Hajj at the same places, yet it attributes them to Abraham. What is the relationship between the faith which Abraham confessed and the Jinn-devils, who were at the center of Jinn religion? Clearly, Mohammed wanted to unite elements that can't be united. God's worship cannot be included in ceremonies dedicated to the Jinn and its representatives. Mohammed confirmed the same occult Hajj practiced by the two tribes that supported him. This included visiting the well of Zamzam which his grandfather dug in honor of the Jinn and his servants, Asaf and Naelah, which were the main subjects of the Hajj.

I previously quoted the words of Aisheh, Mohammed's wife, when she talked about the religious Hajj performed by the two tribes of Yathrib, Oas and Khazraj. Remember, they backed Mohammed and helped him use the sword to impose Islam on their neighbors. We also notice in Aisheh's narration that they performed the same ceremonies of the Hajj, including marching around the two stones of Safa and Marwa, and the cutting of their hair. When Islam appeared on the scene, the pilgrims encompassed Safa and Marwa seven times, then finished the Hajj by cutting their hair. This shows that Mohammed continued the ceremonies practiced in the Hajj which contained elements of the occult worship of the Arabian Jinn religion.

After Abdel Mutaleb, the grandfather of Mohammed, dug the well of Zamzam near Safa and Marwa, visiting the well and drinking of its water became part of the small Hajj called Umra'. We must, therefore, conclude that the well of Zamzam was dug explicitly to honor the deities for which the Hajj was called in the first place, namely to honor the Jinn and his famous and devoted servants, Asaf and Naelah. Our conclusion is based upon many facts. First, the well was dug near Safa and Marwa which, we saw, was venerated due to the statues of Asaf and Naelah which were placed there. The idol of the Wind, also considered as Jinn by those living in Mecca, was placed over one of the two stones. Other occult phenomena included Jinn activity on the two hills. Second, because Abdul Mutaleb was an elder of the Jinn religion, we conclude that the well of Zamzam was dug explicitly to honor Jinn deities. Third, because Abdul Mutaleb erected the two statues of Asaf and Naelah over the well of Zamzam, we see that the Hajj was connected with these deities. The Umra, Hajj began by kissing the copies of the statues of Asaf and Naelah placed on the main stones of the Kaabah, or by kissing the copies placed on the seashore near Mecca. Further, the two tribes of Yathrib also started the Hajj by kissing the statues. All this shows us that Abdul Mutaleb dug the well of Zamzam to honor the Hajj connected with the same Asaf and Naelah, Kuhhan of Jinn at the Kabbah. That is why the rite of drinking the water of Zamzam, where the two statues were erected, became part of the Hajj ceremonies which adherents of the Jinn religion observed.

 Worship rites of the Jinn religion of Arabia did not smoothly transfer into a religious ritual which claimed a monotheistic faith founded by Abraham. These claims were false and unhistorical. How, then, could the well of Zamzam be caused by the footprint of Gabriel, as Muslims claim? Ibn Ishak, chief Islamic biographer of Mohammed, claimed the tribe of Jurhum covered the well with the black Stone and a gazelle of gold. This was after Jurhum was defeated and driven from Mecca. How could it be possible for the only well in Mecca to be hidden from the inhabitants of Mecca and from the eyes of the Bedouins who walked miles to find water for their camels? Would they not have redug the well the same day it was buried?  Surely if the well existed when Islamic tradition claims, it would have become the most famous place in Mecca, and the main artery of life which would bring the precious water upon which they depended every day. Therefore, we suppose that they would have redug it the same day it was buried. How, then, as Islamic tradition claims, could the well be hidden for hundreds of years until a voice suddenly came to Abdul Mutaleb to begin digging?  And how could a voice to dig the well come to a man who was known to be a worshipper of the pagan deities, Asaf and Naelah? How could the well be created, according to Islamic tradition, by the angel Gabriel? Does God ask the worshippers of the Jinn-devil to do sacred works on His behalf?

If Abdul Mutaleb had really heard a voice from heaven telling him to dig a "sacred well" why did he erect the statues of Asaf and Naelah?  Why would he want to sacrifice his son at the feet of Asaf and Naelah? Is not this enough proof to convince us that he dug the well to the same statues that he erected over the well, and to whom he showed reverence to the point he was willing to sacrifice his son to them? He wanted to provide to the Hajj, dedicated to the same Asaf and Naelah, a well of water. It is common knowledge that Arabians used to dedicate wells of water to their gods.

  All these questions should cause our Muslim friends to recognize how old Arabian occult rites were given new meaning when Mohammed founded Islam. He simply incorporated them in his new religion. Yet, historical facts connecting the ceremonies of the old pagan and occult religion of Arabia to the new Islam of Mohammed were not smooth enough to hide the original occult practices. To accept the stories they had to create in order to make the adjustments would require someone as naive as a child to accept them. People today, born with a neutral heritage, soon discover its inconsistencies.

What's the secret behind Khazraj and Oas, the only tribes who accepted Mohammed's offer to back him with military power to force Arabian tribes to accept Islam?

Knowing that Oas and Khazraj, the two tribes of Yathrib from al-Medina, had an occult Hajj which started from the two statues of Asaf and Naelah, can explain why they were the only tribes which were ready to accept Mohammed's offer to help him subdue neighboring Arabian tribes and convert them to Islam. In return, you remember, he guaranteed to give them the females of those they conquered to become their concubines, and Mohammed gave them the conquered children as slaves and confiscated their possessions.

 There is a connection between these two tribes and the Hajj of Asaf and Naelah. The Hajj proceeded toward a location in the hills of Safa and Marwa which was dedicated to the Wind-Jinn. This is significant in identifying their true religion, and their affiliation with the occult religion of the Arabian Jinn. The Kuhhan, who were priests of the religion of Jinn, backed and supported Mohammed. The two tribes, both adherents to the Jinn religion of Arabia, provided the military power of religion to stand with Mohammed in his plan.

Marching around the stones, Safa and Marwa, was a ritual hated by most of Mohammed's companions because they knew it was a pagan ritual. Yet, they still observed it because Mohammed claimed that Allah confirmed it.

Even the companions of Mohammed confessed that the Hajj to Safa and Marwa was a pagan rite from Jahiliyah, the pre-Islam period. Sahih al-Bukhari said:

Asem told us that he said to Uns bin Malek, a companion of Mohammed, "You were hating to encompass around the Safa and Marwa."  He answered, "Yes, because it was one of the pagan rites of Jahiliyah until Allah gave a verse that the Safa and Marwa are the rites of Allah. If one makes the Hajj to the Kaabah, he must encompass them. The person has no sin when he encompass them."  [xxxix][39]

Even Ibn Abbas, the cousin of Mohammed, and the most authoritative reporter of his Hadith, speaks of encompassing the Safa and Marwa as was the custom of the people of Jahiliyah, meaning the pagan Arabians before Islam. His speech is reported in Sahih al-Bukhari.[xl][40]

 Muslims at the time of Mohammed knew the origin of this pagan rite just as they knew about many Arabian pagan rites which Mohammed incorporated in Islam. But they embraced it simply because Mohammed made the decision to incorporate it into Islam. Everything Mohammed said or wrote in the Qur'an became acceptable and sacred, even though his followers knew its pagan roots. It's sad that they didn't use their knowledge to judge Mohammed once they discerned how he built his religion. Instead, they allowed him to invalidate their discernment by following him. Mohammed annulled their knowledge, even though they knew how he selected the pagan, occult rites which many of them hated.

Mohammed Intended to Unify the Pagan Arabian Rituals Under one Religion

Mohammed planned to gather the laws and rites which Arabians before Islam were known to practice. His aim was to form a religion which would satisfy all Arabians. Al-Bukhari said:

Pre-Islamic pagan Arabians walked in a circle around Safa and Marwa. So when Allah told us to encompass the Kaabah, he did not mention Safa and Marwa in the Qur'an. They said to Mohammed: "O prophet of Allah, we encompassed the Safa and Marwa. Allah sent a verse to encompass the Kaabah, but he did not mention the Safa and Marwa. Do we  sin if we encompass the Safa and Marwa?"   So Allah gave this verse: "the Safa and Marwa are rites of Allah." Abu Baker said that this verse pleased both parties: those before Islam who did not want to encompass the Safa and Marwa, and those who encompassed the Safa and Marwa before Islam, but were embarrassed to encompass it after Islam arrived. [xli][41]

It is clear that Mohammed's intention was to satisfy all Arabians by including all their rites, especially the rite to march around Safa and Marwa, which was practiced by many members of the two tribes who supported him in raging wars against the Arabian tribes to impose Islam.

 The rite was also practiced by him, since it was a rite of his grandfather who strengthened it by digging the well of Zamzam and erecting over it the statues of the two deities, Asaf and Naelah, which were the main elements for which the Hajj of Mecca was performed.

Mohammed himself was known to practice the rituals of the occult Hajj. He removed the idols which were the subject of the Hajj from over the stones, but he kept marching around the stones where the idols were placed.

Many years before writing it in the Qur'an, Mohammed encompassed the Safa and Marwa seven times because it was a rite his family and his grandfather observed. He conducted the Hajj starting at the Kaabah, encompassing it and kissing the two stones. Then he encompassed the two stones on the hills of Safa and Marwa.[xlii][42]  As we have seen, Mohammed followed the same rites which we saw were adopted by adherents of the occult Jinn-religion who started their Hajj by kissing the statues of Asaf and Naelah placed in the temple of Mecca. The statues were placed on the same stones which Mohammed continued to revere and to kiss.

They continued the Hajj by encompassing the same stones of Safa and Marwa, where the statue of the Wind-Jinn was placed, along with statues of Asaf and Naelah. Except with one difference: Mohammed didn't consider the statues to be part of the Hajj ceremonies.   Although he fought to destroy all kinds of statues, he worshipped the stones where the idols had been placed before he removed them. So what difference did Mohammed make when he adopted the same pagan occult rite, venerating the stones where the idols were placed and just removing the idols?

To make the same tour around the stones where the statues revered by the Jinn religion were placed, and to conduct the same rituals which the worshippers of the occult sect performed, could never bestow new meaning to the old pagan occult worship, even though Mohammed performed it himself. Our Muslim friends should avoid falling into this dangerous trap. It's aimed to distract them from the faith which God has announced in the Bible. The Scriptures alone lead the soul to Christ, the true Creator and Savior of the soul.

 Better viewed on the original webpage with links to footnotes.
http://religionresearchinstitute.org/Hajj/umra.htm

[Peter]

  Religion Research Institute -Home

[1] Al Shahrastani, Al Milal Wal Nahel, page 578

[ii][2]Tarikh al-Tabari, I, page 525

[iii][3] Taj Al Aruss, I, pages 147 and 284

[iv][4] Taj Al Aruss, 9: 410

[v][5] Ibn Hisham, I, page 69

[vi][6] Ibn Hisham, I, pages 117 and 118

[vii][7] Ibn Hisham, I, page 126; Halabieh, I, page 58

[viii][8] Halabieh, I, page 121

[ix][9] Halabieh, I, page122

[10] Ibn Hisham, I, page 119

[xi][11] Al-Nuwayri, Nihayat al-arab fi funun al-adab, 3, page 133

[xii][12] Al-Nuwayri, Nihayat al-arab fi funun al-adab, 3, page 123

[xiii][13] Ibn Hisham I, pages 126 and 127

[xiv][14] Ibn Hisham, I, page 126; Halabieh, I, page 58

[xv][15] Halabieh, 1,63

[xvi][16] Ibn Hisham, I, page 128

[xvii][17] Ibn Darid, Al-Ishtiqaq, pages 88 and 89

[xviii][18] Hyppolytus, The Refutation of All Heresies, book VI , Chapter xiv

[xix][19] Ibn Hisham 1, page 242: quoted by Jawad Ali, vi, page 476

[xx][20] Ibn Hisham, first part ; pages 63 and 76

[xxi][21] Al-Munjed, Arabic dictionary, page 158

[xxii][22] Jawad Ali, al-Mufassal, vi, page 451

[xxiii][23] Jawad Ali , al-Mufassal, vi, page 454

[xxiv][24] Al Asbahani, Al-Agani 3, page 118

[xxv][25] Sahih al-Bukhari, 1, page 4

[xxvi][26] Halabieh, I, page 421

[xxvii][27] Halabieh, I, pages 73 and 74

[xxviii][28] Al-Lisan, 13, page 213 ;  quoted by Jiwad Ali, al-Mufassal, vi, page 720

[xxix][29] Al Shawrastani, Al-Milal Wal Nahil, page 578

[xxx][30] Al-Yaa�kubi 1, page 224

[xxxi][31] Halabieh, 2, page 39

[xxxii][32] Taj Al Aruss, 5, page 367

[xxxiii][33] Encyc. Religi., I, page 661; quoted by Jawad Ali, al-Mufassal, vi, page 287

[xxxiv][34] Al Azruqi, Akhbar Mecca, I, page 73

[xxxv][35] Taj Al Aruss, 6, page 197

[xxxvi][36] Al Yaa�kubi, 1: 224

[xxxvii][37] Ibn Hisham, I, page 69

[xxxviii][38] Sahih Muslim, 9, pages 21 and 22

[xxxix][39] Sahih al-Bukhari, 2, page 171

[xl][40] Sahih al-Bukhari, 4, page 238

[xli][41] Sahih al-Bukhari, 2, pages 169 and 170

[xlii][42] Sahih al-Bukhari, 2, pages 170,  146 and 181; Bukhari, 8, page 128; Sahih Muslim, 9, pages 8 and 23

[PeteWaldo]

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