THE HAJJ & UMRAH - Arafa & Mina - Part 3

[Peter]

Disappeared then restored from database

'HAJJ & UMRAH - Arafa; Mina http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfWy5KaFvbU

Text Version http://www.petewaldo.com/hajj_umrah.htm#mina_muna_manat

This is part 3 in this series that discusses the origins of the individual components of the Islamic Hajj and Umrah.
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The Hill of Mina/Muna/Manat

On the second day of Hajj pilgrims depart for the hill Arafa, located east of Mecca. It takes more than four hours to reach this hill by camel. In the middle of the journey to Arafa, there is a place called Muna, currently known as Mina’, where they pray the prayer of noon time. Muna is an important place in the Hajj. Both the words Muna and Manat have the same Arabic meaning, “to wish or aspire.” Manat was the daughter of Allah. This indicates Muna was dedicated to the worship of Manat. (more)

Manat was the deity that Arabians would appeal to when they needed rain. As mentioned in part 2, at the end of their Hajj, they presented animal sacrifices to Manat.

Manat, originally a planet, was represented by a rock on which sacrifices to the various gods were made during the Hajj ceremonies. According to many narrators, this was due to two factors. First, the word Mana means “to shed blood” suggesting to some narrators that the rock of Manat received its name because of all the sacrifices made on the rock of Manat. Second, because Manat means “wish or aspiration,” it was a place where many tribes came to present their animal sacrifices, which represented their own aspirations and pleading for rain. (more)

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“Allah are them, I am here.”

On the third day of Hajj pilgrims continue to the hill called Arafa. They all wear white, indicating a state of consecration, according to tradition. They stand in a plain near a mount called “Jabal Al-Rahmah,” which means the “mountain of mercy,” and cry in loud voices from afternoon until sunset “Labeik Allahumma Labeik.” Allahumma means “Allah, are them,” so their cry is translated, “Allah are them, I am here.”

The same cry was made by Arabians before Manat. They said: "Allah are them, I am here. Without the prayerful who come early before you, people will fail and abandon you, but they will still come to you in one pilgrimage after another."

When the Hajj was transferred to Islam it presented the same religious words. When the pagans came to the hill dedicated to the worship of the moon they cried “Allah Akber” which means “Allah is greater.” This is because the moon, who was Allah, was viewed as head of the Star Family and was greater than the other members, Ellat, the sun, and Manat and al-Uzza, two of the planets.

These deities were also mentioned by Mohammed in the Quran.
Sura 53.19 Have ye seen Lat. and 'Uzza, 20 And another, the third (goddess), Manat?

The cry “Allah is greater” is not an Islamic cry but, rather, a pagan cry which the worshippers of the Star Family used to recite. Pre-Islamic Arabian poetry often honored members of the Star Family by emphasizing Allah as the head of the Star Family by repeating the words “Allah Akber" For example, Loas Bin Hagar, the Arabian poet of the pre-Islam period, said:
"I swear by Ellat and al-Uzza and all who follow their faith, and in Allah, Allah is greater than they." (more)

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Casting stones At Muna, or Mina, the pilgrims cast seven stones at a hill. Islamic tradition claims this locality is where Abraham met with the devil and threw stones at him.

But Satan is a spirit and does not have a material body to be injured by the stones. The Qur’an claims that meteorites were stars which Allah used to strike the devils. However, the casting of stones at the devil was a pagan ceremony practiced by various pagan sects in the Middle East. Casting the stones was a ritual initiated in Muna by the tribe of Sofa who led the ceremonies on the hill of Arafa. The tribe of Sofa did not allow anyone to walk from Arafa to the next Hajj station before all the tribe had thrown stones.

Zoroastrians also cast stones on the water and in bull’s urine, which were prepared for ablutions, and the purification of bodies and objects. Once they were cast, these stones, or pebbles, were deposited in holes in the ground, apparently to strike the insects and worms in the ground which were considered to be devils by the Zoroastrians. (more)

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The Wind Jinn-Devil

The famous Arabian historian and geographer Al-Ya'akubi, of the 9th century, wrote about the life of Arabia before and after Islam. He recorded that another idol placed on the Safa was named Mujawer al-Rih', which in Arabic means “the shelter or place of sanctuary for the wind.” The wind at Mecca was considered as a Jinn-devil. This was recorded by many biographers of Mohammed who mentioned that he was visited by a priest of the Jinn-devils named Thamad al-Azdi who came to embrace Islam. The book of Halabieh recorded: "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."

Arabian authors who wrote about Mecca before Islam, like al-Azruqi, mentioned the wind was worshipped at Mecca, and there was an idol there named Nahik who represented the wind that people used to make a pilgrimage to. 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. (more)

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Moon god Worship

Since the moon god was considered to be the most powerful deity in Arabian Star Family worship it would seem no coincidence that the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. Muslims all over the world bow toward the black stone, that pagans venerated as the moon god idol, five times a day. Crescent moons adorn the tops of mosques and decorate national flags. "Fasting" is done during the month which begins and ends with the appearance of the crescent moon in the sky. Even the favorite shout of Mohammedan suicide murderers - ALLAHU AKBAR - means "Allah is the greatER", which for Arabian moon god worshipers meant that the moon god was the most powerful of all of the Arabian Star Family deities.

A Word to Our Muslim Could-Become Brethren

Will you continue to reject the 1600 year record of God to mankind, as revealed through all of the prophets and witnesses of that record, to instead follow the 23 year 7th century record, of a single "prophet" that had no fulfilled prophecy, that never performed a single miracle, and that not a single person ever heard Gabriel or Allah's voice give a "revelation" to? A man that was a murdering, pillaging, plundering, prisoner raping thief, as revealed through Islam's own books. Would God send a man 500 years after His record was closed, that is revealed as being the exact opposite of Jesus Christ, to present a message that is the exact opposite of the Gospel? A man that led his largely illiterate followers in repackaged rituals of Arabian moon, sun, star, planet and demon worship?

Footnotes
A few of these rituals on YouTube videos appear to the right of the item.
Here's an Umrah Schedule (tour company source)

1. general body cleaning and wudu (the inspiration for this ablution)
2. put on ihram
3. two rakat nafl prayers
4. recite talbiyh
5. Tawaf kabah, 7 circuits (circumambulate Kaaba 7 times kissing, or pointing at, the stone each time) (video)
6. two rakat near maqam i Ibrahim
7. Saiy, 7 runs between Safa & Marawa & (video)
8. clip hair
9. take off ihram
10. umra is complete
11. put on usual dress (link) Here's a Hajj schedule (source)

I. First day of Hajj (8 Dhul Hijja)<
1. after fajr put on ihram
2. go to Mina before zuhr
3. recite talbiya frequently
4. offer zhur, asr, maghrib, isha in Mina
5. overnight stay in Mina
6. first day of hajj is complete

II. Second day of Hajj (9th Dhul Hijjah)
1. second day of hajj, you are in Mina
2. after fajr (sunrise) go to Arafat
3. offer zuhr, asr in Arafat
4. stay in Arafat till sunset do not offer maghrib
5. go to Muzdalifa after sunset
6. offer maghrib, isha at Muzdalifa
7. pick up 49 pebbles or very small stones
8. overnight stay in Muzdalifa

III. Third Day of Hajj (10 Dhul Hijja)
1. third day of hajj you are in Muzdelifa
2. after sunrise go to Mina
3. go to jamaratul Aqaba (last pillar)
4. throw 7 pebbles
5. stop talbiya, say takbir
6. sacrifice animal (they don't seem to get the concept of
"sacrifice" (video)
7. clip hair (video)
8. take off ihram
9. put on usual dress
10. go to Mecca
11. perform Tawaf
12. two rakat near Maqama Ibrahim
13. perform Saiy
14. go back to Mina must not stay overnight in Mecca

Fourth Day of Hajj (11 Dhul Hijja)
1. fourth day of hajj you are in Mina
2. after zuhr go to all three jamarat
3. first jamra (jamara tul oola) throw 7 pebbles (video)
4. go to jamra (jamara tul wusta) throw 7 pebbles
5. third jamra (jamara tul aqaba) throw 7 pebbles
6. must stay in Mina

Fifth day of Hajj (12 dhul Hijja)
1. fifth day of hajj you are in Mina
2. after zuhr go to all three jamarat
3. first jamra throw 7 pebbles
4. second jamra throw 7 peebles
5. go to third jamra throw 7 peebles
6. after asr go to Mecca
7. perform Tawaf (video)
8. now hajj is complete
9. before leaving Mecca must perform tawaf al wida
http://www.petewaldo.com/hajj_umrah.htm#abraham_travels'),