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alone, had been totally desecrated by the pagans and the rites which he
had established were completely distorted by them. This sad state of affairs
continued for nearly two and a half thousand years. But then after this long
period, the time came for the supplication of Abraham to be answered:
“Our Lord! Send amongst them a Messenger of their own, who shall recite
unto them your verses and instruct them in the book and the Wisdom and
sanctify them. Verily you are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.” (Quran 2:129)
Sure enough, a man by the name of Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullaah was born
in the very city that Abraham had made this supplication centuries earlier.
For twenty-three years, the Prophet Muhammad spread the message of
monotheism - the same message that Abraham and all the other Prophets
came with - and established the law of God upon the land. He expended every
effort into making the word of God supreme and his victory over falsehood
culminated in the smashing of the idols inside the Kaaba which once again
became the universal centre for the worshippers of the one True God.
Not only did the Prophet rid the Kaaba of all its impurities, but he also
reinstated all the rites of Hajj which were established by God’s Permission,
in the time of Abraham. Specific injunctions in the Quran were revealed in
order to eliminate all the false rites which had become rampant in the pre-
Islamic period. All indecent and shameful acts were strictly banned in God’s
statement:
“There is to be no lewdness nor wrangles during Hajj.” (Quran 2:197)
Competitions among poets in the exaltations of their forefathers and their
tribesmen’s’ achievements were all stopped. Instead, God told them:
“And when you have completed your rites [of Hajj] then remember God as
you remember your forefathers; nay with a more vigorous remembrance.”
(Quran 2:200)
Competitions in generosity were also prohibited. Of course, the feeding of the
poor pilgrims was still encouraged as this was done in the time of Abraham,
but God commanded that the slaughtering of the animals which was done for
this purpose should be done seeking the pleasure of God rather than fame
and the praise of the people. He said:
“So mention the name of God over these animals when they are drawn up
in lines. Then, when they are drawn on their sides [after the slaughter], eat