Epigraph: 

“Say (Muhammad), ‘I know not whether that which you are promised is nigh or whether my Lord has fixed for it a distant term.’ He (Allah) is the Knower of the unseen; and He reveals not His secrets to any one, except to him whom He chooses, namely a Messenger of His. And then He causes an escort of guarding angels to go before him and behind him.” (Al Quran 72:26-28)

Kaaba: The First House of God, rebuilt by Patriarch Abraham. An aerial view shows Muslims circling the Kaaba inside and outside the Grand Mosque in Makkah, in 2006

November, 2012

Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times

This year three and a half or four million Muslims performed the rituals and worship of Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Kaaba in Makkah, which was rebuilt by the Prophet or Patriarch Abraham and the Prophet Ishmael.

Approximately 2000 years BC, Allah the All Knowing had prophesied Hajj, when He had revealed Himself to Prophet Abraham (may blessings of Allah be on him). Allah revealed the memory of that event again in the Holy Quran for the benefit of the posterity:

And call to mind when We (Allah) assigned to Abraham the site of the House and said, ‘Associate not anything with Me and keep My House clean for those who perform the circuits, and those who stand up and those who bow and prostrate themselves in Prayer; And call mankind to the Pilgrimage. They will come to thee on foot, and on every lean camel, coming by every distant, deep, track.’ (Al Quran 22:27-28)

The proclamation, in the Holy Quran, that Kaaba would one day become a great center to which people from distant lands would come to perform Hajj was made when the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace be on him, was at Makkah, at a time when the very fate of Islam was hanging in the balance. Life was not safe for the Prophet and his followers. They were being driven away from their homes and did not know where to go. It was at that time that it was proclaimed to the world, as if with a beat of a loud drum, that to the Kaaba would come, people from all parts of the earth! The gathering in Makkah every year of large number of Muslims from very distant lands bears an irrefutable testimony to the remarkable fulfillment of this prophecy.  These verses constitute a mighty prophecy. The fulfillment of this prophecy we witness every year. Three to four million people of all races and nationalities have performed Hajj annually since 2006.

There was yet another prophecy in these verses. According to Khalifatul-Masih IV, Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the previous Worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the expression Faj e Ameeq used in the above verses, in Arabic, means fast modes of transportation that cut their way through air, water or ground.  (Annual convention before his Khilafat 1977) So this term can be applied to today’s transportations like jet planes and cruise ships. More specifically the Holy Quran had prophesied the modern day transportation in:

And when ten-month pregnant she-camels are discarded as a means of transportation. (Al Quran 81:5)

And

He (Allah) has created horses, mules and donkeys that you may ride them, and also as adornment; and He will create for that purpose other means which you do not yet know. (Al Quran 16:9)

Even the believing Muslims do not fully realize the import and grandeur of these prophecies pertaining to the annual spiritual gathering of Hajj and related prophecies.  To fully appreciate the significance of the promises and prophecies given to the Patriarch Abraham, which are documented in the Bible and more recently in the Holy Quran for 1500 years, we need to put them into historic context, by contrasting with what happened to the great Empires, their plans and their buildings over the centuries and millennia.  But, before doing so, let me quote verses from Genesis in the Old Testament, about Patriarch Abraham:

 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son (Ishmael), I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:15-18)

Now, we move to the historical context.

Alexander III of Macedon (20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας, Aléxandros ho Mégas^iii[›] from the Greek ἀλέξω alexo “to defend, help” + ἀνήρ aner “man”), was a king of Macedon, a state in northern ancient Greece. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16. By the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas.^[1] He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history’s most successful commanders.^[2]

An atrium in Pella with a pebble-mosaic paving

His capital Pella today lies in ruins. Pella was sacked by the Romans in 168 BC, when its treasury was transported to Rome.

Now, I want you to meet Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar (Arabic: جلال الدین محمد أکبر ‎ – Jalāl ud-Dīn Muḥammad Akbar), also known as Shahanshah Akbar-e-Azam or Akbar the Great (15 October 1542  – 27 October 1605),^[3][4] was the third Mughal Emperor. He was considered to be one of the richest and most powerful men of his time and his titles had implications of divinity.  He was of Timurid descent; the son of Emperor Humayun, and the grandson of the Mughal Emperor Zaheeruddin Muhammad Babur, the ruler who founded the Mughal dynasty in India. At the end of his reign in 1605 the Mughal empire covered most of northern and central India. He is most appreciated for having a liberal outlook on all faiths and beliefs and during his era, culture and art reached a zenith as compared to his predecessors.

A panoramic view of the Fatehpur Sikri Palace

When Akbar was 28 years old, he decided to shift his capital from Agra to the Sikri ridge, to honor Salim Chishti, and commenced the construction of a planned walled city which took the next fifteen years in planning and construction of a series royal palaces, harem, courts, a mosque, private quarters and other utility buildings.^[2] He named the city, Fatehabad, with Fateh, a word of Arabic origin in Persian, meaning “victory”, it was later called Fatehpur Sikri.^[3] It is at Fatehpur Sikri that the legends of Akbar and his famed courtiers, the nine jewels or Navaratnas, were born . One of them, musician and singer Tansen is said to have performed on an island in the middle of the pool Anup Talao.^[4] Built during the 16th century, the Fatehpur Sikri is one of the best preserved collection of Mughal architecture in India.^[5]

Anup talao (pond), the platform in the middle was used for singing competitions

According to contemporary historians, Akbar took a great interest in the building of Fatehpur Sikri and probably also dictated its architectural style. Seeking to revive the splendours of Persian court ceremonial made famous by his ancestor Timur, Akbar planned the complex on Persian principles. But the influences of his adopted land came through in the typically Indian embellishments. The Easy availability of sandstone in the neighbouring areas of Fatehpur Sikri, also meant that all the buildings here were made of the red stone. The imperial Palace complex consists of a number of independent pavilions arranged in formal geometry on a piece of level ground, a pattern derived from Arab and central Asian tent encampments. In its entirety, the monuments at Fatehpur Sikri thus reflect the genius of Akbar in assimilating diverse regional architectural influences within a holistic style that was uniquely his own.^[4]

The Imperial complex was abandoned in 1585, shortly after its completion, due to paucity of water and its proximity with the Rajputana areas in the North-West, which were increasingly in turmoil. Thus the capital was shifted to Lahore so that Akbar could have a base in the less stable part of the empire, before moving back Agra in 1598, where he had begun his reign as he shifted his focus to Deccan.^[6] In fact, he never returned to the city except for a brief period in 1601.^[7][8] In later Mughal history it was occupied for a short while by Mughal emperor, Muhammad Shah (r. 1719 -1748), and his regent, Sayyid Hussain Ali Khan Barha, one of the Syed Brothers, was murdered here in 1720. Today much of the imperial complex which spread over nearly two mile long and one mile wide area is largely intact and resembles a ghost town. It is still surrounded by a five mile long wall built during its original construction, on three sides. However apart from the imperial buildings complex few other buildings stand in the area, which is mostly barren, except of ruins of the bazaars of the old city.

Now, let us go back to Europe and visit Rome.  The Roman Empire (Latin: IMPERIVM ROMANVM) was the post-Republican period of ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean in Europe, Africa, and Asia.^[7] The 500-year-old Roman Republic, which preceded it, had been destabilized through a series of civil wars. Several events marked the transition from Republic to Empire, including Julius Caesar‘s appointment as perpetual dictator (44 BC); the Battle of Actium (2 September 31 BC); and the granting of the honorific Augustus to Octavian by the Roman Senate (16 January 27 BC).

The first two centuries of the Empire were a period of unprecedented stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana (“Roman Peace”).^[8] It reached its greatest expanse during the reign of Trajan (98–117 AD). In the 3rd century, the Empire underwent a crisis that threatened its existence, but was reunified and stabilized under the emperors Aurelian and Diocletian. Christians rose to power in the 4th century, during which time a system of dual rule was developed in the Latin West and Greek East. After the collapse of central government in the West in the 5th century, the eastern half continued as what would later be known as the Byzantine Empire.  Who has not visited or seen the pictures of the Colosseum, a reminder of the Roman grandeur and eventual ruin:

Colosseum in Rome

Next I want you to visit Istanbul or Constantinople.  It was the capital of the Byzantine Empire for centuries but was taken over by the Ottomans in 1452 CE.  As the distinction between “Roman ” and “Byzantine” is a modern convention, it is not possible to assign a single date of transition. However, there are several important dates. In 285, Emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305) divided the Roman Empire’s administration into eastern and western halves.^[3] In 324, Emperor Constantine I (r. 306–337) transferred the eastern capital from Nicomedia in Asia Minor to Byzantium in Europe on the Bosphorus, which became Constantinople, the “City of Constantine” or alternatively “New Rome”.^{[n 1]} A final period of transition began during the later reign of Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641) when he entirely transformed the empire by reforming the army and administration by introducing themes and by changing the official language of the Empire from Latin to Greek.^[5]

Hagia Sophia: A reminder of the Grandeur of the Byzantine Empire, from the largest Cathedral in the world, it became a Mosque and then a museum

Hagia Sophia (/ˈhɑːɪə soʊˈfiːə/; from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία [aˈʝia soˈfia], “Holy Wisdom“; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia; Turkish: Ayasofya) is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople,^[1] except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.^[2]

The Church was dedicated to the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity,^[3] its dedication feast taking place on 25 December, the anniversary of the Birth of the incarnation of the Logos in Christ.^[3] Although it is sometimes referred to as Sancta Sophia (as though it were named after Saint Sophia), sophia is the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom – the full name in Greek being Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, “Shrine of the Holy Wisdom of God”.^[4][5]

Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture^[6] and is said to have “changed the history of architecture.”^[7] It remained the world’s largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years thereafter, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site, the previous two having both been destroyed by rioters. It was designed by the Greek scientists Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician.^[8]

At the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace be on him, there were two Empires in the world, the Byzantine and the Persian. The Persian Empire was defeated within a few decades of Islam and ceased to exist. A picture below should be more than a thousand words:

Remains of Taq-i Kisra in Ctesiphon, the palace of the Sassanid dynasty