Muhammad and Jerusalem

 

        In chapter 11 of the Armstong book, Armstrong states that “Muhammed felt deeply attracted to the Kabah. He liked to pray in the Haram, recite the Quran there, and perform the tawaf. He was drawn by the legend that was probably current in pre-Islamic Arabia that Adam, the first man, had built the earliest shrine on this sacred spot” (Armstrong 222). It is interesting to see that although Mecca is the holiest sight for Muslims, there are indications that Muhammed praising and worshipping the Kabah. Furthermore, the Quran states that“The Meccan Haram had been the site of the Garden of Eden, where Adam had been created, had named the animals, and had been honored by all the angels” (Quran 2:30-37) and that “ The Kabah linked the past with the present, the human with the divine, the internal world with the external” (Armstrong 222). Again, it is so interesting to see the holiness and divinity that is present within Jerusalem with biblical citings of how Muhammad had worshipped towards Kabah, but it is interesting to mention how Muhammaed would teach his first converts to pray. 

Armstrong states “ Yet when Muhammad taught his first converts to prostrate themselves in prayer before Allah as an outward sign of their interior Islam, he told them to turn away from the Kabah and face Jerusalem. The Kabah was now contaminated by idols, so Muslims must focus on the spiritual center of the Jews and Christians who worshipped Allah alone” (Armstrong 222). The turning towards Jerusalem during this time demonstrated a case of unification between 3 religions that we see today as very different from one another. The focus between them is the monotheistic all-powerful God that they must focus themselves on. Armstrong mentions this further by stating “ It marked a return of the Muslims to the primordial faith of Abraham before it was split into warring sects by the Jews and Christians; it was an attempt to find a lost unity, represented by the primal shrine rebuilt by Abraham, the true Muslim” (Armstrong 223). As we are aware, the three Abrahamic religions have split into numerous sects and divisions have been at the forefront of religious disputes; however, it would be interesting to see a perspective back in the time of Muhammad from the Christian and Jewish perspectives and how they view the ‘lost unity’ that Armstrong mentions.