Islam Concepts

I saw at Yahoo Answers, in comments or other social networks that many people want to know what is Mecca and it’s importance in Islam and for Muslims. If you are from any Muslim country then this looks like a very simple question but for those who want to know about Islam or they are planning to convert or those who just dig into Islam. They want to know more, so I decided to tell them briefly.

What is Mecca?

Actually Mecca also written as Makkah situated in Saudi Arabia and one of the holiest city in religion Islam. Name Kabah comes from the Arabic word meaning ‘cube’, it refers to the cube-shaped stone inside the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. The word “Mecca” is so popular that it is also added in English dictionary meaning something that is most important. Holy city laid near the coast of the Red Sea. and it has total population of 1,290,000.

Mecca History:

According to Islamic tradition, Mecca history was goes back to Prophet Abraham who built the Kaaba with His son, Prophet Ishmael in around 2000 BCE. Mecca is the place that links to many of the Prophets that Almighty Allah sent to us. So it is in news and history books from long time.

At first Masjid al-Haram constructed by Prophet Abraham which stands upright bearing evidence of various events which took place. The Holy Quran says that Mecca was attacked by the Ethiopians in the year when Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) born.

Mecca in the ancient era was a major trade hub. There were Idols everywhere before Islam arrived. If we say that Prophet Muhammad open His eyes in Idol world, then it is not wrong. before emergence of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the city was under the rule of Banu-Quraish.

Why Mecca Important For Muslims:

As we talked earlier that it is a busy place and in history from thousands of years. But why Mecca is important for Muslims. Actually the thing is Islam started it’s ground level there. Mecca was the birthplace of Muslim’s last messenger Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He spent his earlier 40 years there. Then He went to Madina and after building authority, He came back as a victories and live rest of His life in Mecca as well.

Secondly, Holy Kaaba also present in Masjid al-Haram which present in Mecca. Millions of Muslim visited Masjid al-Haram to perform Hajj. It is also the world largest unity place for people, where millions of people gather from all races, community, countries without any difference and pray to their God. Every Muslim must need to perform Hajj at least once in life. So Mecca is every important.

There are many other things that are also rememberable for Muslims such as many Prophet Muhammad’s companions also buried in Mecca. Many Mosques that built with Prophet Muhammad hands. The Zamzam Well, the holy well which sprung into existence with Prophet Ishmael heels when He was rubbing them with thrust. It was also in Mecca, just next to Kaaba in Masjid al-Haram. There are also many other things that is why Mecca is important and so holiest for Muslims.

As mentioned earlier, kaaba built by Prophet Abraham. There is a large black stone inside it. Confirmed by Muslims/Christian historian that Angel Gabriel gave this to Prophet Abraham at Allah’s will. It is the focal point for worship during daily prayers, it unifies all Muslims, direction of every Muslims during prayers is towards Kaaba known as Qibla.

Hopefully you understand what is Mecca and it’s importance for Muslims. Write below if you still have any question or comment for me.

First of all I wanna let you know that why I didn’t write any posts from last 4-5 days, actually I’m suffering from very bad Flu. doctor told me to take rest as you can. Eyes shutters down due to pain. Not doing any activity from last few days. Still not feeling well, but I decided to publish something for my readers because it’s too many days atleast for me to cut off from you people.

In these days, I saw a very informative historic Islamic documentary known as “When the Muslims Ruled Europe.” It was the legendary documentary presented by the very famous English historian Bettany Hughes. Hughes did a very fine job in researching the Islamic history that somehow missing from the history papers. She really gathered very solid proves for Non-Muslims to understand the real Islam and for Muslims too to let them know about their ancestors and their achievements.

Headlines About Moors:

Moors (people who ruled Europe) was the most richest, most educated, civilized and powerful in the world. They enter in Europe when Europe was in dark ages. Moors are the one who gave progress and knowledge to Europe. They ruled Europe almost 700 years from 700 AD to 1400th century.

Although Christians burnt almost everything when they conquer Spain, but still their Keepsakes present such as the Cordoba Mosque and so much others.

It’s Documentary Time:

Here is a complete documentary for you. Please let me know your opinions on this movie. When the Muslims Ruled Europe.

Pakistan is well known for its cultural heritage. Whether we talk about this cultural heritage in a sense which relates religious matters or towering Islamic architecture, Pakistan will always be at the top of the merit list. It has a vibrant spectrum containing all the colors of the Islamic architecture. While talking about Islamic architecture, it’s the Pakistani mosques which catch our eyes. Not only are these mosques beautiful but engineering marvels as well. Here is a list which clearly depicts the 10 best mosques of Pakistan.

• Faisal Mosque:

The Faisal Mosque is the largest mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and the third largest mosque in the whole world. It is situated in Islamabad near Naval Complex, Sector E-8. It covers an area of 54,000 sq ft. It has a capacity to accommodate a total of 3,00,000 people (worshipers). It has four minarets, each of which is 260 ft high. The Faisal Mosque is named after the King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz who financed its construction. Check my story when I prayed taraveeh in Shah Faisal Mosque.

• Badshahi Mosque:

“Badshahi Mosque” literally means “Emperors Mosque”. Its construction was started in May 1671 by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. It is situated in Lahore and is the second largest mosque in Pakistan. It is the fifth largest mosque in the world. It is Lahore’s major landmark and a great tourist attraction. It attracts a net total of more than 5, 00,000 tourists from all over the world. Its courtyard covers an area of 278,784 sq ft. it can accommodate total of 110,000 people at a time.

• Tooba Mosque:

Tooba Mosque is located in Karachi (largest city of Pakistan). One of its common names is “Gol Masjid” which is probably because of its elliptical structure. It was built in 1969. It is claimed to be the largest single dome mosque in the world. It is a major tourist attraction. Tooba Mosque was built with pure white marble. Its dome is 236 ft in diameter. It has a single minaret 70 meters high. Its central hall can accommodate total of 5000 people. It was designed by the famous Pakistani architect Dr Babar Hamid Chauhan.

• Mohabbat Khan Mosque:

Commonly known as “Masjid Muhabbat Khan” is situated in Peshawar, NWFP Pakistan. It’s a 17th century mosque. It was named after Nawab Mohabbat Khan who was the Mughal Governor of the area in that period of time. He served under the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. It was built in 1670. Primarily it is orthodox in design. It has an ablution pond in its middle. Its minarets were used in Sikh times as a substitute for gallows. A fire that raged through the Andar Sheher Bazaar in 1895 failed to destroy the mosque because of the unremitting efforts of the faithful.

• Eid Gah Mosque:

Eid Gah Mosque is located in Multan which is an important city of Pakistan. It is situated on the main Multan-Lahore highway. It was built in 1735 by Nawab Abdul Samad Khan. He was the governor of Multan at that time. It covers an area of 13500 sq ft. It has seven domes which are very beautiful and are built by using a special material developed by fusing clay, marble and chalk stone. It can accommodate a total of 2000 people (Worshipers). It also has guest rooms for people who come for preaching. It is an engineering wonder because the material used for its construction is orthodox and not very strong. But still it stands today on the chest of the earth telling the story of its survival.

• Suneri Mosque:

The Soneri Mosque also known as golden mosque is located in Lahore. It was built by Nawab Syed Bhikari Khan in 1735. He was the deputy governor of Lahore at that time. It is located in the middle of Kashmir bazaar. It has three domes. It has a beautiful gateway measuring 21 meters in length. It has a courtyard which measures 161.5 x 160.6 meters. The marble domes cover prayer chambers. The mosque has 4 minarets each of which has a length of 54 meters.

• Jamia Masjid Sialkot:

As my mother’s city is Sialkot, so I know “Jamia Masjid Sialkot” greatness. It is located in very populated area covering the needs of people residing in Sialkot. They consider it as a vital part of their heritage. It is the largest mosque of Sialkot. It can accommodate a total of 50,000 worshipers. It possesses two large and one small minaret. It has a beautiful front wall on which marvelous mirror work is done which is the specialty of the land of Sialkot. It was built by Nawab Akram Khan. He was the governor of Sialkot.

• Wazir Khan Mosque:

Wazir Khan Mosque is situated in Lahore. It is a very holy place from religious point of view. It is famous for its extensive tile work on its exterior and interior walls. It is sometimes called as “a mole on the cheek of Lahore”. Shah Jehan built this in 1635. It looks same after centuries passed away.

• Moti Masjid:

Moti Masjid literally means ‘pearl mosque’. It was built in 17th century. It is situated inside the Lahore fort, built using pure and stainless white marble in 1637. As Shah Jehan created many beautiful mosques in his time, this is also one of them. It is comparatively small as compared to other mosques of Lahore but I put it is top 10 because it is so beautiful. It is established on the western side of the fort. The Sikhs robbed off its precious jewels which were fixed on its walls during the revolt of 1857. It stands today towering high in the sky telling the story of the generations of people who has passing by.

• Bhong Mosque:

Bhong Mosque is located in the area of Bhong, Sahibabad, in the district Rahim Yar Khan. Its construction was started in 1932 and was completed in 1982. It won the “Agha Khan Award for Architecture” in 1986. A postage stamp with its picture was issued in May 12, 2004 in Pakistan. I’m planning to visit this wonderful architecture of my country.

Conclusion: These are some of the great architectural mosques of Pakistan. Hope you like them. Let me know what is in your mind after checking this list in comment section.

As you know judgement day is a must thing that will happen to every human being. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) showed us these signs  almost 1400 years ago about judgement day. You can clearly see that most of them already happened and remaining will occur on their specific time as Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) mentioned.

Today Science is talking/proving things that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said 1400 years ago. You can image the power of a person, Who was not educated in any institution nor at home, don’t know read or write but He teached us the things, those happened and still happening as He said word by word. Subhan Allah!

He said these things on quite different occasions but I’m going to summarize them and writing the actually context of wording.

• People will ride on saddles that aren’t saddles (Think about Cars)
• The distance on earth will become short. (Think about Aeroplanes)
• Horses will not be use in wars. (Think what is going on nowadays)
• Muslims will defeat the Byzantines which will end with the conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul).
• The Jews will gather again to live in Bilad Canaan.
• Very tall buildings will build (What is happening these days)
• The disappearance of knowledge and the appearance of ignorance, with much killing. (Think same thing are happening today)
• Adultery will become widespread, and the drinking of wine will become common (Nowaday is a best example)
• The number of men will decrease and the number of women will increase until there are 50 women to be looked after by one man. (Still women increase and ratio is going higher and higher with everyday passes)
• Islam will become worn out like clothes are, until no one will know what fasting, prayer, charity and rituals are. (Almost this thing is present and continue to become worst)
• Allah will send a disease to fornicator that will have no cure (Think about Aids)
• People will begin to believe in the stars and reject AL QADAR. (Nowadays, muslims as well believing in stars. Al Qadar is ‘The divine decree of destiny’)
• Men will pass by people’s graves and say: ‘Would that I were in his place’; (Think about large amount of suicidal deaths these days)
• Two large groups of people will fight one another, and there will be many casualties; they will both following the same religion (Think about World War II)
• Approximately 30 DAJJALS will appear, each one claiming to be the messenger of ALLAH.
• Earthquakes will increase (What is going on these days)
• Time will pass quickly (What is going on these days)
• Killing will increase (What is going on these days)
• Wealth will increase (Yup! Think about nowadays but this is still to be increase as Prophet Said)
• Women will be wearing clothes but not wearing clothes

These are some of the things that holy Prophet Muhammad said on separate occasions. Most of the things are happening these days but some of them still needs to be even more worse as Prophet said.

And on another occasion Prophet said: ‘If my ummah (followers) bears 15 traits (qualities), tribulation (judgement day) will follow it’. Someone asked; What are they O messenger of Allah. Then Prophet replied:

• When any gain shared out only among the rich, with no benefit to the poor.
• When a trust becomes a means of making profit.
• When paying ZAKAT becomes a burden.
• When voices are raised in the mosque.
• When the leaders are the worst of all.
• When people treat a man with respect because what he may do.
• The appearance of the Imam MAHDI.
• The appearance of the DAJJAL (Anti Christ).
• The appearance of Ya’juj and Ma’juj (biblical Gog and Magog).
• Isa (Jesus) will come during the time of Dajjal and kill him.
• The rising of the sun from the west.
• The destruction of the Ka’ba and the recovery of its treasures.
• The wind that destroy almost all things.
• The smoke that will punishes all the non-believers.

No time to go into details of these signs but will go in short future and talked about them one by one. Just hang with me and continue reading more interesting things on this blog. Your inspiration is really what I want at this point.

Back to topic, as we look at this article we realize how true the Messenger (P.B.U.H) was, these signs were prophesized 1400 years ago!. It shows that Prophet Muhammad was a true messenger of God and also the Holy Quran told us these things.

So my dear brothers and sisters! if you still not start what Allah Almighty told us to do in this apparent world, then act now, you also know that we have very less time. So act now with good intentions so Allah will help us to became a good Muslim and if you are a good Muslim, you are also a good social personality.