Have you ever wondered about the significance of the Kaabah
which Muslims all around the world pray towards?
What is its purpose?
Why do we pray towards it?
What is the connection between prophet Abraham, the Kaabah
and the last of all prophets Muhammad peace be upon them all.
The Quran starts by telling us that Ibrahim and his son Ismaeel
were ordered to build this great mosque called the Kaabah.
"And behold,
when Abraham lifted and built upon the original foundations of the Kaabah
while his son Ismaeel was helping him,
they said both to Allah calling out:
"O our Lord,
accept this from us,
You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knower."
As prophet Ibrahim and Ismaeel were building it,
father and son,
Ibrahim (Alaihi Assalam) then stood back and made a significant dua,
which echoes throughout the ages in history until the end of time.
He said:
Prophet Abraham said: "O my Lord,
send from among my progeny a messenger from among them,
who will teach them your verses and your miracles and he will teach them the book and revelation
and wisdom and he will purify them,
O You are the most honorable and noble, You are the most wise and knowledgeable."
This Prophet and Messenger Ibrahim (Alaihi Assalam) was referring to was none other than Prophet Muhammad ﷺ,
the final and seal of all the prophets.
How do we know?
Well prophet Abraham and Ismaeel were in the place called Mecca
and they were building the Kaabah in that land.
Remember, among them were a tribe that came from Yemen who were arabs
and prophet Ismaeel married from that tribe, that arab tribe while his mother Hajar was with him
and so from them came a progeny
who later on became the people of Mecca or Quraish
and its surroundings and we know that from them
came the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ,
his great great great grandfather is prophet Ibrahim (Alaihi Assalam)
followed by Ismaeel (Alaihi Assalam).
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ loved prophet Abraham among all the prophets
and he is called the Father of all the Prophets.
In the famous story of Al-Israa Wal-Mi'raaj which means the Night Journey and Ascension to the heavens
as stated in surah Al-Isra.
And also in many authentic hadith from our Prophet ﷺ.
When the Prophet ﷺ ascended into the heavens,
he met his forefather prophet Abraham.
And he said: "I met my father Abraham and I greeted him.
And he greeted me back saying:
This shows us two things that prophet Abraham peace be upon him
was of high esteem to Allah, that he was in the seventh heaven above all the others.
Secondly, his compassion and empathy and love for us
and that is why he sends his greeting to us.
For as Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la describes him in the Quran
– he was one of empathy kindness and compassion,
such was the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as well.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ when he described the features
of his father Abraham peace be upon him..
"A smile emanated on his face and it shined."
As though the Prophet ﷺ was so excited to talk about him
because of his love and his connection to his father Abraham.
He said to his companions:
"If you want to know what my father Abraham looked like,
then just look at your companion before you."
Ss though he is saying:
He loved his father that much
and there was a strong link and connection.
Brothers and sisters, what is that connection?
The Kaabah is a universal house of Allah,
all the major religions of the world such as judaism
and christianity and catholicism and all of its other denominations,
they revere prophet Abraham, prophet Ismaeel and prophet Isaac.
They revere them in a certain way
and in different ways of course too.
In fact in the Bible there is the word – becca
which refers to Mecca
and there is also a book written by a non-muslim historian
where he called it – All roads lead to Mecca.
Therefore Mecca has a significant place in all the people's mind
till from the beginning till the end of time.
Brothers and sisters, what is that universal message from Abraham peace be upon him?
That links all the way down to the last Prophet Muhammad ﷺ,
who brought the Quran?
The link is the message of Allah God is one and it never changes.
All the prophets followed the same message and they called the people to the same ideology and the same teaching
which is monotheistic belief,
that everything in this world is created and belongs to God alone.
When you look at the Kaabah and the way that people circumambulate around it,
it is the same action which prophet Abraham and Ismaeel started themselves.
And it continued throughout the ages and then until Muhammad ﷺ came along and revived it even more.
Till today people circumambulate around the Kaabah in the millions.
The rotation of the celestial bodies in space,
the way the sun moves, the way the earth moves
and the moon and everything else in the galaxy also rotate
in that anti-clockwise direction.
That direction is the same direction around the Kaabah
as if the entire universe is in unisons with the exception of some planets of course.
Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la wants us to know that
there is no difference between an arab and non-arab except impiety,
for the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ stood up in front of the Kaabah in his last sermon,
connecting that same message to his forefather Abraham
and the same message which his forefathers said while he was building
the Kaabah with his son Ismaeel when he said:
"O my Lord, bless my progeny and bless the people
who come afterwards and make this place a sacred peaceful land of harmony."
Brothers and sisters,
we say in our prayer as well in Salat,
in Attahiyat and in ibrahimiya,
we send prayers upon our prophet Muhammad ﷺ, his family and those who follow him
and we link it also with making prayers for our forefather prophet Abraham
and his family and those who follow him.
Why?
Because again the universal message is one and the love for all these prophets and messengers is one.
And finally most interestingly,
both prophet Abraham peace be upon him and prophet Muhammad peace be upon him,
shared the same relationship and title with Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la,
they were both Khaleel Rahman.
What does that mean?
We will find out next.