An Inconsistency

[poliphilo]

The puritans who rule Saudi Arabia are busy destroying anything that could invite idolatry. Vast tracts of old Mecca and Medina have been flattened- to the despair of archaeologists and historians of Islam- and Mohammed's birthplace and the cave in which he composed the earlier parts of the Koran are under threat.

I respect the puritan mindset, but what I don't understand is why, if shrines must go, the Kaaba is spared? How is it OK to prostrate yourself before a big black rock but not to visit the house where the prophet was born? There's a lack of follow-through here.

Comments

[shanghai7.livejournal.com]

My reading is that by venerating the house you make it SHIRK, you are placing it on an even level with Allah. The Kaaba is what all Muslims face at prayer (Salat) and therefore not subject to SHIRK. I may be wrong!

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I don't understand why that makes it not subject to SHIRK?

[ron-broxted.livejournal.com]

Neither do I apart from the basic "Oh you are venerating where Mohammed (QSSL) died, whereas the Kaaba is "not human" therefore not vulnerable to such ideas. I will try and ask an Imam soon.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Seems like a quibble to me.

Time for Islam to produce a Luther.