Watching Dr. Zahgloul Al-Najjar, professor of earth sciences, on TV as he talked about the religious and historical marvels associated with the holy city of Makkah, I felt simultaneously happy and sad.
I was happy because the program added to my limited knowledge about the most sacred place on earth, and sad because we in the Kingdom lack this kind of detailed and valuable information. As students, we never encountered it in our history, geography or geology textbooks. Not only that, these incredible miracles, blessings and favors are rarely mentioned in Islamic culture classes.
I am sure many people did not know that every prophet and messenger sent by God had made the pilgrimage to Makkah, that the prophets migrated to Makkah with their followers, that more than 70 of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) are buried on the plains of Mina just outside Makkah with some buried close to the Kaaba, and that birds living in the vicinity of the Kaaba never fly over the building but fly around it in the same direction as Muslims performing tawaf (circumambulation) in a sign of reverence and respect to the House of God.
Makkah is the center of the universe and its time should be the internationally accredited time instead of Greenwich which was imposed on the world by Britain. The direction of tawaf has to do with the movement of stars. The footprint of Prophet Ibrahim near the Holy Kaaba when he and his son Ismail were rebuilding it as commanded by God stands as a lasting miracle. Zamzam water has been gushing from the same well for thousands of years without a change of taste or color.
If people knew about these and other miracles and appreciated the sanctity of the place, they would stop spitting, smoking, eating and drinking, using mobile phones, shoving, pushing and shouting at each other and holding beliefs and opinions contrary to basic Islamic teachings.
It is sad that we know very little of our history and rich religious and historical heritage — Suk Okaz, the famous battles fought by early Muslims, the house where the Prophet Muhammad was born and raised, the Thur and Hira caves where the Prophet used to worship before the message was revealed to him, the site of Al-Okhdoud in Najran, the pit of fire where early Christian believers were burned alive, Madain Saleh and many other places.
Imagine how many non-Muslims, especially Western scientists, would be impressed and embrace Islam if only they are introduced to these miracles. Why not take our students out to see these places? How much would it take to produce a documentary on these important sites?
I would like to see pilgrims coming to this country being provided with booklets containing basic information about Makkah and Madinah.
