Hajj : The Journey of Souls

 Hajj-Saii  Zam Zam  Hajj Map  Before Hajj 

Going Around Kabah

Hajj : The Journey of Souls

Allah prescribed Hajj once in a lifetime upon the Muslims who have the means and are physically able to perform it. There are three types of Hajj: Hajj at-Tamattu', Hajj al-Qiran and Hajj alIf rad. In this article, we will explain the procedure for Hajj Al-Tamatt'u as it is the most recommended one.
In this type, one is to perform 'Umrah during the Hajj months (i.e. Shawwal, Thul-Qe'dah and the first ten nights of Thul-Hijjah) and to perform the Hajj in the same year with a sacrifice slaughtered in Mina on the day of Eid AlAdh'ha (The 10th day of Thul-Hijjah) or during the days of Tashreeq (i.e. the 11th, 12th and 13th day of Thul-Hijjah). The pilgrim may remove his Ihram garments and resume his normal activities between 'Umrah and Hajj. It is necessary to make the Tawaf and the Sa'i twice, the first time for 'Umrah and the second time for Hajj. We describe in the following the sequence of the Hajj journey.

Ihram

Ihram is the intention of the person willing to perform all rites of 'Umrah, Hajj or both when he arrives at the Miqat. Each direction coming into Makkah has its own Miqat. It is recommended that the one who intends to perform Hajj makes Ghusl (a shower with the intention to purify one's self), perfumes his body, but not his garments, and puts on a two piece garment with no headgear. The garments should be of seamless cloth. One piece to cover the upper part of the body, and the second to cover the lower part. For a woman the Ihram is the same except that she should not use perfumes at all and her dress should cover the whole body decently, leaving the hands and the face uncovered. The pilgrim should say the intention according to the type of Hajj. For Hajj Al-Tamatt'u one should say: "Labbayka Allahumma 'Umrah" which means "O Allah I answered Your call to perform 'Umrah". It is recommended to repeat the well known supplication of Hajj, called Talbeyah, as frequently as possible from the time of Ihram till the time of the first stoning of Jamrat Al-Aqabah in Mina. Men are recommended to utter the Talbeyah aloud while women are to say it quietly.

This Talbeyah is of the form:
"Labbayka Allahumma Labbayk. Labbayka La Shareeka Laka Labbayk. Inna-alhamda Wan-ntimata Laka Walmulk. La Shareek Lak." (Here I am at your service. O my Lord, here I am. Here I am. No partner do You have. Here I am. Truly, the praise and the provisions are Yours, and so is the dominion. No partner do You have.)

Performing 'Umrah

Tawaf: When a Muslim arrives to Makkah, he should make Tawaf around the Ka'bah, as a gesture of greeting At Masjid Al-Haraam. This is done by circling the Ka'bah seven times in the counterclockwise direction, starting from the black stone with Takbeer and ending each circle at the Black Stone with Takbeer, keeping the Ka'bah to one's left. Then the pilgrim goes to Maqam Ibrahim (Ibrahim's Station), and performs two rak'ah behind it, close to it if possible, but away from the path of the people making Tawaf. In all cases one should be facing the Ka'bah when praying behind Maqam Ibrahim.

Sa'i:

The next rite is to make Sa'i between Safa and Marwah. The pilgrim starts Sa'i by ascending the Safa. While facing the Ka'bah he praises Allah, raises his hands and says Takbeer "Allah-u Akbar" three times, then makes supplication to Allah. Then the pilgrim descends from the Safa and heads towards the Marwah. One should increase the pace between the clearly marked green posts, but should walk at a normal pace before and after them. When the pilgrim reaches the Marwah, he should ascend it, praise Allah and do as he did at the Safa. This is considered one round and so is the other way from the Marwah to the Safa. A total of seven rounds are required to perform the Sa'i. After Sa'i, the Muslim ends his 'Umrah rites by shaving his head or trimming his hair (women should cut a finger tip's length from their hair). At this stage, the prohibitions pertaining to the state of Ihram are lifted and one can resume his normal life.

There are no required formulas or supplications for Tawaf or for Sa'i. It is up to the worshipper to praise Allah or to supplicate Him with any acceptable supplication or to recite portions of the Qur'an. Although it is recommended to recite the supplications that the Prophet, salla Allah-u alaihe wa salam, used to say during the performance of these rites.
It must be noted that 'Umrah can be performed by itself as described above at any time of the year.

Going out to Mina on the day of Tarwiah
A pilgrim performing Hajj AlTamatt'u should intend Ihram, from the place where he is staying, on the 8th day of Thul-Hijjah, which is the Tarwiah Day, and leave to Mina in the morning. In Mina, the pilgrims pray Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha of the 8th day of ThulHijjah and Fajr of the 9th day of ThulHijjah. Dhuhr, Asr and Isha are each shortened to two Rak'ah only, but are not combined. The pilgrim remains in Mina until sunrise of the 9th day of ThulHijjah and then leaves to Arafat.

Departure to Arafat

On the 9th day of Thul-Hijjah, the Day of Arafat, the pilgrims stay in Arafat until sunset. The pilgrims pray Dhuhr and Asr at Arafat, shortened and combined dur ing the time of Dhuhr to save the rest of the day for glorifying Allah and for supplication asking forgiveness. A pilgrim should make sure that he is within the boundaries of Arafat, not necessarily standing on the mountain of Arafat.

Jabir reported Allah's Messenger (May peace be upon him) as saying: I have sacrificed (the animals) here, and the whole of Mini is a place for sacrifice; so sacrifice your animals at your places. 1 have stayed here (near these rocks), and the whole of Arafat is a place for stay. And I have stayed here (at Muzdalifa near Mash'ar al-Haram and the whole of Muzdalifa) is a place for stay (i. e. one is permitted to spend night in any part of it, as one likes).
(Sahih Muslim, Book #007, Hadith #2805)

One should keep reciting Talbeyah, glorifying Allah the Greatest and repeating supplication. It is also reported that the Prophet, salla Allah-u alaihe wa salam, used to say the following supplication: "There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, the One without a partner. The dominion and the praise are His and He is powerful over everything."

Narrated Muhammad bin Abi Bakr Al-Thaqafi: While we were going from Mina to 'Arafat, I asked Anas bin Malik, about Talbiya, "How did you use to say Talbiya in the company of the Prophet?" Anas said: "People usedto say Talbiya and their saying was not objected to and they used to say Takbir and that was not objected toeither. "
(Sahih Al Bukhari, Book #15, Hadith #87)

In the vast square plain of Arafat, tears are shed, sins are washed and faults are redressed for those who ask Allah for forgiveness and offer sincere repentance for their wrong doings in the past. Happy is the person who receives the Mercy and Pleasure of Allah on this particular day.

The departure from Arafat

Soon after sunset on the Day of Arafat, the pilgrims leave for Muzdalifah quietly and reverently in compliance with the advice of the Prophet, salla Allah-u alaihe wa salam, who said when he noticed people walking without calmness:
Narrated Ibn Abbas. : I proceeded along with the Prophet on the day of 'Arafat (9th Dhul-Hijja). The Prophet heard a great hue and cry and the beating of camels behind him. So he beckoned to the people with his lash, "O people! Be quiet. Hastening is not a sign of righteousness."
(Sahih Al Bukhari, Book #26, Hadith #731)

In order to follow the example of the Prophet, salla Allah-u alaihe wa salam, it is preferable to keep reciting the Talbeyah, glorifying Allah the Greatest and mentioning the name of Allah until the time of stoning Jamrat Al-Aqabah (a stone pillar in Mina). In Muzdalifah, the pilgrim performs Maghrib and Isha prayers combined, shortening the Isha prayer to two Rak'ah.Pilgrims stay overnight in Muzdalifah to perform the Fajr prayer and wait until the brightness of the morning is widespread before they leave to Mina passing through the sacred Mash'ar valley.
Women and weak individuals are allowed to proceed to Mina at any time after midnight to avoid the crowd.

Stoning Jamrat Al-Aqabah

When the pilgrims arrive at Mina, they go to Jamrat Al-Aqabah where they stone it with seven pebbles glorifying Allah "Allah-u Akbar" at each throw and calling on Him to accept their Hajj. The time of stoning Jamrat Al-Aqabah is after sunrise. The Prophet, salla Allah-u alaihe wa salam, threw the pebbles late in the morning and permitted weak people to stone after leaving Muzdalifah after midnight. The size of the pebbles should not be more than that of a bean as described by the Prophet, salla Allahu alaihe wa salam, who warned against exaggeration. The pebbles can be picked up either in Muzdalifah or in Mina.

Slaughter of Sacrifice

After stoning Jamrat Al-Aqabah, the pilgrim goes to slaughter his sacrifice either personally or through the appointment of somebody else to do it on his behalf. A pilgrim should slaughter either a sheep, or share a cow or a camel with six others.

Shaving the head or trimming the hair

The final rite on the tenth day after offering his sacrifice is to shave one' s head or to cut some of the hair. Shaving the head is, however, preferable for it was reported that the Prophet prayed three times for those who shaved their heads, when he said:

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "O Allah! Forgive those who get their heads shaved." The people asked. "Also those who get their hair cut short?" The Prophet said, "O Allah! Forgive those who have their heads shaved." The people said, "Also those who get their hair cut short?" The Prophet (invoke Allah for those who have their heads shaved and) at the third time said, "also (forgive) those who get their hair cut short."
(Sahih Al Bukhari, Book #26, Hadith #786)

For women, the length of hair to be cut is that of a finger tip. The stoning of Jamrat Al-Aqabah and the shaving of head or trimming of hair symbolizes the end of the first phase of the state of Ihram and the lifting of its restrictions except for sexual intercourse with one's spouse. Stoning Jamrat Al-Aqabah, slaughtering the sacrifice and shaving the head or cutting part of the hair are preferred to be in this order, as it is the order that the Prophet, salla Allah-u alaihe wa salam, did them. However, if they are done in any other order, there is no harm in that.

Tawaf Al-Ifadhah

Tawaf Al-Ifadhah is a fundamental rite of Hajj. The pilgrim makes Tawaf-AIIfadhah by visiting Al-Masjid AlHaraam and circling the Ka'bah seven times and praying two Rak'ah behind Maqam Ibrahim. Then the pilgrim should make Sa'i between the Safa and the Marwah. After Tawaf Al-Ifadhah the state of Ihram is completely ended and all restrictions are lifted including sexual intercourse with one's spouse.
Tawaf Al-Ifadhah can be delayed until the days spent at Mina are over.

Return to Mina

The pilgrim should return to Mina and spend there the days of Tashreeq (i.e. the I I th, 1 2th and 1 3th day of Thul-Hijjah). l During each day, and after Dhuhr prayer, | the pilgrim stones the three stone pillars called "Jamarat": The small, the medium and Jamrat Al-Aqabah, glorifying Allah "Allah-u Akbar" with each throw of the seven pebbles stoned at each pillar. These pebbles are picked up in Mina. A l Pilgrim may leave Mina to Makkah on the 13th of Thul-Hijjah or on the 12th if he wishes, there is no blame on him if he chooses the later, but he has to leave before sunset.

Farewell Tawaf

Farewell Tawaf is the final rite of Hajj. It is to make another Tawaf around the Ka'bah.

Narrated Ibn Abbas: The people were ordered to perform the Tawaf of the Ka'ba (Tawaf-al-Wada') as the lastly thing, before leaving (Mecca), except the menstruating women who were excused.
(Sahih Al Bukhari, Book #26, Hadith#810)

Courtesy : 
https://www.islamicity.com/ (Hadeeth references by ROAD to Jannah)
JAZAK ALLAH KHAIR

Authored by : Mrs. Khadija Mohammed Hussain Altao.

By: ROAD to Jannah

Going around the Kaaba

 Hajj-Saii  Zam Zam  Hajj Map  Before Hajj 

Going Around Kabah

Experiencing the Tawaf

- Irshaad Hussain

We often encounter the world with a mind overflowing with media images and our own imaginative projections - a sort of mental ecosystem which provides a psychological environment into which we can fit our experiences. These images, these landscapes of information, contour our outlook, adjust thoughts, and have a determining effect on how we perceive the world. They are the subtle technology of our brains, the hidden mechanism of the mind through which experience is made ‘safer’ and more digestible, and through which we avoid being overwhelmed by the ‘new’, or changed by the powerful impact of raw, unprocessed reality.

Raw: unaltered from its original state, not filtered or diminished in effect, exerting a forceful power and impact. This is the closest I can come to describing the intensity of the mental collision that occurred when I plunged from the cold of a Canadian winter into the powerful heat and movement of Mecca, the city at the heart of the Islamic world.

Sometimes an experience^[1] goes beyond preset expectations. It piece by piece dismantles aspects of one's mental landscape or pierces through it, and overwhelms with the force of its presence. It causes a shift in perception, a rearranging of the terrain of the mind.
From a society in which religion and religious symbolism exist tenuously, vaguely, on the periphery of daily existence, I fell headlong into a concentrated centre of piety, where religion and its most potent symbols exist with the compact density and power of a black hole humming at the core of a galaxy. Where the raw symbolic and attractive power of religion are laid bare, divested of dross, concentrated into essence - into pure, palpable substance.

Here, in Mecca, the landscape is best described as raw, unfinished. Mountains lie in piles of crushed rubble as if pulverized by blows from a giant hammer. Vegetation is so sparse that only the closest inspection reveals small desiccated clumps of ragged bushes the same reddish brown hue as the rocks scattered along the rubble strewn slopes.


The mountains encroach into the heart of the city itself. Buildings emerge directly from the hills, their foundations following the craggy angles of steep slopes. No matter the inclination of the hills, there are jagged streets lined with dwellings rising along the rough contours nearly to the summits. The area immediately around the Kaaba (the cube shaped building in whose direction all Muslims face when praying) and the mosque surrounding it is encircled by sizeable hills - hills encrusted with shattered boulders and ragged stones. Upon these hills sits an uneasy mixture of modern steel and glass buildings intermixed with rough poured-concrete dwellings. Meandering stone walkways rise at difficult inclinations through their narrow alleys. In the flat pan of the valley that lies between the encircling hills sprawls the massive structure of the "Grand Mosque", and in the centre of the mosque's courtyard the simple form of the Kaaba.

Around the mosque is a wide ring of hotels for housing the millions of pilgrims who come each year for the hajj and the Umrah. Sprawling markets radiate in every direction, lining the streets between the hotels.

My first encounter with the grand mosque was a slow recession backwards into time. As I entered through the mammoth doorway and walked across the cool marble floors I left behind the dissonance of congested traffic and the commotion and agitation of Mecca's busy streets and markets. Endless rows of pillars and high archways floated past as I made my way through vast, warmly hued halls, lined with row upon row of thick, yielding, richly textured rugs. The timbre of the colors and textures was overwhelming. I was reminded of a hike through an old growth forest in Canada, where towering tree trunks rose to make an arched canopy of intertwined branches and the forest floor was a soft, silencing carpet of fallen leaves.

On the mosque's carpets families were seated, relaxing together. Old turbaned men reclined leisurely against immense pillars - children wearing traditional arab thawbs (floor length shirts) played between the columns, students leaned earnestly over papers, pens in hand, busy with schoolwork, the mosque their quiet study hall. I walked past devotees bent over Qur'ans, tasbeehs (prayer beads) turning endlessly between their fingers. Except for the occasional incongruity of a person dressed in a modern business suit and the ever-present Saudi security police in their drab khaki uniforms, I was now in a long ago world of flowing robes and beards, long thawbs (floor length shirts), turbans, chadors (women's head and body coverings), and white ihrams (the simple two piece sheets worn by pilgrims to Mecca). I walked past people praying, their foreheads pressed firmly against the cool floor. Others had rolled up the ends of the thick carpets to fashion pillows and were resting in the pleasant shade of the mosque's interior. An easy breeze flowed constantly between the multitude of pillars, through the high arches and under the domed ceilings removing the heavy heat of the day. And everywhere, pilgrims from every scattered corner of the world, of every complexion and ethnic variety, were busy with their devotions.

Finally my eyes fell upon the roofless central courtyard where, rising like a black monolith out of a circular plain of polished white marble, stood the Kaaba. Here was the compass point of Muslim prayers - a large cubical structure clothed entirely in a deep black cloth-covering embroidered with verses of the Qur'an (a black that appeared impossibly intense against the sunlit courtyard's white marble floor). It was a magical image, an ancient image, framed between contoured pillars. And like a waking dream it shimmered in the heat of the day, appearing to slowly pulse like a heartbeat as the dense heat induced the air to vibrate and rise in invisible currents. Surrounding it was an effortlessly turning human wheel - the endless circumambulation (tawaf) of the Kaaba by the pilgrims.
There was just too much to take in, too much newness, too much rich detail all around me, too much movement as I stood on the outskirts of the throngs of people engaged in worship around the Kaaba. It was all unfamiliar - my Canadian bred senses had no domestic perceptions they could latch onto to give them comfort. There was only the inadequate and incomplete jumble of impressions, images, and preconceptions I carried with me from books read, videos viewed, pilgrimage stories heard, pictures seen. I struggled to quieten my mind but my thoughts were hyperactive - kinetic. So much to process, to take in and digest. I gave up trying to marshal my thoughts into any coherent order and simply allowed the astounding visual panorama around me to flow into my consciousness.


Immersed in an ocean of religious symbols. everything around me seemed to possess depth and weight, everything emanated an impression of great substance. The architecture, the Kaaba, the masses of pilgrims in their ihrams^[2], their movements, the sounds of uttered prayers and verses - it flooded in through the limited portals of my senses like floodwaters through a narrow chasm. Gradually, the very materiality of the things around me receded and it seemed as if I was watching only forces in motion, symbols that tugged at my mind but whose meaning I could not yet penetrate.


I stood and watched the tawaf for a long time. The tawaf consists of walking around the Kaaba seven times. Each circuit begins with raising the right hand in a salute of acknowledgment towards the black stone (called the hajar-al-aswad) embedded in one corner of the Kaaba. The raising of the hand is a substitute for kissing this stone since it is almost impossible to get close enough to accomplish that - there is forever a tight knot of people around the stone, all pressing inward in an attempt to touch or kiss it. If you approach too close to this endlessly forming and reforming knot you are squeezed so forcefully that your feet leave the ground and you have no control over where you are carried.
Then, the gravitational presence of the Kaaba tugged at me and I was drawn into the tawaf. Immediately, I was caught in the press and flow of bodies. Heat and sweat engulfed me and the physical presence of the crowd of pilgrims pressing in around me became the direct focus of my concentration. I wiped at the rivulets that streamed off my forehead and walked forward swept along by the inundating flood of humanity in which I was immersed.
The crowd shifted and flowed around me - an organized chaos of particles they bumped along in a curved path around the Kaaba like electrons in orbit around a nucleus. Everyone was focused inwardly on their own individual recitations and concentrating on their own tawaf. In front of me an aged blind man, his pure white hair and beard glowing in the sun, leaned on a wooden staff as he performed his circuits unguided except by the sounds of the crowd and the movement of bodies around him. His free hand would rise occasionally, palm upwards in supplication as he would speak a prayer. What was it like to do this tawaf in darkness, with no visual cues, no images to process. Did he sense the looming presence of the Kaaba by his side, was he able to turn his consciousness completely inward without the incredible spectacle of the tawaf to distract him? I closed my eyes and for a few steps walked blind.
A swirling eddy of sounds came and went as people passed by or as I passed by them. Some traveled in groups loudly reciting Qu'ran'ic verses in unison, some whispered to themselves - others moved in silence and I knew their presence only by their touch as they brushed past. The sounds ebbed and flowed in my consciousness as if I was a leaf floating on a river of prayers - currents and eddies of supplications tugging my consciousness this way and that.
When I opened my eyes the blind man was far ahead, moving confidently through the thick crowd, his staff seeming more like the staff of Moses than a crutch to lean upon. I looked about me as I moved forward. Some pilgrims were in wheelchairs, some frail and weak with age were being carried on rough bamboo litters or on hospital stretchers, some went around in tight groups, arms linked together so as not to separate in the crowd. Some shuffled along in their tawaf, others dodged in and around the crowd as if in a race to complete their circuits. New people continuously entered the tawaf, while those who had finished theirs cut across the crowd and exited the circle.


Each time I approached the corner where the black stone lay it was like approaching a zone of agitated turbulence - a tangle of bodies struggled to reach the stone as if drawn by a powerful magnet. Others only paused momentarily, lined up in a straight row radiating out from the stone as if they were iron filings caught on a magnetized strip angling away from the corner of the Kaaba. Then they would wave an acknowledgment towards the stone and continue on with their tawaf.



Through all the circuits, the attention-commanding cube of the Kaaba loomed impressively at my left side. It's presence was powerful, intense, imposing - the extreme simplicity of it's shape adding to its stature. There was a kind of bewitching beauty to the Kaaba - here was a building stripped to it's most basic fundamentals - four walls and a roof - yet it captivated the eyes more forcefully than the architectural marvels of the mosque surrounding it. There was a wall of unmoving bodies encircling it - devotees clinging prayerfully to its cloth covered surface, their cheeks pressed firmly against its sides. It was as if those who drew too near were simply overwhelmed by its gravity and then frozen static at some timeless event horizon. And indeed, inside the Kaaba's walls was a singularity where the outward rules of religion crumbled and only the essence remained, where prayer could be performed in any direction since there lay the innermost heart of the great wheel of the Islamic galaxy, the pole within which the believer's compass spins, bewildered.


My eyes took in the faces swirling around me - a vast spectrum of complexions and hues contrasting yet complementing each other, lines of great age and experience alongside the smooth faces of youths. A young woman holding her husband's hand came past me. He intoned prayers in a beautiful rhythm and tears spilled down her face. Then they were past and his recitation faded in the generalized murmur of the crowd. I grew aware of the plenitude of tears around me - some only moistening the corners of eyes, others inundating and softening deep lines in weeping faces. In these faces there was a complete absorption in the present moment. As their bodies went around the Kaaba, it seemed the real tawaf was accomplished by their hearts. When my seven circuits were complete, I felt reluctant to leave the circle and it took an active force of will to break out of the curving path and move away from the Kaaba.

When I was in the tawaf it had seemed somewhat chaotic, a complex, shifting interplay of human traffic as the masses of pilgrims sought individual routes through the crowds, their attention focused inward, each following their own meandering orbit around the Kaaba.


But when later I observed the tawaf from above - from the second floor balconies of the mosque - it appeared as a smoothly turning wheel - a masterpiece of co-ordination. All the close-up complexity, the seeming chaos of individual behaviours vanished and a beautifully meshed rotation appeared - a slow revolution around an unmoving, immobile axis. There was such a gracefulness, such a superfluidity to the motion that the individuals in the crowd receded from my consciousness and I imagined I was gazing at some vast otherworldly symbol - the slow pivot of existence itself around a single fixed, immovable principle. It was as if the outward movements of the rituals^[3] provided a form, a structure that reflected, through the ritual's physical movement, a stunning spiritual geometry.

It reminded me of a verse in the Qur'an in which all the human souls, from the first to the last are brought into the presence of God in a realm of pre-material existence. Each acknowledges God as Rabb (as their Sustainer) before entering into their earthly existence, before being born into this world.

Before man emerged into this world - God asked all the human souls “Am I not your Lord? And they replied, Yes! Of this we bear witness!” (Sura 7:172)

The tawaf^[4] was like a symbol of these human souls circling God's presence, acknowledging Him as Rabb at each passing of the hajar-al- aswad (the black stone). Each circuit was like a descent through the different layers of existence until we leave the tawaf and enter the life of this world (the place of separation) after one final acknowledgment of God as Rabb. The hajar al-aswad seemed to me like the signet ring of a King - touched or kissed to acknowledge His Lordship.

Or perhaps the tawaf is like the names of all things in existence (the names or realities taught to Adam before he emerged on the earth - as mentioned in the Qur'an). These realities circle in God's knowledge until the proper moment arrives for them to manifest in the material world. And then they descend through the layers and levels of existence till, entering the realm of time and space and cause and effect, they emerge into earthly existence. As a result it is said that everything in existence (every reality, every “name”) is a messenger from the unseen world.

As I left the tawaf, as I left the Kaaba, as I left the mosque, and as I left Mecca for other destinations, I felt both a powerful pang of separation and a comforting closeness towards what I left behind. The separation arose from being cut off from that which had so intensely attracted and impacted my consciousness. The closeness emerged because my direct experience of an ancient transcendental rite had inwardly magnetized me. I knew that even after I flew back to the comfort of home, some essential part of my consciousness, some essential part of my heart, would always turn, unbidden, like a compass needle to face the simple structure of the Kaaba.

Published by :

Mr.Mohammed Hussain Assadi &

Mrs.Khadija Mohammed Hussain Altao

By: ROAD to Jannah

Scientists assumptions of SHAPE of planet earth !!

The shape of Planet Earth

Professor Etienne Ghys of the Unité de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées de l'E.N.S. de Lyon gave a presentation in October 2006 to an audience of geologists on the historical mathematical approaches to determining the theoretical shape of the Earth. Professor Ghys and myself collaborated to produce the graphics for this presentation. The page below is a result of this collaboration.

All images and films copyright Jos Leys/Etienne Ghys. Films and images were made using Povray.

This page is also available in Romanian/Pagina aceasta de asemenea este disponibilă în limba română..

Back/retour

1. Introduction

The shape of the Earth has intrigued scientists throughout history. The general acceptance of the fact that the Earth is round came about in the first century A.D., although Pythagoras had already postulated a spherical Earth 600 years earlier. The flat Earth concept resurfaced now and again in the Middle Ages, sometimes on religous grounds, but it is safe to say that mankind has known for 2000 years that we live on a sphere.

We know also that it is not a perfect sphere: the diameter from pole to pole is shorter than the diameter at the equator. The difference is small: the equatorial diameter is about 12,700 kilometers, and the pole to pole diameter is only about 40 km shorter.

The reason for this difference is the Earth's rotation, wich creates a centrifugal force perpendicular to the rotation axis. If the Earth consisted of solid material, then there would be no effect on the shape. Suppose the Earth was like a solid billiard ball. The rotation would put a strain on the material but there would be no deformation. Our Earth has a molten interior, it has tectonic plates on the thin crust that can move slowly, and so it is certainly not a solid ball. The Earth is "viscous" and this accounts for the slight flattening at the poles.

Because of the rotation, the Earth has an angular momentum, L. One can look at the Earth as a huge flywheel. The energy stored in a rotating mass is L*ω/2, where ω is the rotation speed of 2π radians per day. The value for L is 5.86.1033 kJoule.sec. To put this in perspective: if we could harness the rotational energy of the Earth, then it would take 5.108 years to use it all up. (at the current worldwide energy use of 10,000 million tonnes of oil equivalent per year). The snag is that in 500 million years, the Earth would stand still!

We will be discussing what happens if the value of L changes, so keep in mind the colossal scale of the energy associated with the Earth's rotation.


The theoretical shape of the Earth has been studied by mathematicians over the past 4 centuries (although the interest has waned the last 40 years or so). The list of people who have contributed to this topic sounds like an all-time hall of fame of mathematicians: Newton (1689), Huygens (1690), Cassini (1701), Maupertuis (1732), Clairaut (1733), Euler (1740), MacLaurin (1742), D'Alembert (1756), Lagrange (1759), Laplace (1772), Legendre (1784), Monge (1787), Poisson (1811), Gauss (1813), Cauchy (1815), Jacobi (1834), Dirichlet (1857), Dedekind (1860), Riemann (1860), Poincaré (1885), Darwin (1906, the son of Charles Darwin), Jeans (1917), Cartan (1924), Chandrasekhar (1960), and others.

It was Isaac Newton who first claimed that the Earth is not spherical, but "oval". Newton imagined two wells going down to the center of the Earth: one drilled from the North Pole, and one drilled from the equator, both filled with water. The water in the equatorial well is subject to the centrifugal force, and the water in the Polar well is not. For the two columns of water to be in equilibrium, it follows that the equatorial well must be longer..

In what follows we will discuss the theoretical shapes the Earth could take at a higher angular momentum, through the milestone discoveries of Colin MacLaurin, Carl Jacobi, and Henri Poincaré.

Clicking the image above will bring up a film of the Earth as we all know it, only it turns about 800 times faster than it does in reality (otherwise the film would have to last for 24 hours for one full turn). In all the films on this page, rotation speed is the only item that has been scaled. The dimensions have been calculated with exact formulas.

This is a small part of a very big Article.
This article, pictures, Video are copy right protected, please don’t copy or Alter anything of this. Our attempt is to discuss on the subject, we will keep discussing in the light of Quran. We repeat, we are here to discuss on Article, our intention in any way not to copy. This Scientific huge article is located here:
http://www.josleys.com/show_gallery.php?galid=313

[Holy Quran, 020:053]
"He Who has, made for you the earth like a carpet spread out; has enabled you to go about therein by roads (and channels); and has sent down water from the sky." With it have We produced diverse pairs of plants each separate from the others.

[Holy Quran, 79 : 30] And the earth, moreover, hath He extended (to a wide expanse);
Transliteration : Waalarda baAAda thalika dahaha

Allah Almighty used the word "dahaha" in Noble Verse 79:30, it's because the word is the most precise out of all. It describes the roundness and the flatness of the earth at once.

FROM THE ABOVE ARTICLE:
Our Earth has a molten interior, it has tectonic plates on the thin crust that can move slowly, and so it is CERTAINLY NOT a solid ball. The Earth is "viscous" and this accounts for the slight FLATTENING at the poles.
===========================

Video is located here.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=303685036446407&set=vb.201969329951312&type=3&theater

Published by :

Mr.Mohammed Hussain Assadi &

Mrs.Omairah Mohammed Altao

By: ROAD to Jannah

The Alleged Poisoning of Muhammad

By Abdullah Smith

[Part I] [Part II]

All praises are due to Allah and blessings on the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Today, Christian missionaries are using fabricated Hadiths to attack Islam; they are seriously misquoting the Quran, and claiming that Muhammad was a false prophet because he was “poisoned”.

We shall prove that Muhammad was not false for consuming the poison; he’s actually a greater Prophet to Jesus for making prophecies about the future. Jesus hardly made any prophecies; he only preached the Kingdom of God and made several false prophecies in the Bible.

Consider the following facts that prove Muhammad was true: 

(1)   The Bible says false prophets can perform miracles (Matt. 24:24), the Prophet Muhammad’s greatest miracle was a Book, the Holy Quran.

(2)   John the Baptist performed no miracles (John 10:41), yet he was a true Prophet.

(3)   Jesus was poisoned on the cross; he was a true Prophet. 

(4)   Many true Prophets were killed (Matt. 23:7), but they were still true Prophets.

(5)   The Prophets of the Bible are guilty of major sins, e.g. incest, fornication, drunkenness, nudity, and they were True Prophets!

(6)   There are pre-Islamic predictions of Muhammad (peace be upon him)

Let us discuss the facts we have presented so far. The Bible says that even false prophets can perform miracles, the Israelite prophets did miracles, but the Prophet Muhammad’s miracle is the Holy Quran.

Most of the miracles of the previous Prophets were of a physical nature, whereas the greatest miracle of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is intellectual. We are referring to the Qur’ân. Perhaps the reason for this is that this miracle is for the lasting Message and must remain visible to all insightful people of every generation until the Day of Judgment. The miracles of the other Prophets have passed into history; no one experienced them except for those that were present at that time. The miracle of the Qur’ân, however, remains until the Day of Judgment. [1]

John the Baptist was a true Prophet but performed no miracles:

And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true. (John 10:41)

The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.  (Matthew 21:25-26)

Yet the Prophet Muhammad performed several miracles, by the power of God.

Narrated 'Abdullah:

We used to consider miracles as Allah's Blessings, but you people consider them to be a warning. Once we were with Allah's Apostle on a journey, and we ran short of water. He said, "Bring the water remaining with you." The people brought a utensil containing a little water. He placed his hand in it and said, "Come to the blessed water, and the Blessing is from Allah." I saw the water flowing from among the fingers of Allah's Apostle, and no doubt, we heard the meal glorifying Allah, when it was being eaten (by him). (Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 56, Number 779)

Narrated Ibn Masud:

During the lifetime of Allah's Apostle the moon was split into two parts; one part remained over the mountain, and the other part went beyond the mountain. On that, Allah's Apostle said, "Witness this miracle." (Sahih Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 387)

Let us discuss the poisoning of Jesus. According to the Gospels, Jesus was given a sponge full of vinegar, and immediately died seconds later.

Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (John 19:29-30)

This proves Jesus was poisoned, the vinegar is supposed to have stimulating effects, yet it killed Jesus instantly!

Vinegar is one of those common substances that have been used for a variety of purposes for thousands of years.  Among its health benefits are mobilization of stored fat for energy use, a reduction in LDL or “bad” cholesterol, regulation of water content in cells, stabilization of blood sugar levels, and helping reduce arthritis pain.  Apple cider vinegar is a good diuretic, yet it also contains high levels of potassium to help maintain vital electrolyte levels.  Apple cider vinegar boosts the liver’s detoxification activity and helps with the digestion of rich, fatty, greasy foods, breaking them down into more absorbable forms. http://www.healingamerica.com/members/Secret_files/lean.asp

The Bible confesses that Jesus was a repentant sinner:

John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. (Mark 1:4)

Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. (Matthew 3:13)

The Bible degrades the Prophets of God by vilification:

For a Muslim, many of the claims to be found in the Bible with regard to the prophets of God, and even God himself, are monstrous and preposterous. One is hard pressed to find a single prophet or messenger who was not a drunkard, an idolater, an adulterer, guilty of incest, a liar, and so forth. The Bible practically overflows with such stories from almost every Tom, Dick, and Harry. The messengers of God are even made to be guilty of multiple cases of adultery and worse. Abraham (pbuh) is alleged to be a liar and worse (Genesis 12:13). Noah (pbuh) a drunkard (Genesis 9:21). Lot (pbuh) a drunkard and guilty of incest (Genesis 19:30-38). Solomon (pbuh) a worshipper of idols in his old age (1 Kings 4-9), King David (pbuh) commits adultery with Uriah's wife and then murdered her husband (2 Samuel 11:3-4,15-18), David's son Ammon is guilty of incest and the rape of his half sister (2 Samuel 13:14). Aaron (pbuh) fashions an idol (the golden calf) for the Jews to worship (Exodus 32:1-4), to name but a very few of the many allegations to be found in the current Bible. (Misha’al Ibn Abdullah Al-Kadhi, What Did Jesus Really Say? [online Source]

Strangely, Christians defend the false portrayal of God and His prophets, yet have the audacity to charge the Prophet Muhammad with falsehood!

Here is a brief summary:

Noah got drunk, Lot committed incest, Moses was a murderer, Aaron built the calf, David committed adultery, and Solomon was guilty of idol-worship. Yet the Prophet Muhammad is not guilty of any of these crimes!

Was Muhammad poisoned?

Christian missionaries forge their own interpretations to divert Believers away from Islam, the solution to mankind’s problems. The Holy Quran is absolutely free of rubbish and obscene material. The Prophets of God are respected in the highest level; Christians do not discredit their prophethood for corruption and sin, yet they discredit the Prophet Muhammad for “eating poison”. Yet the biographies of Muhammad are clear that he lived for many years after consuming the poison. The Prophet displayed tremendous energy after eating the poison, showing that the poison had no effect on him. The Prophet detected the poison whereas the companions failed to detect it.

The Prophet lived for four years after the poison!

Once the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) was given food mixed with poison to eat. He who ate it first expired, but the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) lived for four years even after taking that food. That food told the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam): There is poison in me.  [1]

The Prophet showed tremendous energy before his death, the poison had no effect on him. When the Prophet conquered Mecca, he was fasting!

AbuBakr ibn AbdurRahman reported on the authority of a Companion of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him): I saw the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) commanding the people while he was travelling on the occasion of the conquest of Mecca not to observe fast. He said: Be strong for your enemy. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) fasted himself. (Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 13, Number 2358)

Where did the Prophet acquire the strength to fast? He was truly a Prophet of God because he continued to fast during Ramadan!

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) used to count the days in Sha'ban in a manner he did not count any other month; then he fasted when he sighted the new moon of Ramadan; but if the weather was cloudy he counted thirty days and then fasted. (Narrated Aisha Ummul Mu'minin:, Sunan Abu-Dawud, [2]

The Prophet even had the strength to destroy the idols.

Most Meccans converted to Islam, and Muhammad destroyed the idols in the Kaaba. Henceforth the pilgrimage would be a Muslim pilgrimage and the shrine a Muslim shrine. [1]

Needles to say, the companions of the Prophet helped him destroy the idols because there were over 300 of them!

According to Aisha, the Prophet used to heal himself using the Quran:

Whenever Allah's Apostle became ill, he used to recite the Muawidhatan and blow his breath over himself (after their recitation) and rubbed his hands over his body. So when he was afflicted with his fatal illness. I started reciting the Muawidhatan and blowing my breath over him as he used to blow and made the hand of the Prophet pass over his body. (Narrated by Aisha, Sahih Bukhari, [2]

There are past instances where the Holy Prophet became sick, and was healed by God, so obviously the poison did not to affect him.

Pre-Islamic Predictions of Muhammad:

The Jews expected the Last Prophet to descend from Ishmael; he would destroy idol-worship and restore the true and pure worship of God. The following account reports the circumstances surrounding the conversion of the erudite rabbi Abdullah bin Salam to Islam:

I was told the story of Abdullah bin Salam, a learned Rabbi, by one of his family. He said: “When I heard about the Apostle I knew by his descriptions, name, and the time at which he appeared that he was the one we were waiting for, and I rejoiced greatly thereat, though I kept silent about it until the Apostle came to Madinah [after the Hijrah). When he stayed in Quba’ among the Banu ‘Amr bin ‘Auf [tribe] a man came with the news while I was working at the top of a palm-tree and my aunt Kahlida bint al-Harith was sitting below. When I heard the news I cried ‘Allahu Akbar’ and my aunt said, ‘Good gracious, if you had heard that [Prophet] Moses bin ‘Imran had come you could not have made more fuss!’ Indeed, aunt, ‘I said, ‘he is the brother of Moses and follows his religion, being sent with the same mission’. She asked, ‘Is he really the Prophet who we have been told will be sent at this very time?’ And she accepted my assurance that he was. Straightway I went to the Apostle and became a Muslim, and when I returned to my house I ordered them to do the same”.

‘Abdullah bin Salam took refuge in the Prophet’s house, for he trusted not his own people, because he believed they would lie against him. When the Jews came to the house of the Prophet he asked them about ‘Abdullah’s standing among them:

They replied: “He is our chief, the son of our chief; our rabbi and our learned man.” [Abdullah narrates] when they said this I emerged [from the Prophet’s house] and said: “O Jews, fear God and accept what he has sent to you. For by God you know that he is the Apostle of God!

This narration from the life of Abdullah bin Salam provides a good “summary” of the facts surrounding the knowledge of the Prophet to come [Muhammad] and his description in the Holy Scriptures.

(Source: Ibn Ishaq’s Biography of the Prophet quoted in Faisal Siddiqui, The Bible’s Last Prophet, pp. 104-105)

Was Jesus Poisoned?

[Part I] [Part II]

Jesus was born into a very troubled stage of the Roman Empire, when thousands of crucifixions were taking place each week. The military leader Judas of Galilee (6 CE) founded the Zealot sect that determined to destroy the Roman government, the Gospels describe the Roman occupation as very peaceful, yet the opposite was true according to historians. The Pharisee leader Judas of Galilee caused a rebellion against Roman taxes in 6 CE, and the self-claimed “Messiah” Bar Kochba (132-135 CE) caused another insurrection. The Zealots were carrying out assassinations on a daily basis, dispatching groups that murdered Roman officials and caused political uprising, they were known as the Sicarii, or dagger-men. There is a possibility the Romans considered Jesus a political leader disguised as a spiritual teacher, the Gospels record at least two disciples of Jesus were Zealots, so the Romans had good reason to suspect Jesus. They were Simon and Judas Iscariot; both carried swords and traveled with Jesus.

These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. (Mark 3:16-19)

The word Iscariot is a corruption of Sicarii. The disciples John and James are described as “sons of thunder”, which means they were Zealots, yet the Gospels are clear that Judas and Simon were undoubtedly Zealots.

The Zealots were opposed to Roman rule and sought to eliminate/destroy it by violent means; the portions of the Zealots who engaged in violence were called the Sicarii. Their activities included raids on Jewish settlements and eliminating Jewish collaborators, as well as inciting the Jews to fight Rome and each other if necessary. Josephus paints a very bleak picture of their murderous activities as they instituted a "reign of terror" in the build-up to the Temple's destruction. [1]

The New Testament was written much later but its narrative is set during those times. Some have speculated that the name of Jesus’ ' disciple Yehuda Ish-Kerayot (Judas Iscariot) means that he was a sicarius, "daggerman" - "Judas the Zealot". [2]

The Gospels portray Jesus as a spiritual teacher, the Romans eventually considered him a threat, and the Pharisees also wanted to kill Jesus for their own reasons. Jesus was sent to restore the Jewish Law (Matt. 5:17-20), and crucifixion was never his purpose (Matt. 9:13, 12:7, John 17:4). Yet the Romans suspected Jesus of political motives when he drove out the money changers at the Temple, causing disorder.

The Romans had a strong force near at hand, since it was the time of the annual festival and the feast of the Passover was approaching. The Romans who at that time of year were always ready for minor disturbances, were even more alert than usual. In addition, there were the temple police who guarded the sacred place. The entrance made by Jesus was so well-planned that the Roman soldiers were taken completely by surprise, and Jesus took over the control of the temple. (Muhammad Ataur-Raheem, Jesus Prophet of Islam, 1992 edition, p. 34)

The Jews expected the Messiah to destroy the Roman government; they considered Jesus a false prophet because he failed to liberate Palestine.

Jesus and his immediate followers were Pharisees. Jesus had no intention of founding a new religion. He regarded himself as the Messiah in the normal Jewish sense of the term, i.e. a human leader who would restore the Jewish monarchy, drive out the Roman invaders, set up an independent Jewish state, and inaugurate an era of peace, justice and prosperity (known as 'the kingdom of God,) for the whole world. Jesus believed himself to be the figure prophesied in the Hebrew Bible who would do all these things. He was not a militarist and did not build up an army to fight the Romans, since he believed that God would perform a great miracle to break the power of Rome. This miracle would take place on the Mount of Olives, as prophesied in the book of Zechariah. When this miracle did not occur, his mission had failed. He had no intention of being crucified in order to save mankind from eternal damnation by his sacrifice. He never regarded himself as a divine being, and would have regarded such an idea as pagan and idolatrous, an infringement of the first of the Ten Commandments. (Hyam Maccoby, The Problem of Paul)

The Pharisees expected the Messiah to restore the Davidic kingdom. Yet we must be grateful to Islam for destroying the Roman occupation after so many failed attempts by Jewish leaders (Judas of Galilee, Bar Kochba). The Prophet Muhammad foretold the conquest of Jerusalem and Constantinople! [1].

Concerning the trial of Jesus, the Pilate refused to crucify Jesus at first, he said “I find no fault in this man” (John 19:4) but eventually the Pilate sentenced Jesus and washed his hands (Matt. 27:24), signifying the innocence of Rome. The Gospel of Matthew records the Jews saying "Let his blood be on us and on our children!” the verse has been to justify many atrocities. The Romans only crucified for political charges, not religious charges, or blasphemy. The Jews had to press false charges against Jesus in order to get him crucified, though they knew the charges were false, the Pilate denied the charges altogether.

Jesus was condemned by the Pharisees for blasphemy, claiming to be God’s son, and working on the Sabbath. The Jews also insisted that Jesus claimed to be a political King, which is an acceptable charge, since the Romans abolished the Jewish monarchy.

Jesus was a man who was born into Jewish society in Galilee; he was not a divine being who descended from outer space in order to suffer death on behalf of mankind. If we want to know why Jesus was killed, we have to ask why a Jew from Galilee in those times might meet his end on a Roman cross.

Many Jews from Galilee died in the same way during this period. Judas of Galilee was a Jewish patriot who led an armed rebellion against the Romans. Many hundreds of his supporters were crucified by the Romans. At one time, while Jesus was a boy, four thousand Jews were crucified by the Romans for an insurrection against Roman taxes. Crucifixion was the cruel form of execution which the Romans used for rebels against their rule. Galilee was always a centre of rebellion, partly because it was not under direct Roman rule and, therefore, like Vichy France during the last World War, gave some scope for the organization of resistance.

The presumption is, therefore, that Jesus the Galilean who died on the cross did so for the same reason as the others: because he was a threat to the Roman occupation. The Gospels indeed tell us that this was the charge made against him. The actual charge, according to Luke was as follows, ‘We found this fellow perverting the nation, and, forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King’ (Luke 23:2). On his cross, the charge for which he was executed was affixed, according to Roman usage: it was that he claimed to be ‘King of the Jews’, a capital offence at a time when the Romans had abolished the Jewish monarchy. To ‘pervert the nation’ meant to disturb them from their allegiance to Rome. The use of the term ‘Christ’ (Messiah) here in its original political sense is interesting, for it shows that despite Christian editing of the Gospels, which ensured that the term was de-politicalized in almost every instance, editorial vigilance could occasionally slip. (Hyam Maccoby, The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity, pp. 46-47)

The Gospels indicate that Jesus was secretly poisoned; the passage speaks for itself. The Romans poisoned Jesus to avoid leaving his body over the Sabbath, which began at evening (John 19:31). According to the Torah, a man “shall not remain all night upon the tree”; they must bury him that same day.

Christian tradition reports Jesus as having died for the sis of the world shortly prior to Friday sunset, leading to the celebration of ‘Good Friday’. This also explains why the Jews were under pressure to expedite the death of the three crucified before sunset, for the Friday sunset ushered in the Jewish Sabbath (according to Hebraic lunar calendar, the day ends at sunset. Hence, Friday sunset heralds the beginning of Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath). The problem facing the Jews was that a crucified man can live for days on the cross…Most crucifixes were constructed with small seats, enough to partially bear the weight of the body in order to prolong the torture. (Dr. Lawrence B. Brown, The First and Final Commandment, p. 209)

Historically the Jews followed Pharisee leaders who claimed to be Messiah, they were Judas of Galilee (6 CE), Theudas (46 CE), and Bar Kochba (132-135 CE), so the Romans did not want to take any chances, they suspected Jesus and thereby poisoned him. There was no need to break his legs because they saw he was already dead by ingesting the poison (John 19:32-33). It took several days to die by crucifixion; the Romans knew Jesus would survive the cross if they did not poison him.

Crucifixion was a slow death. It usually lasted several days. Death followed from exhaustion, inability to respire property as a result of being in an upright position or attacks by wild animals.

In the year A.D. 297, by the order of Emperor Maximian, seven Christians at Samosata were subjected to various tortures and then crucified. According to Alban Butler, (5) in

Hipparchus [one of them], a venerable old man, died on the cross in a short time. James, Romanus, and Lollianus, expired the next day being stabbed by the soldiers while they hung on their crosses. Philotheus, Habibus and Paragrus, were taken down from their crosses while they were still alive. The emperor being informed that they were alive, commanded large nails to be driven into heads--by which they were at length dispatched.

There are a number of cases in which men were cruelly tortured, and then crucified head down, yet surviving for 24 hours or more. [*]  [*]

Scholars agree that no man could die within three hours, the Jews were probably ignorant of this fact, but the Romans were experts at crucifixion, they knew Jesus was alive, so they poisoned him.   The Pilate knew Jesus was harmless, yet he did not know about the poisoning that caused his death.

Jesus was a healthy man who traveled throughout Palestine and its cities. How could a healthy man die so fast?

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. (Matthew 9:35)

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, (Luke 8:1)

Even if Jesus was not poisoned, it’s impossible for him to die in three hours, the Gospels are clear that Jesus was very healthy.

Crucifixion was a slow death. It usually lasted several days. Death followed from   exhaustion, inability to respire properly 

as a result of being in an upright position or attacks by wild animals. Why did Jesus, who was a fit and healthy man 

used to walking the countryside for long distances, die so quickly in only a matter of a few hours? (online Source) 

Jesus was “filled with the Holy Spirit” on the cross, yet the poison killed him instantly, the Holy Spirit departed from his body immediately after the vinegar was consumed:

Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (John 19:29-30)

There are only two alternatives to explain Jesus’ death, either he was crucified as a false prophet (Deu. 13:5), or he was saved by God and never crucified (Ps. 20:6). We have evidence to support the latter, God promised to save the Messiah from death (Ps. 20:6), He will never forsake the Messiah (Ps. 37:28), Christians will argue to the contrary that Jesus’ poisoning does not discredit his prophethood, and that he “died for their sins”, the Jews conspired to kill Jesus to prove he was false. But why do Christians discriminate Muhammad for eating poison when Jesus was also poisoned? In fact, the Bible confirms Jesus died instantly from the poison whereas Muhammad died four years later! The poison had such a grave effect on Jesus that he cried out:

And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. (Mark 15:36-38)

Why didn’t Jesus refuse the vinegar? Why didn’t he spit out the poison? He obviously did not know it was poisoned, so therefore he was not All-knowing. Yet the Prophet Muhammad tasted the poison and immediately SPAT it out.

The Bible teaches that false prophets should be put to death (Deuteronomy 13:5, 18:19), so does this mean Jesus and Muhammad were poisoned false prophets? Absolutely not, even true Prophets were murdered (Matt. 23:27, Rom. 11:3). So if Jesus and Muhammad died from ingesting poison, they are still true Prophets!

Jesus was a Pharisee belonging to the Shammiate sect, and the Pharisees loyal to Jesus considered his death as martyrdom. Muslim scholars assert that Prophet Muhammad’s death was martyrdom.

It has been assumed by most scholars that Paul’s interpretation of the verse in Deuteronomy (i.e. that anyone hanged on a gibbet is under a curse) was part of contemporary Pharisee exegesis of that verse, and that consequently Paul took his basis for argument from the Pharisee stock, though he developed it in his own way. This, however, is an error. The idea that anyone hanged on a gibbet is under a curse was entirely alien to Pharisee thought, and the Pharisee teachers did not interpret the verse in Deuteronomy in this way. Many highly respected members of the Pharisee movement were crucified by the Romans, just like Jesus, and, far from being regarded as under a curse because of the manner of their death, they were regarded as martyrs. The idea that an innocent man would incur a curse from God just because he had been unfortunate enough to die an agonizing death on the cross was never part of Pharisee thinking, and only a deep contempt for the Judaism of the Pharisees has led so many scholars to assume that it was. The Pharisees never thought that God was either stupid or unjust, and he would have to be both to put a curse on an innocent victim. (Hyam Maccoby, The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity, p. 67)

 A hadith sherif, which our mother Aisha as-Siddiqa (radi-Allahu anha) related, says “I suffer the pain of the poisonous meat I ate at Khaibar. Because of that poison my aorta almost fails to function now”. This hadith sheriff shows that, in addition to prophethood, Allahu tal’ala has given the status of martyrdom to Muhammad the Highest of Mankind (alaihi salam).  (Waqf Ikhlas, The Sunni Path, p. 78)

 The fact that Allah protected the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) from dying from the poison right away and had him live long enough in order to finish his duty of spreading the message of Islam and then Allah had the Prophet die from the poison four years later so that the Prophet could die as a martyr, which is the most honorable death that a person in Islam could have proves that he was a Prophet. (1)

If Jesus was crucified and poisoned, the Pharisees considered him a martyr, the Jews considered him a false prophet, and the Romans considered him a political threat. Yet Islam absolves Jesus from the charge of crucifixion; the Holy Quran says what actually happened – Jesus was not crucified at all. (4:157)

 The Stimulating Effects of Vinegar:

According to the Gospels, Jesus was given a sponge full of vinegar. The ancient civilizations believed that vinegar had stimulating effects on the body, the senses were aroused and the body twitched.

The Gospels show that Jesus immediately died after drinking the vinegar:

Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (John 19:29-30)

This proves Jesus was poisoned, the vinegar is supposed to have stimulating effects, yet it killed Jesus instantly!

Crucifixion was a slow death. It usually lasted several days. Death followed from exhaustion, inability to respire property as

a result of being in an upright position or attacks by wild animals. Why did Jesus, who was a fit and healthy man used to 

walking the countryside for long distances, die so quickly in only a matter of a few hours? [1] 

Within the canonical texts certain clues may be found that shows that the biblical crucifixion was a less then transparent affair. In the Fourth Gospel Jesus, hanging

on the cross, says that he thirsts and is given a sponge allegedly soaked in vinegar. Tradition has it that this act was an act of derision, but in actuality vinegar - or soured wine – 

was a temporary stimulant with effects similar to smelling salts. It was often used to resuscitate exhausted galley slaves. For an exhausted man, a sniff or taste of vinegar 

would induce a restorative, rejuvenating effect. Surprisingly, in Jesus' case the effect is exactly the opposite. As soon as he tastes or inhales the sponge he expires. 

Corey Gilkes, The Crucifixion Demystified, [online Source]  

We must contend that Jesus was poisoned, and this does not disqualify his prophethood. Yet Muslims do not believe Jesus was crucified, so Christians are responsible for solving this dilemma. The only explanation is that Jesus was not crucified, (Al-Quran 4:157), therefore he was not poisoned.

The discovery of Gnostic texts at Nag Hammadi, Egypt unearthed a book called The Second Treatise of the Great Seth, where Jesus states:

I did not succumb to them as they had planned. But I was not afflicted at all. Those who were there punished me. And I did not die in reality but in appearance, lest I be put to shame by them because these are my kinsfolk. I removed the shame from me and I did not become fainthearted in the face of what happened to me at their hands. I was about to succumb to fear, and I suffered according to their sight and thought, in order that they may never find any word to speak about them. For my death, which they think happened, (happened) to them in their error and blindness, since they nailed their man unto their death. For their Ennoias did not see me, for they were deaf and blind. But in doing these things, they condemn themselves. Yes, they saw me; they punished me. It was another, their father, who drank the gall and the vinegar; it was not I. They struck me with the reed; it was another, Simon, who bore the cross on his shoulder. It was another upon Whom they placed the crown of thorns. But I was rejoicing in the height over all the wealth of the archons and the offspring of their error, of their empty glory. And I was laughing at their ignorance. The Treatise of the Great Seth [online Source]

Source : http://www.answering-christianity.com

Published by :

Mr.Mohammed Hussain Assadi &

Mrs.Omairah Mohammed Altao

By: ROAD to Jannah