(𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗬 𝗞𝗔𝗔𝗕𝗔) 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗔𝗠, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗤𝗨𝗥𝗔𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗘.
Hajj is a muslim pilgrimage, and millions of pilgrims around the world come to one place to do Tawaaf (circumambulating) around a certain building in Makkah, famously known as the "House of God" (Bait Ullah) or the "House of Abraham". It was named after Abraham (as) as it was built by Prophet Abraham (as) and his son Ishmael (as). Islamic history claims this structure was the first to be made by Abraham (as) and his son Ishmael as a collective place of worship.
The Quran says:
“𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 (𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑) 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝑩𝒂𝒌𝒌𝒂𝒉 (𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒌𝒂𝒉), 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅.” HOLY QURAN - 3:9
The Kaaba has not been named directly in the Bible, even though there are some verses and passages that hint towards it. However, Makkah (under its historical name of Bakkah), the well of Zamzam (Holy spring of water that has been flowing for thousands of years) and the surrounding area of Desert area of Arabia (Paran) is mentioned directly in the Bible:
“𝑩𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒆; 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑽𝑨𝑳𝑳𝑬𝒀 𝑶𝑭 𝑩𝑨𝑲𝑲𝑨𝑯, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒂 𝑺𝑷𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮; 𝑨𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒈𝒐 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒁𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒅.” HOLY BIBLE - 84:6
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗔𝗠 (as) 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗙𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗬 𝗜𝗡 𝗜𝗦𝗟𝗔𝗠 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗘.
According to Islamic sources Makkah was a barren land (a desert in the wilderness). It was Abraham (as) and his family Ishmael and Hajarah (as) that cultivated it and made it a place of worship for monotheists. The narrative is summarised as thus:
Prophet Abraham (as) brought Hagar (Hajara) his wife and his eldest son Ishmael (as a toddler) to the wilderness of Paran (Arabia), upon the command of God.
God instructs Propeht Abraham (as) to leave them in the wilderness and to not worry about their well-being as it will be taken care of by God.
Hagar (as) runs from two mountains at the valley of Bakka (Makkah) searching for water for her child Ishmael, but couldn't find anything in the barren land.
Miraculously, God brings water to gush fourth from the ground as a spring in the desert, under the feet of the child (Prophet Ishmael). The spring is flowing till this day known as the "well of ZamZam".
Hagar and her son Ishmael settle in the area and cultivate the land, bringing many people to come to the area and settle in Makkah near the well of ZamZam.
Abraham (as) continues to visit Makkah throughout his life and on one occasion Prophet Abraham and Ishmael (as) together build the Holy Kaaba (a place of worship) for God.
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗘 - 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗔𝗠'𝗦 𝗙𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗬 𝗜𝗡 𝗕𝗔𝗞𝗞𝗔 (𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡).
A similar narrative is found in the Bible about Abraham and Ishmael speaks of the wife of Abraham (Hagar) and her child (Ishmael) and how they were left in the wilderness of Paran (Makkah). It even mentions the miraculous spring of water and how Ishmael's progeny will be made into a great (monotheistic) nation.
"𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘢𝘦𝘭. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮, “𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 (𝘏𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘳). 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘩 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘢𝘤 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 a great 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣’𝙨 (Hagar) 𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙨𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜.”
𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘈𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘱, 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘳’𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘣𝘢. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺, 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘸𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘦!” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘱𝘵.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯, “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘏𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘳? 𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱, 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.” 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙖 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧. 𝘚𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬.
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙬 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣, his mother got him a wife from the land of Egypt." HOLY BIBLE - GENESIS 21: 11-20
NOTE: God blesses Ishmael and says he will be made into a Great Nation (Arab nation) as well as mentioning that "God is with him". God never praises or calls a misguided nation as "Great" unless they have belief in Him. Ishmael's nation today are "following" the monotheistic teachings of the direct decendant of Prophet Ishmael (as); Prophet Muhammad (saw).
𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘: God mentions the "well of water", which is still flowing today in Makkah known as the well of ZamZam. This was a miracle of God for Hagar and Ishmael (as) and his nation.
Image showing worshippers at Makkah drinking the holy water from the well of Zamzam.