Christian Churches of God
No. Q001D
Chronology
of the Koran Part II: Becca and the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs
(Edition 1.5
20191030-20191109)
This text deals with Original Islam and the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs
and the move from Becca and Petra to Kufa and Mecca with the Abbasids in the
First Civil War in Islam.
Christian Churches of God
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(Copyright ©
2019 Wade Cox)
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Chronology Part II: Becca
and the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs
Introduction
Just what and where is Becca and who are the Four
Rightly Guided Caliphs? What happened to them and who took over from them? How does it all affect Islam and what does it
mean to the faith now?
Location of Becca
Becca
was the name of the location of the Ka’aba. It was the place where the Prophet’s
grandfather was almost sacrificed to Baal/Hubal and where his clan of the
Qureysh was located. It is physically impossible for it to have been at Mecca
as we will see. Yet it was where the Church was located and where the Prophet
was educated in the faith and baptized. It was the centre of a trading system
linking the Arabian Peninsular with Mesopotamia.
The
Koran or Qur’an was revealed there within the precinct of Becca and then at
Medina after the Hijra in 622 CE.
The
search for a place named Becca may well have sought to identify Baka and indeed
Mecca was not a place of pilgrimage but the Hebrew word Bekah meaning the half
shekel coin as an offering is a reference to the feasts. There is no
doubt that the church never made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and the Ka’aba[h]
was an idolatrous place cleansed of idols. The Temple mount was a rubbish pit
until it was conquered and ordered cleansed of rubbish by Omar.
One of the later attempts after the death of the Prophet and the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs was to locate the area of Becca away from Jerusalem to the area of the Family of the Prophet and their clan of the Qureysh which was located at Petra and their name of the area as Becca. Bekka was originally west of Jerusalem where Abraham originally prayed as explained in Surah 3:96-97 (Q003) and not east of Petra where the clans of Ishmael and the Qureysh were located adjacent to the sons of Edom and the Amalekites. The Ka’aba as the Temple of Baal or Hubal and the Gods of the days was located there with the Temple also of the goddess Al Lat at Wadi Rum. Mecca was a post Islamic substitute for the relocation of the Ka’aba and the Meteorite as the centre of the worship of Baal/Hubal in Arabia to displace the faith in the Churches of God.
What
happened at the site of Mecca and when was the site established there? What was
the significance? How might we piece together the history of what happened? Let us examine the matter.
Orientation and
direction of prayer in Islam
People
assume, because people espousing Islam turn to Mecca to pray, that they always
did so. That is utterly false. Until
recently all scholarship regarding Islam agreed that the original Islamic faith
turned towards Jerusalem and did not orient to Mecca at all.
Further,
people assume that the place of pilgrimage was to Mecca and the stoning of
Satan and the circumambulations of the Ka’aba always took place there. That
appears to be not so, but was undertaken at Petra.
The
orientation towards Jerusalem was uniform under the Prophet and later under the
Four Rightly Guided Caliphs through the Umayyad Caliphate at Damascus until the
civil war with the Abbasids.
The Prophet died on 8 June 632 at Medina in Arabia. He
was succeeded by four successive caliphs, all of which he trained.
These four were
termed the Rashidun Caliphs and they
ruled for 30 years. Their dynasty, the Umayyad, located at Damascus, remained
in control until the dynasty was overthrown in 750 CE by the Abbasids. Because
they were trained by the Prophet, and followed the Scriptures and the Koran or
Qur’an, the first four were termed the Rightly Guided Caliphs. The militarist
arm of the pseudo-Islamists turned on the converted elements of the faith and
Ali and Hussein were killed and the Church was suppressed after only 30 years
under the Rashidun.
The Prophet’s uncle
Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib (566-653) lived at a settlement 27 miles east of Petra
which was the centre of his clan. He was
four years older than the Prophet and died eight years before the death of Ali
and was not regarded as a Rashidun or
Rightly Guided Caliph. He was not in obvious open rebellion to them but Ali and
Hussein were killed eight years after his death by the opponents of the Church
among the pseudo-Muslims. Abbas was dead
some 93 years before the formation of the Abbasid forces and the Revolution of
750 under those forces. The Abbasid dynasty was then formed from the conflicts
in opposition to the Umayyads ruling from Damascus, where they had relocated
the political capital from Becca, but still within the Roman province of Syria.
This makes the Surahs in the Koran regarding the Romans and the Churches in the
Levant even more understandable (cf. Establishment of the
Church under the Seventy (No. 122D)).
However, they always directed the Mosques to what was assumed as
Jerusalem among all the scholars of Islam. That has now come under question in
the orientation with the recent study claiming that is was directed to Petra,
the former capital of Idumea and the Nabatean trading centre in the Roman
Province of Syria (now in Jordan) in which was the location of the site of
Becca, and not Mecca at all. We will examine the matter below.
There is no doubt whatsoever that the Qiblahs or places in the Mosques to
which prayer was directed underwent a major and lasting change from what was
understood to be Jerusalem to the later centre of Mecca after the Abbasids
seized control in the Civil War. In fact
it is doubtful that there was any initial need to place a Qiblah in any mosque
before that conflict. This was a relocation in the political control of Islam
and the direction was forced to change to Mecca, which until that time appeared
to not exist in the religious system until the relocation of the Ka’aba and the
Shrines at Becca to Mecca and the texts were altered to disguise the name Becca
to read “Mecca”. This relocation gave rise to the curious reference in Islam
that said “We both pray to the same Qiblah” meaning that we are of the same
side or belief.
In Arabic this forgery required a mere alteration of the diacritical
point which formed the B of Becca to
the symbol which overwrote the point with the sublinear curl of the M for Mecca. From this point all Korans
not in the Kufic script, which was the centre of Abbasid power before their
relocation from Kufa to Baghdad, were seized and destroyed. That fact is the
basis behind all Islamic insistence on the Arabic Kufic Script to this date all
over the world. It was to conceal the forgeries
and alterations. Other alterations appear to have been made regarding the Food Laws (No. 015)
(cf. also Surah 3:93 (Q003) and Surah 22:36 (Q022) for details) and the pagan eating
of camels at Eid and the destruction of the Temple Calendar in Islam followed
these heresies along with the move of the Sabbath to the Friday Juma’ah Preparation
Day (cf. The Jumaah: Preparing for
the Sabbath (No. 285); Sabbath in the Koran (No.
274) and. Hebrew and Islamic
Calendar Reconciled (No. 053)).
It is this conflict which was the critical point of the insertion of pagan
heresies into Islam and the Sabbatarian Churches of God and the corruption of
the faith (cf. also The Koran on the Bible,
the Law and the Covenant (No. 083)).
“The Abbasid
Dynasty was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn
Abdul-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes its
name.[2] They ruled as caliphs for most of the caliphate from
their capital in Baghdad in
modern-day Iraq, after having overthrown the Umayyad Caliphate in the Abbasid Revolution of
750 CE (132 AH).
The Abbasid
Caliphate first centred its government in Kufa,
modern-day Iraq, but in 762 the caliph Al-Mansur founded the city of Baghdad,
near the ancient Sasanian capital
city of Ctesiphon. The Abbasid period was marked by
reliance on Persian bureaucrats
(notably the Barmakid family)
for governing the territories as well as an increasing inclusion of non-Arab
Muslims in the ummah (national
community). Persianate customs were
broadly adopted by the ruling elite, and they began patronage of artists and
scholars.[3] Baghdad became a centre of
science, culture, philosophy and invention in what became known as the Golden Age of Islam.
Despite this
initial cooperation, the Abbasids of the late 8th century had alienated both
non-Arab mawali (clients)[4] and Iranian bureaucrats.[5] They were forced to cede
authority over al-Andalus (Spain)
to the Umayyads in
756, Morocco to the Idrisid dynasty in 788, Ifriqiya and Southern Italy to the Aghlabids in 800, Iran to Saffarid in 861 and Egypt to
the Isma'ili-Shia caliphate
of the Fatimids in
969.” (cf. Wikipedia article links).
It is
from this transfer under the Abbasids that we learn much. The place of their
ancestry was not at Mecca as was claimed by later scholars but at Becca where tradition
and archeologists have located the ruins of the dwelling of the uncle of the
Prophet 27 miles or 43.45 km east of Petra.
It
was the Abbasids that moved the meteorite of the Ka’aba from Petra where it was
located east to Mecca. It is certain
that no Ka’aba was at Mecca during the life of the Prophet nor did he encourage
any such activity associated with it. It was rebuilt in Mecca ca 70 AH or 699
CE (cf. Al Tabari 21:844). This was 51 years prior to the revolution and shows
an extensive period of preparation. All Umayyads at Damascus are reported as facing
to Petra or on alignments associated with that orientation and not to Mecca at all
in any instance, according to new research
by Dan Gibson as at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JOWFPTzK7D4 (Dan Gibson The Sacred City (Religious Documentary) | Timeline
Some of his other
work the reader might find useful: https://www.youtube.com/user/canbooks/videos
It
should also be noted that the history regarding Becca denotes a walled city,
but Mecca had no walls. However Petra has a walled structure that fits the
narrative and the Courtyard at Petra fits the historical account of it being
besieged by the catapults described in the assaults. Also, the archaeologists
have discovered the missiles used in the assault at Petra.
Al Bukhari
says the place of prayer was at Jerusalem and not Mecca (Buk. 6:17) (cf. also The Children of Israel or
the Night Journey (Surah 17 (Q017)).
Becca
or Petra was also exposed to the influence of the Churches of God established
by the Seventy ordained by Christ from the dioceses established from the time
of the Apostles at Jerusalem, Ceasarea (Central North Israel), Samaria,
Jericho, Gaza, Eleutheropolis (Roman and Byzantine city between Jerusalem and
Gaza), Damascus, Antioch, Ephesus, Smyrna, Laodicea, Alexandria, Axum and all
Abyssinia, Saba, Yemen, Hieres, Phrygia, Nicomedia, Heraclea, Tarsus, Bostra
(Busra Al Sham in Southern Syria), Konya (in Turkey), Panellas or Banias at the
foot of the Golan, Antioch, Appollonia, Lystra and right throughout Arabia and
as a trading network.
It
was the Church at Becca/Petra that trained and ordained the Prophet and his
wife and her entire family. The Sabbatarian Church developed the Arabic script
and translated the Scriptures into Arabic for over 100 years before the birth
of the Prophet, as we know from archeology. The claim that the Scriptures have
been lost is an Hadithic blasphemy.
It
was to the Sabbatarian Church in Abyssinia that the Church at Becca first
sought refuge in the Hijrah of 613 CE (cf. Surah “Mariam” (Q019)).
It is
also important to note that Mecca was not used as an ancient city and the
archaeologists have been unable to find any trace of any ancient structure
beneath Mecca that placed it before the relocation under the Abbasids. Nor is
it recorded that any trees are recorded or found there. Yet there were trees at
Becca or Petra.
Mecca
was an uncultivated grazing area until the end of the eighth century CE. Also
the cave in which the Prophet received his vision of Gabriel and the revelation
is not located at Mecca but there is such a cave at Becca or Petra.
There are many clues in the Koran that indicate that
the Ka’aba was anathema to the faith and it was never moved to Mecca under the
Prophet or the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs. In fact they never used Mecca or
established it as a centre of anything. Then why was it moved there by the
Abbasids and turned into an object of pilgrimage when it was never such under
the Prophet and the Four Caliphs? The answer seems obvious and simple. They
were influenced by Baal or Hubal worship and wished to establish its
observation in the suppression of the Church of God and they could not do so
from Petra or Becca, yet they could not obliterate Becca from the religious
documents and memory of the Faith. The reversal of the male/female Sun and Moon
indicate the Baal worship system in the Levant was transferred to Mecca where
nothing existed prior to the Abbasid system or at Kufa. The historical transfer
of the Ka’aba by the Abbasids is beyond dispute.
The conclusion that must be drawn is that the
references to Mecca in the texts have been altered from Becca to Mecca. That forgery
requires only a minor alteration at the beginning of the word. Hence, the two
Hijrahs in 613, to Aksum, and the one in 622, to Medina were all to the east
from Becca at Petra.
Also
the Surah “The Elephant”
(Q105) refers to Abyssinians advancing to destroy the Ka’aba which
occurred in 570 CE the year of the Prophet’s birth. Thus the advance must have
been to Becca at Petra for that is where the Ka’aba was at that time and was a
place of pilgrimage.
The
temple of the goddess Al Lat was also at Wadi Rum (Al Bukhari 23:432). Thus Petra was a centre of pagan idolatry
notwithstanding the conversion of the Edomites or Idumeans by the Maccabees in
the Second Century BCE to Judaism and the placement of Judaic tribes there and not
Arabia and the conversion of Arab tribes to Judaism. Herod and his family were
Idumean and ruled Judea and its environs with Roman patronage until their fall
in the First Century CE. Baal worship
was endemic throughout the Levant and Syria and Arabia right through to the
time of the Prophet.
Also
in 627 CE the first Mosque was built in the old city of Canton (Guangzhou) China. It was oriented to Jerusalem or, perhaps,
as is now claimed, the Jordan Valley at Petra, and did not face Mecca but 12
degrees north of Mecca. This was during the life of the Prophet at Medina, and only
14 years after the Church sought refuge in Abyssinia from the Church there and
only five years after the Hijrah of 622. The Church in Medina was not powerful
enough to warrant such independent status. It was the Church there in Abyssinia
under Archbishop Meuses that established the Church in China in the Fourth and
Fifth century (cf. General Distribution of the Sabbath-keeping
Churches (No. 122)). It is
most probable that this building was oriented towards Jerusalem and the
determination between Jerusalem and Becca/Petra is difficult to determine with
any degree of accuracy. It is certainly not oriented to, or facing, Mecca.
It is an historical fact
that Umar or Omar took Jerusalem by force and made the inhabitants clean up the
Temple Mount in order to establish a place of worship there, as the
Trinitarians had used it as a rubbish tip. The conclusion now seems inescapable. Becca,
the centre of the faith during the life of the Prophet Qasim and the lives of
the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs, was at, and adjacent to, Petra and within the
influence of the Churches of God in the Levant (cf. 122D above).
It was part of the Roman Province of Syria or Nabatea and the centre of the
trading route that formed the early employment of the Prophet and the Christian
Jewish trading family of Kadijah his wife. Mecca was no such trading centre. Mecca
was never used for any purpose associated with the faith at the time of the Prophet
and the Rightly Guided Caliphs until it was set up as a centre of worship with
the Ka’aba at its centre under the Abbasids to establish the shamanist and pagan
traditions of the Baal/Hubal worshippers in Islam contrary to the Koran and the
Laws of God in the Bible. It has no place in the worship in Islam. Facing Mecca
in prayer is a post Abbasid creation and in fact rebellion towards God. The
circumambulation of the Ka’aba is shamanist idolatry.
The
reality is that no Surahs of the Koran were ever written at Mecca but were in
fact written at Becca or Petra. Thus the academic term must be Very Early,
Early, Mid or Late Beccan Surahs in all cases up to the Hijrah in 622 CE and
thence at Medina as Medinan Surahs.
q