TRUE WORLD HISTORY
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic
Arabia - Part 1
ADITI
CHATURVEDI
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia - Part 1
Many centuries before prophet Muhammad and the destructive advent of Islam,
Arabia or Arabistan was an extremely rich and glorious center of Vedic
civilization. In this article, I will prove to you point by point that
pre-Islamic Arabia was in fact a flourishing civilization which revered Vedic
culture.
It is the prophet Muhammad and the followers of Islam who are fully responsible
for the dissemination and destruction of this once glorious culture.
In learning about this most ancient heritage, let's begin with the word
Arabistan itself. Arabistan is derived from the original Sanskrit term Arvasthan
which means The Land of Horses. Since time immemorial proponents of the Vedic
culture used to breed exceptional horses in this region. Thus eventually the
land itself began to be called Arva (Horses) -Sthan (place). The people who
lived in this land were called Semitic. Semitic comes from the Sanskrit word
Smritic. Arabs followed the ancient Vedic Smritis such as Manu-Smriti as their
revered religious guides and thus they were identified as Smritic which has been
corrupted into Semitic.
At that time the Uttarapath (Northern Highway) was the international highway to
the North of India. It was via Uttarapath that Arabia and other Middle Eastern
countries drew their spiritual, educational and material sustenance from India.
Besides, this Sea-links were formed with India at least 800 years before the
advent of Islam. Basra was the ancient gateway to India because it was at this
port that the Arab lands recieved Indian goods and visitors. At that time the
spoken language was Sanskrit, which later dwindled into the local variation that
we now call Arabic. The proof of this is that thousands of words that were
derived from Sanskrit still survive in Arabic today. Here is a sampling of some:
Sanskrit Arabic English
-----------------------
Sagwan Saj Teakwood
Vish Besh Poison
Anusari Ansari Follower
Shishya Sheikh Disciple
Mrityu Mout Death
Pra-Ga-ambar Paigambar One from heaven
Maleen Malaun Dirty or soiled
Aapati Aafat Misfortune
Karpas Kaifas Cotton
Karpur Kafur Camphor
Pramukh Barmak Chief
Even various kinds of swords were referred to as Handuwani, Hindi, Saif-Ul-Hind,
Muhannid and Hinduani. The Sanskrit Astronomical treatise Brahma-Sphuta-Siddhanta
in Arabic translation is known as Sind-Hind, while another treatise
Khanda-Khadyaka was called Arkand. Mathematics itself was called Hindisa .
The Arabs derived technical guidance in every branch of study such as astronomy,
mathematics and physics from India. A noted scholar of history, W.H. Siddiqui
notes:
"The Arab civilization grew up intensively
as well as extensively on the riches of
Indian trade and commerce. Nomadic Arab
tribes became partially settled communities
and some of them lived within walled towns practised agriculture and commerce,
wroteon wood and stone, feared the gods and honored the kings."
Some people wrongly believe that Arabs used the word Hindu as a term of
contemptuous abuse. Nothing could be further from the truth. The people of
pre-Islamic Arabia held Hinduism in great esteem as evidenced from the fact that
they would endearingly call their most attractive and favourite daughters as
Hinda and Saifi Hindi. The fact that Arabs regarded India as their spiritual and
cultural motherland long before the damaging influence of Islam is corroborated
by the following poem which mentions each one of the four Vedas by name: (The
English translation is in black)
"Aya muwarekal araj yushaiya noha
minar HIND-e
Wa aradakallaha
manyonaifail jikaratun"
"Oh the divine land of HIND (India)
(how) very blessed art thou!
Because thou art the chosen
of God blessed with knowledge"
"Wahalatijali Yatun ainana sahabi
akha-atun jikra Wahajayhi yonajjalur
-rasu minal HINDATUN "
"That celestial knowledge which like
four lighthouses shone in such
brilliance - through the (utterances of)
Indian sages in fourfold abundance."
"Yakuloonallaha ya ahal araf alameen
kullahum
Fattabe-u jikaratul VEDA bukkun
malam yonajjaylatun"
"God enjoins on all humans,
follow with hands down
The path the Vedas with his divine
precept lay down."
"Wahowa alamus SAMA wal YAJUR
minallahay Tanajeelan
Fa-e-noma ya akhigo mutiabay-an
Yobassheriyona jatun"
"Bursting with (Divine) knowledge
are SAM &YAJUR bestowed on creation,
Hence brothers respect and
follow the Vedas, guides to salvation"
"Wa-isa nain huma RIG ATHAR nasayhin
Ka-a-Khuwatun
Wa asant Ala-udan wabowa masha -e-ratun"
"Two others, the Rig and Athar teach us
fraternity, Sheltering under their
lustre dispels darkness till eternity"
This poem was written by Labi-Bin-E- Akhtab-Bin-E-Turfa who lived in Arabia
around 1850 B.C. That was 2300 years before Mohammed!!! This verse can be found
in Sair- Ul-Okul which is an anthology of ancient Arabic poetry. It was compiled
in 1742 AD under order of the Turkish Sultan Salim.
That the Vedas were the religious scriptures to which the Arabs owed allegiance
as early as 1800 B.C. proves not only the antiquity of the Vedas but also the
existence of Indian rule over the entire region from the Indus to the
Mediterranean, because it is a fact of history that the religion of the ruler is
practised by his subjects.
Vedic culture was very much alive just before the birth of Muhammad. Again let's
refer to the Sair-Ul-Okul. The following poem was written by Jirrham Bintoi who
lived 165 years before the prophet Muhammed. It is in praise of India's great
King Vikramaditya who had lived 500 years before Bintoi. (The English
translation is in red).
"Itrasshaphai Santul
Bikramatul phehalameen Karimun
Bihillahaya Samiminela
Motakabbenaran Bihillaha
Yubee qaid min howa
Yaphakharu phajgal asari
nahans Osirim Bayjayholeen
Yaha sabdunya Kanateph natephi
bijihalin Atadari Bilala masaurateen
phakef Tasabahu. Kaunni eja majakaralhada
walhada Achimiman, burukan, Kad, Toluho
watastaru Bihillaha yakajibainana
baleykulle amarena
Phaheya jaunabil amaray Bikramatoon"
- (Sair-ul-Okul, Page 315)
"Fortunate are those who were born
during King Vikram's reign, he was
a noble generous, dutiful ruler devoted
to the welfare of his subjects. But at
that time, We Arabs oblivious of divinity
were lost in sensual pleasures. Plotting
& torture were rampant. The darkness of
ignorance had enveloped our country.
Like the lamb struggling for its life
in the cruel jaws of a wolf, we Arabs
were gripped by ignorance. The whole
country was enveloped in a darkness as
intense as on a New moon night. But the
present dawn & pleasant sunshine of
education is the result of the favor of
that noble king Vikram whose benevolence
did not lose sight of us foreigners as we
were. He spread his sacred culture amongst
us and sent scholars from his own land
whose brilliance shone like that of the sun
in our country. These scholars & preceptors
through whose benevolence we were once again
made aware of the presence of god, introduced
to his secret knowledge & put on the road to
truth, had come to our country to initiate us
in that culture & impart education."
Thus we can see that Vedic religion and culture were present in Pre-Islamic
Arabia as early as 1850 B.C., and definitely present at the time of Mohammed's
birth.
In his book Origines, Volumes 3 & 4", Sir W. Drummond adds:
"Tsabaism was the universal language of mankind when Abraham received his call,
their doctrines were probably extended all over the civilized nations of Earth."
Tsabaism is merely the corruption of the word Shaivism which is Vedic religion.
On page 439 of this book, Sir Drummond mentions some of gods of pre-Islamic
Arabs, all of which were included in the 360 idols that were consecrated in the
Kaba shrine before it was raided and destroyed by Muhammad and his followers.
Here are some of the Vedic deities and their original Sanskrit names:
Arabic Sanskrit English
Al-Dsaizan Shani Saturn
Al-Ozi or Ozza Oorja Divine energy
Al-Sharak Shukra Venus
Auds Uddhav -
Bag Bhagwan God
Bajar Vajra Indra's thunderbolt
Kabar Kuber God of wealth
Dar Indra King of gods
Dua Shara Deveshwar Lord of the gods
Habal Bahubali Lord of strength
Madan Madan God of love
Manaph Manu First Man
Manat Somnath Lord Shiv
Obodes Bhoodev Earth
Razeah Rajesh King of kings
Saad Siddhi God of Luck
Sair Shree Goddess of wealth
Sakiah Shakrah Indra
Sawara Shiva-Eshwar God Shiva
Yauk Yaksha Divine being
Wad Budh Mercury
The Kaba temple which was misappropriated and captured by Muslims was originally
an International Vedic Shrine. The ancient Vedic scripture Harihareswar Mahatmya
mentions that Lord Vishnu's footprints are consecrated in Mecca. An important
clue to this fact is that Muslims call this holy precint Haram which is a
deviation of the Sanskrit term Hariyam, i.e. the precint of Lord Hari alias Lord
Vishnu. The relevant stanza reads:
"Ekam Padam Gayayantu
MAKKAYAANTU Dwitiyakam
Tritiyam Sthapitam
Divyam Muktyai Shuklasya Sannidhau"
The allusion is to the Vamana incarnation of Lord Vishnu whose blessed feet were
consecrated at three holy sites, namely Gaya, Mecca and Shukla Teertha.
Worshipping such carved, holy foot impressions is a holy Vedic custom which
convert Muslims are inadvertently perpetuating. But in doing this they delude
themselves and mislead others that these foot-impressions which are on
reverential display in several mosques and tombs around the world are in fact
Muhammad's own. There are several snags in this argument. Firstly worshipping a
foot -impression amounts to idolatry and should therefore be taboo for a true
Muslim. Secondly Muhhamad disclaimed having performed any miracles. Therefore
there can be no foot-impression of his on stone. Thirdly foot-impressions must
always be in pairs like shoes. Yet in most of these shrines, it is usually a
single footprint which suggests that Muhammad walked on only one foot. Another
question that crops up is whether the foot-impression is of the same size and
foot in all the shrines. The fact appears to be that when the Vedic Kaba shrine
in Mecca was invaded by Muhammad, the pairs of foot impressions of Vedic deities
there were plundered and later traded to the gullible and devout as Muhammad's
own footprints for some favour, reward or personal gain by unscrupulous muslims.
That is why they are single and not in pairs.
Figure 1.
The Shiv Ling at The Kaba. It was broken in seven
places and now is held together by a silver band.
The Black Stone which is the Shiv Emblem (also known as Sange Aswad which is a
corrupted form of the Sanskrit word Sanghey Ashweta--meaning non-white stone)
still survives in the Kaba as the central object of Islamic veneration. All
other Vedic Idols could be found buried in the precincts or trampled underfoot
in labyrinthine subterranean corridors if archaeological excavations are
undertaken. The Black Stone has been badly mutilated, its carved base has
disappeared and the stone itself is broken at seven places. It's parts are now
held together by a silver band studded with silver nails. It lies half buried in
the South Eastern portion of the Kaba Wall (Refer to Figure 1). The term Kaba
itself is a corruption of the Sanskrit word Gabha (Garbha + Graha) which means
Sanctum.
In addition, in the inscriptions from Hajja and its neighborhood was found a
votive vessel dedicated by members of two tribes called Rama and Somia. Rama and
Soma are Vedic deities, Rama is of the Solar dynasty and Soma is of the Lunar
Dynasty. The moon god was called by various names in pre-Islamic times , one of
them was Allah. Allah had 3 children, Al-Lat, Al-Uzza and Manat. Al-Lat and Al-Uzza
were both feminine deities. Alla is another name for the Hindu goddess Durga. It
is obvious that the goddess Al-Lat was Alla (Durga) and Al-Uzza was Oorja
(energy or life force also known as Shakti). Manat was none other than Somnath
which is another name for Lord Shiva. One significant point to note that Soma in
Sanskrit means Moon and Nath means Lord. Thus the Kaba itself was dedicated to
the Moon God Somnath alias Shiv and the word Somnath was corrupted to Manat. The
famous Black Stone is none other than the ShivLing of Makkeshwar alias Mecca.
Lord Shiva is always shown with a crescent Moon on his head and every Shiva
temple is supposed to have a sacred water spring representing the Ganges. The
Crescent Moon pinnacle of the Kaba and the Zamzam spring (actually Zamza from
Ganga) are irrefutable testaments to the Vedic origins of the Kaba.
Figure 2 below depicts the image of Maqam-E-Ibrahim in the Kaba.
Figure 2.
Maqam-E-Ibrahim or more appropriately the pedestal of Brahma.
Muslims from all over the world pay homage to this shrine. This shrine is
actually the pedestal of Brahma. Notice that the word, Ibrahim is actually a
corruption of the word, Brahma. The octogonal grill which is a Vedic design,
protects the holy footprints which represent the start of the creation nearly
2000 million years ago. Before it was captured by the Muslims it was an
international shrine of the Vedic trinity.
In fact the names of the holiest of Muslim cities Mecca and Medina come from the
Sanskrit words Makha-Medini which means the land of Fire-Worship. Even the most
ancient names of these 2 cities were Mahcorava- which came from Mahadeva (Lord
Shiva) and Yathrabn - which came from Yatra-Sthan (place of pilgrimage).
Islam came into being about 1372 years ago. It is well known that over 7500
years ago, at the time of the Mahabharat War, Kurus ruled the world. The scions
of that family administered the different regions. Prophet Muhammed himself and
his family were adherents of Vedic culture. The Encyclopedia Islamia admits as
much when it says: "Muhammed's grandfather and uncles were hereditary priests of
the Kaba temple which housed 360 idols!"
According to Arab traditions, Muhammad is a title. We do not know what name his
parents had given him. We do however know that the central object of worship
which survives at the Kaba today is a Shivling. That was allowed to remain there
because that was the faceless family deity of Muhammad's family. One of the
original names of Lord Shiv is Mahadev (The Great God) therefore it is entirely
possible Muhammad came from Mahadev. This appears fairly certain because the
Arabs still have a Mahadevi sect. Moreover the title Mehdi of a Muslim chief is
also a malpronounciation of the term Mahadeva. According to Sanskrit etymology
the term Muhammad implies 'a person of great inspiration' - 'Mahan Madah yasya
assau Muhammadah' In a hostile sense it also implies 'a person of a proud and
haughty temperament'.
The Qurayshi tribe into which Mohammed was born was particularly devoted to
Allah and and the three children of the Moon God. Therefore when Muhammad
decided to create his own Divine religion, he took innumerable aspects of the
daily Vedic culture that surrounded him and corrupted them to suit his needs. It
was with the advent of the Prophet and Islam that the death-knell of the
glorious Arab culture was sounded. With Islam came the flood of destruction,
murder, plunder and crime that destroyed the great Vedic heritage of Arabs. The
Prophet merely took some existing artefacts and terms and corrupted them so
profoundly that no one would be able to discover their actual origins.
In my next article, I will elaborate further on the Vedic Heritage of Arabia.
Note: Works Robert A. Morey have been used to compose this article.
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic
Arabia - Part 2
ADITI
CHATURVEDI
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia - Part 2
In 570 AD, the year of Muhammad's birth, Arabia was a thriving, rich and varied
Vedic culture. Although monotheism in the forms of Christianity and Judaism were
known to the people of Arvasthan, they were undeterred in their uncompromising
faith to the religion of their ancestors: Hinduism . Every household had an idol
of a Hindu god or goddess. There were hundreds of sacred groves, places of
pilgrimage, and temples which were sanctuaries containing images of the entire
range of Vedic gods. The temples in addition to being the religious focus of the
Arabs, were also the cultural centres of learning. It was the temples that were
the venues of literary and poetry competitions, of glorious festivals.
The virtues most highly prized by people of Arvasthan were bravery in battle,
patience in misfortune, loyalty to one's tribe, and generosity to the needy and
the poor. They proudly upheld the value of tolerance in matters of religious
practice and belief. The respect they showed towards other people's religions
was fully in keeping with their Vedic spiritual tradition.
The status of women was that of pride and equal respect. How could it be
otherwise with a people whose chief deity was the goddess Durga (Alla). Women
married men of their choice and were financially independent. They were
entrepeneurs, artisans, poets and even warriors! Later on Muhammad would marry
Khadija, who was not only a wealthy merchant but also in the position to choose
her own husband. This clearly demonstrates the level of freedom women enjoyed in
Vedic Arabia. Hind, who was the wife of Muhammad's chief enemy Abu Sufyan,
herself participated in the battlefield.
Hind opposed Muhammad tooth and nail. She followed her husband to the
battlefield and when Abu Sufyan surrendered Mecca to Muhammad without a fight
she caught hold of him in the marketplace and cried:
"KILL this fat greasy bladder of lard! What a rotten protector of the people"
When Muhammad tried to baptise her & asked her not to commit adultery , She spat
out the bitter words:
"A free woman does not commit adultery!"
How proud this woman was of the rights and privileges that her Vedic society had
invested to her!
It was Islam that extinguished the light of knowledge in Vedic Arabia. It is
ironic that the man who brought about such darkness himself belonged to the
Qurayshi Tribe of Mecca. The Qurayshi were particularly devoted to Allah (Durga)
and the famous Shivling of the Kaaba Temple. The fact that the Shivling remains
to this day in the Kaaba is solely due to the fact that it happened to be the
Qurayshi tribe's faceless Family Deity. As I mentioned before Muhammad's name
itself came from Mahadeva, which is another cognate for Lord Shiva. Muhammad's
own uncle, Umar-Bin-E-Hassham was a staunch Hindu and fervent devotee of Lord
Shiva. He was a renowned poet and wrote many verses in praise of Shiva. One of
these has survived on page 235 of Sair-Ul-Okul and reads as follows:
Kafavomal fikra min ulumin Tab asayru
Kaluwan amataul Hawa was Tajakhru
We Tajakhayroba udan Kalalwade-E Liboawa
Walukayanay jatally, hay Yauma Tab asayru
Wa Abalolha ajabu armeeman MAHADEVA
Manojail ilamuddin minhum wa sayattaru
Wa Sahabi Kay-yam feema-Kamil MINDAY Yauman
Wa Yakulum no latabahan foeennak Tawjjaru
Massayaray akhalakan hasanan Kullahum
Najumum aja- at Summa gabul HINDU
which translates as:
The man who may spend his life in sin
and irreligion or waste it in lechery and wrath
If at least he relent and return to
righteousness can he be saved?
If but once he worship Mahadeva with a pure
heart, he will attain the ultimate in spirituality.
Oh Lord Shiva exchange my entire life for but
a day's sojourn in India where one attains salvation.
But one pilgrimage there secures for one all
merit and company of the truly great.
Muhammad's uncle was one of the resident priests of the Shiv temple known as "Kaaba".
This sacred sanctum was decorated in an extremely rich and beautiful fashion.
The Kaaba was astronomically oriented to face the winds. The minor axis of the
rectangular base of the Kaaba was solistically aligned towards summer sunrise
and winter sunset. It contained 360 statues of Vedic deities and was a shrine
primarily associated with sun worship. The temple was an architectural
representation of an interlocking set of theories covering virtually all
creation and comprehending chemistry, physics, cosmology, meteorology and
medicine. Each wall or corner of the Kaaba was associated with a specific region
of the world. Thus this glorious Hindu temple was made to symbolically represent
a microcosm of the universe. The Arabs would face east when praying. This
representation of a microcosm demonstrated by the eight directional structure
was derived from the Tantric pattern (Refer to Figure 1) of Hinduism. Right at
the centre of the Kaaba was the octogonal pedestal of Bramha the creator. Today
this very pedestal is called Maqam-E-Ibrahim by the Muslims.
Figure 1.
A tantric pattern which defines the structure of Kaaba
However, more significant was the fact that the Kaaba was an extremely rich and
ornate temple. On its walls hung innumerable gold plaques commemorating the
winners of the annual poetry competition known as the Okaj fair. There were
gold, silver and precious gems everywhere. It is no wonder that Muhammad armed
with his facade of a new brand of religion set out to capture the immense wealth
of the Vedic shrine of Mecca. After plundering the riches of the Kaaba, the
wealth enabled him to systematically destroy all traces of the religion that
threatened him so directly. It is an indisputable fact that money will make any
low criminal devoutly religious in a hurry.
Despite the fact that Muhammad had to destroy all traces of Hinduism in order to
make his "new religion" work, he knew that in order to fool people convincingly
he would have to borrow from the Vedic culture that surrounded him. Being
illiterate he picked out rituals and symbols that he didn't understand and
distorted and falsified them for his own ends. Here is a list of these
distortions:
Muhammad destroyed all 360 idols, but even he could not summon the courage to
completely obliterate the Shivling in the Kaaba. He entered the temple and
kissed the black stone. The Shivling was so sacred that the man who so detested
idol- worship ended up kissing the largest idol in the Kaaba. Later his
followers in a fit of piety broke the Shivling and then out of remorse repatched
it together again. Today it lies broken at seven places and held together by a
silver band studded with silver nails, bearing the name "Sangey Aswad" which
came from the Sanskrit Ashwet meaning non-white or black stone.
He jumbled up the Sanskrit words Nama and Yaja (which meant "bowing and
worshipping" respectively) into a combination word Namaz and used that to
describe his prescribed method of prayer.
Because the Vedic custom was to pray facing the East, in his hatred for all
things Hindu, he directed his followers to pray facing only the west.
The method of circling around a shrine seven times in a clockwise direction is
an ancient Vedic custom. Muhammad with his lack of originality decided that the
7 ritual perambulations should be retained but again in his hatred of all things
Vedic decided the direction of the perambulations should be anti-clockwise.
With his phobia of all things Vedic, Muhammad knew that the greatest reminder
and threat to his forced brand of religion were the beautiful Vedic idols of
Arabic temples. Thus he destroyed every idol he could find and made idol worship
the greatest crime for a Muslim. Such a man could never have comprehended how an
abstract concept can be conveyed through a symbolic representation in the form
of an image. Thus he made all image representation a sin as well.
Vedic religion is known for its ancient oral tradition. It is well known that
the Vedic culture emphasized oral debate and expression far more than the
written word. In adition the oral recitation of Vedic scriptures was always done
in a lyrical fashion, utilizing music and thus reaching a height of expression.
In fear of this musical tradition Muhammad decided to forbid Music.
All Arabic copies of the Koran have the mysterious figure 786 imprinted on them
. No Arabic scholar has been able to determine the choice of this particular
number as divine. It is an established fact that Muhammad was illiterate
therefore it is obvious that he would not be able to differentiate numbers from
letters. This "magical" number is none other than the Vedic holy letter "OM"
written in Sanskrit (Refer to figure 2). Anyone who knows Sanskrit can try
reading the symbol for "OM" backwards in the Arabic way and magically the
numbers 786 will appear! Muslims in their ignorance simply do not realise that
this special number is nothing more than the holiest of Vedic symbols misread.
Figure 2.
Read from right to left this figure
of OM represents the numbers 786
There are many such instances where the symbols and rituals of Vedic culture
were completely distorted and falsified by Muhammad in his bid to "create" his
brand new religion. However in his haste to deceive and because of his ignorance
and illiteracy, thousands of Vedic symbols still remain. Although they have been
distorted beyond imagination, they still remain as solemn reminders of Arabia's
glorious Vedic past. They can never be supressed.
In fact the rise of Islam put a full stop to all the previous knowledge of
Arabia. The imperialistic message of Islam diverted all energies into raiding,
looting and destruction. The incentive to learn and preserve the Vedic wisdom
that had thrived in Arabia for so many centuries, was wiped out by the brutal
pressure of Islam. Making easy money through loot and massacre was far more
appealing than upholding the tenets of ancient knowledge. Gone were the schools,
teachers, libraries, poets, artists, philosophers and scholars that had littered
the Vedic landscape of Arabia like stars. Everyone had to become a raider if not
from choice then for the sake of surviving the absolute intolerance of
dissenters, that Islam preached. Thus was the light of learning extinguished in
Arabia. All that remained was the Koran, the Kalma and the murderous hatred of
anything Non-Muslim.
In my next article I will explore how the Arabs fought to keep the integrity and
pride of their Vedic culture alive in the face of the violent, unjust and
murderous destruction caused by the followers of Islam.
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic
Arabia - Part 3
ADITI
CHATURVEDI
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia - Part 3
The Hindus of Arabia lived in a land where their forefathers had lived and
prospered for ages past. They were proud inheritors of the ancient Vedic culture
and religion. Mecca was a city whose commerce was expanding greatly and whose
power and prestige were well established. Meccans were content, prosperous and
devoted to the religion of their ancestors. The Kaaba temple drew thousands of
devotees from around the world. Trade and barter flourished greatly, due to the
immense number of visitors who came to Mecca on pilgrimage. The members of the
Qurayshi tribe to which Muhammad belonged, were the priests who performed the
rites and rituals for these pilgrims, thereby deriving their very livelihood
from the Vedic gods of the Kaaba. It is no wonder that the majority of them
later rejected Muhammad's new religion and paid for it with their lives. In any
case the Meccans were exceedingly devoted to their gods and very satisfied with
the state of their lives. They were not at all on the lookout for a new cult or
savior who could rescue them from a miserable state or lead them into a promised
land. They had rejected Monotheism wholeheartedly during the short lived Jewish
regime in Yemen and their Vedic gods had protected them very well against the
Abyssinian Invasion. They were skeptical and amused by prophets foaming at the
mouth and dismissed them as magicians or just plain lunatics. They did not want
to hear any so called "revelations" or so called heavenly "messengers". In short
the Arabs were noble, content people, who felt spiritually enriched and
materialistically satisfied. It is only in such successful societies that the
qualities of tolerance, equality of the sexes, independence, love of free
thinking, and cultural enrichment can exist.
When Muhammad first started preaching his "new" religion the Meccans tolerated
it as they had tolerated many such propounders of "new" religions before.
However they were startled out of their tolerance when the small band of
Islamists started to publicly ridicule the Vedic heritage of the Meccans and
threatened to break down the idols, which were the pride of Mecca. At first they
proceeded in a calm manner to Muhammad's uncle Abu Talib and told him that his
nephew had "cursed our gods, insulted our religion, mocked our way of life and
accused our revered forefathers of error. We request you to restrain him."
It should be pointed out that the Meccans NEVER said Muhammad could not preach
his religion, all they asked was that in the true spirit of tolerance, he ought
to respect their way of life and religion, just as they were willing to let him
uphold his.
Figure 1.
But Muhammad continued insulting the Vedic heritage of the Meccans. He
considered his epileptic fits as periods of divine revelation and his bitter
invectives against the Vedic religion grew stronger. The Arabs of Mecca were now
convinced that Muhammad was a lunatic who deserved only pity. This charge stung
Muhammad to such an extent that he retorted bitterly "By him who holds my life
in his hand, I bring you slaughter". and came up with revelations such as:
"And they will see which one of you is demented. Therefore obey not your
rejectors who would have you compromise; Neither obey you each feeble oath-monger,detractor,
spreader of slander, hinderer of the good, an aggressor, malefactor, greedy
therewithal, intrusive. We shall brand him on the nose!" (Quran 68:5-6,
68:8-13).
The Meccans were now stunned and convinced that such virulence and hatred could
only come from one who is possessed by an evil spirit. They sent Utba B. Rabia
one of their chiefs to Muhammad. Utba kindly explained to him that " If this
ghost which comes to you is such that you cannot get rid of him, we will find a
physician for you and exhaust our means in getting you cured, for often a spirit
takes possession of a man until he can be cured of it." Muhammad reacted
violently and warned the Meccans to leave him alone. The patience of the Arabs
had come to an end, they decided it was time to fight back.
In the spirit of their Vedic culture , they invited Muhammad to an open debate.
It was soon obvious from the debates that Muhammad could not present arguments
in a logical manner. He would lose his temper and resort to violent and
insulting answers to the questioners. Soon after he claimed a divine revelation
that instructed him not to participate in open debate, to evade questions, and
if questioned by unbelievers to retire! (Quran 6:68-70)
Now the Meccans were amused that a man like Muhammad who was distinguished
neither by birth or education should go around proclaiming himself to be a
prophet. When he started producing revelations about Moses and Jesus having
performed miracles, they asked Muhammad to do the same. Unlike Moses and Jesus
however, Muhammad could not produce a single miracle. Instead he came up with a
revelation that the Meccans were not likely to believe in a miracle even if it
were shown to them!
Now the Meccans were convinced about the falsity of Muhammad's claims. Their
faith in their Vedic deities was absolutely unshaken. Moreover they were enraged
by the fact that Muhammad had taken their principal god Allah (Durga) and made
her into the jealous deity of his new religion. They met him and said:
"Muhammad either you will stop cursing our gods or we will curse this Allah of
yours."
Muhammad then threw a challenge to the Meccans to produce revelations such as
his. The challenge was accepted by Al Nadr B. Harith, a Meccan chief who said
"I can tell better stories than him...In what respect is Muhammad a better story
teller?"
Al Nadr proceeded to tell several stories in verses, which were even better than
the verses of the Quran. Muhammad was enraged and never forgave Al Nadr for this
defeat. Later on Muhammad had Al Nadr brutally executed.
Muhammad had started preaching about how Judgement would come and bring
destruction to the Non-believers. The Meccans however were not cowed down by
mere threats. They challenged Muhammad to hurry up and bring down the Doom upon
them. They said:
"You have disputed with us and multiplied disputation with us. Now bring down
upon us that wherewith you threaten us, if you are truthful O Allah! If this
indeed be the Truth from you, rain down stones on us or bring us some painful
Doom...Our Lord! Hasten us for our fate before the Day of Reckoning...When will
it come to port? When will the promise be fulfilled if you are truthful? When is
the Day of Judgement?.."
The Meccans threw this challenge again and again. Muhammad had to wriggle out of
the situation somehow. He came up with another convenient revelation:
"Knowledge thereof is with My Lord, He alone can manifest it at the proper
time...It comes not to you save unawares...But Allah will not punish them while
you (Muhammad) are with them... For every nation there is an appointed time...It
is (only) then when it has befallen that you will believe.. And it is in the
Scriptures of the men of Old..Is it not a portent for them that the doctors of
the Children of Israel know it? You (Muhammad) are but the warner sent to
them...So withdraw and await the event" (Quran 50:4 , 75:3-4, 79:13-14,
56:49-57)
It was obvious that the Prophet had begun contradicting himself, the paradox was
in the verse itself, for how could Allah tell Muhammad to await the Event of the
Day of Judgement when he had made it clear that it would not happen while
Muhammad was alive!
The knowledgable Meccans had by now realized that Muhammad was only stealing
things that he had learned from the Jews and the Christians. He was taking
Biblical lore and conveniently twisting it to conform with his own "divine"
religion. Moreover it was obvious that Muhammad was coming up with "holy verses"
whenever the occasion demanded for his convenience. The incident that confirmed
their suspicion was the Satanic Verses which say:
"Have Ye thought of Al-Lat and Al-Uzza and Manat the third, the other, these are
the Gharaniq whose intercession is approved."(Quran 53:19-27)
The Satanic Verses of the Quran clearly state that Al-Lat and Al-Uzza and Manat
(Alla = Durga, Oorja = Shakti (life-force) and Somnath = Shivji) are exalted and
their intercession is approved. The Meccans were overjoyed that Muhammad had
finally endorsed the Vedic deities, but because of the pressure of his
followers, Muhammad had to withdraw the verses.
Figure 2.
Sculptures of Pre-Islamic gods
This was the last straw. The Meccans were now convinced of the lies perpetuated
by Muhammad. Their chieftains said:
"We can surely see your foolishness and we deem you as a liar, It is all the
same to us whether you preach or not, Our hearts are protected from your words
and our ears are deaf to you, Between us and you there is a veil drawn."
and to their people:
"Heed not this Quran and drown the hearing of it!"
Muhammad's mission at Mecca had failed. The Arabs with their fierce love for
their Vedic heritage and intelligence had seen through the "Prophet's
machinations and rejected him whole-heartedly. Thus it was an embittered,
furious and vengeful Muhammad who was forced to flee to Medinah.
It is no secret what the Prophet did after this "migration" to Medinah. The
story has been documented in detail by his biographers, - surprise raids on
trade caravans and tribal settlements, the use of plunder thus obtained for
recruiting an ever growing army of greedy desperados assassinations of
opponents, expropriation, expulsion and massacre of the Jews of Medinah, attack
and enslavement of the Jews of Khybar, rape of women and children, sale of these
victims after rape, trickery, trachery and bribery employed to their fullest
extent to grow the numbers of his religion Islam which ironically was supposed
to mean "Peace"! He organised no less than 86 expeditions, 26 of which he led
himself.
The motives of the converts to Islam was never in any doubt. As D.S. Margoliouth
states in his book Muhammad and the rise of Islam
"Of any moralising or demoralising effect that Muhammad's teaching had upon his
followers we cannot say with precision. When he was at the head of the Robber
community, it is probable that the demoralising influence began to be felt.; it
was then that men who had never broken an oath learnt that they might evade
their obligations, and that men to whom the blood of their clan had been as
their own, began to shed it with impunity in the "cause of god". And that lying
and treachery in the cause of Islam received divine approval. It was then too
that Moslems became distinguished by the obscenity of their language. It was
then too, that the coveting of goods and wives possessed by Non-muslims was
avowed without discouragement from the Prophet...."
On another occasion Muhammad was greatly criticised by his followers when he
compromised his principles completely. After feeling very confident about the
consolidation of his position in Medinah, Muhammad decided the time had come to
take Mecca. But he soon realized that he had miscalculated the timing of his
attack and at the last moment entered into negotiations with the Meccans. The
Treaty of Hudaibiya permitted Muhammad to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca the
following year, but in return he had to refrain from calling himself the
"Prophet" and to refrain from preaching the formula of Islam. Muhammad agreed to
all the conditions, and broke the Treaty much later. No wonder Dr. Magoliouth
refers that:
"Muhammad's career as tyrant of Medinah is that of a robber chief, whose
political economy consists in securing and dividing plunder, the distribution of
the latter was carried out on principles which fail to satisfy his follower's
sense of justice. He is himself an unbridled libertine and encourages the same
passion in his followers. For whatever he does he is prepared to plead the
express authorization of the deity (Allah). It is however impossible to find any
doctrine which he is not prepared to abandon in order to secure a political end.
At different points in his career he abandons the Unity of God and his claim to
the title of Prophet. This is a disagreeable picture for the founder of a
religion and it cannot be pleaded that it is a picture drawn by an enemy...",
this is the character attributed to Muhammad in the biography by Ibn Ishaq.
In my next article, I will describe the trail of murder, mayhem and destruction
that was effected by the Prophet after he had recruited enough people in his
fold.
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia - Part 4
ADITI
CHATURVEDI
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia - Part 4
Musalmans roamed the deserts of Arabia, centuries before the Prophet Muhammad
descended from his heavens and decided to steal the term. A Musalman was none
other than the Vedic term for a Man (Sanskrit Manas) who lived in the land of
missiles (Sanskrit Musal). The Land of Arabia was called Musal because according
to ancient Vedic texts, this was the area where most of the missiles used during
the Mahabharata War are supposed to have exploded, resulting in the death of all
vegetation and the emergence of the deserts of Arabia. However the year was 622
AD and Muhammad had already started his tirade against the very Vedic Culture
which was responsible for his and his family's sustenance, in the form of
payment by the Pilgrims that thronged to the Kaaba. However as I had described
in my last article, the Prophet's concerted efforts to severe the Arabs' ties
with their ancient heritage, had resulted in an unmitigated Fiasco. This left
him fuming, ranting and spewing the bitterest sort of vitriol against the Vedic
Gods. It had gotten to the point that the Meccans could no longer suffer this
man's diatribes.
The time for diplomacy was over. The Meccans had exhausted every tolerant and
diplomatic method of requesting Muhammad to stop insulting and denigrating the
religion that was so beloved to them and their ancestors. The proud Meccans had
decided that it was now time to make it abundantly clear to Muhammad that not
only were they vehemently opposed to giving up their Vedic heritage, but also
that they could defend their beloved deities such as Al-Uzza, Al-Lat,
etc.(different names for Durga) with force if it was necessary.
Figure 1.
Al-Uzza as the Grain Goddess
Thus it was on the night of 15th June, 622 AD, that an embittered and vengeful
Prophet of Islam fled for his life from Mecca in the dead of night. The Prophet
could not conjure up any angels or miracle to freeze the Meccan's swords,
instead it was a terrified and panicky man who slipped out in the safe blackness
of night to escape from the people who had had enough of his intolerance and
disrespect for the religion of their ancestors. On the way he was joined by
small bands of highwaymen and nomads who belonged to his group of followers.
They numbered 76 and of these, only 3 were women because the women of Mecca had
blatantly rejected the religion preached by the Prophet for the simple reason
that they enjoyed complete independence and equality within their own Vedic
religion and society.
Soon after Muhammad reached Medina, his repressed vengeance and bitterness
against the Hindus started manifesting itself. He purchased a garden in which
there were graves of people who had followed Vedic culture, some dilapidated old
shrines, and date trees. The Prophet had all the graves dug out and desecrated,
all the shrines destroyed and the Palm trees cut down. This site was none other
than a sacred grove and some isolated temple that had been left untended. This
is how Muhammad showed utter contempt and disrespect for the souls of dead
people. He had a mosque constructed on that very site. Through the ages,
Muhammad's followers would preserve this tradition of desecration of non-muslim
graves and emulate his example devoutly by consistently building mosques on
graveyards or on top of destroyed places of worship. This first act of
desecration was followed by innumerable raiding expeditions and the successive
history of loot, plunder, rape and destruction that Muhammad went on to create
in Medinah.
One of the first such encounters was the ambush of Nakhla. A Quraish caravan
carrying nothing but dried raisins and skins was making its way from the town of
Taif to Mecca. The little convoy was escorted by only four men. They had set out
to do business during one of the four sacred months. Rejeb was one of the months
which was considered auspicious for trade in Arabia. Any form of warfare or
violence was strictly abhorred. The Arabs being men of honor, never violated
this rule, and thus the sacred months were the time when most people set out on
their caravans to trade. The Muslims mercilessly murdered the hapless UNARMED
merchants and plundered all their goods as booty, of which Muhammad got one
fifths.
Many more such raids would follow to satisfy the Prophet's bloodlust. He fed his
bitterness and vengefulness with the sight of his murdered victims. After the
Battle of Badr, the Prophet sent his servant to search the field for one of his
strongest opponents, Abu Jahal. When the servant found Abu Jahal's corpse, he
cut off the head and threw it down at the feet of Muhammad, who cried out in
ecstasy:
"Rejoice! The head of the enemy of God! Praise God, for there is no other but
he!"
The Prophet then ordered a great pit to be dug and had the bodies of the
"unbelievers" dumped into it after the Muslims had unceremoniously hacked them
into pieces. As the bodies were thrown into the pit, an excited Muhammad
screamed"
"O People of the Pit, have you found that what God threatened is true now? For I
have found that what my Lord promised was true! Rejoice O Muslims!"
One of the prisoners taken was the defiant Al Nadr Ibn al Harith, who had
earlier taken Muhammad's challenge of telling better stories than him. Muhammad
ordered Ali to strike off Nadr's head in his presence, so he could watch the
beheading of the man who had insulted him. Another prisoner Uqba ibn Abi Muait
was decapitated in front of the Prophet, upon seeing him, the prisoner cried
out:
"O Prophet, who will look after my children if I should die?"
"Hellfire", replied Muhammad coldly as the blade came down and spattered his
clothes with Uqba's blood.
Upon his return to Medina, a number of the Vedic poets of Medina composed poems
that talked of the Prophet's cruelty. It was the poets who acted as the
conscience of society at that time and had the most freedom of expression.
Muhammad was infuriated at the criticism. The most popular poet was Asma Bint
Merwan, a married woman with five children. One night as she lay in her bedroom
suckling her newborn child, a group of Muslims broke into the house to plunge
their swords into the breast of the woman. The newborn infant was hacked to
pieces. Soon afterwards an elderly poet, Abu Afek, who was respected for his
distinguished sense of fairness, met the same fate.
Living with a Jewish tribe called Beni Al Nadheer, was an Arab by the name of
Kaab Ibn Ashraf of the Tribe of Tai. Kaab is obviously the Sanskrit word Kayva
which means poetry . Kaab was true to his Vedic name, a renowned poet who had
composed a lament for the Leaders of Quraysh who had been massacred in the
battle of Badr. One day the Prophet proclaimed:
"Who will rid me of Kaab Ibn Al Ashraf?"
A certain Muhammad Bin Maslama replied that he would do it, adding "we shall
have to tell lies to do it". The Prophet immediately gave him the divine
authority to lie as necessary. Muhammad Maslama bribed the foster brother of
Kaab, a man called Silkan who had openly become Muslim. The following night Kaab
was visited by his loving foster brother and spent a pleasant evening reciting
poetry. Needless to say, after dark, Kaab was dragged out of his bed screaming,
and stabbed repeatedly by Muhammad Maslama, Silkan and two other devout Muslims,
in full view of his family. Such was the example of tolerance set by the Prophet
of God.
On another occasion , the tribe of Beni Quraidha was besieged and when they
refused to convert to Islam, the Prophet meted out another merciful sentence.A
huge trench was dug around the main market of Medina. The men were rounded up &
their hands tied behind them. Then one by one, they were led to the trench and
forced to kneel. They were offered one last chance to convert to Islam & upon
their refusal, had their heads chopped off. As soon as one head would roll off,
the headless body would be dumped into the ditch, until the pile of bodies,
heads and blood had filled up to the brim. Yet, none of the Jews chose to
compromise their religion. Eight Hundred innocent Jews were beheaded bloodily in
this manner, for the simple reason that they chose to retain their fundamental
human right, to choose their God. Helpless women & children screamed as they
watched their fathers, husbands & sons die. Later they too were tied up &
bundled off as slaves. The Prophet forced the Jewess Raihana Bint Amr to convert
and marry him, hours after he had murdered her father, brothers and clansmen
before her very eyes. To this day Muslim scholars claim, that Raihana willingly
chose Islam and wifehood with the Prophet.
Figure 2.
Khayber - The Jewish Settlement which
was besieged by Muhammad and his followers
The Battle of Badr had given Muhammad the wealth to bribe more people into
accepting Islam. In addition the increase in power enabled the Muslims to rule
by terror. Even the same Jews who had helped the Muslims in their moments of
deepest crisis with food as well as military assistance, were subjected to
conversion by the sword or not spared. Muhammad's reign of terror continued with
the Battle of Uhud, Khayber and numerous other expeditions which helped the
Muslims to gain Booty and slaves. Most of these slaves were women and children,
These were victimised and raped. Khayber was a settlement of neutral Jews who
were known for their business acumen. Muhammad simply had to satisfy his greed,
by attacking this peaceful settlement. Although the Jews fought bravely, they
could not stop the Mob of Muslims, who were in a bloodthirsty frenzy of Greed.
The Prophet forced another Jewess Safia Bint Huyay to convert and marry him, in
exactly the same manner as Rehaina Bint Amr. She had to watch her Husband,
father and brother hacked to pieces before her eyes. Immediately after the
battle, the Prophet's eye fell on this woman of intense beauty, and he threw his
cloak on her to claim her as his booty. Indeed the Prophet had committed himself
to saving widows in need by marrying them! The remaining women and children who
were'nt attractive enough to keep as personal slaves, were rounded up to be
traded in the slave market or retained to be brought up as brainwashed servants
of Islam.
Figure 3.
Al-Uzza as the Fish Goddess
By now Muhammad had gathered enough followers to vent his final and most massive
burst of vengeance : The capture of Mecca. The city of Vedic culture that had
rejected him so contemptuously, and contained the Kaaba temple of Al-Lat, Al-Uzza,
and Al-Manat beckoned him with its immense wealth and splendour.
Al-Lat, Al-Uzza and Al-Manat and all the other Vedic deities of the Hindu
pantheon, were the Prophet's deadliest enemies. It was their presence that
invalidated all his claims and threatened his monopoly; therefore all visible
signs of it had to be obliterated at any cost. His passionate hatred against any
sign of Vedic culture was so intense, that he condemned the wearing of any
garment that had even come in contact with Saffron or Turmeric, because these
are the two spices that are used most often in Hindu rites of worship. One day,
a man, wearing a vest dyed with some yellow colour, approached the Prophet to
ask him about 'umra rites. Sure enough, an immediate revelation came down and
the Prophet had to be covered in an overgarment (they used to do this to
restrain the violence of his epileptic fits). Raising a corner of the garment,
Umar saw the Prophet's face had gone red and he was snuffling like a young
camel. "Wash off all traces of the yellow and put off the vest", the Prophet
screamed!
The Prophet's mission now was to strike at the very roots, that had sustained
him, the roots of Vedic culture in Arabia. His hatred for the religion of his
forefathers had multiplied a hundredfold, because it was the Arabs' love for
those very deities and spiritual traditions that stood in the way of Muhammad's
vision : the vision of absolute subjugation of Arabia, and Muhammad's
self-exaltation to the title of Divine Messenger
As Sitaram Goel puts it :
"The conquest of Mecca by Muhammad was the most significant event in the history
of Islam. The success of the enterprise settled the character of Islam for all
time to come. The lessons drawn from the success constitute the core of Islamic
theology as taught ever since in the sprawling seminaries. The principal lessons
are two: The first is that Muslims should continue resorting to violence on any
and every pretext till they triumph; setbacks are temporary. The second lesson
is that Islam should refuse to coexist or compromise with every other religion
and culture, and use the first favourable opportunity to wipe out the others
completely so that it alone may prevail."
In my next article, I will relate the details of the destruction and carnage,
effected by Muhammad in the Capture of Mecca.
Note: The Works "The Life & times of Muhammad" by Sir John Glubb, "An
Introduction to the Hadith" by John Burton and "Hindu Temples: What Happened to
Them?" by Sita Ram Goel have been used to compose this article.
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic
Arabia - Part 5
ADITI
CHATURVEDI
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia - Part 5
We have already seen how the "Prophet" of Islam had made it his mission to
eradicate anyone and anything that stood in the way of his quest for power. Even
the slaughter of 800 Jews at "the Pit" and the numerous victims of Khayber were
not sufficient to slake his thirst for blood. The loot, plunder and power, only
served to enhance his self-aggrandizement. The Merciful Messenger of the God of
Islam had not enough. Day by day, executions of Jews colored the Town Square of
Medina bloodier.
A few days after the siege of Khayber, a Jewess called Zainab invited Muhammad
to dinner. She had enquired beforehand about what part of a roast sheep he liked
best and had been told that it was the shoulder. She accordingly slaughtered and
roasted a lamb, taking care to insert a lethal dose of poison in the shoulder.
One can only imagine what the extent of her suffering must have been, to drive
her to attempt such a foolhardy assassination, for the Prophet never went
anywhere without a full coterie of his "followers" to defend him. However the
plan was foiled when a man who was sitting next to Muhammad swallowed a mouthful
of the meat and began writhing in pain. Muhammad had just taken a mouthful when
he saw the man's agonies and spat it out immediately. Zainab was tied and
brought before him. The brave woman readily admitted to the accusation and spat
out:
"Do you know what you have done to my people! I said to myself if you are just a
tribal chief, then we ought to get rid of you and if you are a Prophet then you
would have known that the poison was in the meat before eating it!"
Three years later when Muhammad would die an agonizing death, he would scream
that the agonies of his last illness were due to the Jewess's poison, thereby
conveniently winning for himself the title of martyr, as having been killed by
an unbeliever!
By now, Muhammad had supressed all opposition in Medinah & turned his attention
to the final goal of conquering Mecca. His strategy of breaking the morale of
the Hindus began with slaughter and rapine and now had moved on to their places
of worship. He had amassed all the booty and ransom that was necessary for
financing his military machine. Coupled with his greed for the immense wealth &
power of Mecca, was the bitterness and anger that had been festering inside him
so long. Both of these motivations would now be unleashed in a violent burst of
vengeance against the Gods which stood in his way. The ultimate challenge to
Muhammad was the irrepresible Vedic culture that pervaded the life of the
Meccans. The only way he could achieve total control of Arabia was by striking
at the very core of religious worship.
On 1st January AD 630, the Prophet of Islam and 10,000 of his followers set out
on the expedition to conquer Mecca. Their sole purpose of mind was to subvert
all traces of the ancientmost religion of their forefathers. Nothing was to be
considered sarcosanct, anything that was connected with Arabia's glorious Vedic
heritage was to be defiled and distorted. Before setting out for Mecca, Muhammad
had managed to turn his father-in-law and previous enemy Abu Sofian, leader of
the Quraysh, into a traitor. Abu Sofian rode ahead of the Prophet's army into
Mecca. Upon reaching he screamed at the townspeople, "Muhammad is coming,
Muhammad is coming, he will be here with a force that we cannot resist". At this
his own wife, the irrepresible Hind was moved to drag him to the marketplace and
cried out:
"Kill this fat greasy Bladder of Lard! What a rotten protector of the people."
Abu Sofian had turned traitor, because his daughter was now Muhammad's wife.
Once again the Prophet's underhanded habit of marrying the daughters of his
enemies to obtain the power to blackmail them, had borne fruit. Abu Sofian, a
man of weak moral character, sacrificed his city and gods, in order to save his
own skin and family. It was one of the costliest sacrifices in history.
It was only after the city had been fully occupied, and the silent pall of death
and fear hung over Mecca, that the Prophet of Islam ventured out on his camel.
He headed straight for the Kaaba. The first thing he found there was the wooden
Dove, the symbol of peace. He crushed it with his own hands and threw the broken
fragments to the ground. Then he kicked the pieces with his foot and stomped the
remains into dust. This very first action of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam
symbolizes for all time the destructive nature of the religion that he had
created. Next he turned to the idols housed in and around the temple. The eyes
of the statues seemed to stare into him, with silent equanimity. Muhammad took
up his Lance and lunged towards them, he struck repeatedly at the eyes of the
idols, in a fit of fear and rage. Then he screamed at his followers to drag down
every one of the statues. Each one of the sacred images was dragged down and
stripped of the rich jewels and gems that ornamented them. Then like a man
possessed, Muhammad started slashing at the stripped images with his sword. He
stopped only when all that remained was a pile of wood fragments and dust. Then
he took a flaming torch and threw it upon the pile, his eyes glittering with
profane triumph at the eerie blaze of the fire. The burning of the idols gave
rise to another story in Islamic lore. Muslim historians claim "Upon the
conquest of Mecca, the Prophet cut open some of these idols with his sword and
black smoke is said to have issued from them, a sign of the psychic influence
which had made these idols their dwelling place" One wonders what else except
smoke could have come out, when objects made of wood and stone were burnt! It is
the privilege of Islamic lore to invest smoke with psychic power.
Figure 1.
The Pre-Islamic deity "Hubal" was derived from the red
skinned Ba-Hubali, another name for Lord Hanuman
His attention then turned to the large statue of Hubal on the roof of the
temple. Hubal is none other than Ba-Hubali, another name for Hanuman. The First
Encyclopaedia of Islam relates that "Hubal was an idol, made of red carnelian,
in the form of a man". These clues cannot be overlooked. Anybody who is familiar
with Hindu temples knows that BaHubali (Hanuman) is the great Monkey God, the
son of the Wind-God. He is always represented in red, and adorns the roof of the
temple pinnacle. This is because in the great Hindu epic Ramayana, BaHubali was
rewarded for his great devotion to Lord Rama, by being accorded the privilege of
always carrying the Hindu flag, which is poised on the pinnacle of temples. Thus
the image of Hubal, was none other than the red colored image of BaHubali
holding the saffron "Dhvaj" or flag of Hinduism on the roof of the Kaaba temple.
This image of BaHubali was dragged down from the roof, and the saffron flag that
it held was trampled into the dirt by the "Holy Prophet". The icon itself was
buried in the sand and used as a doorstep. This particular practice of the
Prophet, of taking down the sacred idol of a temple and using it as a doorstep
to trample on set a precedent that would be extensively followed by the pious
adherents of Islam in the future. One has a hard time believing in the
"tolerant" nature of Islam, when the Prophet of Islam himself desecrated and
insulted another religion in such a disrespectful fashion.
Like a devouring fire, Muhammad's malevolence fed off the innumerable
defilements and desecrations that he and the Muslims committed that day. All the
other stones that were worshipped in the Temple were used as cornerstones of the
Kaaba Mosque structure that was raised. The only idol that Muhammad spared was
the black stone known today as "Sangey Aswad", which I have explained before as
being the Shivling. The only reason this was spared is that, it was the family
deity of Muhammad's clan. In addition, the Prophet was cunning enough to realise
that in leaving the Shivling there, he would be garaunteed a sizeable and
constant income, by charging pilgrims who would throng to worship the sacred
stone. This act by itself invalidates all of Muhammad's pompous claims about
idolatry and exposes the self-contradictory nature of Islam. If indeed his new
religion was violently opposed to idolatry in any form, why did the founder of
Islam decide to invest a mere Black stone with divinity? In fact, Muhammad is
said to have circambulated the Shivling seven times and then to have kissed it,
in an exact replication of the manner in which the Vedic Arabs used to pay
homage to it.
Idols however were not the only abominations, that the Prophet had to destroy in
the Kaaba. There were many holy paintings in the Kaaba as well. According to
another Muslim historian's account,"Umar began to wash out the pictures with the
water of the Zamzam well, when Muhammad placed his hand on a picture of Jesus
and Mary and said: "Wash out all except what is below my hands". This is an
absolute anomaly. The Pre-Islamic Arabs were known for their abhorrence towards
Christianity and in fact had even fought off the Christian Ruler of Yemen, an
Abyssinian by the name Abraha. Abraha had massacred the Jews of Yemen and sold a
third of them as slaves. He had sworn to destroy the Kaaba and in 570 AD, he
attacked Mecca for this very reason. However a miracle which the Meccans
attributed to their beloved Allah (Durga), is supposed to have turned away
Abraha and his hordes. It is ludicrous to imagine that the Meccans would then
proceed to put up a painting of the Christian icons, Mother Mary and Jesus, in
their sacred precinct of the Kaaba. Muhammad's God himself admits as much in the
Quran, where he says the disbelievers show great disrespect for Isa (Jesus).
Figure 2.
The only painting that was not destroyed in the Kaaba
probably depicted Goddess Parvati and the child-god Kartikkeya
Therefore we can safely conclude that the Painting described by Muslim
historians couldn't possibly have depicted Jesus and Mary as claimed. This
painting probably depicted the divine motherly representation of Durga(Allah) as
Shiva's wife Parvati with the child Kartikkeya. Kartikkeya was named after the
six Kritikkas, which are actually the six stars known as Pleiades. Since the
Kaaba is based on an astronomical plan, it's quite possible that the Kritikkas
and the son of God named after them, Kartikkeya would be depicted along with the
Mother-goddess in a Temple paintings. The presence of a Shivling in the Kaaba
which represents Lord Shiva, the father of Kartikkeya is also significant in
this regard. Also one may remember that Muhammad's family were primarily Shiva
worshippers and that his name "Muhammad" is derived from the word "Mahadev"
which is another name for lord Shiva. Perhaps Muhammad could not dare to
demolish this one last reminder of his family's polytheistic past.
In any case, we can confidently assert that the Painting of Mary and Jesus was
simply another myth concocted by Muhammad and company, to woo the Christians. A
favourite ploy of Muhammad was to bandy the idea that Islam and Christianity
were in fact one and the same, and that he was simply the last in the line of
Prophets. The Prophet conveniently distorted many aspects of Christian religion
and "Islamized" them to suit his purposes. But due to his lack of knowledge and
ignorance about the real precepts of Christianity, Muhammad ended up with a
confused and unconvincing portrayl of the relationship between Christanity and
Islam
The initial destruction of all 360 images in the Kaaba, was only the beginning
of Muhammad's horrendous rampage. Within a matter of days, he would attempt to
destroy as much of Arabia's Vedic heritage as possible.
In my next article, I will detail the unfolding of subsequent events which tell
the story of the Prophet's ultimate aim: The Genocide of Arabia's Vedic culture
through the systematic eradication of the religion and culture of Pre-Islamic
Arabs.
Note: The Works "The Life & times of Muhammad" by Sir John Glubb, "An
Introduction to the Hadith" by John Burton and "Hindu Temples: What Happened to
Them?" by Sita Ram Goel have been used to compose this article.
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia - Part 6
ADITI
CHATURVEDI
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia - Part 6
"Ashriq thabir kaima nughir"
"Enter the light of morning O Thabir so
that we may hasten on (with the daily work)"
These were the prayerful words that would greet the Dawn at Arabia during the
days of pilgrimage, before the dark clouds of Islam had settled on Mount Thabir
in the horizon. Mount Thabir and Mount Quzah were situated in Muzdalifah, a
place between Mina and Arafat in Arabia. Muzdalifah was a place of fire worship.
Great Yagnas used to be performed there. Even Muslim historians refer to this
hill as the hill of the holy fire. The god of Muzdalifah was Quzah, the thunder
god who brought life giving rain to the parched lands of Arabia. Quzah
apparently represented the Vajra (Thunderbolt) of Indra, the Vedic god of rain.
The forces of nature have always been worshipped in Vedic culture, so it was
quite natural for the Meccans to indulge in this form of worship.
The Prophet, who was apparently not very creative, subverted the meaning and
purpose of the Hajj or pilgrimage in his usual fashion. Muhammad in a deliberate
attempt to suppress this association with the Hindu solar rites changed the time
of prayer to after sunset and before sunrise, when the sun was not visible! Thus
what used to be a time of prayer inundated with love for nature and reverence
for existence, was distorted into a fear-filled ceremony of throwing stones at
imagined devils and insidiously connected to falsified historical accounts about
the Semitic Prophet Abraham.
Figure 1.
The Pleaides Constellation
Every morning, in complete accordance with their Vedic heritage , the Quraysh
and other Meccan tribes would pay reverential homage to the sun, moon, planets,
stars and all the heavenly bodies that made up the visible universe. The Kaaba
temple, which was the heart of Mecca was their biggest testament to astral
worship. It was a shrine devoted to the Sun, Moon, Planets and Galaxies. Besides
the shrines of Shams (Surya or Sun), Manat (SoManath or Moon), Uzza (Oorja,
Shakti as Venus), Dharrih (Suryoday or rising sun), etc. There were many shrines
dedicated to stars and constellations such as the Krittikas (the Pleaides).
There were 24 doorways to the temple, these doorways represented the 24 hours of
the day. The 360 shrines represented the days of the year and each image was
made to symbolically represent the ruling planet, in astrological terms. The
seven circambulations (parikrama) symbolized the orbiting of the seven major
planets. The first three circuits were done fast and the remaining four slowly,
in exact imitation of the planetary movements around the sun.
Figure 2.
The six celestial sisters called Krittikas
represented a cluster of six stars, called
the Pleaides by the Greeks
This beautiful Vedic temple was a cosmological representation of the visible
natural universe. It was made in the same tradition of ancient Indian temples
such as Someshwar (Somnath), in Prabhas Patan, Gujarat, which also contained 360
shrines and was built by the Moon God SoManath, (Manat to the Arabs).
One of the shrines in the Kaaba was also dedicated to the Hindu Creator God,
Brahma, which is why the illiterate Prophet of Islam claimed it was dedicated to
Abraham. The word "Abraham" is none other than a malpronounciation of the word
Brahma This can be clearly proven if one investigates the root meanings of both
words.
Abraham is said to be one of the oldest Semitic Prophets.His name is supposed to
be derived from the two Semitic words "Ab" meaning "Father" and "Raam/Raham"
meaning "of the exalted", In the book of Genesis, Abraham simply means
"Multitude". The word Abraham is derived from the Sanskrit word "Brahma". The
root of Brahma is "Brah"which means -"to grow or multiply in number". In
addition Lord Brahma, the Creator God of Hinduism is said to be the Father of
all Men and Exalted of all the Gods, for it is from him that all beings were
generated. Thus again we come to the meaning "Exalted Father". This is a clear
pointer to the fact that Abraham is none other than the heavenly father Brahma .
In fact the Abraham story about the origin of the Kaaba was a fabrication
invented by the Prophet, after he had quarreled with the Jews of Medinah. He
took an ancient Jewish legend about the heavenly and earthly Jerusalem and
conveniently twisted it into a false myth about Abraham. Respected Jewish
scholars such as Snouck Hurgronje and Aloys Sprenger agree that the association
of Abraham with the Kaaba was Muhammad's personal invention and it served as a
means to liberate Islam from Judaism. Sprenger comments:" By this lie Muhammad
gave to Islam all that man needs and which differentiates religion from
philosophy: a nationality, ceremonies, historical memories, mysteries, an
assurance of entering heaven, all the while deceiving his own conscience and
those of others."
Earlier, we have already seen how thorough Muhammad was in his destruction and
desecration of this grand center of worship. He deliberately tried to destroy
all traces of the Vedic origins of the temple. The day after the destruction of
the Kaaba was the darkest dawn in the history of Mecca. The darkest moment came
when Bilal, one of Muhammad's henchmen, stood on top of the roof of the Kaaba
and called out the Muslim Azan of prayer.
The Prophet of Islam had finally achieved the ultimate ambition of his greed and
hatred. He had desecrated the sacred religion that threatened his very existence
and seized the richest treasure in the country all in one attempt. Besides the
hundreds of rubies, diamonds, silver, pearls and precious stones that had
ornamented the idols, the Prophet's loot also consisted of the Seventy Thousand
Ounces of Gold contained in the storehouse of the Kaaba. A new twisted mythology
was substituted for the old and all the previous ceremonies and rites of the
people were subverted and distorted through Islamization. Such immense wealth
and political control immediately made Muhammad the most powerful man in Arabia.
He was now free to unleash the final and most brutal assault against the culture
that had plagued him throughout his life.
Figure 3.
One of the few remaining Vedic temples in Petra.
It was built by the Nabataeans. Note the conical
shape of the rooftops which is so typical of Hindu
temple architecture
Source: "Art of Jordan" by Piotr Bienkowski
The Prophet immediately gave orders to leave no stone unturned, any place that
had the slightest trace of Vedic culture was to be razed to the ground and
destroyed. The most sacred idols were to be turned into footstones or buried
under entrances of mosques, so that every time a Muslim stepped into his place
of worship, the idols of the Hindus would be desecrated and insulted again and
again. This Islamic tradition is alive even today in India, where under the
doorstep of every Mosque, lie the remains or portions of images of innumerable
Hindu Gods and Goddesses.
"Leave no idol unbroken! In whatever settlement you do not hear the Azan or see
no mosque, SLAUGHTER the people of that place." , the Prophet's words rang out
amongst his zealous followers. Drunk with power and the dizzying piles of loot
they had acquired, they set out in a frenzy of bloodthirstiness to the
sorrounding tribes and their shrines. One of Muhammad's favorite followers,
Khalid ibn al Waleed went to the Beni Jadheema clan of Beni Kinana on the
coastal plain south west of Mecca. Upon reaching the settlement Khalid told them
to lay down their arms as the war was over and everyone had now accepted Islam .
When they had done so, he rounded up the Men and had them tied up in a group.
The women were raped in front of their helpless relatives. Children had their
limbs hacked off. Then one by one the Men were beheaded in the exact manner as
the "Apostle of Peace" had done at "The Pit" of Medinah.
An Arab horseman related how one of the men shouted to his beloved amongst the
frightened women, "Goodbye my love Hubaisha, my life is at an end now". At this
the poor girl lost control and broke her bindings, she ran screaming to her love
and bent over him to protect him. The Muslims hacked her to pieces and then
beheaded her horrified lover.
Thousands were killed as they defended their beloved gods. Muhammad's message
was clear: destroy all the Vedic temples or images, become a Muslim or die,
build mosques using remains of the temples & pay a sizeable tax, any defiance
would mean slaughter. When some tribes like the Bani Tamim refused to pay Zakat,
the men were slaughtered, & the women and children were bound and dragged across
the blazing sands all the way to Medinah. One of the favorite characteristics
Muslims attribute to Muhammad is his immense love for children. Indeed one
wonders just where his love for the innocent children went, when he had so many
of them mercilessly tortured and slaughtered to death.
Innumerable temples were destroyed and their remains used to build mosques.
There were many others besides the Kaaba around Mecca itself. Here is a list of
some of them:
1.Temple of Isaf & Naila:
Isaf was an image in the shape of a man & Naila in the shape of a dark skinned
woman. The images of the divine couple were shattered to bits.
2.Temple of Uzza(Oorja or Shakti) in Nakhla:
When the disheartened priest heard the Muslims coming with Khalid as their
leader, he hung his sword on her, and cried out:
"O Uzza make an annihilating attack on Khalid Throw aside your Veil & Gird up
your train O Uzza, if you do not kill this man Khalid Then bear a swift
punishment, or become a Christian"
Khalid cut the idol into bits with his sword and grabbed all the gold and jewels
in the temple, then he chopped off the head of the Priest with the same sword,
that still had fragments of Uzza's image on it.
3.Temple of Suva (Shiva) of the Hudayl:
The Apostle sent Amr Bint al As to this temple. Upon his arrival the Priest
asked Amr why he was there, to which Amr replied that he had come to destroy the
image. At this the brave priest calmly said "Go back! For you cannot harm a hair
on his head!" "Why not?", fumed Amr, "Because there is none so well- protected
as he" said the faithful priest. An enraged Amr screamed "You still believe in
this evil! Greet your death!" He then proceeded to smash the idol and the
Priest's skull. The temple was demolished when Amr found no treasures there.
4.Temple of Manat (Somnath or Shiva):
This was a beautiful temple of Black stone It had a crescent pinnacle and a
Shivling made of reddish volcanic rock. Upon seeing the Muslims, the priests
were moved to pray "O Manat, please display your might!" They too were cut down
& the Shivling smashed. Once again however, the Muslims could not find any of
the treasures that were supposed to be in the temple.
In the coming days, many more such temples would be destroyed, thousands more
innocents would be murdered, for the Prophet had the power and might of his
ill-gotten gains and loot behind him. Although the Prophet had reached his
ultimate ambition, his bitterness and hatred against the Vedic culture had
hardened so much within him, that ultimately it would consume him. The same man
who had so confidently declared his divinity whilst alive would die an
agonizingly painful death. His last words were a prayer of fear begging for
forgiveness for all the sins he had committed in his lifetime.
Indeed the Prophet of Islam was successful in his attempt at genocide. The Vedic
culture of the Arabs was mercilessly eradicated through the use of the sword.
Let us not forget the bravery of those who fought in the face of such despair,
as that which surrounded those who dared to oppose Islam.
Men of such mettle as that of the Tribe of Tai, defied the advent of Islam
bravely. Although their chief Zaid Al Khair was one of Muhammad's favorite
followers, when the tribesmen were forced to greet Muhammad and listen to his
sermon, one of them proudly stood up among the packed crowd of Muslims and
declared :
"I see here a man who wishes to gain ascendancy over all people and even the
gods through his trickery, but by my ancestors and the religion they have left
me, NOBODY shall rule over me but MY SELF!"
Only a man who has discovered true spirituality and enrichment of his soul
through his religion could utter these words in its defense. Only a religion
which shows a man the divinity in his own SELF can foster such strength.
Although the traces of Vedic culture among the pre-Islamic Arabs were wiped out
by the bloody sword of Muhammad, the message of the Vedas and the conviction
displayed by its followers in the land of Arvasthan can never be forgotten.
In my next article I will further describe the unfolding of Prophet Muhammad's
genocidal plan against the Vedic culture of the Pre-Islamic Arabs.
Note: The Works "The Life & times of Muhammad" by Sir John Glubb, "Mohammed &
the Rise of Islam" by D. S. Margoliouth, "The Art of Jordan" by Piotr Bienkowski,
"Deities & Dolphins" by Nelson Glueck and "Hindu Temples: What Happened to
Them?- Volume 2" by Sita Ram Goel have been used to compose this article.
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic
Arabia - Part 7
ADITI
CHATURVEDI
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia - Part 7
The innumerable strokes of Muhammad's bloody sword, still could not sever
Arabia's ties to its ancient Vedic heritage. When the tribe of Hawazin heard
that the Muslims had taken Mecca, they made preparations to fight. They were led
by Malik Ibn Auf, chief of the clan of Bani Nasr and accompanied by the Beni
Saad and Thaqeef tribes. The Prophet of Islam in his usual insidious way had
planted spies among the unsuspecting tribespeople to discover all their plans
for attack. He was determined to teach these insolent rebels a lesson. Armed in
full armour and protected by an impenetrable cohort of defenders, he descended
upon the Hawazin with an army of 12,000 fresh converts, who were drooling at the
prospect of fresh loot & women.
The brave Hawazin numbering 4,000 hid out in the ravines around the valley of
Hunain and lay in wait. As the Muslims poured down the valley in the twilight of
dawn, men suddenly sprang out from the hills on both sides & took them
completely by surprise.
Figure 1.
Map of areas in Muhammad's path of conquest
Cries of "Victory to Al-lat!!" filled the air. In a scene which strikes one as
something straight out of Rajput history, the sounds came from the front guard
of the Thaqeef who held the Black banner signifying a fight to the death in
honor of their Vedic goddess .
The leading contingents of the Muslims panicked & fled back wildly up the valley
towards the pass by which they had entered it, throwing into complete chaos
those behind them who were still coming. The Prophet & his cohort of defenders
were caught by the retreating mass & swept away, but somehow managed to flee to
the foot of the hills on one side of the valley. Muhammad clung to a rock,
trembling with fear & fury. "Where are you going! Where are you going! Rally to
me! I AM the Apostle of God! O citizens of Medina! O helpers! Which one of you
will become a martyr for the sake of Muhammad, the Messenger of God!", he
screamed pathetically. The traitorous chief of Mecca, Abu Sofian was secretly
delighted & whispered gleefully to a fellow Meccan, "Nothing can stop these
Muslims from fleeing now, except the Sea." His companion joyfully exclaimed "
Indeed has not this evil sorcery (Islam) come to an end today! " At this point a
group of the forcibly converted Meccans in the Prophet's army, pushed their way
forward in a desperate attempt to kill him. An alarmed fully armoured Muhammad
cowered behind a rock as his bodyguards fought them off. Gradually however the
sheer advantage of numbers turned the tide in the Muslims' favour. They started
beheading all the tribesmen. The Women & children of the Hawazin , had
accompanied their men to watch & cheer them on from the caves on the hills. The
Muslims attacked these innocents immediately, much to the Prophet's glee, who
leered " Now the oven is hot for you". Upon seeing their loved ones being
beheaded before their eyes, the Hawazin Tribesmen lost heart & readily gave up
their lives. Thousands lost their lives & the ones who survived were enslaved in
the customary Islamic fashion.
After this victory Muhammad turned his attention to the Thaqeef who had taken
such an active part in the Battle of Hunain . He was enraged at their bravery
and persistent loyalty to their beloved goddess Al-lat(Durga). The Thaqeef were
from Taif, a small but extremely prosperous town. In 619, the Prophet had tried
to persuade the people of Taif to shelter him when he was fleeing from Mecca in
fear, but they had clearly refused. Muhammad was determined to get his revenge
on them, one way or another.
The city of Taif was principally famous for its gardens & vineyards. Due to its
location among the mountains, the city had a temperate climate that was ideal
for growing grapes and pomegranates. Taif was famous for these fruits as well as
for honey. Muhammad set out with his army and besieged the city. But a few
catapults and the siege of a prosperous fortified city such as Taif were not
going to affect the courageous Thaqeef. After eleven days of the siege had
passed, they calmly sent out a messenger to tell Muhammad that the city had
enough rations to last them 2 years of siege. An enraged Muhammad then made an
exceptionally cruel decision. The Prophet decided if he couldn't have the spoils
of Taif, no one else could and therefore "ordered his glorious companions to
fell the date trees and to destroy every vineyard of this place". Such an action
is equivalent to mass murder in the dry environs of Arabia where it is difficult
to find vegetation. Thus a unique ecosystem that had been carefully nurtured by
the sweat and blood of the brave Thaqeef was ruthlessly obliterated. They were
left with heaps of ash in place of the fruit of years of hard work, thanks to
the "Messenger of Peace"! After a fortnight Muhammad had to raise the siege on
Taif. An enraged & frustrated Muhammad swore that he would teach a bitter lesson
to the Thaqeef who had defied him so persistently. He was forced to retreat and
head back towards Medina.
Figure 2.
Present day town of Taif, still
famous for its superb grapes
In the meantime the Prophet had not lost sight of his primary goal of destroying
every remnant of Vedic culture. His "holy & prophetic lordship" had sent out
many of his glorious companions to destroy any traces of Vedic culture that
still existed. Every idol was shattered, every temple burned, every Priest
massacred. To describe the horrendous effect of such an assault on the existent
culture of a religion, is impossible. So many temples were destroyed that no
count remained. Later Muslim historians ensured that the world never got to know
about the magnitude of the cultural genocide that the Prophet had perpetuated.
To this day we know about only a handful of the desecrated shrines. Some of
these accounts are listed below:-
1) The Temple of Dhu-l-Khalasa:
This temple was dedicated to Lord Shiva, Dhu-L-Khalasa stood for "The One of
Kailash". It was situated in Yemen and called "Al Kaba Al Yamaniya" meaning the
Yemeni equivalent of the Meccan Kaaba. The Prophet's helper Jarir set out with a
force of 150 cavalrymen from the Ahmas Tribe. In Jarir's words: " We dismantled
it and burnt it to the ground and killed whoever was present there." Jarir also
sent a message to Muhammad saying " By Allah, I did not leave that place till it
was like a scabby camel!". Plenty of valuables and rare perfumes were robbed.
The beautiful statue of Dhu-L-Khalasa (Shiva), a white piece of marble in which
a crown was carved, was used as the stepping stone under the mosque at Tabala.
2)The Temples of Fils & Ruda in Tai:
Ali Bint Abi Talib went to the Temple of Fils to destroy it by order of
Muhammad. He took 200 horsemen with him. Ali tortured and murdered many people
present there, and then enslaved the survivors. This Temple stood on Mount Aja'
("Aja" is another name for Brahma) and contained images of the Mother Goddess.
Ali obtained two swords from the temple, one named Rasub and another called
Makhzam, both swords were extremely valuable. The Temple of Ruda was looted &
destroyed in the same manner.It was dedicated to Lord Rudra (Shiva) and
contained a beautiful jet black Shivling. The Shivling was smashed into its base
and the temple razed.
3) The Temple of Al-Uzza of Banu Sulaim: The leader of the Tribe of Banu Sulaim
was a treacherous man who was bought out by Muhammad. The Prophet gave him a
huge estate to bribe him.Ghadi Bint Abd Al Uzza thus went to the Temple of Al-Uzza
belonging to his tribe and smashed the image to pieces in front of his horrified
Tribespeople. All the protesters were killed on the spot.
4) The Temple of Uzra:
The Tribe of Banu Uzra had a Temple for their God Uzra. Uzra is derived from the
Sanskrit word "Ujras" which means "the month of Kartik". Since we know that Lord
Shiva's son Kartikkeya was worshipped in the Kaaba, it is plausible to assume
that this Temple was dedicated to none other than Kartikkeya . The Priests of
this Temple turned out to be quite intelligent, They sent a group to the Prophet
& appealed to his Ego by saying that the idol of Uzra had spoken & declared
Muhammad to be the True Prophet. Immediately Muhammad said " This looks to be a
believing Jinn". In this way the Banu Uzra ensured their survival. There is no
indication of whether this particular Temple survived or not.
Figure 3.
Arabic sculptures of Lord Shiva who was called
"Suwa" & "Ruda" and Al-Uzza (Goddess Durga)
This was of course only the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of accounts of the
destruction of Vedic Temples, remain unrecorded and thus unknown to us. The
Prophet of Islam was at his most powerful at this period. His Megalomania was
beginning to manifest itself in the extreme. Muhammad's desire to be treated as
the ultimate Lord of the world was being fulfilled. He surrounded himself with
the sycophants who grovelled the most and himself started believing that he was
indeed God on earth. Allah had already started taking second place to Muhammad
in the Koranic Surahs. The following two examples reveal how his megalomania had
taken over Muhammad's mind.
1)This is a Hadith (#118) from Sahih Bukhari, one of the respected books that
accounts the Prophet's behaviour:
"Allah's Apostle came to us at noon and water for ablution was brought to him.
After he had performed ablution, the remaining water was taken by the people and
they started smearing their bodies with it (as a blessed thing). The Prophet
offered two Rakat of the Zuhr prayer and then two Rakat of the 'Asr prayer while
an 'Anza (spearheaded stick) was there (as a Sutra) in front of him. Abu Musa
said: The Prophet asked for a tumbler containing water and washed both his hands
and face in it and then threw a mouthful of water in the tumbler and said to
both of us (Abu Musa and Bilal), "Drink from the tumbler and pour some of its
water on your faces and chests."
Muhammad would give the dirty water from his abolutions to the Muslims, who
would in turn smear it all over themselves as if it were holy water!
2) Muhammad used to have a secretary by the name of Abdallah Ibn Saad who used
to take down the sayings of the Koran at his dictation. At one point Muhammad
was coming up with a divine verse & could not finish it. Abdallah
absent-mindedly completed it for him and was shocked when Muhammad said "Yes
that's it", since the Koran was supposed to be a divine revelation from Allah
himself & only Muhammad was supposed to be privy to those words. Abdallah
immediately abjured Islam & fled to Mecca. During the conquest of Mecca his name
was on top of the list of people to be killed. However his foster-brother Uthman
pleaded for his life, at which the prophet kept silent. After Uthman had gone,
Muhammad shouted at his followers "By God I kept silent all this time so that
one of you may go upto that dog & cut off his head!" The bewildered followers
asked Muhammad why he had not made a signal to them to do this. At this Muhammad
gritted his teeth and hissed "A Prophet does not kill by making mere signs"
Figure 4.
Madain Saleh, one of the few temple
remains of Arabia's Vedic past
By now the first pilgrimage season after the Muslim Occupation of Mecca had come
round. Muhammad came up with new revelations which were read out to the
assembled crowds at Mina. In short, the declaration was that idolaters had four
months in which to convert, after these 4 months, Muhammad was free of all
responsibilities towards them. They would be attacked, killed & plundered
wherever they were found. Next he stipulated in the usual cruel manner, that
only Muslims could attend the pilgrimage, henceforth non-muslims would not be
allowed to enter the confines of Mecca. With this the Prophet snatched away one
of Sanatan Dharma's holy shrines and closed it from the world forever. In my
next article I will relate the subsequent horrors committed by Muhammad in the
name of Islam.
Note: The Works "The Life & times of Muhammad" by Sir John Glubb, "Mohammed" by
Anne Carter "The History of Al-Tabari, Volume 7" by Michael Fishbein and "Hindu
Temples: What Happened to Them? - Volume 2" by Sita Ram Goel have been used to
compose this article.
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia - Part 8
ADITI
CHATURVEDI
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia - Part 8
There was a price one had to pay if one wanted to live in the Arabia of the
Prophet of Islam . That price was the
surrender of one's ancestral heritage, and all the values that one held sacred,
of forcible subjugation, of curtailment of the individual right to choose one's
god and method of worship. To live in Muhammad's Arabia, one had to give up the
most cherished possession of human existence; that of the individual right to
freedom of religion.
Arabia's Vedic culture had been slashed and ravaged to a state of tatters. In
place of the tradition of spiritual tolerance and growth that defined Sanatan
Dharma, Arvasthan was now the political center of a fanatical creed that ruled
by the sword and held dear the values of extortion, greed and murder.
Figure1.
The huge Kalash atop Ad-Deir,
an ancient Vedic shrine in Jordan
Source: The Art of Jordan
As we have seen, the Prophet was completely unsuccessful in his Siege of the
city of Taif . He therefore ended the campaign with the bitterly vituperative
act of arson. Muhammad gave vent to his rage by setting fire to every tree
around Taif, knowing fully well that such an act was defined as mass murder in
the dry desert environs of Arabia. The Prophet was determined not to allow the
Tribe of Thaqeef to survive. In order to implement his murderous intentions,
Muhammad exhorted the subjugated Tribe of Hawazin (refer to Battle of Hunayn,
Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia Part VII) to mercilessly harass the fortified
city. All of the Thaqeef's herds were stolen at their pastures and all links to
the trade with Mecca were severed. Isolated, starved and surrounded by death on
all sides, the brave Thaqeef held on to their beliefs and subsisted on dry dates
and water for at least one year. The morale of the Tribe collapsed steadily as
they watched their children die day by day succumbing to starvation and disease.
Those who were of the weakest character, gave in and secretly set out to
negotiate terms with Muhammad. Their deputation was led by Urwa Bint Masud Al
Thaqafi . Urwa the traitor accepted Islam and emboldened by his new found lease
on life, ventured back to Taif to "invite his people to the true faith". Upon
his return, when Urwa "went up to the room to show his people the Way of Islam",
he was bombarded with arrows and died a traitor's death. The ferocious Thaqeef
fought like heroes to the last to preserve the sacred honor of their beloved
Mother Goddess, Al-Lat.
In the end of course, even the mighty Thaqeef could not last, they were
compelled to send a deputation of six chiefs to negotiate peace with Muhammad.
The chiefs were clear in their demands to the Prophet . In exchange for peace,
they demanded that their holy territory of Wajj remain untouched, they would not
break the idols of their beloved goddess Allat, no more trees could be cut down
and the Thaqeef would retain their vineyards. Muhammad in his greed for the
prosperous prize of Taif agreed, he even signed the treaty as Muhammad Ibn Allah
foregoing the usual status of "Messenger of God" Allah at the insistence of the
Thaqeef . It is another story of course, that he had ulterior motives in mind.
The Thaqeef were satisfied with the terms of the treaty and prepared to return
home. Muhammad insisted that one of the traitors of Taif ,Al-Mughira, Abu Sofyan
the traitorous leader of Mecca and a sizeable, Muslim army be allowed to follow
them. The Thaqeef although suspicious, agreed in good faith. Upon reaching Taif,
the Muslims showed their true colors. Al Mughira and his army surrounded the
Temple of Allat and started smashing the idols with axes. Abu Sofyan even in his
traitorous element was moved to cry out "Alas O Goddess! Alas!" Hundreds were
massacred in sight of their families. The women of Taif collected in the
streets, dishevelled and bare-headed, beating their breasts and weeping at the
loss of their protectress, and the the inadequacy of their men who failed to
protect her. As the unprepared Thaqeef were slaughtered, the anguished women
cried out:
Weep! Weep for our protector!
Poltroons would neglect her
Whose swords need a corrector.
Every scrap of gold, jewellery and gems was plundered. Women and children were
enslaved, the only ones who survived were those who were weak enough to bend at
the threat of the Muslim sword and convert to Islam.
Figure 2.
Al-lat (Durga) of Amman
Source: The Art of Jordan
There were many other Temples in the vicinity of Taif , all of which were
plundered, then destroyed or converted into mosques. Most of the temple
fragments were buried underfoot so that the Prophet could satisfy his constant
burning need to vituperate and insult the religion of his own ancestors. Among
the temples that fell prey, were most of the shrines of Ruda (Rudra or Lord
Shiva), Allat and Al-Uzza (forms of Shakti).
The consistent appearance of Temples dedicated to the divine couple of
Shiva-Shakti throws light on the essential spiritual principles that the Hindus
of Pre- Islamic Arabia upheld. Numerous instances support the preeminence of
Shiva-Shakti worship in Arabia. The most obvious example is that of the Kaaba in
Mecca.
Figure 3.
Allat of Palmyra
Source: Palmyra & its Empire
The Kaaba was dedicated to Al-lat and Al-Uzza both of which are forms of the
Mother Goddess Shakti. The structure of the temple attested to the fact that it
was based on the Tantric iconography of Devi Durga . The verses as written in
the Devi-Mahatmya texts of the Markandeya Purana describe the formation of her
physical body and iconographical attributes:
Born out of the bodies of all the Gods, that unique efflugence, combined into a
mass of light, took the form of a woman, pervading the triple worlds with its
lustre. In that efflugence,
the light of Shiva formed the face. The Tresses were formed from the light of
Yama and the arms from the light of Vishnu Bhagwan
The two breasts were formed from the moon's (Somanath's) light, the waist from
the light of Indra, the legs and thighs from the light of Varun, and hips from
the light of the Earth (Bhoodev)
The feet from the light of Brahma
and the toes from Surya's (sun) light,
the fingers of the hand from the light of the Vasus(the children of Ganga)
and the nose from the light of Kuber .
The teeth were formed from the light of Prajapati, the lord of beings; likewise
the Triad of her eyes was born from the Light of Agni (fire). The eyebrows from
the two Sandhyas (sunrise and sunset) ; the ears from the light of the
wind(Vayu). From the lights of other gods as well, the auspicious goddess was
born.
Projecting an overwhelming omnipotence the three eyed goddess adorned with the
crescent moon with her eighteen arms each holding auspicious weapons, emblems,
jewels and other gifts offered by individual gods, emerged. With her pulsating
body of golden color shining with the splendour of a thousand suns, standing
erect on her lion vehicle (vahana) and displaying her triumph over the dark
forces (shown in the form of a demon under her feet), she stands as the most
spectacular personification of cosmic energy.
Among the 360 idols which surrounded the main shrine of the destroyed Kaaba were
16 magnificient ones that bordered the sanctum sanctorium. We know the names of
the gods that inhabited these 16 important shrines. Every single one of these
deities matches the Devi-Mahatmya's textual description of Devi Durga:-
Suwa which apparently stood for Lord Shiva
Ayam which stood for Lord Yama
Bag which stood for Bhagwan Shri Vishnu
Manat which stood for Somnath (Moon)
Sakiah which stood for Sakra (another name for Indra)
Al-Debaran which stood for Dev-Varun
Obodes which stood for Bhoodev (Earth)
Awal (first) which stood for Brahma
Shems which stood for Surya (Sun)
Wajj (pronounced "Vazz") which stood for the Vasus who were the seven sons of
Ganga (corrupted to Zamza in the form of the ZamZam spring in the Kaaba)
Kaber which stood for Kuber
Aja which stood for Prajapati
Makha which stood for Agni (fire) (in Sanskrit Makha means a fire-sacrifice
(Yagna), the city of Mecca got its name because of the fact that it was the site
of the fire sacrifice)
Sunrise and
Sunset, called the two Auses which stood for the two Sandhyas (probably taken
from Ushas)
Ha'uw which stood for Vayu (the wind)
The architectural elements of the Kaaba Temple consisted of a square block of
black stone, crested by a crescent and sphere, which is encircled by 360
shrines. This is an exact representation of the Tantric Cit-kunda Yantra. Each
element of the Yantra was represented in the Kaaba complex. The circle or Bindu
symbolizes Shakti , it is embraced by the crescent or Shishu which symbolizes
Shiva. This divine marriage shows the pure pre-creative stage of evolution. The
beginning of creation is an omnipotent all-pervading cosmic principle - Shiva
embracing his potential power -Shakti . Thus the crescent and moon symbol is the
sign of the Self, which is aware of its inherent dynamic power. The four points
of the square stone represent the four aspects of one's psyche: the pure self
(atman), the inner self (antaratman), the cognizant self (jananatman) and the
supreme self (paramatman) . The circle around these symbols represents both the
wheel of time (the Vedic year consisted of 360 days) as well as the astronomical
map of the universe and its 360 major heavenly bodies. The Kaaba in its
symbolism therefore represented all the cosmic principles of the universe. It is
the height of absurdity to call proponents of a culture that was capable of
producing monuments such as these, as "superstitous polytheists and uncivilized
pagans". The fact is that the Prophet of Islam destroyed a culture that was
vastly superior in all scientific, spiritual, humanistic and symbolic respects,
to his brand of theocracy. Ironically the word "Pagan" which has come to mean
animalistic, has its very roots in the malpronounciation of the word "Bhagwan"
(Divine God).
Figure 4.
Cit-Kunda-Yantra the Tantric pattern
that the Kaaba is based upon.
There is even more evidence that clearly suggests the conclusion that the Arabs
used to worship different forms of the Divine Couple, Shiva-Shakti in many
forms. Archaeological remnants of the Nabataeans who inhabited Arabia in the
Pre-Islamic era, demonstrate that the chief deities were Dhu-Shara and Al-Uzza.
As we already know Uzza was none other than Oorja or Shakti and since Du-Shara
was her husband, it is quite logical to conclude that Du-Shara is a corruption
of "Deveshwar" which is a Sanskrit synonym for Lord Shiva . Herodotus in his
Histories also says of the Arabs " They deem no other to be gods save Dionysus
and Heavenly Aphrodite ... they call Dionysus Orotalt and Aphrodite Alilat"
(Negev 101). Alilat was again the corrupted version of Allat who as we know
represented Alla (Durga). Dionysus her husband has all the traits of Shiva as
well. Lord Shiva was known to have intoxicated followers called "Ganas". He was
also known as "Pashupati" (lord of the beasts). He is always depicted wearing a
Tiger Skin. The greatest clue to the Shaivite origin of Dionysus lies in the
undeniable title of "fertility god". Just as the Shivling represents the
creative energy, so too were phallic symbols made to represent Dionysus, the
fertility God. Another clue that supports this conclusion is the fact that
Du-Shara is represented as being surrounded by dolphins, as is Dionysus. It is
quite plausible to suggest that Du-Shara and Dionysus were names for Lord Shiva
and that their spouses Al-Uzza and Al-lat respectively, were names for Shakti.
Astrological references in the Vishnu Puran describe the shape of space in the
following way:
"The heavenly form of the mighty Lord is made of stars and shaped like a dolphin
with Dhruva (the Pole Star) in its tail. This dolphin shaped constellation which
is the pathway of the stars' fixed abodes has its hub in the heart of the Lord.
The sun, moon, stars and nakshatras together with the planets are bound to
Dhruva in the tail of the Dolphin by fetters made up of a series of winds".
It is quite obvious that the Dolphin shaped constellation which represents the
Hindu concept of the cosmos is the basis for Nabatean representations of
dolphins in their sacred temples. They represented Du-Shara wielding a trident
along with his consort Al-Uzza seated on a lion, surrounded by dolphins. The
entire divine scene thus symbolized Shiva-Shakti and the shape of the spatial
universe as envisioned by Vedic culture..
Figure 5.
Du-Shara, the, Nabataean
version of Lord Shiva.
Source: Deities and Dolphins
Dhruva himself was venerated in many Arab temples. He was worshipped as Duar in
the Kaaba complex, where many other astronomical deities were revered. The
Navagrahas or nine planets of Hindu cosmology each had an individual shrine
dedicated to them in the Kaaba. We know the Arabic names for at least five of
them.
Sanskrit Arabic English
Budh Wad Mercury
Surya Shems Sun
Somanath Manat Moon
Shani Al-Dsaizan Saturn
Shukra Al-Sharak Venus
The parallels are far too numerous to overlook. The Vedic theme that underlies
the Kaaba and many Arabic temples, is apparent, when we add up all these
fragments of evidence and consider them as a whole.
The fact that Muslim scholars have over the centuries tried their best to erase
all such pieces of evidence speaks volumes. These irrefutable testaments to the
Vedic origins of Arabia, were erased off the face of the earth by the Prophet of
Islam in his quest for supremacy. Although only a few traces could survive the
destructive assault of Islam, the truth still echoes from the silent remains of
Nabataea, Sabaea, Palmyra and Dura-Europos, which eloquently tell of Arabia's
past.
The stories that these ruins whisper have been ignored for centuries, it is time
that they too were heard and given their rightful place in the history of Vedic
civilization and the world.
Note: The Works "The Life & times of Muhammad" by Sir John Glubb, "Mohammed" by
Anne Carter, "Yantra, the Tantric symbol of Cosmic Unity" by Madhu Khanna,
"Deities and Dolphins by Nelson Glueck, "Classical Hindu Mythology" by Dimmitt
and Buitenen, and "Hindu Temples: What Happened to Them? - Volume 2" by Sita Ram
Goel have been used to compose this article.