3.5 Million Performed Hajj: A Grand Prophecy from 4000 Years Ago
Epigraph: "Say (Muhammad), 'I know not whether that which you are promised is nigh or whether my Lord has fixed for it a distant term.' He (Allah) is the Knower of the unseen; and He reveals not His secrets to any one, except to him whom He chooses, namely a Messenger of His. And then He causes an escort of guarding angels to go before him and behind him." (Al Quran 72:26-28)
Kaaba: The First House of God, rebuilt by Patriarch Abraham
This year three and a half or four million Muslims performed the rituals and worship of Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Kaaba in Makkah, which was rebuilt by the Prophet or Patriarch Abraham and the Prophet Ishmael.
Approximately 2000 years BC, Allah the All Knowing had prophesied Hajj, when He had revealed Himself to Prophet Abraham (may blessings of Allah be on him). Allah revealed the memory of that event again in the Holy Quran for the benefit of the posterity:
And call to mind when We (Allah) assigned to Abraham the site of the House and said, 'Associate not anything with Me and keep My House clean for those who perform the circuits, and those who stand up and those who bow and prostrate themselves in Prayer; And call mankind to the Pilgrimage. They will come to thee on foot, and on every lean camel, coming by every distant, deep, track.' (Al Quran 22:27-28)
The proclamation, in the Holy Quran, that Kaaba would one day become a great center to which people from distant lands would come to perform Hajj was made when the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace be on him, was at Makkah, at a time when the very fate of Islam was hanging in the balance. Life was not safe for the Prophet and his followers. They were being driven away from their homes and did not know where to go. It was at that time that it was proclaimed to the world, as if with a beat of a loud drum, that to the Kaaba would come, people from all parts of the earth! The gathering in Makkah every year of large number of Muslims from very distant lands bears an irrefutable testimony to the remarkable fulfillment of this prophecy.
These verses constitute a mighty prophecy. The fulfillment of this prophecy we witness every year. Three to four million people of all races and nationalities have performed Hajj annually since 2006.
There was yet another prophecy in these verses. According to Khalifatul-Masih IV, Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the previous Worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the expression Faj e Ameeq used in the above verses, in Arabic, means fast modes of transportation that cut their way through air, water or ground. (Annual convention before his Khilafat 1977) So this term can be applied to today's transportations like jet planes and cruise ships. More specifically the Holy Quran had prophesied the modern day transportation in:
And when ten-month pregnant she-camels are discarded as a means of transportation. (Al Quran 81:5)
And
He (Allah) has created horses, mules and donkeys that you may ride them, and also as adornment; and He will create for that purpose other means which you do not yet know. (Al Quran 16:9)
Even the believing Muslims do not fully realize the import and grandeur of these prophecies pertaining to the annual spiritual gathering of Hajj and related prophecies. To fully appreciate the significance of the promises and prophecies given to the Patriarch Abraham, which are documented in the Bible and more recently in the Holy Quran for 1500 years, we need to put them into historic context, by contrasting with what happened to the great Empires, their plans and their buildings over the centuries and millennia. But, before doing so, let me quote verses from Genesis in the Old Testament, about Patriarch Abraham:
The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son (Ishmael), I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Genesis 22:15-18)
Now, we move to the historical context.
Alexander III of Macedon (20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of Macedon, a state in northern ancient Greece. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16. By the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas.[1] He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history's most successful commanders.[2]
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