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THE KAABA -THE HOUSE OF GOD
Although God revealed that His face is everywhere, in all the directions and
He encompassed everything, He definitely explained that "kıble-the direction
to which a Muslim turns in worship -" was "the Kaaba" for the Muslims to stand
in an attitude of respect with joined hands in the presence of God during
worship and prayer, as it was told the Prophet Muhammad in the verse:
"Ve akim
vecheke şetrel mescidil haram -Turn your face towards the Kaaba in
Mecca
(Mescid - i Haram)."
(Al-Baqarah,
144).
The
reason why it is "kıble" and "the House of God" is hidden in the mystery of
its appearance as a dot (point), when the Kaaba is seen downwards from above
and so every side of it is accepted as Kıble and in the secrecy of its black
color. It is also related to the heart of man, because the Kaaba is nearly in
the centre of the world same as the heart is in the centre of the body. This
place is light during 12 months of the year and it is a holy dot, a sacred
circle just like the heart of the Perfect Man. God manifested this circle as
He manifested into the heart of the Perfect Man with His person. The Divine
Light of the Face of God was shown to the Prophets and the Friends of God in
this holy circle.
The
walls of the Kaaba are covered with a large piece of black cloth. Although
green was accepted as the sacred colour by the Muslims, it is especially
covered by a piece of black cloth because black has the mystery of curtain.
When a man shuts his eyes, he sees that his heart and the inner world is
veiled by a black covering. It is the same for the Kaaba. The darkness of a
night is a veil to light. So, there is a great light and reality under this
veil but it is covered with a black cloth. It is veiled for the unbelievers.
It looks like the heart of the Perfect Man. "I can fit neither into the
Earth nor the Heaven; I am in the heart of the true believer." (137) The
secrecy of this statement and the secrecy of both the Kaaba and the heart of
the Perfect man are the same. The Kaaba and the Divine Light of the Kaaba is
hidden with a black covering same as the body hides the heart (the matter of
the body symbolizes darkness) because the divine light is hidden from the
unbelievers. This is the meaning of the black cloth. Those who understand it
can understand it and those who are Gnostics know it.
Circling the Kaaba by turning around it is based on the reality that God is
everywhere and He does not look like any images or forms. When an
unbeliever closes his eyes, he cannot see his heart and the divine light in it
(there is no divine light in the heart of the unbeliever anyway). When he
looks at the Kaaba, he can only see the black curtain of mystery but he cannot
see the manifestation of God there because the mystery of the Kaaba is hidden
and unknown for the unbelievers. It is known and understood only by the
Perfect Men whose hearts have been improved and purified. These great people
are able to comprehend the holiness and divinity in the Kaaba.
How happy are
those who understand it and how happy are the pilgrims - hadjis - who visit it
being aware of the manifestation of God there. If a person visits it for
thousands of times, and looks at it for hundreds of years unconsciously, and
for fame and for the title of pilgrim without knowing the reality, he neither
understands anything nor he gets any benefit from it.
The
reasons why the Kaaba is called "the House of God" have thoroughly been
explained so far. It is said that one who visits the Kaaba, visits The Most
High Allah, who is the Lord of the Universe. The heart of the Perfect man is
also the Kaaba -the purified house - and this is confirmed with the statement
"I can fit into neither the Earth nor the Heavens; I am in the heart
of the true believer". For this reason, it is also said that the sins of
the person who visits the Kaaba are forgiven.
May God enable us to live and die with the love of Muhammad and His Family
(Ahl-al Bayt) as the People of Kıble, the People of Islam and the People of
the Koran!
KAZIM YARDIMCI/ADIYAMAN
varliktanveriler@hotmail.com
bilgi@varliktanveriler.com
www.varliktanveriler.com
