2 questions [On the Kaabah and Hajj]

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2 questions [On the Kaabah and Hajj]
Anonymous
05/01/01 at 00:17:37
assalaam alaykum,

#1  is there any significance to why we do tawaf 7 times around the kabbah?  
(my teacher at school wanted to know, so do I actually).

#2  if non-Muslims aren't allowed to do Hajj how do the Muslims that DO perform
hajj enter?  do you have to prove that you're Muslim, if so how would one do
this?

JazakAllah khair
Re: 2 questions [On the Kaabah and Hajj]
jannah
05/01/01 at 00:27:13
wlm,

i can't remember if i have read anything about the significance of the 7 times.. w'Allahu Alam... perhaps someone else has come across something.

as for entering Makkah or Madinah which are sacred, protected cities, it is true no non-muslims are allowed for good reason. they are both extremely special cities, there is no reason for anyone not muslim to be there. anyways when you get near the outskirts of the cities by car or by bus there are checkpoints and they'll check your id's or visa's...others have to bypass around the cities using another highway exit

btw to get there you have to apply for a visa beforehand through a saudi embassy...many times you have to supply a letter from your masjid saying that you're muslim...you cannot travel into saudi without a visa.


[quote]assalaam alaykum,

#1  is there any significance to why we do tawaf 7 times around the kabbah?  
(my teacher at school wanted to know, so do I actually).

#2  if non-Muslims aren't allowed to do Hajj how do the Muslims that DO perform
hajj enter?  do you have to prove that you're Muslim, if so how would one do
this?

JazakAllah khair
[/quote]
Re: 2 questions [On the Kaabah and Hajj]
Arsalan
05/01/01 at 01:00:15
[slm]

[quote]#1  is there any significance to why we do tawaf 7 times around the kabbah?  [/quote]

Actually, the number 7 seems to be a recurring number in many Islamic concepts.

7 heavens
7 tawafs around the ka'bah
7 stones to be thrown during jamaraat at each shaytaan
7 rounds during the sa'ee between safa and marwa
7 people under the Shade on the Day of Judgment
7 glorious verses of the Opening (surah al-Fatihah)

the list goes on actually, i just can't think of any more at the moment.  

I wonder if anyone has written/read anything on this subject.

Maybe *se7en* can shed some light on this? :)
Re: 2 questions [On the Kaabah and Hajj]
AbdulBasir
05/01/01 at 17:43:02
[quote]Actually, the number 7 seems to be a recurring number in many Islamic concepts.[/quote]
[slm] I not making any comment about the significance or reasoning behind the seven tawaf as Allah SWT knows best about the reason and wisdom behind it.

However, the number "seven" during the time of Muhammad[saw], and apparently in the Greco-Roman tradition as well, was often used to not necessarily designate seven in number, but rather a nonspecific plurality. You will find this idea in a lot of the [i]tafseer[/i] on Qur'anic verses which talk about the seven heavens and so on. Maurice Bucaille refers to the prevailing agreement amongst the commentators about this issue in his discussion on the cosmos in the Qur'an. So seven can mean "7", but it can also mean an indefinite plurality.

In the case of things where you actually perform "7", perhaps the spiritual and immaterial (and therefore incomprehensible) significance and reward is much more than what we can mathematicallly comprehend in our limited human view; i.e it is an undefined plurality which we can't really grasp. So maybe when you do seven tawaf, it is, in the true reality, much more...

That of course is an uneducated speculation on my part. And Allah knows best...
[slm]
Re: 2 questions [On the Kaabah and Hajj]
Hadid
05/01/01 at 20:58:40
Thawaf can be refered to human's life.

7 times means we life seven days a week, no more, no less.
Clockwise means we can never reverse the time, thus we must use time efficiently.
Do you prefer doing thawaf near to Ka'bah? Yes, in that way we walk shorter, in other word we'll finish thawaf easier. that means your life would be easier if you closer to Allah.
Re: 2 questions [On the Kaabah and Hajj]
chachi
05/06/01 at 12:57:18

hmm what about the 7 sleepers?..thats a story current in most of asia and europe even before the time of the prophet eg in scotland..7 is probably a special number for some reason for instance some of the taoist priests appeal to 7 of the kings of the spirits when performing exorcisms...it probably has some significance in mathematical terms like maybe a constant *s*


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