God weaves everything together for good for his children. Islam teaches that there is one supreme Allah, who is adored through good deeds and controlled religious rituals. From that moment, Zoroastrianism developed into a religion centered largely around the dualistic concept of good versus evil. Roman Catholic Christianity, as opposed to Arianism and Gnosticism, was declared to be the state religion of the Roman Empire on February 27, 380 C.E. The State is the axe, which has the power to create, to enforce and to obliterate. Those who practice Sword Logic can do magic by accessing the same sort of power that is found in the Darkness. A law centre can offer free legal advice if you want to take a case for religious discrimination. Together, what do they suggest about the communal expression of religious belief? A second path is for official religious institutions to use whatever autonomy they have to enhance their credibility. On the second day of hajj, pilgrims wake at dawn and walk a short distance to Mount Arafat, where they spend the remainder of the day on or near the mountain in quiet worship and contemplation of God. The only ritual that is solely related to Mohammed is the climbing of Mount Arafat, which is where Mohammed preached his last sermon.

The most well-known ritual is the tawaf (literally “circumambulation”), during which pilgrims circle the Kaaba counterclockwise seven times at both the very beginning and the very end of the hajj. There is also a ritual called Sa’ee, in which pilgrims walk back and forth between the two hills of Safa and Marwah seven times to commemorate Hagar’s frantic search for water for her infant son. Other rituals include a ceremony where pilgrims throw small pebbles at three large stone walls, called jamarat, to symbolize the stoning the devil that tempted Abraham to defy God, and the slaughtering of an animal (usually a sheep) to honor the animal Abraham slaughtered instead of his son. When Abraham came along, he and his son Ismail rebuilt the Kaaba on the foundations of Adam’s earlier shrine as a place of worship of the one God. Access to the Kaaba (and thus the idol) was controlled by the powerful Quraysh tribe, of which Mohammed was a member, and they basically capitalized on this to get rich, charging fees and selling wares to pilgrims coming to worship the idol. One of Mohammed’s first acts upon taking control of the city was to go into the Kaaba and smash the idol of Hubal and the hundreds of other idols to pieces, rededicating the shrine as a place of worship of the one God.

One particularly popular idol was a figure of Hubal, a moon deity worshipped by many in Mecca at the time. The structure consists of four walls and a roof, all made from stone from the hills surrounding Mecca. Today, both hills are enclosed within the Masjid al-Haram (Sacred Mosque) complex (which also houses the Kaaba), and the path between the hills is a long, beautiful indoor gallery with marble floors and air conditioning. There is another squarish stone on the ground a few feet away from the Kaaba with what look like two footprints in it. Many also drink from the Zamzam well located there. There is a famous story in Islam about Mohammed and the Black Stone. The story goes that when construction was finished and it came time to place the Black Stone back in the eastern corner, the final step, the tribes of Mecca argued fiercely over who would get to do the honors.

Mohammed himself then placed the stone into its final position. The meat is then given to feed the poor and needy. It’s not completely impossible – it has happened a handful of times over the centuries – but given the millions who attend every single year, the rate of success is miniscule. The called of God and of Jesus Christ; not to any office, or by the external ministry of the word only, but by special grace; from darkness to light, from bondage to liberty, from the company of sinful men to fellowship with Christ, from a trust in their own righteousness to a dependence on his, to grace here, and glory hereafter; which is done according to the purpose of God: the persons called are fixed upon by God; none are called but whom God purposed to call; those who are called can assign no other reason of it than the will of God; and no other reason but that can be given why others are not called; the time when, the place where, the means whereby persons are called, are all settled and determined by the will, and according to the purpose of God. I remember how I felt before I accepted Jesus as my savior.