Have Muslims Been Praying In The Wrong Direction For Over 1000 Years? | Sacred City | Timeline
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Published 2019-01-26
In this startling and original documentary, writer and historian, Dan Gibson, shows that descriptions of Mohamed’s original holy city – as detailed in the Qur’an and Islamic histories, do not match that of the Mecca we know today. If true this could shake Islam to it’s roots, because every Muslim is required to pray towards the ‘forbidden gathering place’. If Dan Gibson is right, Muslims are praying in the wrong direction.
In the film ‘The Sacred City’ we set out his evidence from within Islamic and ancient histories – while also using modern technologies - to track down the biggest secret of the last fifteen hundred years. Gibson not only finds the location of the original Mecca but also provides a convincing argument as to how such a great misunderstanding in Islamic history came about.
While clearly controversial, The Sacred City is respectful of Islam’s prophet, and does not dispute the events of the Qur’an; but shows how a deliberate attempt was made to hide from Islam, secrets that impact every Muslim today. The evidence is compelling and fascinating.
In a time when the world agenda is being set by Islam, it is more important than ever for the origins and history of this world religion to be examined afresh. This is an important documentary with world-wide appeal for both religious and secular audiences.
Beautifully filmed in the ruins and deserts of the middle east, the film is a detective story that investigates the dawn of Islam and will become the most talked about film for years to come.
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All Comments (21)
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Always remember this "it is not the eyes that are blind but the heart".
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"The fools among the people will say, “What has turned them (Muslims) from their Qiblah [prayer direction (towards Jerusalem)] to which they were used to face in prayer.” Say, (O Muhammad SAW) “To Allah belong both, east and the west. He guides whom He wills to a Straight Way.” Surah Al-Baqarah - 142.
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“Our Lord! I have settled some of my offspring in a barren valley, near Your Sacred House, our Lord, so that they may establish prayer. So make the hearts of ˹believing˺ people incline towards them and provide them with fruits, so perhaps they will be thankful” Quran 14:37 Thank you for confirming that!
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I’m not a scholar in Arabic but you don’t have to be one to know the following : 1) “Bekka“ which means to have weeped or cried , in arabic is بكى and not بكة as mentioned. The adjective of weeping or crying is يبكي for male and تبكي for female. Therefore the part about changing the city name from Bekka to Mekka doesn’t make sense, in such a case Mekka would be spelled as مكى which is wrong, It is currently spelled as مكة . 2) several times the author refers to AlMasjid as meaning a gathering place, but in Arabic AlMasjid means “the place that Prostration is conducted.” Masjid is the adjective of Sajad which means to have laid face down as submission during prayer for Worshop. A gathering place on the other hand is referred to as Aljameh الجامع.
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Is there zam-zam well in Petra ? If the Masjid al-Haram was situated in the Petra then zam zam well should be in Petra also.
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It would be nice to have a more critical examination of Islam much like Christianity has had.
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7 higher universe & 7 lower universe, 7 rounds of marriage, 7 rounds of idols in temple, 7 rounds of a dead body, 7 birth or incarnation. 7 is sacred in sanatan dharma "hindu Religion" Somehow it is related to 7 rounds of kaaba.
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Maybe it was a case like what the Vikings said, about Greenland. To pull more people to that area. People used to do that a lot.
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Fell asleep at 2 and woke up to this and some other documentaries in my watch history
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One thing I realized is, people at that time were very extraordinary in Astronomy and calculation
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Given the trails of Abraham as described in Genesis, it makes much more sense that the birthplace of Islam would be in what we call Petra, also Saudi Arabian laws requires archaeological research before new structures can be built and there is nothing that dates before 700AD. And if there is nothing there before 700AD, then Mecca can't be the birthplace of Islam.
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I really don't care which direction they pray in.. When they're in their circle they're praying in every direction...
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The confusion here stems from the way Arabic text is written in English. The word "Haram" in Majid-a-Haram is a different Arabic word (that is spelled differently in Arabic) than the word meaning forbidden: Haram. This word means sanctuary or holy shrine. For example Mecca and Madina are commonly referred to as the "Harameen Sharifine" meaning the two holy shrines. These two words are also pronounced differently. The word forbidden is pronounced with a more extended second "a" (Haraam), while the word for shrine is a quick two syllables (ha-ram)
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subtitles of the Arab guy speaking 11:10 are deliberately translated wrong. He does not say the city had ancient ruins and city walls, rather he describes a large and well known city with markets. Weak and unreliable sources quoted from Bukhari are not sufficient evidence to back up this theory claimed by Dan Gibson. The argument that Mecca had a large population is also wrong. Large armies were not composed merely from the dwellers of Mecca, but were a collective army formed by bedouin tribes who inhabited all areas of the Arabian Peninsula. Mecca only had Qurash tribe who were lucky to own the Kaaba which held the idol gods and tribes of Arabia would visit for religous and trading purposes. Think of it as an ancient trade show with a pilgrimage twist...around the twelth minute the documentary talks about "approaching a town blessed with water and trees". Yes Mecca had Zam-Zam water wells for thousands of years, and yes there would have been Date Palms with "fruits", as dates are classified as a fruit, but certainly not grapes, they fail to show the actual hadith in Arabic text, they just quote it in English with supporting visuals of grapes to manipulate the audience. Why is the climate of Mecca at the time presented as such a suprise? Ancient records show that The Sabaean kingdom of Yemen had cities such as Sanaa with lush gardens and flora. Even Anatolia and Mesopotamia had lions, cheetah and asian elephants but are no longer present. In short, climatic shifts happen and there is no evidence to prove Mecca did not ever have any vegetation during that period. Last point is about the Masjids built in the first century of Islam. Qibla walls could have easily been slightly off target considering the examples given these structures were hundreds or thousands of km's distance and with good reason people did not have Google Earth and modern GPS coordinates at the time, moreover, documentary does not even mention the first masjid built at the time of prophet Mohammed in which he had helped build himself called Masjid Kuba.
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I would like raise the matter with regard to the ZamZam Well which is located in the Masjid ul Haram vicinity in Maccah.. was there a zam zam well or any sort of well in Petra? Thank you
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Belief is not based on facts or truth. So it will never make any difference to believers. But if i am a Jordanian i would ask my government to take up this because changing mecca may not be possible but giving importance to Petra will increase the tourism n one day if scholar's around the world give it the islamic importance then pilgrimage to petra will change Jordan forever.
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When you want to show where the original city of Mecca is and try to convince the audiences, especially Muslims, you must also reveal other important places mentioned in history, such as Hudaibiyah and Thaif. You also must show some important areas/places for worship that are inseparable from Mecca: Arafah and Mina.
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Quran 2:158 Indeed, as-Safa and al-Marwah are among the symbols of Allah. So whoever makes Hajj to the House or performs 'umrah - there is no blame upon him for walking between them. And whoever volunteers good - then indeed, Allah is appreciative and Knowing.
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Dan, this is a fantastic work, could you please add Arabic Subtitles. The message is critical for Arabic speakers.
