The Day Shiites Attacked Ka’aba

Since the Iranian revolution in the late seventies, many people in Muslim countries have been made to believe that the only way to the establishment of an Islamic state like Iran is for the Muslims to unite, a unity that will deemphasize divisions and bring together Sunnis and Shiites with everyone not seeing anything wrong with what the other person is doing. This so-called taqarub which was hatched and propagated by Iran under the leadership of Ayatullahi Khomaini has been accepted by many gullible Sunnis around the world. In the process, many of them have embraced Shia and abandoned the true teachings of Islam.

The fundamental factor that helped the spread of Shia in Nigeria and other Muslim countries is ignorance. Most of those who embraced Shia are either western-educated with no first-hand knowledge of Islam or people who have not been to school at all. The very few exceptions are those hired to spread Shia and derive financial benefits from the deal.

But are Shiites truly Muslims and what should we expect in the event Shiites have their way and establish the ‘Islamic’ state they have been clamouring for in Nigeria and other Muslim countries? Are there examples in the past where Shiites established a state and what was it like? By the way, are the Shiites themselves united or they are like Allah describes their ilks, “you think that they are united, while their hearts are divided” (Q59:14)?

 The religion of Shia is fundamentally based on the belief in the infallible Imams from the family of the Holy prophet (pbuh) and this is the basis of their confusion. Who are those Imams and what is supposed to be their number? There is no answer to these questions either from the Qur’an or the authentic traditions of the Holy prophet. The whole thing is based on hearsay and what different groups of people decided to believe at different points in Shiite history. For example, they all agreed that the first Imam is Aliy, the Prophet’s cousin. After Ali some decided to promote the Imamship of  his child Muhammad, others Hassan and several others Hussain. As time went on there was further division in the ranks of those who accepted Hassan and then Hussain and the Zaidis came to be.

After the death of Ja’far Assadiq considered the sixth Imam by mainstream Shia, Shiites were divided on who was to be their next Imam. Many of them adopted his first son, Ismael as the next Imam and are known as Ismailiyya while others considered his younger son Musa Alkazim as the next Imam and were known as Kazimiyya or the twelvers. As time went on, Ismailiyya were further divided into several sects, the most notable being Qaramita and Ubaidiyya. The Qaramita established a Government in Bahrain  in the middle of third century hijri which lasted for over two centuries  while the Ubaidiyya established a state in North Africa which lasted for some three centuries before it was finally destroyed by Sunni forces under the command of Salahuddeen Al-ayyubi.

History books are full of atrocities committed by the Shiite governments against Islam in both Bahrain and North Africa. However, our discussion in this piece is restricted to the attack on Ka’ba and pilgrims by the forces of Qaramita in the fourth hijri century.

Ka’aba is considered by all muslims as the most sacred place on earth and it is towards its direction that we have been divinely instructed to face in our prayer. Ka’aba and indeed the city of Makka is one of the two harams in which fighting, hunting, cutting grass, etc have been prohibited. This prohibition was expressly emphasized by the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) himself after the conquest of Makkah, “Allah made this town sacred on the day He created the earth and the heavens; so it is sacred by the sacredness conferred on it by Allah until the Day of Resurrection and fighting in it was not lawful to anyone before me, and it was made lawful for me only during an hour on one day, for it is sacred by the sacredness conferred on it by Allah until the Day of Resurrection. Its thorns are not to be cut, its game is not to be molested, and the things dropped are to be picked up only by one who makes a public announcement of it, and its fresh herbage is not to be cut.” (Muslim)

The attack by Shiites was not only on Ka’ba but also on pilgrims. It took place on the 8^th of Dhul Hijjah 317 AH, when the annual Hajj was at its peak. The pilgrims who came in their thousands from all parts of the Islamic world were busy with worship and were not expecting any military attack as that had never happened even during the Jahiliyya period. Suddenly the army of qaramita under the leadership of Abu Tahir Al-jannabi invaded the haram and launched their attack from all directions. Pilgrims were killed on the streets of Makkah, in the Holy mosque and inside Ka’aba. Those who initially fled and held Ka’aba clothing were murdered and the covering torn into pieces.

The Shiites troops destroyed the well of Zamzam and removed the door of Ka’aba. They did not stop there. They removed the black stone (al hajarul aswad) and went away with it. The total number of pilgrims killed on that day was estimated to be about thirty thousand. Most of them were buried into the well of zamzam on the instruction of Abu Tahir (may Allah curse him).

While Abu Tahir was carrying out his unique most heinous atrocity ever committed against the house of Allah and its visitors, the heretic was at one point shouting, “I m god, I m the creator and destroyer”. And at another point he was saying in a direct mockery of the Qur’an, “Where are the flying flocks of birds? Where are the stones of baked clay?”

The Amir of Makkah later followed Abu Tahir and pleaded with him to return the black stone but the Shiite killed him along with his family and most of those who followed him to make the plea. The black stone remained with them for twenty two years until the year 339 AH when they agreed to return it peacefully after collecting fifty thousand dinars given to them by the then Caliph.

The decision remains yours. Are you going to choose Islam or Shiism?