Page 56 - New English Book L

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“ The Mustapha (pbuh) ”! [1]

From what has been stated above, our curiosity would

naturally lead one to ask the following questions:-

(a) Why did the Muslims and Unitarian descendants
of Abraham (pbuh) choose a stone to perform their religious
service on or around it?

(b) Why should this particular stone be named sapha?

(c) What is the writer driving at? And so on - perhaps
several others.

The stone was selected as the best suitable material
upon which a travelling devotee offered his sacrifice,
poured his pure oil and wine [2] , and performed his
religious services around it. It was more than this; this
stone was erected to commemorate the vows and certain
promises which a prophet or righteous man made to
his Creator, and the revelation he received from God.
Consequently, it was a sacred monument to perpetuate
the memory and the sacred character of a great religious
event. For such a purpose, no other material could surpass
the stone. Not only does the solidity and durability of
the stone make it suitable for that purpose, but its mere
simplicity, cheapness, worthlessness in a lonely place
would guarantee it against any attraction of human avarice
or enmity to steal or destroy it. As is well known, the Law
of Moses (pbuh) strictly forbids to hew or carve the stones
of the altar. The stone called Sapha was to be absolutely
left natural; no images, inscriptions, or engravings were
to be wrought upon it, lest any one of these should be
worshipped in time to come by the ignorant people.
Gold, iron silver, or any other metal, could not answer
all these qualities required in the simple stone. It will be
understood, therefore, that the purest, the most durable,

[1] The chosen one in Arabic. (Editors).

[2] Wine was not forbidden to the people of Israel. (The author)