Unifying

Now we know that in Dhul Hijja,

the month of the Pilgrimage,

muslims journey from all around the world to Makkah for the Hajj.

But why do they go there? What's so special about that place?

Well, to answer that question we have to go back

through history to a very, very long time ago,

when a man called Ibrahim was alive.

Ibrahim was a very holy man, who believed in the One God,

and at a time when everyone around him worshipped idols,

Ibrahim knew that there was only One God,

the Only One worthy of worship.

And Ibrahim built the Ancient House of worship in Makkah

with his son Ismail, who lived there with his mother, Hajar,

and the reason that Hajar and Ismail lived there is another part of the story.

And it is said that the Ancient House we call Ka'aba,

built by Ibrahim and Ismail,

is the oldest place on earth dedicated to the worship of the One God,

Allah.

And that building is still the centre of worship for muslims around the world,

though it is no longer the same building erected by Ibrahim and Ismail.

The building itself has fallen down and been rebuilt many times over the years,

but always in the same place and in the same shape,

it's corners facing north, south, east and west,

almost a cube,

the Ka'aba.

And it is said that the Ancient House is built where Adam and Eve

built the first place on earth that was dedicated to the worship of the One God,

Allah.

It is a place so holy that muslims around the world

face it at least five times every day in their prayers,

times of worship and submission to the One God

of Ibrahim and Hajar,

Adam and Eve,

and ourselves.

But more than that,

all muslims do their best, at least once in their lifetimes to try to visit this holy place,

where they remember how Ibrahim, Hajar and Ismail,

came to be in Makkah to build the Ka'aba,

and how Ibrahim nearly killed Ismail.

And they are reminded of these stories

by the rituals they follow

during the days of Hajj.

How did they find water in the desert?

Why would Ibrahim want to kill his son?