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| Olde Tyme Religion |
| Egyptian geologist calls for analysis of holy stone |
| 2008-11-20 |
| An Egyptian preacher was accused of excessive indulgence in the supernatural when he called for carrying out an analysis of the holy stone in the Mecca shrine to prove it is not made of earthy material. Islamic thinker and professor of geology Dr. Zaghloul al-Naggar called for taking samples from the Black Stone at the holy shrine of Mecca to prove the Prophet's hadith-saying-that it is made of heavenly substance and to respond to the West's deriding perception of Islam. Naggar referred to the way the West ridicules Muslims for kissing the Black Stone during the pilgrimage ritual. "What I called for is not an exploration of the supernatural," he told AlArabiya.net. "It is scientific research." According to a hadith (saying) by Prophet Mohamed, "The Black Stone descended from Paradise much whiter than milk, but it was turned black by the sins committed by mankind." In a seminar hosted by the Egyptian Press Syndicate on Monday, Naggar stressed that taking a sample will not damage the holy stone and called for scholars to utilize science in the right way. Professor of Hadith at al-Azhar University Dr. al Agami al Damanhouri said Naggar's call is not going to add to the stone's value and stressed that there is no point in trying to demonstrate this value to the West. "They made this analysis before and made sure its substance is not earthly," he told AlArabiya.net. Damanhouri cited a saying by the Prophet's Companion and second Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab: "I know well that you are simply a stone, and have no power to confer a benefit or to do harm. Had I not seen the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you." According to Damanhouri, this saying proves that the Prophet's actions should be emulated by Muslims without the need to find a scientific proof that supports its validity. On the other hand, Sheikh Abdullah Megawer, advisor of the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, supported Naggar's call while agreeing to the necessity of following the Prophet in whatever he said or did. "If Naggar's call is to discover the scientific formation of the stone, we welcome it. Other than that, we follow the text we have," he told AlArabiya.net. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #15 Actually its a giant licorice drop |
| Posted by: Chief 2008-11-20 19:57 |
| #14 Silly me. I thought a holystone was something you used to scrub down the decks of sailing ships. From Wiki: Holystone is a soft and brittle sandstone that was formerly used for scouring and whitening the wooden decks of ships. It was used in the British and American Navy for scrubbing the decks of sailing ships. The term may have come from the fact that 'holystoning the deck' was originally done on one's knees, as in prayer.[1] In realistic reference to their size, smaller holystones were called "prayer books" and larger ones "Bibles"; also, a widely quoted legend attributes the name "holystone" to the story that such pieces of stone were taken for use from St. Nicholas Church in Great Yarmouth.[2] More plausible is the use of stones taken from the ruined church of St Helens, Isle of Wight; tall ships would often anchor in St Helens Roads (the strip of water immediately adjacent to St Helens) and take provisions and fresh water from St Helens before setting off on their journeys. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-11-20 18:06 |
| #13 Black Stone of Mecca |
| Posted by: ed 2008-11-20 17:42 |
| #12 What cracks ME up |
| Posted by: ed 2008-11-20 17:39 |
| #11 What cracks up is that muzzie pilgrims jostle each other in order to reach their hand into the silver vulva and rub the |
| Posted by: ed 2008-11-20 17:39 |
| #10 Some naughty Hindus claim that this is a meteorite fragment that was crafted into a Shiva Lingam and worshipped at the Kaaba before the arrival of Islam. |
| Posted by: john frum 2008-11-20 17:10 |
| #9 The point is not if where it is from. It is that you set up both idols of stone and wood and encircle them. |
| Posted by: newc 2008-11-20 15:04 |
| #8 Is it a meteorite? I recall reading that it is granite, and that the British Museum had a sample from it. But the man has a valid point. Investigation of any rock starts with its hardness, so I propose every Haji bangs his head against the Black Stone three times, as hard as he can. This should generate some useful data in time. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2008-11-20 12:13 |
| #7 Touch not the Holy Meteorite! |
| Posted by: mojo 2008-11-20 11:46 |
| #6 Coprolite from one L. Ron's buddies. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2008-11-20 11:33 |
| #5 typical rag-head science. The entire f****ing earth is "heavenly" you dweebs! |
| Posted by: AlanC 2008-11-20 10:08 |
| #4 Of course it's made of heavenly material. It's a *FUCKING METEORITE*! Unless you think it's made of Platonic Godlike wonder-absorbant or something like that, you wouldn't accomplish much of anything, rant-boy. I've never understood the whole Kaaba thing. Sure looks like shirk to me, you more-monotheistic-than-thou hypocritical jackasses, you. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2008-11-20 10:06 |
| #3 Here mate, 'kiss' this one instead! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-11-20 09:18 |
| #2 It's a large ferrous meteorite fragment. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2008-11-20 08:12 |
| #1 Yeh! Don't mess with the Prophet's rock. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2008-11-20 04:25 |