Mosque/ Masjid:-
Masjid is derived from the verb Sajadah, meaning to Prostrate oneself, hence it is the place of prostration. This name is usually associated with the Mosque, the place of worship of Muhammadans
Mosque is the Latin corruption of the Arabic Masjid (Place of prostration), which is the Muhammadan Muslims' place of worship.
Mosque is also called a Jami' (Congregational gathering) and is not only a building for devotion but it also serves as a general assembly hall as well as an educational and political forum. It acts actually, as the preliminary drill ground of Muhammadan Islam.
Actually, it is also the place of prayers of the Jews since the Temple of Solomon is also called "Al Masjid al Aqsa", meaning "The Furthest Mosque". When the Temple was in existence, it was the only place where the priests were allowed to prostrate
(Hebrew =Hishtahawa'ah = Spreadeagle) as part of their prayer ritual but not outside its precincts.
In fact the pagan Arabs - centuries before Muhammad and his Quran - prostrated themselves to the gods of the Ka'ba in Mecca. This tradition was already known to the Israelites/Jews and the Christians and most probably were influenced by the fact that Christian monks were in the habit and tradition of prostrating themselves in their churches and holy places.
The word Masjid was very well known to the pagan Arabs (Ibn Ishaq, p56) long before Muhammad and his Cult Belief System. They used to prostrate themselves infront of their idols. Muhammad had no choice but to 'Islamize' it- like he did with almost all the other pagan and non pagan rituals and fetishes - thus making it appear as if it were his own creation.
In A. Guillaum's 'New Light on the Life of Muhammad', translation of the Qarawayoun Manuscript (fo. 60a), in Fez, a mosque/masjid is mentioned in Mecca before the one that Muhammad later built for himself and his followers in Madina as also mentioned by Ibn Hisham (pp185 & 233).
Masjids (places of prostration) existed in Arabia long before Muhammad and his Quran.
It is in the mosques that the Imams (lay 'religious' leaders), during their Khutba (Sermon) after Friday prayers who have been - for centuries and until today - using their pulpit to INCITE and INDOCTRINATE the very disciplined and obedient congregations into unthinking and frenzied HATEMONGERING mobs.
Contary to all the falsified, forced and contorted explanations of Muhammadan scholars that the term Masjid can actually also mean a 'precinct' (surrounding area/neighbourhood) is totally contradicted by hundreds of verses that make a complete and clear differentiation between the terms Masjid and Precinct as two distinct words with two different meanings.
2:125 Remember We made the house [beit] a place of assembly for men and a place of safety; and take ye the station of Abraham as a place of prayer; and We covenanted with Abraham and Isma'il that they should sanctify My House for those who compass it round or use it as a retreat or bow [rak'a] or prostrate [sujood] themselves (therein in prayer).
*** This verse is of course referring to the Ka'ba which was and is not a mosque in the later 'Islamic' sense of the word***
5:2 O ye who believe! violate not the sanctity of the Symbols of Allah nor of the Sacred Month nor of the animals brought for sacrifice nor the garlands that mark out such animals nor the people resorting to the Sacred House (al Beit al Haram) seeking of the bounty and good pleasure of their Lord. But when ye are clear of the Sacred Precincts and of pilgrim garb ye may hunt and let not the hatred of some people in (once) shutting you out of the Sacred Mosque [al Masjid al Haram] lead you to transgression (and hostility on your part). Help ye one another in righteousness and piety but help ye not one another in sin and rancor: fear Allah: for Allah is strict in punishment.
*** According to the verse above, there are two distinct forbidden areas involved:
(a) the Ka'ba itself and
(b) the forbidden area surrounding it.
It should be pointed out that although the Quran prohibited the shedding of blood in the holy complex as well as prohibiting the breaking of the sanctity of the Sacred Months, Muhammad, none the less, shed blood at the Ka'ba as well as broke the sanctities of the Forbidden Months by conducting warfare in them. So much for following the Quran, the Word of Allah***
5:95 O ye who believe! kill not game while in the Sacred Precincts or in pilgrim garb….
17:1 Glory to (Allah) Who did take His Servant for Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque [al Masjid al Haram] to the Farthest Mosque [al Masjid al Aqsa] whose Precincts We did Bless in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the one Who heareth and seeth (all things).
22: 40 "Those who have been driven from their homes unjustly only because they said: Our Lord is Allah-For had it not been for Allah's repelling some men by means of others, cloisters and churches and oratories and mosques, wherein the name of Allah is oft mentioned, would assuredly have been pulled down. Verily Allah helpeth one who helpeth Him. Lo! Allah is Strong, Almighty.
*** Mosques, Synagogues and Churches are PLACES (Structures/Buildings) of worship***
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith Hadith 2.281 Narrated byQuzaa
I heard Abu Said saying four words. He said, "I heard the Prophet (saying the following narrative)." He had participated in twelve holy battles with the Prophet.
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Do not set out on a journey except for three Mosques, i.e. Al-Masjid-Al-Haram, the Mosque of Allah's Apostle , and the Mosque of Al-Aqsa (Mosque of Jerusalem)."
*** If more proof is needed, the above is crystal clear in its meaning: The Temple of Solomon is a building like the other two and is not a precinct; the only crucial difference is that while both the Ka'ba and the mosque of Muhammad did exist, that of the Temple of Solomon had been destroyed at least 550 years earlier and did not exist at the time of Muhammad ***
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.636 Narrated byAbu Dhaar I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Which mosque was built first?"
He replied, "Al-Masjid-ul-Haram."
I asked, "Which (was built) next?"
He replied, "Al-Masjid-ul-Aqs-a (i.e. Jerusalem)."
I asked, "What was the period in between them?"
He replied, "Forty (years)." He then added, "Wherever the time for the prayer comes upon you, perform the prayer, for all the earth is a place of worshipping for you."
*** As usual, Muhammad is rarely concerned with reality and the true dimensions of time, space or location. Since the Ka'ba was allegedly built by Abraham c. 2500 BCE and the Temple of Solomon in c. 960 BCE, the time difference is certainly NOT 40 years but about 1500 years.
Since this a historical FACT, then it is without a shadow of a doubt clear, that Muhammad was deliberately DECEIVING and BETRAYING the trust of his followers with such MENDACITY.
I leave it to the imagination and intelligence of reader to evaluate the veracity and logic of Muhammad on most of the other issues that contradict history, theology, time and space.
Even the idea that the whole earth is a place of worship is copied from rabbinical traditions since the Israelites in their sojourn had neither a fixed abode nor a fixed temple but prayed wherever they were ***
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 9.380 Narrated byAbu Wail
I sat with Shaiba in this Mosque (Al-Masjid-Al-Haram), and he said, (Umar once sat beside me here as you are now sitting, and said, 'I feel like distributing all the gold and silver that are in it (i.e., the Ka'ba) among the Muslims'. I said, 'You cannot do that.' 'Umar said, 'Why?' I said, 'Your two (previous) companions (the Prophet and Abu Bakr) did not do it. 'Umar said, 'They are the two persons whom one must follow.( (See Hadith No. 664, Vol. 2)
*** The Ka'ba, during and after the death of Muhammad, became the store house of most of the booty and loot that were acquired through piratical raids and wars of aggression ***
Although the Quran does not mention the following prohibitions, the Muhammadans, none the less, follow the tradition of the Jews by emulating Muhammad's Sunna (his example) -
Deuteronomy 4:" 16. Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourselves an engraved image, the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,17. The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,18. The likeness of any thing that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth .... 19...and bow to them and worship them...."
The Israelites - and hence their descendants, the Jews - are forbidden from carving any sculptures or making any paintings of humans or animals in their life. They are only allowed to sculpt or draw floral, vegetable or geometrical patterns.
The conquering Muhammadan Muslim Arabs invariably converted the holy places of the conquered territories into Mosques such as they did in Iraq, Syria, Persia, North Africa and the Byzantine Empire for example. In the latter, the most famous conversion was done to the Cathedral of Haghia Sophia in Constantinople.
