Translation
Indeed, the very first house of worship ever built for mankind is at Bakkah [same as Mecca], full of blessing, a guidance for the nations of the world, and full of insights and messages; a place where Abraham once stood. There is safety and inner peace for everyone who enters its precinct. Let it be known that Pilgrimage [to this house of worship in Mecca] is an obligation that each human being owes to God, assuming she or he can afford it and find a way to it. If anyone denies such graces of God, let them know that God is not in need of anything from anyone in the entire world.195
Tell the People of the Book, “Why do you deny the messages from God? God knows the true intent of your activities. Why do you attempt to prevent people who have declared faith in God from God’s guidance by falsifying God’s message while you know the truth of such messages? Be mindful that God is never unaware of what you do.
“O People of Faith: If you listen to those who have been given guidance before, they will turn you away from faith into disbelief, after you have believed. So be aware! How can one disbelieve when God’s messenger is conveying God’s guidance in your presence? You should have a firm grip on this guidance from God, and only then you are guided to the Straight Path (Siratal Mustaqim).”196
Interpretation
195. The significance of Kaaba—the house of worship in Mecca to which millions of people of faith seek to gather during the annual pilgrimage—cannot be overemphasized. It is the first house for formal worship ever built, and it was built by none other than the great patriarch of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism—Prophet Abraham (and his son Ishmael) who sought to establish the belief in One God and the Straight Path (true guidance) of God. Having this common thread of belief, prophecy, and guidance should inspire us all to seek a common vision and a common discourse based on mutually reinforcing faith, rituals, and values rather than dissonance and discord, which is as prevalent today as it has been over the centuries, something that our current generation should strive to change as was done for a brief period in Andalusia, Spain, among the Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
196. One needs to have a firm grip on God’s guidance, which is achieved only by educating ourselves in all faith elements from all prophetic religions based on revealed texts, understanding, appreciating human conditions and what drives us as human beings, and by constantly keeping in focus our purpose and our relationship with God and our fellow human beings. Certainly people who had the grace to be present when God’s messengers like Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad were present did not have any excuse not to believe, but even for us, the current generation, the revealed texts are in front of us. It behooves us to pay attention, understand God’s messages, and arrive at a common agenda—to serve God and to serve people!
REFLECTION
The Qur’an is constantly trying to reinforce the common heritage of Jews, Christians, and Muslims by pointing to our common patriarch, Abraham, and the singular guidance, the Straight Path, that the Torah, the Bible, and the Qur’an have gradually unfolded over time in synchronization with evolving human conditions and social order. Not attempting to unify these messages and sincerely appreciate this guidance is a major human failure and results in much of the malaise of our current condition—arms race, global warming, terrorism, and the stark polarization of human economic, social, political, and spiritual development.
ACTION
Now is the time for each reader of the Qur’an, the Bible, the Torah, and other books of reason and human understanding to engage in a common discourse to lead to a common path and to establish our common purpose.