This just came in from Mecca, Saudi Arabia. There is mounting evidence that the black stone is broken.  Yes, we are talking about the black stone that is spoken about in book 9 of the Hadith, verse 877: "The Black Stone descended from the Paradise, and it was more white than milk, then it was blacked by the sins of the children of Adam." This black stone was said to have some magical powers to expiate sin. 

 

The ritual of the pilgrimage to Mecca to honor the black stone was given in Book 9 of the Hadith, verse 959: “Ibn Ubaid bin Umair narrated from his father: "Ibn Umar was clinging on the two corners (in a manner that I had not seen any of the Companions of the Prophet doing) so I said: 'O Abu Abdur-Rahman! You are clinging on the two corners in a manner that I have not seen any of the Companions of the Prophet clining.' So he said: 'I do it because I heard the Messenger of Allah saying: "Touching them atones for sins." And I heard him saying: "Whoever performs Tawaf around this House seven times and he keeps track of it, then it is as if he freed a slave." And I heard him saying: "One foot is not put down, nor another raised except that Allah removes a sin from him and records a good merit for him."” This pilgrimage is called the Hajj. Pilgrims will go to the Kaaba in Mecca, which houses the black stone and perform the Tawaf, that is, they walk around the Kaaba 7 times using the point where the black stone is as a marker.  Muslims are encouraged to perform this pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime in order to expiate their sins.

 

In recent history, there have been a number of violent actions occurring at the end of or right after the Hajj being commemorated.  During the 1987 Hajj, Saudi forces took action to suppress an anti-U.S. demonstration by Iranian pilgrims. The resulting confrontation between the security forces and protesters left more than 400 pilgrims dead and hundreds wounded. Two bombings during the 1989 Hajj are believed to have been carried out in reaction to an anti-Iranian policy following this incident, and the Saudi government executed 16 Kuwaiti Shia found responsible for the attacks. On Nov. 20, 1979, when, shortly after the end of the Hajj, hundreds of heavily armed militants led by Juhaiman al-Utaibi seized control of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, taking several hundred lingering pilgrims hostage. Al-Utaibi, a former officer in the Saudi Arabian National Guard, condemned the Saudi government as corrupt and said that his brother-in-law, Mohammed al-Qahtani, was the Mehdi, the long-awaited redeemer of Islam foretold in Islamic holy writings. The mosque's seizure led to a two-week siege that resulted in the death of hundreds of pilgrims and militants, though the actual number of casualties is unknown, given Riyadh's reluctance to reveal details of the embarrassing event. In addition to the casualties inside the mosque, reports suggest that some 127 military personnel were killed and more than 400 wounded in the operation. The militants who survived the siege were tried and executed by the Saudi government.

 

So apparently, the black stone was broken at least some time before November 20, 1979 because it certainly wasn’t taking away the sins of the people participating in the Hajj at that time.  Let’s see if there was some historical event that we could attribute to the breaking of the black stone.  In 1674, according to Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, someone smeared the Black Stone with excrement so that "everyone who kissed it retired with a sullied beard."  Maybe it was working before then. 

 

Well not quite. 813 inhabitants of the Salentine city of Otranto in southern Italy who were killed on August 14, 1480. The mass execution is often explained as taking place after the Otrantins refused to convert to Islam when the city fell to an Ottoman force under Gedik Ahmed Pasha.  The Muslims were not apparently without sin then. 

 

In the 11th century, a man allegedly sent by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah attempted to smash the Black Stone, but was killed on the spot, having caused only slight damage. Maybe this is when the black stone was broken.  Let’s see what things were like before the 11th century.

 

On 30 December 1066, a Muslim mob stormed the royal palace in Granada, Spain, which was at that time in Muslim-ruled al-Andalus, assassinated the Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacred many of the Jewish population of the city.  In 1033, following their conquest of the city from the Maghrawa tribe, the forces of Tamim, chief of the Zenata Berber Banu Ifran tribe, perpetrated a massacre of Jews in Fez. The city of Fez in Morocco had been contested between the Zenata Berber tribes of Miknasa, Maghrawa and Banu Ifran for the previous half century, in the aftermath of the fall of the Idrisid dynasty.  Tamim's forces killed over six thousand Jews, appropriated their belongings, and captured the Jewish women of the city.  The killings took place in the month of Jumaada al-Akhir 424 AH (May–June 1033 AD). The killings have been called a "pogrom" (A pogrom is a violent riot aimed at massacre or persecution of an ethnic or religious group) by some recent writers.  In April or May 1013, Córdoba surrendered and was conquered. Historian Richard Fletcher reports that, "Sulayman's Berber followers, who had already wrecked the palace at Madinat az-Zahra, sacked and plundered the city." During the fall of the city, Sulayman's Muslim troops looted Córdoba and massacred citizens of the city, including many Jews.  So, evidently, the black stone was not working in 1013 AD. 

 

Maybe the black stone was broken in January 930, when it was stolen by the Qarmatians, who carried the Black Stone away to their base in Hajar (modern Bahrain).  The Stone was returned twenty-three years later, in 952. The Qarmatians held the Black Stone for ransom, and forced the Abbasids to pay a huge sum for its return. It was wrapped in a sack and thrown into the Friday Mosque of Kufa, accompanied by a note saying "By command we took it, and by command we have brought it back." Its abduction and removal caused further damage, breaking the stone into seven pieces. So maybe this was when the stone was broken.  Let’s see what things were like before 930 AD.

 

In 711 to 714 Muslim forces made up of North African Berbers overtook most of Spain, requiring citizens to convert to Islam or be killed. Most Christians Fled to the North and Northwest of Spain and established a separate kingdom there.  Rulers were decapitated, cities were burned, youths and children were butchered with the sword.  Even the Christians that made peace with the Muslim invaders subsequently fled to the mountains because of the impending treatment.  The wives and daughters of murdered nobles were taken as sex slaves and raped.  Those who made a treaty with the Muslim rulers were under the heavy burden of an exorbitant tax.  Okay, so the black stone was not working too well in 711 AD either.  Maybe we can find an earlier date when it was working. 

 

It is said to have been struck and smashed to pieces by a stone fired from a catapult during the Umayyad siege of Mecca in 683 AD. The fragments were rejoined by Abd Allah ibn Zubayr using a silver ligament. So maybe before 683 AD was when it was working.

 

Maybe it was working when Muhammed, the prophet, was living!  After all, Muhammed was seen kissing the black stone, so certainly, it should have taken all his sins away.  Well, upon further investigation, Muhammed did have a few sins.  I’ll just list them as follows:

 

•           Molested his wife – six-year-old Baby Aisha. One of Baby Aisha’s wifely duties was to clean semen stains from the prophet’s clothes. The prophet would take a bath with Baby Aisha and ‘thigh’ with Baby Aisha, meaning she was too small to be penetrated so he would take his penis and rub it up and down her thighs and against her vagina.  Being a man of ‘mercy’ he did not penetrate Baby Aisha until she was nine.

•           Raped Baby Aisha when she was nine (texts have altered her age when Muslims could not explain why their prophet married and consummated the marriage with a small child. Koranic texts makes it clear that Mohammed married her when she was six years old. For a marriage to be legally deemed valid it had to be sexually consummated. The Hadith clearly proves that Mohammed was a notorious pedophile).  And he advocated sex with baby girls.

•           Raped a retarded woman.

•           Murdered a woman. 

•           Had sex with his dead aunt.

•           Captured women and raped them. Kept women as sex slaves.  Muhammad had sex with 61 women: many he raped. There is no consensual sex between a child girl and a man. There is no consensual sex between a master and his sex slave.  There is no consensual sex between a woman conquered in war and her husband conqueror.  All such sexual acts are rape.  RAPE IS RAPE.

•           Had eleven wives at one time. Even by his own words, only up to 4 wives at one time was to be allowed.  

•           Sexually abused his wives, forcing sex during their menstruation including Aisha. Mentally abused his wives.  Can you imagine taking a child (or any aged woman) and molesting with your hand on her menstruating vagina?

•           Beheaded his enemies. 600/900 Jewish men at one massacre.  Had Jewish boys as young as 13 years old beheaded after pulling down their pants and inspecting groin for pubic hair.

•           Ordered the murder, torture, terrorization of Christians and Jews if they did not convert to Islam. 

•           Forced Christians and Jews from Saudi Arabia (the mass exile).

•           Assassinated people for insulting him or Islam.  Established totalitarian rule.

•           Had followers and their families burnt alive in their homes for missing prayer.

•           Ordered the extermination, torture and terrorization of kafirs.  Instigated 60 massacres and personally participated in 27 of them.

•           Owned and sold slaves.  Enslaved women and children.

•           Called his black slaves pug noses and compared them to Satan.

•           Treated his black slaves as beasts of burden.

•           Lied and cheated. Mohammed encouraged his men to lie to deceive someone in order to get what he wanted.

•           Caused division and hatred. Ordered no befriending with Christians and Jews.

•           Subjugated and oppressed Muslim women.  Required them to cover their faces.

•           Married his daughter–in–law.

•           Approved prostitution.

•           Encouraged the rape of women in front of their husbands.

•           Recommended wife beating.  Hit his wife – Aisha.

•           Murdered prisoners of war.  Committed acts of terror.

•           Advocated suicide attacks.

•           Executed apostates and homosexuals.

•           Beat children who didn’t pray.  Abolished adoption.

•           Honor killings of Muslim women and children.

•           Beat alcoholics. 

•           Stoned adulators to death. 

•           Stoned a woman to death after she had given birth.

•           Ordered thief’s hands/feet chopped off.

•           Tortured a man out of greed.

•           Looted and plundered.

•           Preached hate for people of other religions.

•           Extorted money from other religions

•           Forced conversions to Islam

•           Allowed his companions to execute, behead, rape and enslave.

 

Well, let’s try one more time.  Wasn’t it said that the stone was white to begin with and turned black because when Adam’s children touched it, that their sins went into the stone?  Let’s see what went on with Adam’s children. 

 

Adam had a couple sons, Cain and Abel.  They offered sacrifices to God and God accepted Abel’s sacrifice only. Then Cain killed Abel out of jealousy. I guess that the stone wasn’t working even then. 

 

What can we do about sin according to Islam then?  The black stone is broken, and in fact appears to have never worked for expiating sin. 

 

There is repentance in Islam. “O ye who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance, in the hope that your Lord will remove from you your ills and admit you to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow.” Quran 66:8.  But this only gives you a hope that God will admit you to paradise.  It does nothing about past sins.  There are no assurances.

 

Even Muhammed has to be forgiven of his sins: "Know that there is no deity but God. Implore Him to forgive your (Muhammad’s) sins and to forgive the true believers, men and women." Quran 47:19.

 

The Quran however, declares that Jesus was without sin. When the Angel Jibril (Gabriel) appeared to Mary to announce her conception of Jesus, he said: “I am only a messenger of your Lord, to announce to you a faultless son." - Surah 19:19  The words used in Arabic to describe him are ghulaaman-zakiyyan, “a most-holy boy.” The word zakiyya, meaning “blameless,” appears only twice in the Quran. The other occasion is in the story about Moses in which he met a young man who is described as being innocent.

 

How could Jesus be without sin?

 

According to Quran 2:36-38, the whole race of men fell from God and are made enemies because of Adam’s sin.

 

“And We said, "O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat therefrom in [ease and] abundance from wherever you will. But do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers.  But Satan caused them to slip out of it and removed them from that [condition] in which they had been. And We said, "Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another, and you will have upon the earth a place of settlement and provision for a time."

 

In Quran 4:171, we see how that Mary became the mother of Jesus:

 

“O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His Word which He directed to Mary and Spirit of Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, "Trinity"; desist - it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs.”

 

His Word and His Spirit was directed to Mary.  In Surah 3.45 we read that Jesus was a kalimatim-minhu, "a Word of Him". Now we read in Surah 4.171 that he was also a ruhun-minhu, "a Spirit of Him".  Notice that there is no preposition here the Spirit and the Word are OF Him - OF God.  On both occasions it is clearly stated that the source of the one who bears these titles is OF God himself. Jesus is His Word and His Spirit.

 

Now, if Mary had received a spirit from God and Jesus was born as a created being separate and distinct from other men and with a spirit from God that was above what other men had received, then this certainly would have made Jesus a god of some sort, making polytheism possible.  However, if Jesus is God’s Word and if Jesus is God’s Spirit, then this still makes one God.  Notice that Quran 4:171 forbids you to think of this as a “Trinity.”  It is not three gods.  Now, if a man reaches out his hand, the tip of his finger is still just the tip of his finger.  If God reaches out his being, everywhere that his being is, it is still fully God.  Everywhere that God’s being is, it is fully all of God’s attributes, he is all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing. 

 

The whole of creation was created by the Word of God. “His command is only when He intends a thing that He says to it, "Be," and it is.” Quran 36:82

 

Now, only God can create and give life.  Quran 10:34 (Yunus) - "Say: Can any of your partners (associate-gods) produce a creation, then reproduce it? Allah produces a creation, then reproduces it."

 

Quran 3:49 (AI-Imran) - (Jesus is speaking) "I bring you a sign from your Lord. From clay, I will make for you the likeness of a bird. I shall breathe into it and, by Allah's leave, it shall become a living bird. By Allah's leave, I shall give sight to the blind man, heal the leper and raise the dead to life… And I inform you of what you eat and what you store in your houses. Indeed in that is a sign for you, if you are believers." It is only the Lord Jesus Christ who can do such things and by the Quran's own standard this identifies Jesus as the one with divine power and authority.  Notice there are 2 instances here where Jesus gives life, and according to the Quran, only God can give life.

 

So, by what power could Jesus live a sinless life?  What did Jesus have that no other man had that he could live and never sin?

 

It is by the Spirit of God that Jesus could live a sinless life. 

 

This coincides with what was said in the New Testament.

 

You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. (1 John 3:5)

 

For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens…. (Hebrews 7:26)

 

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

 

So, if there a way that we could be born of the Spirit of God as Jesus was?  Surely, there does seem to be a way according to Jesus:

 

John 3:5 “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”

 

1 Peter 1:17 “Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. 22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.[b] 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God.”

 

So, if we believe in God through Jesus Christ, our faith and hope are in God.  We purify ourselves by obeying the truth by having sincere love for each other.  We are filled with this love because of his love for us and his precious gift of his blood shed as a sacrifice for us. 

 

Because of His infinite being, Jesus could offer the sacrifice of his life for all men.

 

Titus 2:14 “who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

 

Colossians 1:19 “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

 

1 Timothy 2:3 “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.”

 

This redemption did not merely consist of his death in the flesh.  As sin is punished by an existence in hell, Jesus filled hell with his infinite being, paying the infinite price for the sins of all men.

 

Acts 2:31 “Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned in hell, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”

 

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

 

God loved the world. Not just the good people, not just who he liked, but the whole world. 

 

Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. It doesn't say that those who believe in him and then never commit a sin again. Just believe.  God gives us this gift with no strings attached.

 

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

 

So even when there was no hope for us, God did his work for us.  He gave us the gift of salvation when there was no hope for us.  If we believe and then give up hope, God does not give up on us.  It is a gift 100%.

 

Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

 

So what does someone need to do in order to receive this gift of redemption from sins and the Spirit of God to help keep from sin?

 

Ephesians 1:13 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.”

 

Simply believe that Jesus has paid for your sins and thank God for what he has done for you.

 

Acts 3:37 “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”