The Islamic Traditions have always claimed that the Hajj has only occurred in one city: Mecca.

Yet, the historical record researched by Gibson now suggests that every one of the stages of the Hajj were practiced much earlier and much further north, in fact 600 miles further north, in Petra.

What's more, the 'Masjid al Haram' (the forbidden place of bowing) Gibson found also existed in Petra long before Mecca.

Most significantly, however, Gibson discovered that the reasons behind moving out of Petra to Mecca had everything to do with Politics, and virtually nothing to do with theology.

The pilgrims were simply following the 'black stone', as they believed that God's presence rested with the black stone; so wherever it went, so did God's presence go, which ironically is still today housed on the Eastern corner of the Ka'aba...in Mecca!

But isn't that idolatrous, and doesn't that commit the one unforgivable sin "Shirk", the belief that equating anything with God (in this case the black stone) is punishable by death?

Note: This episode was recorded in December 2019, and then updated in April of 2021.

© Pfander Centre for Apologetics - US, 2021
(46,640) Music: Adding the Sun, by Kevin Macleod - from filmmusic-io