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What I Discovered During My Pilgrimage to Mecca
I went to Saudi Arabia three times on a pilgrimage to Mecca. The first time I was there we threw twenty-one (21) stones against Satan (symbolized in three pillars in a valley east of Mecca). During the second trip we threw fourteen (14) stones, and the third time I was there we only used seven (7) stones. This is done in a valley joining the plain of Arafat with Mecca at a curved rock believed to be the dwelling place of Satan. I did the trips in 1971, 1979 and 1983 respectively. I stopped and thought about it, because when I threw the stones my load of sins increased. The more I threw stones, the more sins I committed. When I saw this I asked myself: “What will be my final fate?” I found no answer to this because I was seriously in darkness. At that time I could not see anything but darkness. Thanks be to God that now I can see. I was blind but now I see. I was sick but now I am healthy. I was for Satan, but now I am for Christ.
In that Land which is called al-Sa'udiyya (Saudi Arabia), which they call the holy land, I met a culture where everyone who stepped there had to be naked. A person on the pilgrimage is allowed only to wrap a white sheet around his body, no matter how great a person he might be, no matter what his creed, color or race is. People were made to be all the same. This was to signify the day of resurrection when all would gather before the judgment throne and when every knee shall bow and give account about himself before Allah.
“7 Anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, shall see it! 8 And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it.” (Sura al-Zalzala 99:7-8)
٧ فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْراً يَرَهُ ٨ وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرّاً يَرَهُ. (سُورَةُ الزَّلْزَلَةِ ٩٩ : ٧ - ٨)
Another thought that came to me was, if I die now, will I inherit the Kingdom of God? The answer is clear.
I thought again about the rituals of recitations performed there in Mecca like:
I weighed the aggressive words and the degree of their meaning when I wanted to know if the names of the prophets appear in them. I saw none. I considered again, to see if there were words of salvation. I saw none.
Can’t I say this in my room or on my bed? Why must I have to pay money to go to Mecca to achieve these sayings? What was the aim of my going there?
After completing my pilgrimage to Mecca I also visited Medina, several hundred miles further north, on an additional pilgrimage to the tomb of Muhammad. It dawned on me that the tomb of Muhammad is still closed today, but that if I made a pilgrimage to the promised Land, I would find the tomb of Christ opened. This means: Muhammad is still dead, but Christ is ALIVE! I was troubled so much in my heart because of the lack of truth.