Long before, Ibrâhîm and his son Ismâ'îl (peace be upon them) raised the House in Mecca.
“Our Lord, accept this from us. You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.”
And over the House, Ibrâhîm made a dua: that Allah send a messenger from among its people.
The Meccans traced their line back to Ismâ'îl, and they still called the Ka'ba the House of Allah.
Yet over the centuries, idols had taken their place around it.
How many? On the day of the conquest of Mecca, al-Bukhârî reports, there were 360.
Did they deny Allah? No. Ask them who created the heavens and the earth, says the Qur'an: they would answer “Allah.”
“We only worship them so that they may bring us nearer to Allah.”
That was their excuse: intermediaries. They knew Allah, and gave a share of their worship to others.
The Qur'an itself tells the worst of that age: what happened when a daughter was born.
When one of them is told of a daughter, his face darkens, and he is filled with grief.
Should he keep her in disgrace, or bury her in the dust?
Another surah answers him. On the Day, the girl buried alive will be asked for what sin she was killed.
The one no one listened to will be the one questioned first. The Qur'an gives her back her voice.
The biographers also describe a society where the weak, women and slaves above all, had few rights.
It also had its qualities: hospitality, eloquence, loyalty to one's word.
And a few men, the biographers report, refused the idols and sought the religion of Ibrâhîm.
Into this valley, a boy would be born who knew neither the Book nor faith, until Allah taught him.
You did not know what the Book was, nor faith. But We made it a light by which We guide whom We will.
The answer to Ibrâhîm's dua would come from inside the valley, not from outside it.
A House built for Allah alone. Around it, hundreds of idols.
How did the valley come to that, and who would bring it back to Allah alone?
Mecca put intermediaries between itself and Allah. The Qur'an removed them.
Tonight, make one dua directly to Allah, in your own words, with no one between you and Him.