Mumbai in Peace

There was a time when the people in Mumbai so called ‘Bombay’ (before 1996) stayed in peace. This photo was taken on 1894 at VT. The peaceful days prevailed in the city at the time when this picture was taken. At 1890's Mumbai was known for the largest seaports on the Arabian Sea due to the opening of Suez Canal in 1869. Over the next thirty years from 1869, the city grew into a major urban centre, spurred by an improvement in infrastructure and the construction of many of the city's institutions. However, now the city is struggling with terrorist attacks. Recently, the attacks, carried out by terrorists in ten places using automatic weapons and grenades, began on 26 November 2008 and ended on 29 November 2008. One seventy-nine innocent people were killed in this attack. Terrorists plan had started from VT station (Railway Station shown in the picture) in Mumbai by firing the people rapidly whom they saw in the station. That is the day when peaceful place turned into a graveyard for the sinless people.

Kaaba - The House Of God

Kaaba in 1880

Diagram Of Kaaba by Hazrath Ibrahim

The most sacred place in Islam is the Kaaba in Mecca. Mecca is the place where our beloved prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was born. The Kaaba is a building located inside the masjid known as Al-Masjidu'l-Haram in Mecca. Kaaba was built by prophet Ibrahim and his son Ismail. The name Kaaba comes from the Arabic word meaning "cube". It is made of granite from the hills near Mecca. It is covered by a black silk cloth decorated with gold-embroidered calligraphy and the name of the cloth is called as Kiswa. Many of the people questioning why Muslims worship the Holy Kaaba if in fact Islam is against idol worship. This is because; Kaaba is called as Qibla i.e., the direction Muslims must worship during the prayer. Muslims worship and bow to none but Allah. Qibla is only the direction for worshipping.

Interior Design of Kaaba

A Very old door of Kaaba in Topkapy Museum

Inside the Kaaba

People working for making Kiswa, the cloth which covers the Kaaba

An old photograph of Kaaba when Ordinary people used to have access to the inside of Kaaba

Lock Of Kaaba

Some of the facts Inside the Kaaba:

• There are three pillars inside
• There is a small table on the side to put items like perfume and incense burners
• There are two lantern-type lamps hanging from a cross beam near the ceiling
• There are no electric lights inside
• The interior walls are clad with marble half-way to the roof.
• The entire floor is of marble except for a small portion which is called "Rukhamat Humra"
• Tablets with Quran inscriptions are inset in the marble
• The top part of the walls is covered with a green cloth decorated with gold embroidered Quran verses.
• There are no windows inside
• There is only one door
• The space inside Kaaba can accommodate about 50 people
• The cost of Kiswa is more the 17 million Saudi Riyal
• The Kiswa is made of approximately 670 kilograms of pure white silk, which is later dyed black, and around 150 kilograms of gold and silver
• Only Kings and highly connected government officials are allowed inside Kaaba.