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Divining Arrows
Belomancy, also bolomancy, is the ancient art of divination by use of arrows. The word is built upon , and , , 'divination'. Belomancy was anciently practiced at least by Babylonians, Greeks, Arabs and Scythians. The arrows were typically marked with occult symbols and had to have feathers for every method. In one method, different possible answers to a given question were written and tied to each arrow. For example, three arrows would be marked with the phrases, ''God orders it me'', ''God forbids it me'', and the third would be blank. The arrow that flew the furthest indicated the answer. Another method involves the same thing, but without shooting the arrows. They would simply be shuffled in the quiver, worn preferably on the back, and the first arrow to be drawn indicated the answer. If a blank arrow was drawn, they would redraw. Usage throughout history This was an ancient practice, and probably mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel 21:21, shown below in the original Hebrew, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Divination
Divination () is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a should proceed by reading signs, events, or omens, or through alleged contact or interaction with supernatural agencies such as ghost, spirits, gods, god-like-beings or the "will of the universe". Divination can be seen as an attempt to organize what appears to be random so that it provides insight into a problem or issue at hand. Some instruments or practices of divination include Tarot card reading, Tarot-card reading, Runic magic, rune casting, Tasseography, tea-leaf reading, automatic writing, water scrying, and psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms and DMT. If a distinction is made between divination and fortune-telling, divination has a more formal or ritualistic element and often contains a more social character, usually in a religion, religious context, as se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grotius
Hugo Grotius ( ; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Hugo de Groot () or Huig de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft and studied at Leiden University. He was imprisoned in Loevestein Castle for his involvement in the controversies over religious policy of the Dutch Republic, but escaped hidden in a chest of books that was regularly brought to him and was transported to Gorinchem. Grotius wrote most of his major works in exile in France. Grotius was a major figure in the fields of philosophy, political theory and law during the 16th and 17th centuries. Along with the earlier works of Francisco de Vitoria and Alberico Gentili, his writings laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law in its Protestant side. Two of his books have had a lasting impact in the field of international law: '' De jure belli ac pacis'' (''On the Law of War an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salat Al-Istikharah
Salat al-Istikhaara (), which translates as Prayer of Seeking Counsel, is a prayer recited by Muslims who seek guidance from God when facing a decision in their life. The prayer, known as salah in Arabic, is performed in two units of prayer or ''raka'ah'' followed by the supplication of ''Salat al-Istikhaara''. It was revealed as a permissible substitute of belomancy, which is illegal in Islam, and was common in pre-Islamic Arabia. Description of the prayer The description of Salat al-Istikhaara which translates to "Prayer of Seeking Counsel" was narrated by the well known disciple of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Jabir ibn ‘Abd-Allah al-Salami, who said: The Messenger of Allah used to teach his companions to seek counsel from Allah (Istikhaara) in all things, just as he used to teach them chapters from the Qur'an. He said: 'If any one of you is concerned about a decision he has to make or wants to take an action then let him pray two units ''raka'ah'' of voluntary salah pra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Surah
A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into ayah, verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' (al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while the longest (al-Baqara, al-Baqarah) contains 286 verses.Muhammad Mustafa Al-A'zami (2003), ''The History of The Qur'anic Text: From Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments'', p.70. UK Islamic Academy. . The Qur'an consists of one short introductory chapter (Q1), eight very long chapters, making up one-third of the Qur'an (Al-Baqara, Q2‒At-Tawbah, 9); 19 mid-length chapters, making up another one-third (Q10‒28); and 86 short and very short ones of the last one-third (Q29‒114). Of the 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, 86 are classified as Meccan surah, Meccan (), as according to Islamic tradition they were revealed before Muhammad's migration to Medina (''hijrah''), while 28 are Medinan surah, Medinan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Ma'idah
Al-Ma'idah (; 'The Table pread with Food is the fifth chapter of the Quran, containing 120 verses. Al-Mā'idah means "Meal" or "Banquet" . This name is taken from verses 112 to 115, which tell the request of the followers of Prophet 'Isa (Jesus) that Allah send down a meal from the sky as a sign of the truth of his message. Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation, it is a Medinan chapter, which means it is believed to have been revealed in Medina rather than Mecca. The chapter's topics include animals which are forbidden, and Jesus's and Moses's missions. Verse 90 prohibits "the intoxicant" (alcohol). Verse 8 contains the passage: "Do not let the hatred of a people lead you to injustice". Al-Tabligh Verse 67 is relevant to the Farewell Pilgrimage and Ghadir Khumm. Verses have been quoted to denounce killing, by using an abbreviated form such as, "If anyone kills a person, it would be as if he killed the whole people: and if anyone saved a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satan
Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or 'evil inclination'. In Christianity and Islam, he is usually seen as a fallen angel or jinn who has rebelled against God, who nevertheless allows him temporary power over the fallen world and a host of demons. In the Quran, Iblis (Shaitan), the leader of the devils (''shayāṭīn''), is made of fire and was cast out of Heaven because he refused to bow before the newly created Adam. He incites humans to sin by infecting their minds with ''waswās'' ('evil suggestions'). A figure known as ''ha-satan'' ("the satan") first appears in the Hebrew Bible as a heavenly prosecutor, subordinate to Yahweh (God); he prosecutes the nation of Judah in the heavenly court and tests the loyalty of Yahweh's followers. During the intertestamental period, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaaba
The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is considered by Muslims to be the ''Baytullah'' () and determines the qibla () for Muslims around the world. In Historiography of early Islam, early Islam, Muslims faced in the general direction of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem as the qibla in their prayers before changing the direction to face the Kaaba, believed by Muslims to be a result of a Quranic verse revelation to Muhammad. According to Islam, the Kaaba was rebuilt several times throughout history, most famously by Abraham in Islam, Ibrahim and his son Ishmael in Islam, Ismail, when he returned to the valley of Mecca several years after leaving his wife Hagar in Islam, Hajar and Ismail there upon God in Islam, Allah's command. The current structure was built after th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hubal
In Arabian mythology, Hubal () was a god worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia, notably by the Quraysh at the Kaaba in Mecca. The god's icon was a human figure believed to control acts of divination, which was performed by tossing arrows before the statue. The direction in which the arrows pointed answered questions asked to Hubal. The specific powers and identity attributed to Hubal are equally unclear. Access to the temple of the icon was controlled by the Quraysh tribe. Hubal's devotees fought against followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad during the Battle of Badr in 624 CE, and Battle of Uhud in 625 CE. After Muhammad entered Mecca in 630, he destroyed the statue of Hubal from the Kaaba along with the icons of all the other polytheistic gods. Etymology The name ''Hubal'' may be ultimately derivative of the name Baal from the Canaanite pantheon. In particular, the name could derive from the Aramaic ''hu bel'', meaning "he is Baal". The relationship between Hubal and Baa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi
Hishām ibn al-Kalbī (), 737 – 819 CE / 204 AH, also known as Ibn al-Kalbi (), was an Arab historian. His full name was Abu al-Mundhir Hisham ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sa'ib ibn Bishr al-Kalbi. Born in Kufa, he spent much of his life in Baghdad. Like his father, he collected information about the genealogies and history of the ancient Arabs. He was considered unreliable by Hadith scholars. Ibn al-Kalbi's most famous work is the ''Book of Idols'' (''Kitab al-Asnam''), which aims to document the veneration of idols and pagan sanctuaries in different regions and among different tribes in pre-Islamic Arabia. In this work, Hisham posited a genealogical link between Ishmael and the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and put forth the idea that all Arabs were descended from Ishmael. He relied heavily on the ancient oral traditions of the Arabs, but also quoted writers who had access to Biblical and Palmyrene sources. According to the , he wrote 140 works. His account of the genealogies of the A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Book Of Idols
The ''Book of Idols'' ('), written by the Arab scholar Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (737–819), is the most popular Islamic work about the religion in pre-Islamic Arabia. Arabian religion before Muhammad is described as polytheistic and idolatrous. Ibn al-Kalbi portrays this state of religion as a degradation from the pure monotheism introduced by Abraham and his son Ishmael, only restored by the coming of Islam. Ibn al-Kalbi relied on Arab oral tradition to write his work. Historians agree that the Book of Idols is not a reliable source for Arabian religion before Islam. Overview The ''Book of Idols'' is essentially an itemized list of short descriptions of idols and sanctuaries in pre-Islamic Arabia. For each idol, he describes their geography and tribe. Sometimes Ibn al-Kalbi offers additional information, such as how the idol was destroyed in the Islamic era. In the primary manuscript, the text is 56 pages and each page contains 12 lines. The longest entry is about the goddess al-Uz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Religion In Pre-Islamic Arabia
In pre-Islamic Arabia, the dominant religious practice was that of Arab polytheism, which was based on the veneration of various deities and spirits, such as the god Hubal and the goddesses al-Lāt, al-‘Uzzā, and Manāt. Worship was centred around local shrines and temples, most notably including the Kaaba in Mecca. Deities were venerated and invoked through pilgrimages, divination, and ritual sacrifice, among other traditions. Different theories have been proposed regarding the role of "Allah" (a word in Arabic that is now chiefly associated with God in Islam) in the Meccan religion. Many of the physical descriptions of the pre-Islamic gods and goddesses are traced to idols, especially near the Kaaba, which is said to have contained up to 360 of them. Other religions—namely Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism—were also represented in the region. The influence of the Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Aksum enabled the nurturing of Christianity in pre-Islamic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' (Latin: ) and the ''Histories'' (Latin: ), originally formed a continuous narrative of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus (14 AD) to the end of Domitian’s reign (96 AD). The surviving portions of the Annals focus on the reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors (69 AD). Tacitus's other writings discuss oratory (in dialogue format, see ), Germania (in ''De origine et situ Germanorum''), and the life of his father-in-law, Agricola (the general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain), mainly focusing on his campaign in Britannia ('' De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae''). Tacitus's ''Histories'' offers insights into Roman attitudes towards Jews, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
