Dhul Khalasa

Dhu l - Chalasa (Arabic ذو الخلصة, DMG you l - Halasa or you l - Ḫulaṣa ) was a white stone cult in the area between Mecca and Yemen Tabala place, in pre-Islamic times and to some extent even later from the ancient Arabic strains of Daus, Chath ʿ was worshiped at, Badschīla and part of the Azd. The place was seven days' journey south of Mecca. The location within Tabala where the cult stone was worshiped, was known as al - ʿ ʾ ABLA.

On the stone a kind of crown was carved. The guardians of the sanctuary were asked by the family of Banū Umama from the tribe of Bahīla ibn ʿ A sur. Due to its popularity as a place of pilgrimage, the shrine as the " southern Kaaba " (al- Ka ʿ ba al - yamānīya ) was referred to, as opposed to the " northern Kaaba " (al- Ka ʿ ba - aš Samiya ) in Mecca.

At the sanctuary Arrow oracles were performed. The arrows that could be thrown, had the following name: " field of the end " ( al -Amir ), " the Forbidding " (an- nahi ) and " Wait and see " (al- mutarabbiṣ ). The famous pre-Islamic poet Imru ʾ al - Qays (d. before 550) which will stress the divining arrows have questioned and broken due to his dissatisfaction with the result of one of them. After this incident, the Pfeilorakal was never questioned.

After his conquest of Mekka in the spring of 630 Mohammed hired a man from the tribe of Jarir ibn ʿ Abd Badschīla called with the destruction of the sanctuary. Since the Chath ʿ am and the Bahīla not want to accept the destruction, there were violent clashes in which several hundred people had died. Finally, the building in which was the cult stone was set on fire. The writing in the early 9th century Ibn al - Kalbi reported that in his time the former cult rock formed the doorstep of the mosque of Tabala.

Remains of the worship of Dhu - l - Chalasa sanctuary found themselves still centuries later. After the end of 1924 Saudi troops had occupied Mecca, Abd al Aziz ibn Saud sent his governor in Taif in November 1925 in the mountains of the southern Hijaz, to subdue the resident tribes. In the territory of the tribe Daus they met in a village called Tharūq on the walls of the old Dhu'l- Chalasa sanctuary, standing next to the one sacred tree, the al - ʿ ʾ Abla was called. The governor left the tree and burn the building, which consisted of huge stones destroy.

An eschatological hadith is narrated in different collections, represents a return to the worship of Dhu - l - Chalasa as a condition for the entry of the final judgment dar. It reads: "The hour (sc. of the Last Judgment ) will only occur if the push the rear of the women of Daus back to Dhu'l- Chalasa. "

The Chalasa sanctuary in Mecca

In Mecca itself there were in pre-Islamic times an idol named Chalasa whose relationship with Dhu al - Chalasa is not clear. It was located in the lower part of the town and said to have been erected before the takeover by the Quraish in Mecca of ʿ Amr ibn Luhaiy from the tribe of chuza ʿ a. This idol was usually adorned with necklaces, they brought him barley and wheat as gifts is, it showered with milk, brought it represents sacrifice and hung ostrich eggs on him. From this it was concluded that there must have been an agricultural sanctuary.