H12

Hadith Paragraph Assignment

The Kaaba is located in the al-Masjid al-Haram mosque in Mecca--the mosque was built much later.  There is much uncertainty surrounding the actual age and original construction of the structure, but it clearly is a pre-Islamic building in the form of a cube and made out of granite from the surrounding area.  According to Islamic tradition, the Kaaba was built by Abraham (Ibrahim) and his son Ishmael.  Also according to tradition the Black Stone housed in the Kaaba dates to the time of Adam and Eve when it fell to the earth (dazzling white in color, later turned black from the sins of the world), but the stone/meteorite also predates the establishment of Islam in Mecca.  When Muhammad conquered the city in 630, he destroyed the idols around and the pictures within the Kaaba and remade it as an Islamic house of worship--the object of the pilgrimage, the Hajj.The Kaaba is almost always pictured draped by the Kiswah (black cover), which, since the thirteen century, has been made in Egypt every year and then carried to Mecca by pilgrims on the Hajj.  The cloth is embroidered in gold with the profession of faith (the Shahadah).  The previous year's cloth is then cut up and distributed.  Photo credit ZAK! (http://www.flickr.com/Photos/70511280@N00/298641931/)

Read the Hadith selections (along with the document background information and study questions) and answer the following question in a paragraph:Citing specific evidence from the Hadith (not from the textbook), did this excerpt from the Hadith describe a religion that required an individual to follow a code of moral behavior?Your paragraph should be about one-half page in length, double-spaced with one-inch margins, font size 10 or 12; it should contain a concise topic sentence (sentence 1) that directly responds to the assigned question (no need to define terms or cite a dictionary), and you should use direct, quoted material to support your points.  Your last sentence should be a conclusion.