>>In 930, Abu Tahir led the Qarmatians' most famous attack when he pillaged Mecca and desecrated Islam's most sacred sites. Unable to gain entry to the city initially, he called upon the right of all Muslims to enter the city and gave his oath that he came in peace. Once inside the city walls the Qarmatian army set about massacring the pilgrims, taunting them with verses of the Koran as they did so " I am in God and God is in me. Where is your God? I am your great God. Where are the Birds of God (Tayr al ababeel) that protect the Kaaba? Where are the Stones of Fire (Hijara min sejeel)?" The bodies of the pilgrims were left to rot in the streets or thrown down the Well of Zamzam. The Kaaba was looted, with Abu Tahir taking personal possession of the Black Stone and bringing it back to al-Hasa.
