RELG 402 - World's Living Religions
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem
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Jerusalem is a holy city for all the Abrahamic religions - for Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
The Temple Mount, Al-Haram ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) was the highest place in the original city of Jerusalem.
The Jewish Temple was built there by Solomon, rebuilt by the Jews on their return from exile in Babylon, and extended over many years by Herod the Great.
Parts of the existing Western Wall are the remains of the retaining walls built in Herod's time to support the platform of dirt and rock upon which the Second Temple was built.
The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans when they besieged and burnt Jerusalem in AD 70. The Romans built a temple to Jupiter on the site.
After the Emperor Constantine became a Christian and Christians were free to practice their religion, Jerusalem became a place for Christian pilgrimage. However, the pilgrims were more interested in the sites associated with the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, so no Christian church was built on the Temple Mount.
During Muhammad's time there were no buildings on the Temple Mount.
The Persians (who had become Muslims) invaded in 614, and besieged Jerusalem in 637. The Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik built the Dome of the Rock between 688 and 691.
The Caliph Umar conquered Jerusalem and built a house of prayer on the Temple Mount. It was not built directly over the highest rock (where the Golden Dome is now) but a short distance away (indicated by the blackened silver dome of Al Aqsa). The house of prayer was extended by subsequent caliphs, and rebuilt after earthquakes.
The present mosque was built in 1033 by the Fatimid caliph Ali Az-Zahir.
The Dome of the Rock is the building with the golden dome at the highest point of the Temple Mount.
It is built over a huge rock which may have been part of the Holy Place of the Jerusalem Temple (Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple).
The Rock is acknowledged by Muslims, Jews, and Christians as the top of Mount Moriah, where Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22:1-10) - Jews and Christians identify the son as Isaac, Moslems identify him as Ishmael.
There is a large cave within the rock, which was originally entered through a small tunnel (the Crusaders made a larger entrance when they controlled Jerusalem, 1099-1187). Until recently, non-Muslims were allowed to enter the Dome of the Rock (if they took their shoes off) and even to go down into the cave. I did so several times on visits to Jerusalem. Now, however, with increasing terrorism and tension, only adult Moslems are allowed to do so.
The Dome of the Rock was built initially by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik in 691
The Al Aqsa Mosque (Mosque of Omar) in Jerusalem is the third most holy place of Islam (the first being Mecca and the second Medina). This is because Muhammad was brought to Jerusalem on his Night Journey to meet Allah.
Mention of Muhammad's Night Journey is made in the Qur'an, and more details are given in the Hadith.
Probably around the year 621, when Muhammad was in Mecca, the angel Jibril came to him bringing Buraq, the heavenly steed of the prophets. Buraq is described as being smaller than a horse, but larger than a donkey. Muhammad mounted Buraq, who brought him in one short time to the "furthest mosque" At that time "mosque" (Masjid) did not mean a building, but a "place of prostration" - a place for prayer. The name of the place was not specified, but has been identified as Jerusalem - which at that time was still in ruins. Muhammad dismounted and tethered Buraq on the Temple Mount while he prayed in the cave in the Rock (which is now at the center of the Dome of the Rock - the Golden Dome on the Temple Mount). Jibril came to Muhammad again and purified his heart so that he could enter the heavens, and Buraq carried Muhammad to the heavens, where he met Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Yahya ibn Zakariya (John the Baptist), and Isa (Jesus). Then Muhammad was taken to the nearer presence of Allah, who told him that Moslems must pray 50 times a day.
Musa told Muhammad that that would be very difficult for people to do, and asked him to plead for a reduction. Muhammad pleaded with Allah, and eventually the number was reduced to five - these are the five times of Salat. Muhammad returned to Mecca in the same night as he left, brought by Buraq. Allah also instructed Muhammad that prayer was no longer to be made facing towards Jerusalem (as was done initially), but towards Mecca.
In some Muslim countries the Night Journey is celebrated with special prayers and food.
Time Line
ca. 2,000 BC - Abraham met Melchizedek, King of Salem and Priest of the Most High God (Genesis 14:18-20). Melchizedek blessed Abraham, and Abraham offerred Melchizedek a tithe of his spoils.
ca. 2,000 BC - Abraham demonstrated his willingness the obey God and offered to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah
1,000 BC - King David captured the fortress of Jerusalem from the Jebusites, brought the Ark of the Covenant into the city, and bought the threshing-floor of Araunah as the site for the Temple
957 BC - Kimg Solomon built the First Temple in Jerusalem.
586 BC - The Babylonians invaded, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, and captured Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple, and carried the sacred objects and the people back to Babylon. The Ark of the Covenant disappeared
ca. 538 BC - Cyrus the Persian conquered the Babylonians, and allowed Zerubbabel and a group of Jews to return and start building the Second Temple
516 BC - Second Temple completed under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah.
332 BC - Alexander the Great invaded the land, but was met by a delegation of priests from Jerusalem, and agreed to spare the city and the Temple.
170 BC - Antiochus IV Epiphanes took Jerusalem and started a reign of destruction. He defiled the Temple by offering a pig on the altar.
166 BC - Judas Maccabaeus led the Maccabaean revolt and regained Jerusalem. The Temple was cleansed, and sacrifices were restored. The Festival of Hannukah was initiated
63 BC - The Romans, led by General Pompey, captured Jerusalem. Pompey entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple, and found it empty.
38 BC - Herod the Great took Jerusalem, and ruled as a client-king of the Romans
ca. 19 BC - Herod the Great started to enlarge the Temple precincts, and extended the retaining walls
AD 70 - Titus, son of the Roman Emperor Vespasian captured Jerusalem, and destroyed the city and the Temple. Sacred vessels from the Temple were carried in a triumphal procession in Rome
AD 130 - The Roman Emperor Hadrian founded the Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina over the ruins of Jerusalem, and built a temple to Zeus on the Temple Mount. This sparked the Third Jewish revolt, led by Simon Bar Kochba. The Romans were victorious, the Jewish forces committed suicide at Masada rather than be captured. Surviving Jews were forbidden to enter Jerusalem
AD 325 - The Emperor Constantine demolished Hadrian's Temple. Constantine's mother, Helena, built the Church of St. Cyrus and St. John on the site. The Church was later re-named the Church of Holy Wisdom. It was destroyed when the Dome of the Rock was built
AD 570 - Muhammad was born
610 - The first revelations of the Qu'ran to Muhammad
610 - The Sassanid Empire (of Persia) drove off the forces of the Byzantine Empire
622 - The Hijrah or Hejirah - Muhammad fled from Mecca to Medina. This is AH 1 for Muslims (year 1 - Anno Hejirah)
632 - 661 - Period of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs - leaders after Muhammad. The Rightly-Guided Caliphs were leaders who ruled as representative of God and Muhammad, but were not regarded as prophets. There were four successive Rightly-Guided Caliphs - Abu Bakr, Umar, Urhman, then Ali (Muhammad's nephew and son-in-law)
637 - Muslim conquest of Jerusalem, led by Caliph Omar ibn al-Khatab
637 - Start of construction of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque
661 - 'Ali was murdered. Shi'a Islam holds that 'Ali should have been the first Caliph (leader after Muhammad).
661-750 - Umayyad period. A rival leader, Mu'awiya, came into power, but there were deep divisions within the Muslim community. Mu'awiya founded the Umayyad dynasty, which ruled from Damascus (in Syria) and conquered lands from India to Spain. The Umayyads broke the tradition of choosing leaders, and founded a hereditary dynasty.
680 - Battle at Karbala, death of Husayn. Husayn was a grandson of Muhammad. His mother was Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, and his father was Ali. Husayn challenged the Umayyads for the leadership of the umma. Shi'a Muslims regard the death of Husayn as a martyrdom. The split between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims became final.
691 - Al Aqsa mosque completed
692 - Dome of the Rock completed under the leadership of Abd el-Malik. It is a shrine for pilgrims, rather than a mosque.
715 - al Aqsa Mosque completed
750 - 1258 - Abbasid period. The Abbasid party defeated the Umayyads, moved the capital to Baghdad, and fostered a period of literature and the arts and sciences.
1095 - 1453 - The Crusades. Christian armies from Europe invaded the Holy Land.
1099 - The First Crusade captured Jerusalem. The Knights Templar were given the Dome of the Rock, and made their headquarters in Al Aqsa Mosque. They used part of it to stable their horses.
1187 - Salah ad-Din re-took Jerusalem from the Crusaders and restored the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque
1244 - Mongol invaders sacked Jerusalem
1281 - 1924 - Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire was founded by Turkish peoples who had become Muslims. They were not Arabs. They captured Constantinople in 1543, renamed it Byzantium, and made it their capital city. The Ottoman Sultan (ruler) entered WWI on the side of Germany. At the end of WWI there was an Armistice - the terms of which were misunderstood or misrepresented, and which led to some of the present conflicts in the Middle East and the Levant. There were conspiracies and revolts, and the Empire collapsed in 1922. The sultanate was abolished in 1922, and the caliphate was abolished in 1924. The Turkish War of Independence (1919-1922) brought victory to the Turkish National movement, led by Mustafa Kemal ("Atatürk"), who became the first President of Turkey.
1517 - The Ottoman Turks, under Selim I, conquered Palestine and prohibited non-Muslims from setting foot on the Temple Mount. The prohibition remained in force until the 19th century
1822 - Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt took the city
1867 - Charles Warren and a team of Royal Engineers explored the tunnels under the Temple Mount. Much of the work had to be carried out in secret because of religious considerations
1914-1918 - WWI - The Ottoman Turks joined Germany against the rest of Europe
1917 - General Allenby captured the city and entered it on foot.
1922-1948 - British rule of Palestine, under a mandate form the League of Nations. Tension between Arabs and Jews began to build.
1947 - The United Nations General Assembly adopted a partition plan for Palestine, providing for the establishment of a Jewish state.
1948 - May 24 - The new state of Israel came into being. The British forces left Jerusalem, and fighting between Arabs and Jews broke out immediately. Arab states vowed to eradicate Israel.
1967 - The Six-Day War. Arab forces attacked Israel. Israel fought back and gained control of the old city of Jerusalem, but ceded the Temple Mount to the Muslims. For a brief time the Israeli flag flew over the Temple Mount, but the Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan realized how inflammatory that action would be to the Muslim world, and ordered the flag lowered.
1967 - Prime Minister Levi Eshkol met with Moslem and Christian leaders and pledged free access to the holy places, and administration of the holy places by the respective religious leaders. Moslem and Christian leaders asked for help from the Jerusalem police.
1969 - A Christian tourist fanatic set fire to the Al Aqsa Mosque. Jerusalem fire-brigades put the fire out, but there were riots, demonstrations, and international complaints from Arab countries.
1976-1977 - A series of disputes and court cases concerning the rights of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount. For the sake of peace the general ruling was that Jews should not pray on the Temple Mount, but several groups did so in protest.
1979 - Iranian Revolution - the overthrow of Shah Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and the Pahlavi dynasty, followed by the coming to power of the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
1992-1994 - The dome of the Dome of the Rock was covered with tiles of gold, paid for personally by King Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
