The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem - Literature review Example

The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem Introduction Israel has been known for its Jewish dominance and the presence of Christian minorities who have well-structured churches and temples spread across the country. One of these temples was supposedly built by the great king Solomon the son of David who took over 40 years to make the architectural structure a reality. However, Jerusalem is not known for the presence of the temple but the dome of the rock, a Muslim place of worship with a dome shaped structure at the top (Cox 22). The dome of the rock is located within the temple mount in the center of Jerusalem and is believed to have been constructed at the site for the supposed second Jewish temple. To Muslims, this structure reflects their struggle within Israel and the miracles that occurred during the time of Isra and Miraj between 576-644. In this paper, the religious significance of the dome of the rock will be discussed including the controversies that have surrounded its existence in Israel, a country that has been seen to develop anti-Islam policies (Grupico 6). History of the dome of the rock To Muslims, this rock symbolize where Muhammad ascended into heaven while Jews believe that this is the location where Abraham prepared his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God. The mountain where the dome is located is known as mount Moriah and the building has Islamic inscriptions that glorify the religion of Islam as the culmination of true faith bringing together the Jews and the Judah in the country (Cox 22). The building is considered as the first monumental building, symbolizing the great Islamic architecture and religious belief. Within the building, there is a representation of the Islamic mosaic, faience and the use of ancient building materials which are only present within the mecca pilgrim in Saudi Arabia. The structure is octagonal in structure and the building is more reflective of the roman culture as compared to the Islamic representation within. Most Christians and Muslims in in middle age Europe believed that the dome of the rock was the temple build by King Solomon during his reign as the king of Israel (Pringle 1191). Islam as a religion has been faced with massive dissent and this has influenced its historical development as a religion found within the Middle East. During the time of Muhammad, Muslims would pray facing Jerusalem as it was considered as the theqibla. However, the growth of other monotheist religions who believed that Jerusalem was the holy city influenced the decision of the prophet to change and begin paying pilgrimage to mecca. In the 17th century, the rivalry between the Muslims led to division and this prompted Chaliph Abd El-Malik to discourage his followers from paying pilgrimage to mecca, leading to a shift to Jerusalem among this faction (Grupico 11). To strengthen the use of Jerusalem as the direction to face during prayers, the leader built the dome of the rock believing that this will assist him in convincing most of his followers to change. The establishment of the dome within Jerusalem, a city revered by Muslims created controversies and wars but the Muslims were able to retain their symbolic image in the city after enduring the impacts of the wars. Accessibility into the dome of the rock has been restricted for a long time though it has been considered as a tourist site in the country. Before 1967, non-Muslims were not granted access into the mosque though this was changed and limited access has been allowed to other people under strict supervision of security officers. Palestinian residents have been restricted from accessing the site due to security concerns that have existed within the west bank area. However, Palestinian-Israelis are allowed to access the dome without limitation though security checks are beefed up to avoid the possibility of an attack. Access of the dome of the rock or the mosque’s prayer area is prohibited for non-Muslims during prayer days and on Muslim holy days. Though tourists have flocked the area to witness the magnificent structure, the Jewish orthodox rabbis consider entry into the building a violation of the Jewish law (Grupico 13). Significance of the dome of the rock According to the Muslim culture and religious belief, the city of mecca and medina are considered as the first two holy places in the world. However, the dome of the rock has a great significance in the religion as this makes Jerusalem the third most holy city to the Muslims. Built on the temple mount alongside the Al-Aqsa mosque, the dome of the rock is one of the holy places of warships for the Muslims living in Israel and the neighboring Palestine. Based on their belief, this is the spot from where their supreme leader prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven in the company of angel Gabriel. Other great prophets of Muslim religion also paid homage to the stone and began their journey of service to Allah from the rock for example prophet Hazrat Muhammad. Immediately after capturing Jerusalem in AD 691, the Muslims built a temple at this site to signify a number of things including the religious position of their belief. Others believe that it was built to offer a homage site away from the city of mecca during the internal wars between the religious leaders. The dome of the rock also sets a higher standard of the Islamic architecture that had dominated during the period when it was built in the region (Pringle 1191). To the people of Judah, the foundation stone of the building has a significant position in their belief as it is considered the holiest position on earth. This was more so during the temple period before the Muslims invaded and took away the site from where the second temple of the Jewish religion would be built. To the Jews, this is the site where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son as a show of respect and faith in God, a fact that contributed to their great regard of the site. Though the Jordan authorities do not allow Jews closer to the temple mount, most of them pray from the western wall, a position that is closer to the foundation stone. Muslims believe that Abraham was to sacrifice Ishmael and not Isaac according to the Christian and Jewish belief therefore making the site religiously important to them too (Islam & Zaid 110). The dome of the rock controversies A number of controversies have surrounded the historical development and religious homage to the dome of the rock due to the varying position it holds in the three different faiths in Israel. First, the exact year and person who built the temple has been subjected to varied reasoning and this has distorted its historical exodus. According to some Muslims who refer to the mosque as the mosque of Omar, the dome was built by Caliph Omar during his Islamic invasion of Jerusalem and the surrounding cities. However, others believe that this mosque was already in existence during these invasions as it was built over 70 years before Omar invaded Jerusalem and other cities in Israel (Reiter 117). Caliph Abd al-Malik commissioned the building of the mosque in AD 691, a time when the Islamic faith was experiencing internal rebellion and division. To increase his influence and deviate from the tradition of praying facing the city of mecca, he built the dome and directed his followers to pray facing Jerusalem. This was a way of winning over his followers and attracting more people to join his Islamic faction, further dividing the Islamic faith and religion. Most people thus believe that Al Malik used the power of Islam religion to support his political ambition and eliminate the strong competition he was facing from his competitors based in mecca (Islam & Zaid 110). This argument has been discredited by some scholars, arguing that though Al Malik could have used religion to advance his political ambition, changing the traditional pilgrimage from mecca to Jerusalem would be an uphill task. Less than sixty years after the death of the founder of the faith and who personally directed that Muslims pray facing mecca would be an impossibility, further casting doubt on this theory. According to others, the dome of the rock represents the Muslim piety and a way of passing the Koran to Jerusalem through the inscriptions in the mosque. Before his ascension to heaven, Muhammad is believed to have arrived to the site escorted by angel Gabriel in a magical chariot called the Buraq. From this argument, controversies on whether the dome was built by Al Malik to immortalize Muhammad’s night journey and his ascension to heaven has ensued. This has been argued as being inaccurate by a number of scholars who argued that the location of the furthest mosque was not known among the Muslims until after 3oo years of Muhammad’s ascension (Pringle 1191). Though the Muslims identified the city of Jerusalem as the location of the furthest mosque, the idea of the ascension position was not conceptualized by then. A dome of ascension was built by the Muslims in Jerusalem in AD 1200 next to the dome of the rock, further pointing to their lack of knowledge about the exact ascension position. This also indicate that the builders of the dome of the rock did not consider this position as the ascension point as there would be no need to build the ascension dome several years later (Reiter 117). The reason for building the dome has also remained magical and controversial as different reasons have been advanced by different schools of thought within the Muslim religion. However, the Koran inscription within the mosque has been used to demonstrate the purpose of the mosque and the reason why Al Malik built it. this inscription challenge the Christian belief in trinity and the divinity in Christ, arguing that Jesus was in deed a true prophet but son of Mary and not God as believed by them. Based on these inscriptions, this dome may have been created to rally the Christians to recognize the true position of Jesus and the influence of Islam of Christian and Judaism. Within the Jewish culture, the familial lines were passed by the mothers and this led to the use of the mothers to refer to the different Jewish people and priests. A description of the role of the Jewish women in Judaism can be approached through looking at the different stages of Judaism as each had a special position for women (Denny 76). The pilgrimage process in Judaism was an essential phase comparable to a number of sacrifices within the Hindu religion which were conducted in the temples. As compared to the Hindu sacrifices and holy sessions in which women were not allowed to attend, the pilgrimage in temple of Jerusalem was attended every year by all irrespective of gender. During the Talmudic times, the role of women was mixed as both derogatory and lauding words were used to describe the role of women. For example, the glory of God and his righteousness was considered as preserve of women than men because of their righteousness and humility (Islam & Zaid 110). The educational opportunities to Jewish women were however limited as compared to men who were taught to read, write and learn how to manage their families. However, women were provided with religious laws, a part which was deemed essential for their daily lives in the synagogues and beyond. However, the context of the Mishnah and the Talmud viewed women as being inadequate and could therefore not be allowed to study the Mishnah. This shrine emphasizes the superiority of Islam over Christianity and other religions as they believe in the holy trinity do not hold because Allah is only one. By building this dome in the center of the Christian and Jewish faith, the Muslims hoped to assert the superiority of their faith and proclaim the tenets of Islam as a religion. In this tenet, the unity of God and the finality of Muhammad’s position as the true prophet of good are emphasized. By building the structure within a site where the rabbinic associated with the acts of faith committed by Abraham committed, the city of Jerusalem was converted into an Islam city despite the dominance of Jews and Christians (Denny 76). Conclusion The dome of Jerusalem has remained a phenomenal structure in the city of Jerusalem, a town that is believed to represent the Christian and Jewish faith. The building of this dome had massive importance to both the islands and Jews who regarded the site where it was constructed as a holy site. However, a number of controversies have surrounded the reason as to why it was constructed and the period (Islam & Zaid 110). Despite the confusions and lack of accurate information regarding this, the dome has remained a predominant site that represents the superiority of the Islam faith over Christianity and Judaism. Works cited Grupico, Theresa. "The Dome in Christian and Islamic Sacred Architecture." Forum on Public Policy: A Journal Of The Oxford Round Table 2011.3 (2011): 1-14. Islam, M. Anwarul, and Zaid F. Al-Hamad. "The Dome of the Rock: Origin of Its Octagonal Plan." Palestine Exploration Quarterly139.2 (2007): 109-128. Cox, Brenda S. "Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock." Faces 19.9 (2003): 22. Reiter, Yitzhak. "Narratives of Jerusalem and Its Sacred Compound." Israel Studies 18.2 (2013): 115-132. Pringle, Denys. Pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land, 1187-1291. Burlington, VT: Ash gate Pub. Denny, Walter B. Dome Of The Rock. Oxford University Press, 2009. Read More