DOME OF THE HOT ROCK

Okay, we found the survival of the Jews miraculous but we’re looking at the here and now…

 

Obviously there’s always been an explosive mix of politics, religion, money, and armaments in Palestine……..and now oil and gas as well?  Whoa! this is scary! What about this red hot piece of real estate to ignite it all?

Surely you’ve heard of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem?...the most hotly contested piece of real estate in the world.

Yes but what’s so special about that lump of rock?

Temple Mount is an elevated area of about 450 by 300 metres on which king Solomon’s temple once stood until 586 BC, and replaced with Zerubbabel’s temple in 516 BC, over which was built a grander temple by Herod, only to be destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. In total, a Jewish temple stood here for nearly 1000 years, in fact about 960.   

So it rightly belongs to the Jews?

Not according to the Islamic Arabs – it has been a sacred site for them longer.

Longer?....how come?

Jerusalem surrendered to the Caliph Omar in AD 637, commemorated by the building of the Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem in 1193, although not on the Mount.

That’s only 820 years ago.

Ah, but the Dome of the Rock or Qubbat-as-Sakhrah was built as a shrine in AD 691, over the rock which Muhammad was supposed to have ascended to heaven from on his ‘Night Journey’.        

That makes the Dome of the Rock the oldest Islamic monument and Temple Mount or Haram ash-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) the 3^rd holiest Islamic site for 1322 years! Added to the Mount was the Al-Aqsa Mosque in AD 1035.

So the Muslims win it!

Here it is - THE Rock

Except the Jews also claim the rock is where Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son Isaac about 3,900 years ago.   

Huh!...none of this could be proved.                         
Don’t the Israelis recognise the Islamic claim?

Sure they do! The Preservation of the Holy Places Law was enacted way back in 1967 and these two sacred edifices are administered by the Ministry of Awqaf in Amman, Jordan.

So is right of access to Muslims enforced by the Israeli Government?

Yes all Muslims with Israeli citizenship have right of access, except on Muslim holidays when West Bank Arab males must be over 35 years of age to stop youths throwing rocks on Jews praying below at the Wailing Wall.

Well that seems reasonable. Does the Muslim administration permit visitors?

Yes but they must not engage in non-Muslim prayer nor carry in religious artifacts or Hebrew writing.

Well the Jews haven’t had a temple for nearly 2000 years and they’ve got their synagogues. The sacred rock is protected and can be visited. The Muslims have their mosques, protected under Israeli law. What’s the problem?                                     
Why not just maintain the status quo?...you know, ‘steady as she goes’.  Everybody should be happy – more or less.

…except for the orthodox Jews all ready to rebuild their temple again on Temple Mount.

Well you can kiss any peace goodbye if that ever happens. By the way, what about Christians?

Jesus Christ is our Rock of Ages!                                                      
Finally let’s take a ‘peep around the corner’…..NEXT:
 
Click on: http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/peep-around-corner.html

 

Acknowledgements:                                                          againstalloddstv.com                                                                 
wikipedia.org                                                                   
sacreddestinations.com                                                                
Photo credits:                                                                      
Temple Mount / yaymicro.com                                                                      
The Rock / newworldwonders.com