Chronicles and Changes Experienced by Dome of the Rock - Essay Example

Chronicles and changes experienced by dome of the rock Introduction Israel has been known for its Jewish dominance andthe presence of Christian minorities who have well-structured churches and temples spread across the country. The great king Solomon son of David in order to make the architectural structure a reality, supposedly built one of these temples. 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. In this paper, the view of religious pilgrims towards the rock of the dome and the changes that it has witnessed over the years will be discussed. Pilgrims and the dome of rock 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 (Kaplony 91). 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 (Pringle 43). 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 (Avni 61). 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 divinest city to the Muslims. Built on the temple mount beside 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. The 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. Structure and religious changes witnessed at the dome of the rock 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 (Pringle 43). Some scholars have disputed the argument claiming that although Al Malik could have used religion to advance his political ambition, changing the traditional pilgrimage from mecca to Jerusalem would have been 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 300 years of Muhammad’s ascension. 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. The Muslims in Jerusalem built a dome of ascension 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. 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. 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 Kaplony, Andreas. "What Are Those Few Dots for? Thoughts on the Orthography of the Qurra Papyri (709-710), the Khurasan Parchments (755-777) and the Inscription of the Jerusalem Dome of the Rock (692)." Arabica 2008: 91.Print Avni, Gideon, and Katharina Galor. Unearthing Jerusalem: 150 Years of Archaeological Research in the Holy City. Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns, 2011.Print Pringle, Denys. Pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land, 1187-1291. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Pub, 2011.Print Read More