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The Dome of the Rock, transliterated as Masjid Qubbat As-Sakhrah, is a Muslim prayer house and one of the most iconic landmarks of Jerusalem. It was built between 687 and 691 by the 9th Caliph, Abd al-Malik, making it the oldest extant Islamic building in the world. The Rock under the Dome was the first praying direction for Muslims before Mecca. Next to the Dome of the Rock is the congregation building of the Al-Aqsa Mosque which lie within the vicinity of what Jews and Christians call Temple Mount, or Har ha-Bayit.
Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
Photo: Orientalist, GNU Free Documentation License
According to Islamic tradition, the rock in the center of the dome is the spot from which Prophet Muhammad ascended for a night-long journey to Heaven in AD 621, accompanied by the angel Gabriel. There he met many prophets like Abraham and Moses and was given the Islamic prayers before returning to Earth. There is a Qur'anic verse that says that Muhammad took an instantaneous night journey from al-Masjid al-Haram ("the sacred mosque", interpreted as being the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca) to al-Masjid al-Aqsa ("the farthest mosque", interpreted as the mosque in Jerusalem).
In Judaism, this spot marks the site where Abraham fulfilled God's test to see if he would be willing to sacrifice his son Isaac (See Genesis 22:1-19). Muslims believe that event involved Abraham's other son Ishmael and occurred in the desert of Mina. There is some controversy among secular scholars about equating Mount Moriah (where Isaac's binding occurred according to the Biblical narrative), the Temple Mount, and the rock where Jacob dreamed about angels ascending and descending on a ladder to heaven (See Genesis 28:10-19). Among Orthodox Jews, however, there is no doubt that all these events occurred on this spot.
According to Jewish scholars, it was this rock which was situated inside the Holy of Holies and upon which the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Temple. The stone was used by the High Priest who offered up the incense and sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices on it during the Yom Kippur Service. Rabbinic legend also alleges that the entire world was created from this stone, hence the name Foundation Stone.
In Christianity, in addition to Jesus's actions in the temple, it is believed that during the time of the Byzantine Empire, the spot where the Dome was later constructed was where Constantine's mother built a small church, calling it the Church of St. Cyrus and St. John, later on enlarged and called the Church of the Holy Wisdom.
A replica of the Dome of the Rock can be found at Taman Tamadun Islam, an Islamic-themed monument park in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.
Dome of the Rock at night
Photo: Abraham, GNU Free Documentation License
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