Jerusalem is mainly associated with Jewish customs and being known as the birthplace of Judaism, but the city is also enriched with other religions like Christianity and Islam and influenced by the cultures of Christians and Muslims. One religious site that is entwined with all three of these religions is the Dome of the Rock located on the Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock which was finished under Caliph ‘Abd al-Malik around 692 was not a mosque but a shrine. This structure is significant not just because of how interrelated it is with the religions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, but it is also important in that this space is connected with other historical spaces in the city of Jerusalem. The importance of the Dome of the Rock in how
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In addition, the Dome of the Rock was not entirely unique in its designs and architecture, as some historians believe that the Dome of the Rock had similar elements to the Ka’ba. The Ka’ba is the holiest site for the Muslims located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. They believed that the Ka’ba was originally built by Abraham and Ishmael and later rededicated to the prophet Muhammad. To get to this conclusion, one must look at the connection between the Dome of the Rock, the Ka’ba, and a mihrab, a semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of the Ka’ba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying. There are many mihrabs mentioned in the Qur’an, the Islamic sacred book, and they are presented as emphasizing “their height, their inaccessibility, and in the case of Solomon’s mihrabs, their grandeur and opulence” (Khoury 59). These features of the mihrab can be seen in Mary’s mihrab by Zakariayya in that “he designed the mihrab so that its entrance was in its center. The door could be reached only by climbing a stairway or ladder” (Khoury 58). Compare these designs with the Dome of the Rock’s features we can see how interrelated the Dome of the Rock and the mihrab are as the Dome of the …show more content…
The great prophets David and Solomon had prayed and ruled there: Solomon had built a sacred mosque” (Armstrong 224). The most important correlation between Islam and Jerusalem is the story of Muhammad’s Night Journey. The legend goes that one night around 620, when Muhammad was praying beside the Ka’ba, he was carried by the angel Gabriel to Jerusalem. There they flew on a winged horse named Buraq and landed on the Temple Mount where they climbed a ladder from the Temple Mount to the divine Throne, and Muhammad received his final revelation taking him beyond the limits of human perception (Armstrong 224). This journey from Muhammad from Ka’ba to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem “revealed the transference of Mecca’s holiness to Jerusalem, al-msjid al-aqsa. This was a divinely established connection between the two cities” (Armstrong 225). These events helped establish the importance of the Dome of the Rock to the Muslims as it was the place where Muhammad ascending to Heaven during his Night Journey. Thousands of Muslims travel around the world to visit this sacred place which further exemplifies the city’s value towards the
In addition, the Dome of the Rock was not entirely unique in its designs and architecture, as some historians believe that the Dome of the Rock had similar elements to the Ka’ba. The Ka’ba is the holiest site for the Muslims located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. They believed that the Ka’ba was originally built by Abraham and Ishmael and later rededicated to the prophet Muhammad. To get to this conclusion, one must look at the connection between the Dome of the Rock, the Ka’ba, and a mihrab, a semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of the Ka’ba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying. There are many mihrabs mentioned in the Qur’an, the Islamic sacred book, and they are presented as emphasizing “their height, their inaccessibility, and in the case of Solomon’s mihrabs, their grandeur and opulence” (Khoury 59). These features of the mihrab can be seen in Mary’s mihrab by Zakariayya in that “he designed the mihrab so that its entrance was in its center. The door could be reached only by climbing a stairway or ladder” (Khoury 58). Compare these designs with the Dome of the Rock’s features we can see how interrelated the Dome of the Rock and the mihrab are as the Dome of the …show more content…
The great prophets David and Solomon had prayed and ruled there: Solomon had built a sacred mosque” (Armstrong 224). The most important correlation between Islam and Jerusalem is the story of Muhammad’s Night Journey. The legend goes that one night around 620, when Muhammad was praying beside the Ka’ba, he was carried by the angel Gabriel to Jerusalem. There they flew on a winged horse named Buraq and landed on the Temple Mount where they climbed a ladder from the Temple Mount to the divine Throne, and Muhammad received his final revelation taking him beyond the limits of human perception (Armstrong 224). This journey from Muhammad from Ka’ba to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem “revealed the transference of Mecca’s holiness to Jerusalem, al-msjid al-aqsa. This was a divinely established connection between the two cities” (Armstrong 225). These events helped establish the importance of the Dome of the Rock to the Muslims as it was the place where Muhammad ascending to Heaven during his Night Journey. Thousands of Muslims travel around the world to visit this sacred place which further exemplifies the city’s value towards the