Temple Mount
The Temple Mount, or Noble Sanctuary, is a hill in the eastern part of the old city of Jerusalem. It was the site of the first and second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem; since the 7th century has been the site of two Muslim religious shrines, the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is the holiest site in Judaism, the third holiest site in Islam, and has special significance to Christianity. It is thus one of the most contested religious sites in the world.
The religious status of the Temple Mount in Judaism and Christianity
In the Bible, the Temple Mount first appears as a threshing floor owned by Araunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel, 24:18-25) overlooking Jerusalem, which King David purchased to erect an altar. As his hands were "bloodied," he was forbidden from constructing the Temple there, so this task was left to his son Solomon, who completed the task c. 950 B.C. That Temple was destroyed by the Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in 586 B.C.
According to a later rabbinic account, it was from here that God gathered the earth that was formed into Adam (some Christians later chose Golgotha as the site), and it was here that Adam--and later Cain, Abel, and Noah--offered sacrifices to God.
To Jews and Christians (though not Muslims), this is also the site where the biblical patriarch Abraham nearly offered Isaac as a sacrifice.
Many parts of Jewish rabbinic literature state that the Jews built the First Temple in Jerusalem about 3000 years ago; it is the holiest site in Judaism. The Temple was the central sites of Jewish worship. The destruction of both temples, five hundred years apart, were central points in Jewish history. Religious Jews have prayed from the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem for the last 2,000 years.
The Western Wall is one remaining wall of the Temple Mount. For all practical purposes this wall is the holiest site in Judaism. Many Jews pray there, and often leave written prayers addressed to God in the cracks of the wall.
For at least the past five hundred years, most rabbis have prohibited Jews from entering large areas of the Temple Mount [1] because of the danger of entering the Temple courtyard and the difficulty of fulfilling the ritual requirement of cleansing oneself with the ashes of a red heifer (stipulated in Numbers 19), and declared it punishable with kareth, or death by heavenly decree [2]. The boundaries of the areas to be avoided, while have large portions in common, are delineated differently by various rabbinic authorities.
The religious status of the Haram al-Sharif in Islam
After the Muslim conquest of this region, the Temple Mount became known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif الحرم الشريف (the Noble Sanctuary); it is traditionally regarded by Muslims as the third most important Islamic holy site, after Mecca and Medina.
Islam respects David and Solomon as prophets, and on that basis alone regards the Temple (mentioned in Quran 17:7, and in much more detail in the noncanonical Qisas al-Anbiya) as one of the earliest and most noteworthy places of worship of God. (The Kaaba's sanctity has a similar basis in the Islamic tradition that it was built, or rebuilt, by Abraham.) When Muslims first entered the city of Jerusalem, according to Arab historians of the time (eg Mujîr-ud-Dîn[3]) and to the medieval Jewish Geniza documents[4], the temple was being used as a rubbish dump by the Christian inhabitants, in order to humiliate the Jews and fulfill Jesus' prophecy that not a stone would be left standing on another there; the Caliph (and companion of Muhammad) Umar ibn al-Khattab, horrified to see it in such a state, ordered it cleaned and performed prayer there at once.
In addition to this, the "farthest Mosque" (al-masjid al-Aqṣa) in verse (17:1) of the Qur'an is traditionally interpreted by Muslims as referring to the site at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on which the mosque of that name now stands, though some historians consider this interpretation to be historically invalid; see Al-Aqsa Mosque regarding this interpretation.
In 690 CE, after the Islamic conquest of Palestine, an octagonal Muslim shrine (but not a mosque) was built around the rock, which became known as the Dome of the Rock (Qubbat as-Sakhra قبة الصخرة). In 715 CE the Umayyads built a second mosque on the Temple Mount; they named this Mosque al-Masjid al-Aqsa المسجد الأقصى, the Al-Aqsa Mosque or in translation "the furthest mosque". It has been destroyed several times in earthquakes; the current version dates from the first half of the 11th century. Both buildings are considered holy to Muslims and make Jerusalem the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina.
The mosques are currently administered by a Waqf (an Islamic trust) that has been granted almost total autonomy starting in 1967.
Archeological Controversy
In recent years many complaints have been voiced by Jews about Muslim construction and excavation underneath the Temple Mount and by Muslims about Israeli excavation under and around the Temple Mount[5]. Some claim that this will lead to the destabilization of the Western Wall and/or the al-Aqsa Mosque, and allege that one side is doing so deliberately to cause the collapse of the sacred sites of the other. Some believe that the Palestinians are deliberately removing significant amounts of archaeological evidence about the Jewish past of the site, or that the Israelis are deliberately damaging the remains of Islamic-era buildings found in their excavations[6]. Since the Waqf is granted almost full autonomy on the Islamic holy sites, Jewish archaeologists have been forbidden from inspecting that area; they have, however, conducted several excavations around and under the Temple Mount.
In autumn 2002, a bulge of about 70 cm was reported in the Southern Wall part of the complex. It was feared that that part of the wall might seriously deteriorate or even collapse. The Waqf would not permit detailed Israeli inspection but came to an agreement with Israel that led to a team of Jordanian engineers inspecting the wall in October. They recommended repair work that involved replacing or resetting most of the stones in the affected area which covers 2,000 square feet and is located 25 feet from the top of the wall. [7] Repairs were completed by mid-2003.
Israeli Protection of the Site
Since the Six-Day War, Israel has allowed the Muslim Wafq to manage the Temple Mount:
On the 7th June 1967, immediately after the fighting had died down in Jerusalem, the then Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol, convened the spiritual leaders of all the communities in Jerusalem and assured them that "no harm whatsoever shall come to the places sacred to all religions", and that contacts should be maintained in order to make certain that spiritual activities of the religious leaders in the Old City may continue. He also mentioned that upon his request the Minister of Religious Affairs had issued instructions according to which arrangements in connection with the Western Wall, Muslim Holy Places and Christian Holy Places should be determined by the Chief Rabbis of Israel, a council of Muslim clerics and a council of Christian clergy respectively. Together with the extension of Israeli jurisdiction and administration over east Jerusalem, the Knesset passed the Preservation of the Holy Places Law, 1967, [[8] ensuring protection of the Holy Places against desecration, as well as freedom of access thereto.—Jerusalem–The Legal and Political Background Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Israel [9]
Jewish Claims of Exclusivity
- Many Israelis object to the continued Arab presence on the Temple Mount.
- One extremist group, the Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement advocates the removal of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque, which they deem signs of "Islamic conquest and domination", suggesting that they be "rebuilt at Mecca" and claiming "G-d ... expects Israel to re-liberate the Temple Mount from the pagan Arab worshippers." This group has very little support in Israel.
- On June 7, 1967, a few hours after East Jerusalem fell into Israeli hands, Rabbi Shlomo Goren told General Uzi Narkiss "Now is the time to put 100 kilograms of explosives into the Mosque of Omar so that we may rid ourselves of it once and for all."[10] Later that year, in a speech to a military convention, he added: "Certainly we should have blown it up. It is a tragedy for generations that we did not do so. ... I myself would have gone up there and wiped it off the ground completely so that there was no trace that there was ever a Mosque of Omar there."
Jewish Acknowledgement of Reasons for its Holiness in Islam
Jews do not in general believe that the Isra and Miraj happened. Neither to they believe that these two events involved the Temple Mount (see discussion at Al-Aqsa Mosque). They therefore do not regard that reason for the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif's holiness in Islam as historically valid. They do, however, unanimously regard it as the site of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem first built by Solomon, whom Islam regards as a prophet.
Current Muslim Claims of Exclusivity
- Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, chairperson of the Palestinian Higher Islamic Commission and Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, claims that the Temple Mount, all its structures and wall, including the Western Wall, are a sacred place "only for the Muslims around the globe." IslamOnline
- Fatwa, also from IslamOnline, asserting "Jews Have No Legitimate Claim to Al-Buraq Wall" [11]
- "The archaeology of Jerusalem is diverse - excavations in the Old City and the areas surrounding it revealed Umayyad Islamic palaces, Roman ruins, Armenian ruins and others, but nothing Jewish. Outside of what is mentioned written in the Old and New Testaments, there is no tangible evidence of any Jewish traces remains in the old city of Jerusalem and its immediate vicinity."—PA Information Ministry Press Release, December 10, 1997
Muslim Acknowledgement of Reasons for its Holiness in Judaism
The main reason that the Temple Mount is holy in Judaism is that it was the site of the Temple. This fact was rarely disputed by Muslims until after the Six-Day War. It provides a major reason for its holiness in Islam, although in recent years some have disputed it [12]. A Brief Guide to al-Haram al-Sharif, a booklet published in 1930 by the "Supreme Moslem Council", a body established by the British government to administer waqfs during the British Mandate period, states:
- "The site is one of the oldest in the world. Its sanctity dates from the earliest times. Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings." A footnote refers the reader to 2 Samuel 26:25. [13]
Similar sentiments were expressed countless times during the entire period of Islamic control of the Temple Mount.
Recent Damage
On February 16, 2004, a portion of a stone retaining wall supporting the ramp that leads from the Western Wall plaza to the Gate of the Moors (Arabic Bab al-Maghariba, Modern Hebrew Sha'ar HaMughrabim) and on the Temple Mount collapsed. [14]
See also: Temple in Jerusalem -Western Wall - Al-Aqsa Mosque - Dome of the Rock
External Links
- Protection of Holy Places Law, 1967 (Government of Israel)
- The Temple Mount in Jerusalem (a Christian evangelical's perspective)
- The Temple Mount - the Haram-esh-Sharif (from US-Israel.org)
- Noble Sanctuary: The Online Guide to Al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem (a Muslim perspective)
- The Muslim claim to Jerusalem (according to Daniel Pipes, who has often been accused of Islamophobia)
- Associates for Scriptual Knowledge - Articles on the Temples in Jerusalem