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| The foundation of Christianity and Islam Posted: 14 Jul 2013 06:09 PM PDT Basically, religion is all about faith and you need faith to believe that Jesus died and came back to life three days later and that Muhammad flew 1,200 kilometres to Jerusalem and then up to heaven to meet God in just one night. And people who have faith and believe in this do not like those who do not to dispute what they believe and to suggest that what they believe may not be right. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
One reader by the name of 'Zionist Conspiracy' took offense to my statement: "Now, I want to digress a bit and talk about the third holiest shrine in Islam (after the mosques in Mekah and Medina), which is also being claimed by the Jews and Christians." Basically, this reader disputes my notion that the Dome of the Rock is the third holiest shrine in Islam and says that that honour should be given to the Al-Aqsa Mosque next door to it. The reader goes on to say: "It is the Jewish propaganda to portray the Dome of the Rock to misguide all, especially the Muslims, into believing it to be the Masjid Al Aqsa to divert their attention from it as that is the real Holy place that is being claimed by all the three religious groups." The reader also says: "The simple truth is that the Jews and Christians, despite knowing fully well what their respective Scriptures have mentioned, refuse to accept Prophet Mohammed (SAW) as a prophet and Islam as the religion of Allah. This has been ascertained by Allah in the Quran." Maybe I should have used the word 'site' instead of 'shrine'. Actually site would have been more accurate since on each site there are both shrines and mosques. In Mekah, you have both the Ka'aba and the Grand Mosque. In Medina, you have the Prophet's tomb and the Prophet's Mosque. And in Jerusalem, 'the Farthest Mosque' and the Dome of the Rock. The main bone of contention of this reader is that I suggested all these structures were built after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. I suppose the issue of when the mosque in Jerusalem was built is crucial to Muslim belief, just like the story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. The Muslims dispute the story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. The Muslims say it never happened and that someone else who looked like Jesus was crucified instead. Hence, since there was no Crucifixion, then there was no Resurrection as well. The story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of Christianity. If it did not happen then there is no Christianity. If the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus is a lie then Christianity itself is a lie. Hence to dispute the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus is to dispute the existence of Christianity. And Islam disputes the story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. In that same spirit, Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey is crucial to Islam. That story, too, is crucial to the existence of Islam. If that story is disputed then it opens Islam itself to question. It is very important, therefore, that the Muslims defend the story of Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey. But then, if the Jerusalem mosque did not exist yet at the time of the Prophet, and if it was built by Umar after the death of the Prophet, then how credible would the story of the Night Journey be when Muhammad was supposed to have travelled to Jerusalem, up to heaven to meet God, and home again, all in the same night? And it was at this time that Muhammad received the command for Muslims to pray five times a day. Hence, for the Christians, they have the story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. And, for the Muslims, they have the story of the Prophet's Night Journey from the Jerusalem mosque up to heaven. Without these two stories Christianity and Islam would not exist. Hence, also, it is understandable that the Christians will get angry when you dispute the story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus just as the Muslims will get angry if you suggest that the mosque in Jerusalem did not exist yet at the time of the Prophet. And if you dispute any or both these stories they will say it is a Jewish conspiracy because if the Bible and/or the Qur'an says that something had happened then it did happen, even if the archaeologists and historians say otherwise. Basically, religion is all about faith and you need faith to believe that Jesus died and came back to life three days later and that Muhammad flew 1,200 kilometres to Jerusalem and then up to heaven to meet God in just one night. And people who have faith and believe in this do not like those who do not to dispute what they believe and to suggest that what they believe may not be right. ********************************************* Al-Masjid Al-Haram Al-Masjid Al-Haram or the Grand Mosque is located in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is the largest mosque in the world and surrounds one of Islam's holiest places, the Ka'aba. According to Islamic tradition the very first construction of the Ka'aba, the heart of Al-Masjid Al-Haram, was undertaken by Abraham. The first major renovation to the mosque took place in 692. By the end of the 8th century, the Mosque's old wooden columns had been replaced with marble columns and the wings of the prayer hall had been extended on both sides along with the addition of a minaret. In 1570, Sultan Selim II commissioned the chief architect Mimar Sinan to renovate the mosque. This renovation resulted in the replacement of the flat roof with domes decorated with calligraphy internally and the placement of new support columns which are acknowledged as the earliest architectural features of the present mosque. After heavy rain and flood in 1621 and more in 1629, the walls of the Kaaba fell down and the Masjid suffered damage. In 1629, during the reign of Murad IV, the Kaaba was rebuilt with stones from Mecca and the mosque was renovated. The first major renovation under the Saudi kings was done between 1955 and 1973. In this renovation, four more minarets were added and the ceiling was refurnished and the floor was replaced with artificial stone and marble. The second renovation was from 1982-1988, the third from 1988–2005, and the latest in 2007 and expected to be completed in 2020. ********************************************* Al-Masjid an-Nabawi Al-Masjid al-Nabawi, often called the Prophet's Mosque, is the second holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. It was the second mosque built in history and is now one of the largest mosques in the world. After an expansion during the reign of al-Walid I, it also now incorporates the site of the final resting place of Muhammad and early Muslim leaders Abu Bakr and Umar. The site was originally adjacent to Muhammad's house. ********************************************* Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa ("the Farthest Mosque") also known as Al-Aqsa and Bayt al-Muqaddas, is the third holiest site in Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem. The site on which the silver domed mosque sits, along with the Dome of the Rock, also referred to as al-Haram ash-Sharif or "Noble Sanctuary", is the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, the place where the Temple is generally accepted to have stood. Muslims believe that Muhammad was transported from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey. Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad led prayers towards this site until the seventeenth month after the emigration, when God directed him to turn towards the Ka'aba. The mosque was originally a small prayer house built by the Rashidun caliph Umar, but was rebuilt and expanded by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik and finished by his son al-Walid in 705 CE. After an earthquake in 746, the mosque was completely destroyed and rebuilt by the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur in 754, and again rebuilt by his successor al-Mahdi in 780. Another earthquake destroyed most of al-Aqsa in 1033, but two years later the Fatimid caliph Ali az-Zahir built another mosque which has stood to the present-day. During the periodic renovations undertaken, the various ruling dynasties of the Islamic Caliphate constructed additions to the mosque and its precincts, such as its dome, facade, its minbar, minarets and the interior structure. When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, they used the mosque as a palace and church, but its function as a mosque was restored after its recapture by Saladin in 1187. More renovations, repairs and additions were undertaken in the later centuries by the Ayyubids, Mamluks, Ottomans, the Supreme Muslim Council, and Jordan. Today, the Old City is under Israeli control, but the mosque remains under the administration of the Palestinian-led Islamic waqf. ********************************************* Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock is a shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The structure has been refurbished many times since its initial completion in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik. The site's significance stems from religious traditions regarding the rock, known as the Foundation Stone, at its heart. The Dome of the Rock is in the centre of a greater Muslim shrine, known as the Haram ash Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), which Muslims believe commemorates Muhammad's miraculous Night Journey into heaven. Later commentary by Muhammad, known as the hadith, have him name Jerusalem as the site of the Night Journey.
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