It's golden dome gleaming in the sunlight, the familiar landmark of Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock features on every picture postcard of the city. Built between 687 and 691 AD by the ninth Muslim Caliph, Abdel Malik ibn Marwan, the building is one of the most sublime examples of artistic genius. With mosaic-covered exterior walls and dazzling tile work commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th Century, just to talk about it sends a thrill of excitement through the heart of every Muslim. The Dome of the Rock, though, is just part of the larger mosque of Al-Aqsa, so sacred to Muslims. Built on the spot where Prophet Mohamed (pbuh) ascended to heaven, it is part of this larger mosque complex known as Al-Aqsa As-Sharif, the noble sanctuary. This mosque complex reminds all Muslims of that night when the Messenger of Allah, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was taken there miraculously from Makkah by the angel Jibril (Gabriel). Muslims believe that on that night Prophet Mohamed (peace be upon him) led all former prophets in prayer, before ascending through the seven heavens, encountering many prophets on the way, including Adam, Moses and Jesus, (peace be upon them all) until he came almost to the throne of Allah Himself. The Israeli occupation forces try to present the Dome of the Rock as Al-Aqsa itself, for reasons little to do with faith, so as to confuse international opinion and turn their attention away from the attempts to destroy Al-Aqsa. Jerusalem was taken in 638, just six years after the death of Mohamed, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. In marked contrast to what would happen when the Crusaders later took the city, and in decided contrast to the false representations of Islam we see on our television screens daily, Caliph Umar entered the city on foot. There was no bloodshed. There were no massacres. Those who wanted to leave were allowed to do so with all their possessions. Those who wanted to stay were granted protection for their lives, their property and their places of worship. Umar cleansed the whole area of the so-called Temple Mount with rose water and dedicated a small mosque where the Dome of the Rock now stands. Al-Aqsa is one of the three holiest sites in Islam, because of its antiquity and its association with Prophet Mohamed (pbuh), who said that one prayer offered in Al-Aqsa mosque is equal to five hundred prayers offered elsewhere. After the Ka'aba, the Holy House in Makkah, the first place on earth built to worship Allah, Al-Aqsa is considered the next oldest mosque. It consists of over thirty-five acres of fountains, gardens, buildings and domes. At its southernmost end is Al-Aqsa Mosque itself. The entire area is regarded as a mosque and it comprises nearly one sixth of the walled city of Jerusalem. Sitting, as it does, on top of the place known to Jews as the Temple Mount, the Jews believe that this was the place where Solomon's temple once stood. They also believe that this is the place where their Messiah will one day reveal himself. That is why, despite international condemnation, many Jewish extremists have tried to enter the mosque compound to hold religious services there and have repeatedly undermined the foundations of the mosque, as they are doing at the moment under the pretext of restoration, hoping that this will cause it to collapse. They cannot accept that their Messiah will reveal himself to the People of Israel from inside a mosque. It was the provocative visit to the mosque compound by then Israeli Opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, that sparked off the Second Intifada, or uprising, by the Palestinian people against the occupation of their lands. For their part, many Muslims are still repeatedly denied access to the sacred precincts of the mosque by Israeli occupation soldiers. In recent years, fanatical Zionist extremists broke into Al-Aqsa and set fire to it, destroying the ancient pulpit given by Salah Al-Din. At the present time, in support of their brothers and sisters in Palestine, devout Muslims from outside Palestine do not make visits to Al-Aqsa. In solidarity with them, many Christians make the same sacrifice in not visiting their holy places in Jerusalem. Muslims read in the holy Qur'an in Surat Al-Ankabut: And those who strive in our cause, We will certainly guide them to Our Paths: For verily Allah is with those who do right. Holy Qur'an 29:69 Al-Aqsa inspires all Muslims with the dream of a unified Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state. It gives all Arabs the hope that the degradation and the humiliation suffered by the Palestinian people at the hands of their oppressors will one day come to an end and that their suffering will be rewarded. For those who are neither Muslim nor Arab, Al-Aqsa Mosque speaks of centuries of faithfulness to prayer, and of great dignity amidst persecution, and it shows that with faith in Allah people can, for His sake, endure even the greatest of trials.
