According to the Bible, King David purchased a threshing floor owned by Aravnah the Jebusite (2 Samuel, 24:18-25) overlooking Jerusalem upon the cessation of a plague, to erect an altar. He wanted to construct a permanent temple there, but as his hands were “bloodied,” he was forbidden to do so himself, so this task was left to his son Solomon, who completed the task c. 950 BC. After standing for 410 years, the First Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in 586 BC.

Reconstruction of the Temple began after the exile to Babylonia. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Roman Emperor Titus 420 years later, in 70 CE. The Romans were, however, unable to topple the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.

Upon the destruction of the Temple, the Rabbis revised prayers, and introduced new ones to request the speedy rebuilding of the temple. They also instituted the saying of the portions of the Torah commanding the bringing of the sacrifices in place of the sacrifices themselves.

After the Muslim conquest of this region, the Temple Mount became known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary). It is revered by Muslims as the place of longstanding worship of God by the Jewish prophets as well as the site of the Prophet Muhammad’s night journey to heaven. The Temple Mount is regarded by Muslims as the third most important holy site, after Mecca and Medina.

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). In 715 CE the Umayyads rebuilt the Temple’s Chanuyos into a mosque, which they named al-Masjid al-Aqsa, “the furthest mosque.”

The mosque 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 mosque and shrine are currently administered by a Waqf (an Islamic trust) that has been granted almost total autonomy by the State of Israel starting in 1967.

The Temple Mount was open to the general public until September 2000, when Palestinians began throwing stones at Jewish worshipers after then-candidate for prime minister Ariel Sharon visited the area.

Following the onset of violence, the new Sharon government closed the Mount to non-Muslims, using checkpoints to control all pedestrian traffic for fear of further clashes with the Palestinians. The Temple Mount was reopened to non-Muslims in August 2003.

The The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism. According to the Bible, the Talmud, and other sources of Jewish tradition, several important events in the history of Judaism took place on the Temple Mount:

• Here God gathered the earth from which he formed Adam.

• Here Adam, Cain, Abel and Noah offered sacrifices to God.

• Here Abraham passed God’s test by showing his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac (the Bible says this is on Mount Moriah, which the Talmud says is another name for the Temple Mount).

• Here Jacob dreamt about angels ascending and descending a ladder while sleeping on a stone (the stone in the Dome of the Rock is believed to be the very stone).

• The Temple Mount is believed to be the site of the threshing floor overlooking Jerusalem that King David purchased from Aravnah the Jebusite (2 Samuel, 24:18-25).

• Here King Solomon built the Temple in 950 BC, which stood for 410 years until it was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC.

• Here the Second Temple was built after the Babylonian Exile, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

• During Maimonides’ residence in Jerusalem, a synagogue stood on the Temple Mount alongside other structures and Maimonides prayed there.

The Temple Mount is a relatively minor site for Christians, but is believed to contain the “pinnacle of the Temple” (Matthew 4:5) from which Satan tempted Jesus to jump to prove his status as the Messiah (near Al Aqsa Mosque). The courtyard by the mosques provides an excellent view of surrounding Christian sites, including the Dome of the Ascension (marking the site from which where Jesus ascended into heaven) and the church of Dominus Flevit (commemorating the spot where Jesus wept as he saw a vision of Jerusalem in ruins).

Currently, the Temple Mount is governed by the Waqf, the Supreme Muslim Religious Council. The site has been under Muslim control since the Muslim reconquest of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. This state of affairs was not changed after the area containing the Temple Mount came under Jewish control after the Six-Day War, and Muslims retain almost complete autonomy over the site. However, the Temple Mount area is of great important to both Judaism and Islam, and ownership of the site continues to be a hotly contested point. Some of the major reasons behind its importance for both faiths are outlined below.

The Temple Mount (Haram esh-Sharif) in Islam

After the Muslim conquest of this region, the Temple Mount became known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary). It is regarded by Muslims as the third holiest site after Mecca and Medina.

The main reasons for the Temple Mount’s importance for Muslims are these:

• Islam respects Abraham, David and Solomon as prophets, and regards the Temple as one of the earliest and most noteworthy places of worship of God. (However, some Muslims dispute that the Temple Mount is the site of the Jewish Temple.)

• Verse 17:1 of the Qur’an speaks of the Prophet’s night journey to the “farthest Mosque” (al-masjid al-Aqsa). This is traditionally interpreted to be the site at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on which the mosque of that name now stands.

• Muhammad originally established Jerusalem as the qibla (direction of prayer) before changing it to Mecca.

• According to Arab historians, when Muslims first entered the city of Jerusalem, the ruins of the Temple were 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. Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab is said to have been horrified at this, ordered it cleaned and performed prayer there at once.

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