TIMELINE
958-951 BC Solomon's Temple built
587 BC Solomon's Temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian armies
37-34 BC Second Temple built (King Herod)
70 AD Second Temple destroyed by General Titus and his Roman soldiers
572 AD Muhammad born
622 AD Muhammad's "night journey" and mir'aj
632 AD Muhammad dies
638 AD Muslim jihadists conquer Jerusalem, taking it from the Byzantines
688-691 AD Dome of the Rock built by Amir Abd-ul-Malik
715 AD Masjid al-Aqsa built by the Ummayads
QUESTIONS FOR DR JAMAL BADAWI (or any other Muslim)
In light of these dates:-
What Temple did Muhammad visit, enter and pray at, before ascending to heaven?
Seeing that the Qur'an mentions a journey of Muhammad's to a mosque that did not exist during his lifetime, how can Surah 17:001 possibly have it, and Muhammad, In Jerusalem???
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9 comments:
This text seems to have an explanation of how it works.
Night Journey
madtom
seems?? it doesn't answer the conundrum, leaving aside all else save the temporal differential between event and place. the claim is that the journey originated at the al-aksa mosque in jerusalem. an interpretive derivative from the koran. how can a journey start from a place that didn't exist?
If one accepts the thesis of madtom's link that the Night Journey to the so-called farthest Mosque is a spiritual one "to show that Islam is not a new doctrine but a continuation of the same divine message which was preached by the prophets of old, [JEWISH] who had Jerusalem as their spiritual home," how is it that the Muslims of the neighborhood are not satisfied with having a mosque sitting atop the site of the most Holy Jewish site but frankly seem to feel that they should own all of Jerusalem in a very physical manner?
If you follow the link you will find this explanation:
""The Inviolable House of Worship" (al-masjid al haraam) is one of the designations given in the Qur'an to the Temple of the Ka'bah, the prototype of which owed its origin to Abraham (see Surah 2) and was the "first Temple set up for mankind" (Surah 3, aya't 96), i.e., the first ever built for the worship of One God. "The Remote [lit., "farthest"] House of Worship", on the other hand, denotes the ancient Temple of Solomon -- or, rather, its site -- which symbolizes here the long line of Hebrew prophets who preceded the advent of Muhammad and are alluded to by the phrase "the environs of which We had blessed". "
As you can see it's the question posed here that is wrong. There is no mention of "al-aksa mosque", but of "The Remote [lit., "farthest"] House of Worship".
Now I wrote "seems" because I have no idea as to the credibility of this interpretation, or translation. As a matter of fact I had never read the account of the "night journey"
I had heard about the prophets ascension to heaven from the "rock" but had no idea of the details. I had assumed that it happened at his death, and was under that impression till I googled it here.
madtom, picking from the past and retrofitting an explanation from commentary that itself is embedded in controversy is a task that eventually ends in an intellectual quagmire of parsing possibilities.
an example is your comment:
"This text seems to have an explanation of how it works."
when coupled with this comment within the body you were commenting on:
"Since the Prophet himself did not leave any clear-cut explanation of this experience, Muslim thinkers - including the Prophet's Companions - have always widely differed as to its true nature."
makes parsing the past possible. but only possible. thus the conundrum remains. barring a "finger post" which leads ineluctably to the correct conclusion are we to follow guidepost of faulty knowledge and the inevitable biases that exist in each?
for instance, being an atheist, my bias removes from choice that which doesn't fit within the known physical laws. that means regardless of what constituted the point of origin of the journey, at a minimum no corporeal body made the trip. also my spiritual disposition precludes the spiritual teleportation over space/time. one man's spirit is another man's fantasy. to me they are all fantasies, constructed by the individual. since i hold that to be true then i ask; why that fantasy? but i will let that tether go.
then the paranormal is introduced and that threat begins to weave its tale.
"We know as yet very little about the quality of such exceptional psychic activities, and so it is well-nigh impossible to reach definite conclusions as to their nature. Nevertheless, certain observations of modern psychologists have confirmed the possibility - claimed from time immemorial by mystics of all persuasions - of a temporary "independence" of man's spirit from his living body."
and relying upon a 'possibility' about about that which is 'well nigh impossible' to define we enter into a realm which although only weakly linked to reality is presumed real, the out of body experience and assuming it not to be an anecdotal mental construct.
if the koran can have talking ants and brick carrying bomber birds while claiming scientific achievement such as the theory of relativity and big bang are embedded within the koran, then it is indeed possible than any claim can be made, given the ambiguity of the words and the ambitions of the believing reader.
It would seem a very short tether on which to tie ownership of Jerusalem.
People who say Masjid-Al-Aqsa is the Mosque at Jerusalem.
9:107 And there are those who put up a mosque by way of mischief and infidelity - to disunite the Believers - and in preparation for one who warred against Allah and His Messenger aforetime. They will indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good; But Allah doth declare that they are certainly liars.
This verse says that People by there disbelief and opposition put up a Mosque to disunite the believers, and these people say thier intention is good. but allah informs us that they are Liars.
9:108 Never stand thou forth therein. There is a mosque whose foundation was laid from the first day on piety; it is more worthy of the standing forth (for prayer) therein. In it are men who love to be purified; and Allah loveth those who make themselves pure.
In the immediate next verse after 9:107, Allah informs believers not to stand in this Mosque. Can you guess which mosque is this?
This is the mosque at Jerusalem, This is the only mosque which no Muslims visits. Many Arab countries deny passport containing Israeli visa. and most of these countries have no relations with Israel.
did israel conquer al aqsa..tnx
'Zerubbabel's Temple' was the '2nd Temple' completed c. 515 BC. 'Herod's Temple' was the '3rd Temple'. It was destroyed by the Romans 74 years after Heord's death. Was it God's wish for it to be destroyed because Herod was unworthy to build it?
If the Jewish Temple is going to be rebuilt on or near the Temple Mount (and I feel like it should), it would be the '4th Temple'.
We must not confuse 'heaven' with the 'heavens'. Heaven is an idyllic state of mind where one feels close to God, is loved by family members, and has a feeling of being in a 'Paradise setting'. (I feel this way here in Miami, or at least during the winter - summer can feel like Hell!) The heavens are the sky, clouds, low-Earth-orbit, Moon, planets, Sun, outer solar system, deep space.
- Brad Watson, Miami
http://7seals.yuku.com
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