A Whirlwind Tour Through the Middle East – The Tensions of Faith

“We think this is where World War III will begin.”

Alla____hu Akbar!  Alla_____hu Akbar!

At the Dome of the Rock, groups of men shouted this repeatedly.  Meaning “God Allah is Greatest,” this phrase often preceded terrorist attacks in the West.  Located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock is the holiest of the holy for three theistic religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

While the general areas outside of the mosque were open to tourists and the Jewish people, the Golden Dome and the mosque only permitted Muslims for worship.  At the public area, the Jewish people often encountered animosity.  The Arab worshipers that gathered in groups would chant, “alla____hu akbar!” to shoo them (and the secular and the religious tourists) away.

Our tour guide stressed again and again: no Bibles!  Security at the Dome of the Rock had to do with the presence (or actually, the forced absence) of the Bible.  The rule was very strict.  That was just one of the many ways that tension expressed itself at the holiest of the holy.  The Muslims believed that Prophet Mohammed ascended to Heavens from the foundation rock at the Dome.  The Jewish people and the Christians believed that this was the site where Abraham sacrificed his son Isaac.

The Arabic chant notwithstanding, the area surrounding the dome was serene.  I walked around in the wonderful weather, sun-soaked.  Although I fancied a sneak-in for a look, I dared not temper with Muslim religious decrees. Nor would I stretch the limits of our Arabic Christian tour guide’s explicit warnings.  A close view of the architecture served all my purposes.  Furthermore, the Muslim-Jewish tension at play opened my eyes.  Their interactions here were representative of the centuries-old strife between these peoples.

Construction for the Golden Dome completed in 691 A.D., by the Muslim Caliph Abd Al Malik.  It stood at the former site of a Roman temple, which was built on the yet former site of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.  With the Roman invasion came the destruction of the Second Temple in 70A.D. (Matthew 24). [1].

In the Dome’s long history, many religious administrators have overseen and restored the structure.  The most notable was the Jordanian Arabs.  They shouldered the funds necessary for the gold-plated dome.  The Muslim religious trust is the current administrator overseeing the Dome, after years of contentions.  The three religions all laid claims on the Dome’s sacredness and significance.  Lavish mosaics line the interior of the Dome.  The photographs online were the second-best option for me as I did not dare going inside.

There were many ways in which the three religions were still at war with each other over the control of the Dome.  As I stood amazed at its beauty and significance, I sensed a history that remained very relevant to us now.  The tensions that caused so much miseries in the world manifested in the very dynamics that believers interacted with each other here, right at the heart of Old City.

“We think this is where World War III will begin,” said Nahzee, our tour guide, as we were departing this conflict zone.

[1] Wikipedia on the Dome of the Rock.