Reply to Mr. Daniel Pipes

Submitted by Issam (Canada), Sep 16, 2007 at 03:36

I'd like to thank you for replying to me.

You said

"Only problem with this theory is that Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem was constructed decades after the Koran, in fulfillment of its mention. I fail to see how, given that history, it is made particularly holy by the Koran."

AlAqsa Mosque in 17:1 refers to the whole area of the Noble Sanctuary, not specifically to the southern congregational mosque built by the Umayyad Caliph. The whole area is considered AlAqsa Mosque in Islam.

You are right that the southern congregational mosque was built decades after the Quran (Caliph Omar ordered building the Mosque on the spot that Prophet Muahmmed landed on in his Night Journey), but you do not realize that the Restricted Mosque was only built during the Ottoman rule. At the time of Prophet Muhammed, the Restricted Mosque was just an open space around the Kaaba. It was not a huge compound like you see today. This is logical because the Arabic word "Masjid" at the time refered to any place of prostration or worship. The word Masjid comes from the word Sajad, which means to prostrate. So the word Masjid in the Quran means any place of prostration or worship, not necessarily a mosque like we see today.

To locate AlAqsa, we refer to the Quran. verse 17:1 tells us that AlAqsa Mosque is in a blessed land. Verse 17:7 goes on to exactly specify the location of AlAqsa by telling us that it is holy to the Childern of Israel too.

So AlAqsa Mosque must be;

1. In a Blessed Land = Palestine/Israel

2. A holy place of worship for the Children of Israel too = Temple Mount.

So as we see, the Quran is clear on the location of the holy sites.

I should stress that the location of AlAqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount does not deny the Jews from practicing their worships on the Temple Mount. As I already explained, verse 17:7 acknowledges the Jew's right to the Mount too.

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