“The Jewish temples never existed, and Jews have no historic connection to Jerusalem,” declared chief Palestinian justice Sheik Taysir Tamimi, one of the most influential Muslim leaders in Israel. He said that Jerusalem is an Arab and Islamic city and it always has been so.
Tamimi condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for stressing during his Europe visit that Jerusalem was a historically Jewish city. He called such claims baseless and untrue. Jerusalem is an Arab and Islamic city and it always has been so,” he said.
Aaron Klein, the Jerusalem bureau chief for online news giant WorlNetDaily.com, and author of “Schmoozing with Terrorists” and “The Late Great State of Israel”, reports that during a WND exclusive interview in March 2007, Tamimi took his assertions even further, arguing the Western Wall was built by angels, and that Abraham, Isaac, Moses and Jesus were prophets for the Israelites sent by Allah as to usher in Islam. Asked about the Western Wall, Tamimi said the structure “was a tying post for Muhammad’s horse and that it is part of the Al Aqsa Mosque,” even though the Wall predates the mosque by more than 1,000 years.
According to research by Israeli Author Shmuel Berkovits, Islam historically disregarded Jerusalem as being holy. Berkovits points out in his book, “How dreadful is this place!” that Muhammad was said to loathe Jerusalem and what it stood for. He wrote Muhammad made a point of eliminating pagan sites of worship and sanctifying only one place – the Kaaba in Mecca – to signify the unity of God.
It is very interesting to note that as late as the 14th century, Islamic scholar Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya, whose writings influenced the Wahhabi movement in Arabia, ruled that sacred Islamic sites are to be found only in the Arabian Peninsula and that “in Jerusalem, there is not a place one calls sacred, and the same holds true for the tombs of Hebron.”
A guide to the Temple Mount by the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem published in 1925 listed the Mount as Jewish and as the site of Solomon’s Temple. While Muslims say it’s the third holiest, Judaism considers it the holiest place on earth. Christianity reveres the spot as being of great historic importance. The book of Luke records that Jesus, raised a devout Jew, was dedicated in the Second Temple in accordance with the Laws of Moses, and describes Jesus’ boyhood visit to the Temple, which He cleansed at Passover and during the last week of his life. Jesus even once referred to the Temple as His “Father’s house.” But today, if someone prays on the Temple Mount, if he or she is not Muslim, the worshipper will be immediately arrested. Non-Muslims must refrain from praying there or making any kind of outward religious gestures, such as kneeling or bowing.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa insisted that under international law, Jews and Christians are forbidden from praying atop the Muslim-controlled Temple Mount.
Last Sunday the head of the Temple Institute led a small group of Jewish tourists atop the Temple Mount and the group managed to hold a very brief prayer session without being detected. After reading about the Jewish prayers at Judaism’s holiest site, Moussa called it “a serious blow to the holiness of the site.”
Welcome to the Temple Mount…
Tags: Temple mount
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