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Greg Lauren

Why the Saudis won’t be helping to “liberate” Al Aqsa

The video below shows a Saudi caller telling the host of a show on Al-Hiwar, an Arabic language station in London, that as long as the struggle for Al Aqsa is connected to Qatar and Hamas, the Saudis will not be helping the Arabs of Jerusalem in the struggle for Al Aqsa.

The Saudi sentiment or lack thereof towards Al Aqsa as a place being holy in Islamic ideology is not widely spoken about by Muslims or the international media for the following reasons:

The Al Aqsa mosque was built by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan in the year 690, because he had political enemies in Mecca, namely Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, an associate of Mohammad. Furthermore, capital of the caliphate at that time was Damascus.

This was roughly 70 years after Mohammad’s supposed “night journey”, which tells the story of how Mohammad flew from Mecca to Jerusalem on a winged donkey, went into what is today the Al Aqsa mosque and lead a prayer service with Moses, Jesus and Abraham.

The story that really transpired is described by early Muslim historian and biographer Al-Waqidi, who lived roughly 100 years after Mohammad’s passing, in his biography of Mohammad called ‘The Book of Raids’ (Kitab al-Maghazi).

He wrote, “The Prophet arrived in Jiranah on Thursday, and remained 13 nights. He then departed Jiranah after praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque located on the shore of the river bed. The Prophet used to pray there whenever he came to Jiranah.”

Mohammad fled Mecca after being harassed by the Quraysh tribe, who were polytheists and were against Mohammad’s message of monotheism. Jiranah was a city roughly 9km from Mecca, on the road to the city of Taif. The furthest mosque refers to one of two mosques on the road from Mecca to Taif. Al-Adna is the “the nearest”. Al-Aqsa is “the furthest”.

This is why the gray-colored mosque which today stands at the foot of the Temple Mount is called Al Aqsa, because it’s “the furthest”, while the Dome of the Rock is “the nearest”.

Jerusalem and specifically the Temple Mount, actually represent a chasm within Islam, with regards to its importance. Deep down, the Wahabis of Saudi Arabia (the most originalist and puritanical of Muslims), know that when push comes to shove, the story of Mohammad praying in Jerusalem, a city he never stepped foot in, was concocted and written into their oral tradition, the Hadith, for political purposes.

And that story and the corresponding architecture is still being propped up for political purposes by certain entities within the Muslim world today. Namely the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Qatar and even by extension, Iran.

They can all continue to spread lies and try to wipe out any trace of a Jewish temple having existed on that spot, but the truth is slowly coming to light:

About the Author
Born in Ukraine and grew up in the NYC metro area. After working as a trader on Wall St. for 8 years, made aliyah in 2010. After living in Jerusalem, Tzvi returned to NYC and started a company to import boutique wines from Judea & Samaria. He uses his business and my website TheNationofIsrael.com as a vehicle educate young Jews about Israel, the Middle East and Judaism. His ultimate goal is to return to Israel and inspire young Russian-speaking Jews in the US to make aliyah.
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