It is no secret that Jerusalem is the center of the shrines of many religions, especially the Abrahamic ones - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. One of these places of pilgrimage is the famous Omar mosque, which will be discussed in this article.
Famous mosque
The glory of this Muslim shrine is associated with the name of the caliph, in whose memory it was built. In addition, it is often confused with another building. It's about the Al-Aqsa Mosque. In addition, sometimes it is even called the Dome of the Rock, which is completely wrong.
Where is the Omar Mosque
To avoid confusion, we must immediately say about where the shrine, which we are talking about, is located. The Omar Mosque is located in the heart of the Christian quarter of the so-called old city - the historical part of Jerusalem. This is no coincidence. The fact is that the Islamic armies that besieged the holy city in 637 received from Patriarch Sofroniy an offer to take the city in peace. But he agreed to transfer the keys to Jerusalem only personally to the hands of Caliph Omar. The latter, when he was informed of this, immediately went from Medina to Jerusalem, accompanied by one servant, riding a donkey. Patriarch Sofroniy met the caliph and handed him the keys to the city, taking from him a promise that nothing would threaten the Christian population. I show the head of the Islamic world and the new lord the capital, he brought him to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where he offered to pray. Caliph Omar refused, citing the fact that he was a Muslim and if he prayed in this place, thousands of other followers of the Prophet Muhammad would also do this, as a result of which Christians would lose their shrine. After that, as the legend says, the caliph left the temple, threw a stone and began to pray where he fell. It was at this point that the mosque of Omar was subsequently built.
Mosque construction
Although this religious building bears the name of the great caliph, it was not built with it. In fact, it was built only after four and a half centuries after the specified events. More specifically, the Omar mosque, the photo of which you see below, was built in 1193 during the reign of Sultan Al-Afdal, who was the son of the notorious Saladin. The mosque was rebuilt and restored several times. Its characteristic square minaret, which still rises to a height of fifteen meters, was built even later - in 1465. Finally, the building acquired its modern look in the 19th century, when it underwent a major restoration. By the way, it is here that a copy of the treaty of Omar and Patriarch Sofroniy is stored, which guarantees the safety of the Christian population under Islamic rulers. True, only Muslims can look at it, since adherents of other religions are not allowed to enter the Omar mosque.
Al Aqsa Mosque
Another building in Jerusalem, which is unofficially also often associated with the name of Omar, is the Al-Aqsa Mosque. By the way, she has every reason for such a name, since, unlike the previous one, this one was built precisely by order of the caliph during his life and rule of the city. That is why it is also called the Omar mosque. It is located on the Temple Mount and after the Kaaba in Mecca and the mosque of Muhammad in Medina, it is the third most important shrine of the Islamic world. Once it served as a qibla, that is, a symbolic center of the earth for Muslims. All Muslims turn to the qibla during prayer. Now Mecca, or rather the Kaaba, which is located there, serves as the qibla. But before it was transferred there, it was the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount that was installed by the qibla.
According to legend, the night journey of Muhammad described in the Qur'an is connected with the place where it stands. From this place, as his followers believe, he was ascended to heaven, where he had a meeting with Allah, who revealed to him the rules of prayer.
The very first building of this mosque was destroyed long ago. Then it was rebuilt many times, as it suffered from fires, earthquakes and simply the passage of time. His modern plan was basically laid at the beginning of the seven hundred years under the Umayyads. During the time of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the mosque was partly converted to a Christian temple, and partly to the office of the Knights Templar.
Dome of the Rock
The second temple, sometimes called with the name of the caliph, is the Dome of the Rock. When it comes to the destruction of the Omar mosque, then, as a rule, they are actually talking about this building. But this is a mistake. This building is also located on the Temple Mount, at its very top, where the famous Jewish Temple once stood. According to the Bible, the latter can only be located in this place, and therefore the followers of Judaism cannot build it until the Dome of the Rock is demolished. Of course, Muslims strongly disagree to sacrifice their shrine, erected in 687-691.
According to legend, in this place Abraham was preparing to sacrifice Isaac, King David set the tabernacle, and his son Solomon built the Temple. This place is considered the center of the earth. And the Dome of the Rock is a building that protects it. Inside there really is a rock on which, as Muslims believe, is the footprint of Muhammad and with which the creation of the world began. Outside, the mosque is an octahedron crowned with a huge golden dome. However, the building does not function as a mosque.