On Al-Aqsa and the Hypocrisy of the World
As a nonspiritual person, I do not speak from a religious perspective, for I personally am not caught up over religious significance, and will leave that to the hoards of Muslims demonstrating on religious accounts.
What is really annoying me is that the world is silent as a building with high historical and artistic importance is being endangered. I speak from the same perspective as when the international community unanimously expressed outrage as the Taliban demolished the Bamyan Buddhas, which were built during the 6th century and represented Greco-Buddhist art, in March 2001.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque was built by Abd-Al-Malik Bin Marwan (685-705 AD) and was completed by his son Al-Walid in 709 AD of the Ummayyad dynasty (661-750 AD), which was the first Islamic dynasty. It is the second oldest mosque in Islam, the second-largest religion in the world today with an estimated 1.4 billion adherents. The rectangular Al-Aqsa Mosque is 144,000 square meters, 35 acres, or 1/6 of the entire area within the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem as it stands today, making it also one of the largest mosques in Islam.
Al-Aqsa Mosque has four minarets: 3 square and 1 cylindrical from the Mamluk period. There are no minarets on the Eastern side of it because there were no inhabitants outside the city walls until later on, and thus no-one to call to prayer. The covered area of the mosque is a simple but large rectangular structure with 7 large gates, as well as 1 single door on both the eastern and western sides. There are over 100 clear and colored glass windows, 14 Arches, 27 Italian Marble columns on the eastern side, and the equivalent number of stone piers on the western side. The mihrab was decorated in 1187 under Saladin, and the mosaics above the central aisle arch and around the drum of the dome date from 1035. The inner dome, decorated with stucco work, dates back to the 13th century.
When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, Al-Aqsa became the headquarters of the Templars. Their legacy remains in the three central bays of the main facade. In the mid-14th century the Mamelukes added an extra two on either side, resulting in the seven bays that stand today.
The interior of the Al-Aqsa Mosque contains many 20th-century additions, most notably marble columns donated by Benito Mussolini and a painted ceiling funded by King Farouk of Egypt. In 1969, a fire burnt a part of the covered area for the first time in its history. Repairing the damage from the fire still continues. Among the numerous sad losses was the beautiful handmade pulpit from Aleppo, which was a gift from Salahuddin Al-Ayyoubi and stood near the Mihrab in Al-Aqsa Mosque. This Pulpit, considered one of the most beautiful in the World, was made of over 10,000 interlocking pieces of Cedar and other wood, Ivory and mother of pearl affixed without a drop of glue or a single nail. A remaining section of this Pulpit is among the various artifacts on display at the Islamic Museum, in the southern corner of the Noble Sanctuary.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque is not only an exceptional testimony to the Islamo-Arab cultural traditions and civilization, it is also directly associated with many events, ideas, beliefs, and the artistic work of important significance not only to Arabs and Muslims. So is the world just going to stand there silently as a site of cultural importance to the heritage of mankind is subjected to danger?
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