Unleashing the Beast

132 / U NLEASHING THE B EAST

attacked in 606 B.C. and A.D. 70. The city has changed hands eight times during the past 1,900 years. Islam's interest in the city goes back to the tradition of a night journey by Mohammed. Muslims cite a vague sura or chapter in the Koran titled "The Night Journey." The first verse alleges that one night Mohammed took a journey on his horse, Barrak, and traveled "from the Sacred Temple to the Farther Temple, whose surroundings we have blessed, that we might show him some of our signs." It is said that he met with Moses, Elijah, Jesus and a host of other prophets. Afterwards, he ascended into heaven on his horse, journeying back to Arabia. In the seventh century, the Muslims began teaching that the two temples referred to in The Night Journey were located in Mecca and Jerusalem. Today, when visiting inside the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem, Muslim guides show visitors a natural indentation in the rock, alleging that it is the footprint of Mohammed's horse when he flew from this site back to Arabia. After the death of Mohammed, Caliph Omar went to Jerusalem and built the Dome of the Rock. It received its name because of the golden dome that glimmers in the sun and the fact that the building sits over a large stone, often called the foundation stone of creation. The El Asqa mosque and Dome of the Rock have become the third holiest site in Islam. It should be pointed out, however, that Jerusalem is never mentioned by name in the Koran. Some scholars even doubt that the alleged night journey ever took place