Submitted by laurel(United States), Oct 2, 2007 at 16:35
I have been reading "John L. Stoddard's Lectures" 1897, (published by Balch Brothers Co, Boston) on Jerusalem. On page 128, he states,
"In one part of the wall, some thirty feet above the ground, we saw, projecting from the masonry, a small round column which bore a grotesque resemblence to a peg on which a giant might have hung his hat. The Moslems have a tradition that Mohammed will seat himslef on this column at the Day of Judgment, to decide the fate of all the people who will then be gathered in the vale below. .... Here tradition, nevertheless, assigns his seat, and from this point ,it is affirmed, there will be stretched across the intervening valley to the Mount of Olives a bridge as narrow as the blade of a Damascus sword, upon which every one must walk as the decisive test of orthodoxy."
Of course, there is a photo of the seat.
I am curious as to the validity of his point and for that matter the numerous ones he makes for the whole lecture of Jerusalem.
The Dome of the Rock, or as it was in his time called, The Mosque of Omar, was the natural summit of a hill called Mount Moriah. It supposedly was there when Abraham, Solomon, Elijah and David, the ark of the covenant rested there, a Jewish temple.
Mohammed had prayed there and when he ascended to heaven so did the rock but it was held back by the Angel Gabriel. It is stated Mohammed drove some nails into the rock and " when they gradually work through the stone and drop in the tomb below....the Prophet will return to announce the end of the world."
lol...I know you must think this is crazy but from listening to Glenn Beck and his theories, i'm trying to make sense of it all. Mr. Beck has not said anything about Mohammed and Pres. Tom coming to Jerusalem...Hmmnnn...maybe this should be sent to him also...lol.
Thanks for reading this..and yes, your articles are very worthwhile and informative.
Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.