Which Jerusalem Temple did Muhammad visit?

Submitted by Lactantius Jr (United Kingdom), Dec 5, 2008 at 05:12

To sTs

When Surah 17:001 was 'revealed' to Muhammad in ~621AD, the Sacred Mosque already existed in Mecca, but where was "the farthest mosque?" Palestine had not yet been conquered by the Muslims, and there wasn't a single mosque in Jerusalem.

In light of the timeline below, please let us know which Temple in Jerusalem Muhammad visited, on his alleged isra

Timeline

Solomon's Temple built 958-951BC and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian armies in 587 BC.

Second Temple (King Herod) built 37-4 BC and destroyed by General Titus and his Roman soldiers in 70 AD

Muhammad born 572AD

Muhammad's alleged "night journey" and mi'raj 622 AD

Muhammad died 632 AD

Dome of the Rock built by Amir Abd-ul-Malik 688-691 AD

Masjid al-Aqsa built 715 AD

Questions

In light of these dates:-

• What Temple did Muhammad visit, enter and pray at, before "ascending to heaven??"

• Seeing that the Qur'an mentions an alleged journey of Muhammd's to a mosque that did not exist during his lifetime, how should this be interpreted??

• Does the incompatibility of the dates quoted in the Timeline increase your confidence in Muhammad as a prophet of the true and living God??

In addition to the above, I again quote the following outrageous statement by Ikrema Sabri, mufti of Jerusalem in the Arafat days,

"There was never a Jewish temple on Al-Aksa and there is no proof that there was ever a temple. Because Allah is fair, he would not agree to make Al-Aksa, if there were a temple there for others beforehand. … The wall is not part of the Jewish temple. It is just the western wall of the mosque. There is not a single stone with any relation at all to the history of the Hebrews."

Which Temple was it sTs, that Muhammad visited and "prayed" at? if there "was never a Jewish temple on Al-Aksa."

With kind regards and best wishes

Lactantius Jr

---

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 and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".