Thomas: (Pt.5) The 'Dome of the Rock', Islam's 1st home!

Thomas channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXPr9Vbibc7wIXJT3_ym-dQ In order to confront Trinitarian Christianity, and introduce his own anti-Trinitarian brand of Christianity, Abd al-Malik needed to construct a significantly large and historically imposing building as an introduction to his new agenda at that time and at that place, known as the 'Dome of the Rock', finished in 691 AD, where it still stands today, even more imposing than when it was first constructed. But what led up to that event? To understand that we need to begin with 622 AD. In 622 AD, what the 'Standard Islam Narrative' (SIN) claims was the year of the Hijra (when Muhammad supposedly moved from Mecca to Medina), is historically the year the HJR (or Magharai, the Arab equivalent of the Syriac 'year of the Hagarenes') gained their independence from the hated Sassanids. The Byzantines, the victors, were more pre-occupied with their Western territories, and so left the East to the Arabs, resulting in many sectarian Christians groups springing up in the vacuum which existed. Then in 661 AD Mu'awiya came to power, and, according to Thomas, desired authority over Eastern Christendom. He introduced an inscription with a cross, proving that he was a Christian. In 672 AD al-Zubayr, the governor of Persia under Mu'awiya minted a coin referring to himself as the 'Commander of the Faithful', suggesting that there was still ongoing insurrections. That leads us to 681 AD when Abd al-Malik came to power. He takes over from Mu'awiya's reign and decides to introduce an entirely different form of Christian movement in order to unite the Eastern Christians; yet, disliking the tributes Mu'awiya had been paying the Byzantines. He wanted a strong Arab presence in that place and time, as well as something significant to demonstrate his new ideology. In 681 AD he mints his first coin...note, this confronts the SIN's view that Abd al-Malik came to power in 685 AD, yet this first coin suggests differently, as it refers back to 60 years previous (i.e. 622 AD). Muslim scholars have stated this date referred to the Hijra (Muhammad going from Mecca to Medina), but as we noted above, this was the beginning of the Arab's identity in that land. 60 years after 622 places it around 681 (due to the shorter lunar year), though Muslims have argued that abd al-Malik was using the Sassanian date of the death of Khosrow II's death (d. 628 AD), but that makes it 688 AD, thus, too late. Furthermore, Thomas argues that no Arab would employ the hated Sassanian dates for their own dating system. Thomas continues that Abd al-Malik (681 AD - 705 AD) was interested in the Arabization of his empire, making Arabic the 'lingua franca', or the official language of his kingdom. But his greatest symbolic gesture was to build the 'Dome of the Rock', on the Temple Mount (the 'holy of holies' for all Jews), and as monument to his "contract with God". It was a structure in opposition to the 'Hagia Sophia' in Constantinople (the Center of the Byzantine political power, since it was the principal setting for Byzantine imperial ceremonies), looking down on the 'Church of the Sepulchre' (the Byzantine's place commemorating Jesus' crucifixion, as well as Jesus' supposed tomb). Thomas also believed that this building contained inscriptions to the new 'Muhammad', a sort of 'Temple of Muhammadism' (more on that in our subsequent episode). A document called 'The Cave of Treasures" was written in the Syriac language, approximately at the end of the 6th or the beginning of the 7th century. Thus, it would have been known by Abd al-Malik, and may help us understand his thinking for the Dome of the Rock. This document contains references to Isaac's sacrifice, Adam's grave, Melchizedek's alter, and David's fiery sword, and was symbolic of those events all supposedly taking place on this mount. The name for the 'Dome of the Rock' in Arabic is 'Qubbat as-sahra' which means the cupola of a saint's body under a rock, symbolic of Christ's crypt, under the rock itself. For all these reasons, the Dome of the Rock had much symbolic importance, which was instrumental for Abd al-Malik to not only confront the Divinity of Jesus, and the Trinity (more on this in the next episode), but in solidifying the Arabic language as the 'lingua franca' of that time and place, all situated on the most significant site for both Judaism and Christianity of that time. Abd al-Malik was now introducing his specific anti-Trinitarian sect, for the Arab people, in their tongue, yet upon the most holy place for those he was opposing (the Jews and Christians), used at this time to begin what then became the religion of Islam later on by the Abbasids, embellished into their own narrative, which we are now familiar with today. But it all began with this building, on this site, and in this language, by this man. © Pfander Centre for Apologetics - US, 2021 (60,330) Music: "Travels" by Aleksound, from filmmusic-io