The Inscriptions on the Dome of the Rock

 Since the MCO began I have suffered a rather pleasant and useful "reading" spasm. Other than my usual reading of the foreign media, articles and analyses that pop into my mail box  I have been reading books almost non stop or every chance I get.  

I did mention this some weeks back, when my Blog postings suddenly decreased. I was not able to update the Blog  everyday because I was spending more time reading books.

Since April 2021, I have read the Quran again - cover to cover - four more times. Twice in the original Arabic  which I can read and understand quite ok lah - and twice in my favourite Bahasa Indonesia  translation (Terjemahan cara Lafziyyah). I am now into another reading of the Quran in Arabic and also the Bahasa  Indonesia translation.  

Let me tell you folks - what is written in the original Arabic Quran is far, far removed from what is written by the translators. Even in my favourite Bahasa Indonesia translation which is a word for word, literal translation of the Arabic Quran. 

I have also read some other books including a technical explanation of the missing MH370, a book about the Hezbollah and Lebanese politics (a total time waster folks, believe me,  but I had to read it to update myself about the monkeys and donkeys who populate the Middle East).  Plus yet another controversial book by Robert Spencer. 

Anyway here is some info that I want to share. This part will be quite unfathomable by non Muslims, so you may want to stop reading here.  

This is the famous Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.  

The shiny and polished Dome of the Rock that you see above was rebuilt and renovated a few times. I believe this present form dates back to around the 16th century (by the Turkish Ottoman Caliphate). 

The original Dome of the Rock was less shiny and it was built between 691–92 AD at the order of the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik.   The Ummayads were the first "dynastic" Caliphate after the demise of Ali the fourth and the last of the four Khilafatul Rashidun or four Rightly Guided Caliphs.

Also bear in mind that the Dome of the Rock above IS NOT the famous Masjid al Aqsa. 

The Masjid al Aqsa is located not too far away from this Dome of the Rock. Many a rock and many tear gas canisters have been thrown around these structures. In the past centuries, hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost around the vicinity of this same Jerusalem. 

Inside the Dome of the Rock there are some inscriptions in Arabic. These inscriptions in Arabic include some verses from the Quran, other non-Quranic statements (possibly at the behest of the Caliph Abd al-Malik) all dating back to 692 AD.  Hence the Quran inscriptions  inside the Dome of the Rock are the earliest known records (literally carved in stone) of  Quranic verses.

Here is a screenshot of part of the Arabic inscriptions inside the Dome of the Rock. If you can read old, old style Arabic (it is not easy because not all the diacritical markings were used at that time - non Muslims dont worry, even Muslims cant read this).  Please note the part I have highlighted in yellow. 

I have zoomed up the highlighted portion here, I missed one more word at the end 'hayyan' :

It reads 'Peace be upon him the day he was born, and the day he dies, and the day he shall be raised alive". 

This is based on Surah 19:33 in the Quran but with some differences.  

Here is Surah 19:33 from the Quran that we have today :  

In Sura 19:33 this statement is attributed to Jesus.  You can read the English translation which is accurate. Jesus refers to himself in the first person :

• 'alayya' (upon me)
• 'wulidtu' (I was born)
• 'amuutu' (I will die), 
• 'ub'athu' (I am raised alive)

However the inscription on the Dome of the Rock (the yellow highlight) refers to Jesus in the third person  :

• 'alayhi' (upon him)
• he was born
• he dies
• he shall be raised alive 

This is quite interesting.  They were obviously referring to the wording in Surah 19:33  but they changed it from the first person to the third person.

Just some trivia from the past. 

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.