Why Not Just Miraj?

Rabbi Allen S Maller

Why Not Just Miraj?

                                                        Rabbi Allen S. Maller
From an Islamic perspective the experience of Isra, Prophet Muhammad’s night-time journey to Jerusalem, and Miraj, Prophet Muhammad’s ascension to heavens, is a very significant event in the history of religion. 
But why, in Prophet Muhammad’s ascension to the heavens, was he first taken to the ruins of the sacred site of the Jerusalem Temple of Solomon? Why did Prophet Muhammad not ascend to the heavens directly from the Ka’ba? 
Was it because the Ka’ba was polluted by the 300 carved statues of all sorts of pagan Gods surrounding the Ka’ba, as well as several pictures actually located inside the Ka’ba? Even if the Jerusalem sanctuary was in ruins, it was not religiously polluted by idols.
Or was it because Allah was determined to emphasize the unity of all monotheistic religions; and underscore the commitment of all religious communities to respect each other. 
There was of course, no Muslim place of worship in Jerusalem at that time. 
There were however, many Christian Churches and sacred Christian sites in Jerusalem. 
But no Jews or Jewish synagogues were permitted in Jerusalem, and the ruins of the Second Temple, were being used as a garbage dump. 
Thus, the two sacred sites associated with Abraham’s son Ishmael (the Ka’ba) and Abraham’s son Isaac (Mount Moria) were both desecrated; and both had been so for centuries. 
Prophet Muhammad was born exactly 500 years after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple in the year 70 CE. Prophet Muhammad’s followers captured the city just 4 years after his death. As Ibn Taymiyah relates: “when ‘Umar conquered Jerusalem there was a huge garbage dump on the rock (where ‘Abd al-Malik built; and in 691 CE dedicated the magnificent Dome of the Rock), since the Christians wanted to show their scorn for the place towards which the Jews used to pray. 
“So ‘Umar issued orders that the filth be removed. Al-Masjid al-Aqsa is the name for the whole (area) of the place of worship built by (Prophet) Sulayman. Some people started to give the name of al-Aqsa to the mosque which was built by ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, (the second caliph of Islam), in front (200 yards south) of it (the Dome of the Rock). Praying in this prayer-place (al-Aqsa) which ‘Umar built for the Muslims, is better than praying in the rest of the mosque (second Temple area). 
A Hadith declares that the original pre-Abrahamic northern sanctuary was built only 40 years after the original pre-Abrahamic Ka’ba: It was narrated that Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari said: “I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! Which mosque was built first?’ He said: ‘Al-Masjid Al-Haram (in Makkah).’ I said: ‘Then which?’ He said: ‘then Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa (in Jerusalem).’ I said: ‘How many years between them?’ He said: ‘Forty years’” (Sunan Ibn Majah 753: Book 4, Hadith 19  English: Vol. 1, Book 4, Hadith 753)
In the Greek and Roman Empires, the Jerusalem Temple (Beit HaMikdosh) and the Ka’ba, the House of God (Baitullah) in Mecca were not as well known as the giant pagan Temples of Greece and Rome.
Yet less than three centuries after the looting of Rome, both of these cities and their sanctuaries, one almost unknown by the Romans and the other totally destroyed by the Romans, were destined to be viewed as the spiritual center of the world throughout the Middle Ages in Europe, North Africa and west Asia.
Jerusalem or Mecca were frequently portrayed by Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the center of their maps, and spoken about as the spiritual center of their faith.
Much of the folklore about these two holy sites is very similar. The following fable, transmitted orally in both Arabic and Hebrew for many centuries and finally written down in several different versions in the 19th century, illustrates how these two holy places can be closely connected even though they are geographically separated by 765 miles. 







I believe they are both right and God willing, someday everyone may see these two cities and their sanctuaries as a pair of spiritual lungs; that are central to our religious inspiration by, and connection to, the One God of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac. 
Rabbi Allen Maller’s web site is: www.rabbimaller.com Rabbi Maller’s book ‘Judaism and Islam as Synergistic Monotheisms: One Rabbi’s Reflections on the Profound Connectedness between Islam and Judaism’ (31 articles by Rabbi Maller first published by Islamic web sites) is for sale ($15) on Amazon and Morebooks.