a spacious plaza atop a hill on the eastern edge
of the city where the ancient Israelite temple of
Solomon used to stand. This sacred precinct is
known today as the Temple Mount (Hebrew: Har
ha-Bayit) and as the Noble Sanctuary (Arabic:
al-Haram al-Sharif). The physical structure of the
building itself shelters a legendary rock that in
Jewish tradition is believed to be where abraham’s
sacrifice occurred and where Muslims believe
mUhammad stood before ascending to heaven.
The building consists of a large golden dome that
crowns an eight-sided building and is supported
by a cylinder resting on a complex of piers,
arches, and columns. Beautiful Arabic inscrip-
tions and mosaics with vegetal motifs, crowns,
and jewel designs decorate the monument inside
and out.
The Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Mar-
wan (r. 685–705) built the Dome of the Rock
between 691 and 693. The Haram area had been
largely abandoned in the centuries between the
destruction of the Second Temple in 70 c.e. and
the arrival of the Muslims in 638. Abd al-Malik’s
project was but part of a larger one to develop
the area and Islamize the city. Scholars have sev-
eral explanations for the dome’s unique design
and decorations. The prevailing view is that it
represents an Umayyad effort to claim Jerusalem
as a holy city for Muslims and to express the
triumph of Islam over the Byzantine Empire and
the Christian Church. Indeed, as art historian
Oleg Grabar has pointed out, the Arabic inscrip-
tions that decorate the building contain verses
from the qUran that recognize JesUs as a prophet
and refute the Christian doctrine of his divinity.
Moreover, the structure incorporates features
that echo those of the nearby Church of the Holy
Sepulcher (known to Eastern Christians as the
Basilica of the Anastasis), which it overlooks
on the western side, not those of a mosqUe. The
main mosque in the Haram area is the aqsa
mosqUe, located south of the Dome of the Rock.
The building has withstood centuries of polit-
ical and religious turmoil, neglect, and change.
It has undergone numerous repairs, and restora-
tions have been done to it. When Jerusalem fell
to the crusaders in 1099, Godrey of Bouillon, one
of their leaders, had it converted into a church
called the Temple of the Lord. When saladin
(d. 1193) retook the city in 1187, he personally
joined with his troops in purifying the Haram and
removing Christian images and inscriptions from
the Dome of the Rock. During the 20th century,
the Dome of the Rock became a symbol of Pal-
estinian nationalism and Islamic activist move-
ments. It is still frequented by Muslims living
in the West Bank, Israelis, and foreign visitors.
Occasionally, it has also served as a flashpoint for
confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli
security forces.
See also christianity and islam; crUsades;
israel; JUdaism and islam; night JoUrney and
ascent; Umayyad caliphate.Further reading: Amikam Elad, Medieval Jerusalem and
Islamic Worship: Holy Places, Ceremonies, Pilgrimage
(Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1993); Oleg Grabar, The Shape of the
Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1996).dreams
Dreams and visions (Arabic: ruya or manam)
occupy a special place in Islam as in many ancient
Near Eastern religions, since such experiences are
considered intimately linked to prophecy. In the
qUran (as in the Bible), God communicates to his
prophets through dreams and visions, and many
prophets are endowed with the power of dream
interpretation. Several hadith manifest mUham-
mad’s affirmation of the relation between dreams
and prophethood; for example, “The divine rev-
elation comes to prophets in waking as well as
in sleep.” Given the quranic precedent and the
importance that Muhammad attached to dreams,
the early Muslims greatly esteemed oneiromancy,
the pre-Islamic science of dream classification and
interpretation. The belief in the divinely inspiredK 202 dreams