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Dome of the Rock - Interior

The very first structure at the current site of Dome of the Rock was built by Caliph Abd al-Malik between 685 and 691. In Arabic it is called al-Sakhra or al-Haram Sharif.

The Crusades captured Jerusalem in 1099 and turned this building into a church and they named it the Templum Domini (meaning Temple of the Lord). Jerusalem was recaptured by the Muslims again in 1187 by a famous commander Saladin. The Mamlukes ruled Jerusalem from the 13th to 15th century and then Ottoman Turks controlled this holy city till the start of the 20th century. Suleiman the Magnificent did a major re-building work on this structure. After WWI the British took over Palestine and their mandate lasted till 1948.

 

 

A lamp hangs inside the Dome of the Rock building
The mosaics inside the Dome of the Rock contain no human figures or animals, as per Islamic teachings
Design on the ceiling

 

Interior

Wall and ceiling mosaics became very popular in Late Antiquity and adorn many Byzantine churches. hence, most of the interior is decorated with mosaic, faience, marble, vegetative scrolls and motifs, as well as vessels and winged crowns. Even some of the designs are included from the other major pre-Islamic civilization of the region, the Sasanian Empire for example.

Ibn Battuta (a famous Muslim traveler) described the building in following words, ‘the Dome of the Rock is a building of extraordinary beauty, solidity, elegance, and singularity of shape. The greater part is covered with gold so that the eyes of one who gazes on its beauties are dazzled by its brilliance, now glowing like a mass of light, now flashing like lightning’.

 

A support column inside the Dome of the Rock
This art was created by using different colours of marble
Decorative stained glass windows
The bases of the columns are cased with slabs of marble
Decorative ceiling of the Dome of the Rock
Capitals on top of the pillars and it also shows the work gone into the ceiling of this building
Motifs between the marble columns and ceiling
Some of the golden motifs on the walls
One can see the Byzantines mosaics reflected in this picture
Another pair of stained glass windows
A rectangular pattern on a column
A chandelier hangs from the ceiling
Interior of al-Haram Sharif is very eye catching due to its colours and geometric patterns

 

This is written on this wooden structure below; “Maimunah bint Sa’d is reported as saying that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) being asked about a person who is unable to travel to the Aqsa Mosque. The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, “He should make a gift of oil to be burnt therein”.

Abu Umamah al Bahili reported that the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) as saying: “A group of my ummah will remain firm upon the truth, dominating their enemies. They will not be harmed by their opponents until Allah’s decree arrives upon them.” They asked: “Oh Prophet of Allah! Where will they be?” He replied: “In Bait al-Maqdis and its surrounding areas.”

 

A wooden structure with hadith written on it
A crystal ball emitting green light, opposite the entry door
Small decorative columns

 

The Dome of the Rock also contains an inscription, 240 meters long, that includes some of the earliest surviving examples of verses from the Qur‘an – in an architectural context or otherwise.

 

Some parts of the building were under renovation wrok
This part of the Dome of the Rock was closer to main entrance
Colourful and richly decorated ceiling
Mosaics play a vital role when it comes to decorating the religious buildings
Blue tiles had also adorned the interior
A digital display of prayer times inside the Dome of the Rock
Mehrab of the Mosque of the Dome of the Rock
A prayer mat at the bottom of the mehrab - this is where imam leads the prayer
Top of the mehrab of the Dome of the Rock