Conclusion

In speaking about the holiness of a place, a temple or a shrine, one should always remember one thing: what makes a place holy in the three so-called monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Islam, in this respect, appears to have a view that differs  from the Jewish and Christian views. The Jewish attitude to the Temple is fetishistic in the sense that the material building of the Temple is endowed with sanctity because Yahwah, the Jewish god dwells in it. It is also idolatrous, because the Temple, as a material building is like a pagan idol, and when the Jews clamour for the rebuilding of the Temple they insist that the new Temple must be a replica of the old Temple because the shape and the structure are also holy, and Yahwah is enclosed in the structure.

Christianity went further. At one time, however, there were Jews in the third century who questioned this type of idolatry and called for a return to the primordial religion of Abraham. The material pagan outlook was replaced by a mythical one, extravagantly spiritual. God himself dwells in Jesus Christ, a man-god. Even in Papal practice, a Pope is infallible only if it is an encyclical in ecclesia.

In Islam, the case is quite different. A place is holy not because God dwells in it as an integral part, and not because it is dedicated to an incarnate God. In Islam, it is holy because it is a symbol of a stage in the evolutionary process of religion and history. The Ka’ba in Mecca is venerated in Islam because it is historical and represents an ancient form of religion and of conformity as a national heritage. It is said that the Ka’ba is more sacred than the tomb of the Prophet, and this tomb is more sacred than Jerusalem. But there is no idea of divine indwelling or an idea of incarnation.

Islam is also twofold; popular Islam and classical Islam. Popular Islam is traditional, and is not equally authentic. It follows from that that any reverence bestowed on any holy place should be in conformity with classical Islam which rejects fetishist idolatry and incarnation, and should help in confirming the principles of Islam.

I must mention here that ’Umar, the second Caliph in Islam, went on pilgrimage to Mecca, and started by perambulating around the Ka’aba. In doing that he kissed the Black Stone and said, addressing the Stone: “I know that you are a mere stone unable to do good or to do evil, and I kiss you only because I saw the Messenger of God kiss you.”

In the end, I would like to emphasise one serious aspect of Islam, namely universalism. Islam, while recognizing other theistic religions, does not declare them to be false. This attitude was not Jewish or Christian. The Jews claim that Judaism is the only true religion and that the Jews are unique and ‘chosen” and the others are Gentiles. The early Christians, beginning to feel their way to forge a new identity for themselves, stressed that Judaism was no more after the destruction of the Temple which was in their view the embodiment of Yahwah, the Jewish god, and consequently the embodiment of Judaism. The Jewish Jerusalem was called Aelia, and the New Jerusalem, after the discovery of the tomb of Christ, and Jerusalem ceased to have special status on the Christian map. Origen, a Christian scholar, settled in Palestine in 234 A.D, believed that only pagans could think that God dwelt in a shrine like the Jewish Temple, in a particular place. Origen was a Platonist who thought that religion should be sought in heaven and not on earth, and that God is spiritual. Eusebius, bishop of Caesaria in Palestine in 313 A.D. held a similar view. He was a Platonist, like Origen, and had no respect for shrines and for holy sites. Christianity, he believed, had abandoned such primitive sentiments. Jerusalem was a guilty city. In 313 Constantine recognized Christianity as the religion of the Roman empire, and that declaration was thought to be the death knell of Judaism.

However, Judaism continued to exist. Christianity was not able to destroy it because, for one thing, it similarly believed in the embodiment of God in a person. This exclusiveness in both religions is alien to Islam.

The struggle for existence between Judaism and nascent Christianity continued to be acute from time to time in Jerusalem during the early centuries A.D. The struggle came to a head towards the end of May 614, when the Persian army burst into Jerusalem. The Christian shrines and churches were destroyed and about 70 thousand Christians were massacred. The Jews were triumphant that time.

This episode sharply contrasted with the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem under ’Umar, the second Caliph in 638. No Jew or Christian holy place was destroyed or desecrated. This Mulsim civilized and humane behaviour was repeated during the first Crusades. When Jerusalem was captured by the Crusaders they massacred the whole Muslim population and desecrated the Muslim holy places. But when Saladin recaptured Jerusalem, not one Christian was massacred, and no Christian holy place was destroyed or desecrated. Acts speak louder than words.