Dome of the Rock

Yesterday, a few JC chums and I met a man named Amjad under the Damascus Gate, as we paid to tour the old Roman entrance and "old city's" ramparts. (I was really pumped because it was my first chance to spend some shekels. If you, like me, have ever wondered if they're very fun to spend, accept my assurances they are. Other currencies I hope to spend include rubles and rupees.)

*

I also need to mention I've had the "Street Rat" song from Aladdin in my head for 3 days and it's all I can do not to buy genie pants and start stealing bread. I can only resist for others' sake. Anyway.

*

We chatted in line; he asked if we minded him tagging along; we said "Of course, man"; then he decided to spend the next 8 hours hooking us up. He soon became like a super saiyan (awesome/powerful) tour guide: a Muslim from New Jersey who haggled prices in half with native Arabic (I got a handstitched "camelrider" shawl and coil to keep it down), explained the history and significance of the things we saw, bought us some "awami" sugar-bomb candy, and helped us through some serious hassles that would have taken serious time and pain to navigate on our way to Dome of the Rock, where we suddenly were.

*

It was what awesome meant before diluted through invoking it's power in vain. It was that kind of awesome.

*

After some group pictures (there were about 12 of us he was leading around now, always deferential, taking our pictures for us and humbly trying to not let us include him just out of obligation, which wasn't why we were), we ascended up a wide staircase towards the one of the world's most singular shrines, and past a tall, freestanding colonnade of Corinthian columns (leaves sprouting at the top). It was about 1 pm. White slashes of scripture from the Qur'an ran clockwise around the octagon's top, which was massive, mosaic, and dark blue: the golden dome blazed like a beacon on top. As I was about to start off for the shrine, I passed the white colonnade at the top of the stairs, and was a little taken aback: there were bullet holes in the columns, where chunks had been chipped away.

*

"What happened here, exactly? When were these bullet holes from?" I asked Amjad. "That was from the war where Palestine was fighting for their freedom, in the 40's and later again in 67. This was the last place where the fighting was, the last place to surrender. A lot of people died here."

*

That struck me because the thought that had struck me earlier was that this was like the Muslim's Temple Square. Dan (King), my buddy, and I were talking about the splendour of "The Holy Mount" too: "All the investment it must have taken in time, and money, and energy--you can't spend all that and not have this place be holy." All of this came at a price. Whatever the name of this god was, this was a place of true sacrifice, and all sacrifice is sacred.

*

Now there's a ton of security because another religion that holds this place sacred also has governing power over the Holy Land, and modern Muslims are afraid that the shrine which has stood since religion governs this nation, and Muslims are helpless to protect the "oldest extant Islamic building in the world"--it has stood since 691 A.D.--through peaceful means if the government fails to preserve it.

*

We learned that the Canaanites, destroyed unmercilessly by Israeli invaders, were once a covenant people in our Old Testament class--at least it was submitted to us (based on something in the JST, Gen. 17:3-7, I believe, but that may not be conclusive); that was an answer to a question about God's seeming OT wrath. If they weren't innocent people, maybe it wasn't unfathomable barbarity on God's and Israel's part. So even though it's distasteful, to say the least, God doesn't just have the wicked punish the wicked; sometimes good guys kill Goliath.

*

But what this meant to me was, maybe I shouldn't look at the Muslims as being where they didn't belong, here in the Holy Land, with a shrine on top of an old Jewish--God's former covenant-living people--temple. Maybe they had been the righteous ones. Maybe not, too though. I do know that God let the Jews be scattered. And it's for a better reason than most people think (Hel 15:3, Jacob 4:17-Jacob 5).

*

I don't ever expect to be able to judge, though maybe I'll get some ideas. All I know is that I saw bullet holes all over walls and colonnades, but I didn't see any in that shrine. And even if there were, there were fewer than there might have been because they hit something else instead, and I cannot but believe that the reason they did was holy, holy--like the ground on which I stood.

*"...A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." -- Joseph Smith

*

Today I learned the meaning of the word "Islam": it is literally "submission to God."

*

How good a Muslim could I be if bullets peppered Temple Square?

* * *

In case you're wondering how you can help:

*

I met a man named Eric and his wife Patrice pushing their baby, Elyza, in a stroller last December. Elyza, it turns out, has hydrosephalace. After I asked about her and the medical costs they told me they were LDS and the Church was helping--I'm not sure how much--but they had wanted to do what they could to pay for some of it, so Patrice had been crafting some bookmarks and headbands and clips in order to raise some money. I told Eric I would put a link to their blog on mine, in case anyone wanted to support them.

*

The link is http://carrillosfamilyarts.blogspot.com/. *

A link to their daughter's situation is there too.

I don't know how the church is helping exactly but I'm going to encourage Eric to post it on his blog, and a picture of Elyza too--she's a sweetie--but in the meantime you can call Eric at (801) 548-7617, or email him through a link on the blog. They were very humble and honest people, which is why I wanted to help them.