By Dr. Steven Carol
Arab-Muslim conquerors have a penchant for destroying other people’s religious shrines and many times building their own on the ruins. It was, and remains, Islam’s way of saying, ‘We have defeated you, we rule you, and our god–Allah– is greater than your god.’ As I have pointed out, with numerous examples, in my book: Middle East Rules of Thumb: Understanding the Complexities of the Middle East, this has been a long established historic practice.
Islam’s holiest shrine–the Kaaba, a cube-like building in Mecca–is an older pre-Islamic pagan Arab shrine. According to Islamic tradition the first building was constructed by Adam and rebuilt by Abraham (Ibrahim). The Black Stone, possibly a meteorite fragment, is a significant feature of the Kaaba. The Masjid al-Haram mosque was built around the Kaaba.
The Ibrahimi Mosque was constructed in Hebron, in 637 CE, over the second-most venerated Jewish holy site, the Cave of Machpelah–the Tomb of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The Dome of the Rock was built on the ruins of Judaism’s holiest site, the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem, by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik, 687-691 CE. Al-Walid, son of al-Malik, erected the Al-Aqsa Mosque at the southern end of the Temple Mount and also over the Basilica of St. Mary of Justinian, in 712 CE.
By no means is this practice limited to venerated Jewish holy sites. The Grand Mosque of Damascus was put up over the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in 715 CE.
On October 18, 1009, the Muslim Fatimid caliph Abu ‘Ali Mansur Tariqu’l-Hakim destroyed, down to the bedrock, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, a Christian church venerated by most Christians as Golgotha, the Hill of Calvary, where tradition says that Jesus was crucified. Gravestones were also destroyed. Muslim forces tried to dig up all the graves and wipe out all traces of their existence. The site is now within the walled, Old City of Jerusalem.
This practice continued through the centuries and was applied not only to Jewish, Christian and Hindu sites but other faiths as well. Late in the 20th century, in Libya, on November 26, 1970, the Catholic Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Tripoli was converted into the Gamal Abdel Nasser Mosque.
Two 1,400 year-old statues of Buddha in the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan were blown up in March 2001. This came after a fatwa (a religious edict), ordered by the Taliban directed all Afghan “idols” be destroyed as being anti-Muslim. In the Central Asian republics no Buddhist temples remain.
While not a religious site, the World Trade Center stood as a symbol of Western commerce, industry and civilization. Then came the horrors of the destruction of those twin towers on September 11, 2001. No doubt many prayers were said there both during and after the calamitous collapse.
In May 2010, it was announced that near the ruins of buildings reduced to rubble in the name of Islam, an Islamic mosque would rise. This fits the historic pattern of Muslim construction near or atop the ruins of their enemies’ symbolic buildings as a mark of Islamic supremacy.
The land for the mosque has been bought for $4.85 million in unaccounted for cash. The estimated cost of the new building that will house the mosque is $100 million. It is to be funded by donations. Just who specifically, would be making these donations is one unanswered question? Once built, 1,000 to 2,000 Muslims are expected to pray at the mosque every Friday. The target date for the opening of this mosque is September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the attack on New York and Washington, D.C.
Furthermore, a second mosque seeks to build near ground zero. The Masjid Mosque has raised $8.5 million and is seeking an additional $2.5 million to begin construction. While it apparently has not settled on a final location, it has told donors it plans to build very close to where the World Trade Center once stood. In fact, the Masjid Mosque website states: “Insha’Allah we will raise the flag of La-Illaha-Illa-Allah in downtown Manhattan very soon!”
The World Trade Center was destroyed in the name of Islam. The perpetrators stated the people that were murdered were not innocent, which is blatantly false. The planned mosque will be just 600 feet from ground zero, at the site of the greatest Islamofascist achievement over infidels in hundreds of years. Thus, three questions can be raised. Are these mosques to honor the perpetrators of 9-11 rather than its victims? Is the mosque to indicate Islam’s triumph and supremacy? Finally, how will the establishment of these mosques be viewed in the Arab-Muslim world?
Historian Dr. Steve Carol is the author of two books, Middle East Rules of Thumb: Understanding the Complexities of the Middle East and Encyclopedia of Days: Start the Day with History, as well as numerous articles. He is Associate Producer and official historian of The Middle East Radio Forum, heard Sundays at noon in Phoenix on KKNT 960 AM and on the world wide web at middleeastradioforum.org. Dr. Carol is a Middle East Consultant to Salem Radio Network (SRN) News.
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Finally, an article which states what should be obvious to anyone not blinded by political correctness. Islam operates from a position of cynical manipulation of the tolerance of Western civilization. Where are the Churches and Synagogues in Mecca and Medina, or anywhere in Saudi Arabia? Jihadists routinely attack even Mosques belonging to a different sect of Islam from theirs. But here in America or Europe, Mosques are portrayed as harmless peaceful expressions of faith. To an American, it smacks of hypocrisy. To a Moslem, it is just the correct order of the world. To an American Moslem, which is it?
The longer we deny the truth, the harder it will be to preserve our way of life. Great thanks are due to Dr. Carol for having the insight and courage to call these things to our attention.
Dr. Carol writes a succint account of history regarding the motives of building a Mosque near the World Trade Center terrorist tragedy on 911.
What other insults are “they” planning? America wake up! Our enemies are organizing their attacks and unfortunately one or more will be successful. Our PC population and worse our in-denial Government (or some worse adjectives to describe the admionistratrion) will miss or ignore the signs of the next attack and a disaster will result.
Lets hope these things don’ happen! Lets hope they are not ignored!
A national study conducted by Mediacurves.com asked about American opinions regarding plans to build a mosque and Islamic community center near “Ground Zero” of the World Trade Center attacks. Results found that Republicans were the least favorable of plans to build the mosque, with the majority of Republicans (63%) reporting that it was “not at all appropriate.” Also, 37% of Democrats and 39% of Independents indicated that the plans were “not at all inappropriate.” The majority of all political parties reported that it was disrespectful to the victims of the World Trade Center attacks to build a mosque near ground zero. More results can be seen at http://www.mediacurves.com/NationalMediaFocus/J7849-GroundZeroMosque/Index.cfm
What should very disconcerting is that the Jewish mayor of New York, Mr. Bloomberg, has appeared very ambivalent about the placement and purpose of this structure. Is this his way of trying to “get along” with the Muslim forces actively out to destroy the Jewish State of Israel and liberal Jews in America?
Keep up your fine efforts at educating the undiscerning and willingly ignorant on the MERF program, Dr. Carol.
Thanks for this excellent accounting pointing to the supremacist rationale for this “monstrous mega mosque” and the revelation of the second one in the same area. The Mayor has Islamist advisors employed in major departments. PC and true ignorance play a great role in the dubious decision to support this mosque on the part of the mayor and the community board. Support atlasshrugs.com and others in opposing it..
I visited Spain last year.
There are some pretty impressive Cathedrals there….built on the ashes of Mosques.
Islam is not alone in this practice, it shares the habit with Christianity. And, I would guess, with other religions.
We have a choice: we can let them build it, and show that we are a better and more tolerant people. Or we can show that we are just like them.