JERUSALEM: The al-Aqsa Mosque's Saladin pulpit that was burnt down by a Christian extremist 38 years ago has been restored

Record ID: 497675

  • Title: JERUSALEM: The al-Aqsa Mosque's Saladin pulpit that was burnt down by a Christian extremist 38 years ago has been restored
  • Date: 4th February 2007
  • Summary: (MER-1) JERUSALEM (FEBRUARY 02, 2007) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF AL-AQSA MOSQUE IN JERUSALEM PEOPLE SITTING OUTSIDE AL-AQSA MOSQUE VARIOUS OF MUSLIMS SITTING TOGETHER OUTSIDE THE DOME OF THE ROCK
  • Embargoed: 19th February 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVACJ6LDW54IZRPO8J45N2G0IAW9
  • Story Text: A new pulpit replacing the Saladin pulpit -- known as 'Minbar Salaheddine' in Arabic -- at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque's has finally been installed to replace the original one that was burnt down by a Christian extremist 38 years ago.
    On August 21, 1969, Australian tourist Michael Dennis Rohan set the mosque, also known as 'Omar's Mosque', on fire, destroying the priceless 1000-year-old wood and ivory Saladin pulpit that had been brought down to the ancient city from Aleppo.
    Rohan -- who was arrested, found insane and later deported by Israeli authorities -- was a follower of an evangelical sect of Christianity known as the 'Church of God'. The Australian believed that he was the 'Lord's Emissary' and that he had to destroy the al-Aqsa mosque so that the Jewish Temple could be rebuilt on the Temple Mount to hasten the return of the Messiah.
    The Muslim trust that cares for the Muslim holy places in Jerusalem, the Islamic Waqf, believes that the replacement of the destroyed pulpit is a reassertion of Muslim determination to safeguard the mosque.
    "It (the restoration) represents an important event in Islamic history. Forty years after it was burnt, it was restored. This indicates our insistence that the al-Aqsa remain an Islamic mosque until the end of time," Adnan Hussein, General Director of the Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem, told Reuters Television.
    The new Saladin pulpit was built at cost of some 1.5 million U.S. dollars over a four-year period in Jordan with funds from the Jordanian royal family. It was designed as closely as possible to the original destroyed pulpit.
    "It was a unique unprecedented piece of art. When it was burned down very little was left of it. It contains 16,500 pieces. We had to restore the 16,500 pieces with the help of experts in Islamic architecture. This took time. The implementation only took four years, and that's a normal period. It's collecting the pieces that took time," Husseini said.
    Muslim pulpits, used by clerics to deliver sermons and lead worshippers in prayer, are often intricately designed.
    The Saladin pulpit was built after Muslim leader Saladin conquered Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187 A.D..
    The al-Aqsa Mosque is situated inside the 'Noble Sanctuary' or 'Haram al-Sharif' compound, alongside the Dome of the Rock -- a gold-capped mosque built on the site where the prophet Mohammad is believed to have ascended to heaven by night on a winged horse. It is the third holiest site for Muslims in the world, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The Omayyad Caliph Abdul Malik bin Marwan commissioned its construction and it was completed during the reign of his son, al-Walid, in 705 A.D.
    The Jews call the same site the Temple Mount, and believe the mosque is built atop the remains of two destroyed Jewish temples.
    Some right-wing Israelis have opposed the restoration of the pulpit, making it yet another symbol of the battle between Israelis and Palestinians over the identity of the holy site.
    "The return of this important pulpit to its place in these harsh conditions is a message to them (the Israelis). Al-Aqsa will forever be an Islamic mosque and this pulpit confirms that. Hopefully it is a sign of salvation from occupation," Husseini said.
    Former Jerusalem Mufti Sheikh Ikrima Sabri led Muslim prayers from the new pulpit on Friday (February 02). Sabri's father was the last to deliver a sermon from the original pulpit before it was in destroyed in 1969.
    In 1996, the opening of a rear exit to a tunnel that runs alongside the compound's boundary by Israeli authorities led to riots and demonstrations across the West Bank. Sixty-one Arabs and 15 Israeli soldiers were killed, after Arab leaders said the tunnel was built in order to undermine the mosques' foundations and cause their collapse.
    In September 2000, a visit to the site by then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sparked riots that spiralled into a second Palestinian uprising, resulting in thousands of deaths.
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