The city of Jerusalem is sacred to the Muslim because of the fabled magical “night journey” which the Prophet Mohammed made to Jerusalem from Mecca. After supposedly arriving at the Temple Mount, Mohammed went to the rock upon which Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Issac when the angel stayed his hand. On the same night, so goes the fable, God transported Mohammed back to Mecca.

The first mosque on the Temple Mount was a wooden mosque built by Caliph Omar. The second mosque was rebuilt in A.D. 699 by Caliph Abd al-Melik, the Mosque of Omar, also known as the Dome of the Rock. The Dome of the Rock still stands and dominates the Jerusalem skyline.

In 1967 at the culmination of the Six-Day War, Israel captured the Temple Mount. For the first time in almost 1900 years, Israel once again had control of their holy place. For political reasons, Israel gave back to the Muslims the control of the Temple Mount. The Muslims consider the Temple Mount to be their sacred place, and Jordan has jurisdiction over this disputed acreage. Since all the nations around Israel are Muslim, Israel keeps a law of”Status Quo,” which says that if a site is Jewish it will remain Jewish and if a site is considered to be Muslim it will remain Muslim.