conquered Jerusalem, a great heap of rubbish lay on the Rock, because the Christians had deliberately sought to dishonor it in opposition to the Jews who prayed facing it. ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, ordered that the filth be removed and asked Ka‘b al-Ahbār, “Where do you think we should build the Muslims’ prayer hall?”

“Behind the Rock,” he replied.

‘Umar said, “Son of a Jewish woman! Judaism has influenced you. Rather, I shall build it in front of the Rock, for the front portions of mosques are ours.”

For this reason, when the leading scholars of the Muslim community entered the mosque, they would seek to pray in the prayer hall built by ‘Umar. It has also been reported that ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, prayed in David’s prayer chamber.

As for “the Rock,” neither ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, nor the Companions prayed beside it. Nor was there a dome over it during the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs. Rather, it remained uncovered throughout the caliphates of ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān, ‘Alī, Mu‘āwiyah, Yazīd, and Marwān. However, when Marwān’s son ‘Abd al-Malik took control of Syria and conflict arose between him and Ibn al-Zubayr, people would perform Hajj and meet with Ibn al-Zubayr. ‘Abd al-Malik wanted to divert people away from Ibn al-Zubayr, so he built the dome over the Rock and draped it in winter and summer, to encourage people to undertake “visits to Jerusalem” and occupy them with that instead of meeting with Ibn al-Zubayr.

The scholars among the Companions and those who followed them in righteousness, however, did not venerate the Rock, for it is a direction of prayer that has been abrogated. Likewise, Saturday was a festival day under the law of Moses, peace be upon him, but was then replaced by Friday under the law of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. Muslims therefore must not single out Saturday and Sunday for worship as the Jews