Two Holy Places: Beit-ullah, Beit-El, Bayt al-Maqdis, Beit Ha-Mikdash – OpEd

Göbekli Tepe is a temple located in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border. It is a 11-12,000 year-old archaeological site widely considered the world's oldest temple. Dating to around 9500–8000 BCE, this Pre-Pottery Neolithic site features massive T-shaped stone pillars, some weighing 10 tonnes, arranged in circles, predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years. It is the oldest pagan, polytheistic temple known. 

We have few clues about their way of life. They did not cultivate crops, since every seed recovered from the site belongs to wild species. They did not raise livestock, as the enormous quantities of bones found there come exclusively from hunted animals, suggesting large communal feasts. The stylized human figures carved at the centre of the enclosures wear simple loincloths, implying a climate warmer than one might expect at the end of the Ice Age, or the people may have come from warmer places like Israel and Arabia. 

The site does not resemble a cemetery, for no human remains have been discovered. Nor does it appear to be a settlement, as there is no reliable water source to sustain a local population. Its purpose remains elusive. Across many of the pillars, one finds repeated carvings of serpentine forms descending from above. Some figures appear to release these serpents from their bodies, as though they were celestial, religious, beings descending upon our world.

The earliest monotheistic Temple was rebuilt many centuries later in Arabia by Prophet Abraham,  the Hebrew (Genesis 14.13) and Prophet Ismael, Abraham's son.  A place is never holy through the choice of humans, but because it has been chosen by God, and revealed by God's prophets. Believers in God's Prophets can see the site's holiness. Unbelievers are blind to it. 

But why does Islam have two sacred sites rather than one? Because even before he left the rejection of the idol-worshipping Arabs of Makkah, for the future promise of Medina, Prophet Muhammad had already visited the other holy site in Jerusalem (Qur'an 17:1-2), to personally experience Allah's signs. 

Thus, both sacred scriptures use similar words to describe the two sanctuaries: Beitullah, BeitEl, and Bayt al-Maqdis, Beit HaMikdash to illustrate how they fit together like a pair of lungs. 

This narration, transmitted orally in both Arabic and Hebrew for many centuries, and finally written down in several different versions in the 19th century explains what some say happened when Abraham lived. 

Two brothers who inherited a 'valley to hilltop' farm from their father, divided the land in half so each one could farm his own section. Over time, the older brother married and had four children, while the younger brother was still not married.

One year there was very little rain, and the crop was very meager. This was at the beginning of a long term drought that would turn the whole valley into an arid, treeless, desert where even grain did not grow, and all the springs dried up. 

The younger brother lay awake one  night praying and thought. "My brother has a wife and four children to feed and I have no children. He needs more grain than I do; especially now when grain is scarce."


So that night the younger brother went to his barn, gathered a large sack of wheat, and left his wheat in his brother's barn. Then he returned home. Earlier that very same night, the older brother was also lying awake praying for rain when he thought: "In my old age my wife and I will have our grown children to take care of us, as well as grandchildren  to enjoy, while my brother may have no children. He should at least sell more grain from his fields now, so he can provide for himself in his old age."



So that night, the older brother also gathered a large sack of wheat, and left it in his brother's barn, and returned home.

The next morning, the younger brother, surprised to see the amount of grain in his barn seemed unchanged said "I did not take as much wheat as I thought. Tonight I'll take more." That same morning, the older brother standing in his barn, was thinking the same thoughts.



After night fell, each brother gathered a greater amount of wheat from his barn and in the dark, secretly delivered it to his brother's barn. The next morning, the brothers were again puzzled and perplexed. "How can I be mistaken?" each one thought. "There's the same amount of grain here as there was before. This is impossible! Tonight I'll make no mistake - I'll take two large sacks."

The third night, more determined than ever, each brother gathered two large sacks of wheat from his barn, loaded them onto a cart, and slowly pulled his cart toward his brother's barn. In the moonlight, each brother noticed a figure in the distance. 

When the two brothers got closer, each recognized the form of the other and the load he was pulling, and they both realized what had happened. Without a word, they dropped the ropes of their carts, ran to each other and embraced.

Know that a place is never holy through the choice of humans, but because it has been chosen in Heaven. However, God can choose a place of brotherly love and concern; and make it holy for their descendants to build a center of worship in this valley and on that hill. Then, like one pair of lungs, the two places breathe the spirit of God into the world's atmosphere, that all humans may submit to the will and love of the one God.

When all those, both near and far, who revere this place as a worldwide standard, and share it in love with everyone else who reveres it, then God does as Abraham requests: "Make this a land of Peace, and provide its people with the produce of the land". (Qur'an 2:126). Then will the children of Abraham live in Holiness, Peace and Prosperity.

Jews believe the hill is Jerusalem. Muslims believe the valley is Makka.  

Both Islamic and Jewish traditions teach that their holy sanctuary is at the center of the world. But how can the world possibly have more than one religious center? 

Because religious centers are not the same as geometric centers. After all, the qiblah is the central direction of worship in every mosque; although it is not at the geometric center of any of them.

Maqam is a very blessed place for praying (Quran 2:125-6). Maqam Ibrahim is the place or station of Abraham. In order to complete the upper part of the walls of the Kaaba, Ibrahim stood upon a large stone block which he and his son moved along when each section was completed (2:127). When the Kaa'ba was finished, the large stone block was left outside the Kaa'ba, close to the eastern wall of the sanctuary. It became known as Maqam Ibrahim (the place/station of Ibrahim). 

Today, the Maqam Ibrahim, with the stone within, is located in front of the Kaa'ba's door. The boulder stands today in the place where Ibrahim offered up his prayer. Tradition says that this is the nearest point to Allah. 

Islamic tradition says that there is no place in this entire earth where you get more reward for praying than this place. The stone has the footprint of Ibrahim when he stood over this stone to lay the cornerstone - Hajr al-Aswad and begin to reconstruct the Kaa'ba. (2:125-6).

In the corner of the Kaa'ba opposite the southeast corner wall where al-Hajar al-Aswad- the black stone is, there is another stone called al-hajar as-sa'adah—the stone of felicity. It is the religious center (but not the geographical center) of the Ka'ba as it marks the direction of the qiblah, the focal point of Islamic prayer.

In the Jewish tradition there is also a helpful midrash that describes Jerusalem's central place in the world: Abba Hanan said in the name of Samuel the Small, "This world is like a person's eyeball. The white of the eye is the ocean surrounding the world; the iris is the inhabited world; the pupil of the eye is Jerusalem; and the face [the reflection] in the pupil is the Holy Temple." (Derekh Eretz Zuta 9, end) Of course, one person has two eyes; and therefore two pupils to reflect the One God's holy light.

"Then the survivors of all those nations that attacked Jerusalem shall make a pilgrimage year by year to bow-down to the Lord of Hosts and celebrate the Feast of Booths"  (Zechariah 14:16).

The Qur'an refers to Prophet Abraham as a community or a nation: "Abraham was a nation-community [Ummah]; dutiful to God, a monotheist [hanif], not one of the polytheists." (16:120) 

If Prophet Abraham is an Ummah; then fighting between the descendants of Prophets Ishmael and Isaac is a civil war and should always be avoided. And prior to the 20th century Arabs and Jews did not make war with each other. "Lo yisa goy el goy kherev velo yilmedu od milkhama" "Nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4)

Isaiah 54:5 states: "For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called." This verse highlights God's intimate, covenantal relationship with (Israel) His people, promising restoration, protection, and comfort. Prophet Isaiah assures (us)that God's everlasting love and covenant of peace are unbreakable, stronger than mountains moving, promising a rebuilt, glorious city with spiritual teaching, and protection from all weapons and accusations, affirming God's ultimate vindication for His servants. 

In essence, Isaiah 54 is God telling His people: "Don't fear; you'll grow and prosper immensely. I am your ongoing, everlasting husband and protector, and My covenant love for you is ongoing and unbreakable.

So if all Arabs and Jews can live up to the ideal that 'the descendants of Abraham's sons should never make war against each other' is the will of God; we will help fulfill the 2700 year old vision of Prophet Isaiah: "On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. 

The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. On that day Israel  will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing upon the heart. The LORD of Hosts will bless them saying, "Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance."...(Isaiah 19:23-5)

 God willing, someday both beliefs will be seen as correct.