قبة الصخرة
Qubbat al-Ṣakhra
Place
The shrine on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, completed in 691–692 by the caliph Abd al-Malik, with some of the oldest inscriptions of the Quran.
What it means
Its inscriptions include Quranic verses on God’s oneness (112), on Jesus as the Messiah and servant of God (4:171) and “the religion with God is Islam” (3:19), and the declaration that Muhammad is the messenger of God. The Dome stands over the rock from which Muslim tradition says the Prophet ascended, while the mosque al-Aqsa is a separate building at the southern end of the platform.
Often misunderstood as
That its inscriptions are hostile to Jews and Christians.
What the sources say
The wording on Jesus is an affirmation: “the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, was only a messenger of God, and His word which He cast into Mary, and a spirit from Him” (4:171), with the warning not to say “three”. Historians see in it a statement of Islam addressed to the Christians of Jerusalem, whose great domed church was nearby.