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Description
Or "قبة الصخرة" in Arabic, it is sometimes erroneously called the Mosque of Omar. That, however, is another mosque in Jerusalem over by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter (no absolute distinction!). If you are wondering about the "Rock" part of the name, and are wondering whether there really is a rock inside it, the answer is yes, there is. I wish I could show you a picture of that, but they forbade me to take pictures when I went in. There's a rock, though — a big one, and underneath is a grotto. When I was led into the grotto, there were some women down there praying. I didn't know that they ever did that at a mosque. Everybody's mental picture of worship at a mosque, after all, is rows of men prostrating themselves.

So, what's the deal with the Rock, you ask? Well, traditionally it is the one where Abraham was ready to sacrifice one of his sons, until his hand was stayed by God. Jews and Christians on the one hand and Muslims on the other disagree, though, on which son it was; the former say Isaac, and the latter Ishmael.

So who truly knows?

But there's a rock in there, all right!

Description
Or "قبة الصخرة" in Arabic, it is sometimes erroneously called the Mosque of Omar. That, however, is another mosque in Jerusalem over by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter (no absolute distinction!). If you are wondering about the "Rock" part of the name, and are wondering whether there really is a rock inside it, the answer is yes, there is. I wish I could show you a picture of that, but they forbade me to take pictures when I went in. There's a rock, though — a big one, and underneath is a grotto. When I was led into the grotto, there were some women down there praying. I didn't know that they ever did that at a mosque. Everybody's mental picture of worship at a mosque, after all, is rows of men prostrating themselves.

So, what's the deal with the Rock, you ask? Well, traditionally it is the one where Abraham was ready to sacrifice one of his sons, until his hand was stayed by God. Jews and Christians on the one hand and Muslims on the other disagree, though, on which son it was; the former say Isaac, and the latter Ishmael.

So who truly knows?

But there's a rock in there, all right!