Ibn Khuldun states: “`Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan is one of the greatest Arab and Muslim Caliphs. He followed in the footsteps of `Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, the Commander of the Believers, in regulating state affairs.”The Muslim scholar al-Wasiti reports:
When Abd al-Malik intended to construct the Dome of the Rock, he came from Damascus to Jerusalem. He wrote, "Abd al-Malik intends to build a dome (qubba) over the Rock to house the Muslims from cold and heat, and to construct the masjid. But before he starts he wants to know his subjects' opinion." With their approval, the deputies wrote back, "May Allah permit the completion of this enterprise, and may He count the building of the dome and the masjid a good deed for Abd al-Malik and his predecessors." He then gathered craftsmen from all his dominions and asked them to provide him with the description and form of the planned dome before he engaged in its construction. So, it was marked for him in the sahn of the masjid. He then ordered the building of the treasury (bayt al-mal) to the east of the Rock, which is on the edge of the Rock, and filled it with money. He then appointed Raja' ibn Hayweh and Yazid ibn Salam to supervise the construction and ordered them to spend generously on its construction. He then returned to Damascus. When the two men satisfactorily completed the house, they wrote to Abd al-Malik to inform him that they had completed the construction of the dome and al-Masjid al-Aqsa. They said to him "There is nothing in the building that leaves room for criticism." They wrote him that a hundred thousand dinars was left from the budget he allocated. He offered the money to them as a reward, but they declined, indicating that they had already been generously compensated. Abd al-Malik orders the gold coins to be melted and cast on the Dome's exterior, which at the time had a strong glitter that no eye could look straight at it. [Abu-Bakr al-Wasiti, Fada'il Bayt al-Maqdis, pp. 80-81, vol 136]
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This is probably one of the most confusing aspects for Muslims and non-Muslims which is the distinction between the Masjid Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock. Many use the term interchangeably, but they're two different masajid. One (Al-Aqsa) being the third holiest masjid in the world mashAllah! Could be the works of some Zionist that want to dig out Al-Aqsa too, cuz if you think it's the Dome of the Rock, you would never know it's been tampered with. Educate yourselves my peoples!
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