Buraq wall (Western/Wailing wall)

This wall, formerly referred to as the ‘Wailing

Wall’ and now more commonly known as the

‘Western Wall’ is the most sacred place for Jews

who believe it to be the only surviving structure

of the Herodian temple. For Muslims it is known

as the Buraq Wall, for on the other side is where

the Prophet Muhammed (peace and blessings of

Allah be on him) tied the Buraq, the winged

riding animal upon which he rode during the

Night of Ascension.

The area which the current plaza occupies

used to be residential housing called the

Maghribi (Moroccan) Quarter. It was endowed

by Al-Afdal, the brother of Salahuddin so that

aid and services could be provided for North

African pilgrims and the poor; he also built a

madrasah where the fiqh (jurisprudence) of the

Maliki school of thought could be taught and

studied. During the Mamluk period, madaris

(seminaries) had been built all along this wall,

except for a stretch of about 22 meters

between the Street of the Chain (Tariq al-

Silsila) and the Maghribi Gate.

Jews had never previously shown any

particular interest in this portion of the wall.

Though they consider it to be the only

surviving remnant of the Second Temple, the

Wall was never actually part of the Temple as

such, but rather the western wall of a retaining

structure built under Herod to support the

plaza above. In the section that is openly

visible there are in fact another nineteen

courses of stones beneath the modern-day

ground level. In Herod’s day, the place had

been a part of a shopping centre and had no

religious significance.

When the Romans destroyed Herod’s Temple

after the Jewish War in 70 CE, only the western

wall of the Temple’s inner sanctum was left

standing, but over the centuries that followed,

Jewish pilgrims in Jerusalem gathered for

prayer on Temple Mount where possible, or on

the Mount of Olives when not. The Western

Wall became a permanent feature in Jewish

tradition in around 1520 as the idea spread

that Jewish people should not enter the

Temple sanctuary itself because they were no

longer able to attain the necessary degree of

ritual purity. Jews began instead to gather in

front of this wall to pray, and gradually

traditions which had been associated with the

western wall of the Temple’s inner sanctum

transferred themselves to this wall.

The old city was given its definitive shape in

the 16th century by Sulayman the Magnificent,

who built the present day massive stone walls

of the old city in 1537. It is said that he had a

dream in which the Prophet Muhammed (peace

and blessings of Allah be on him) commanded

him to organize the defence of Jerusalem.

During the construction of the city wall,

Sulayman issued an official edict permitting the

Jews to have a place of prayer at the Western

Wall. The famous Turkish architect Koca Sinan

(who designed the Suleymaniye Mosque in

Istanbul) is said to have designed the site,

excavating downward to give the wall added

height and building a wall parallel to it to

separate it from the Maghribi Quarter, creating

an alley about 3.5 metres wide. In Jewish

legend Sulayman was said to have helped

clear the site himself and to have washed the

wall with rose water to purify it, as Umar (may

Allah be pleased with him) and Salahuddin had

done when they reconsecrated the Sanctuary.

Under the terms of the Status Quo on holy

sites, a decree fixed by decree of the Ottoman

Sultan in 1757 and codified in more detail by a

British government Commission in 1922, the

Wall is technically Muslim property, belonging

to the Waqf, who also own the synagogue area

in front of it. Jews however, have the right to

stand on the pavement in front of it and pray.

One of the first acts of the Israelis, upon taking

over East Jerusalem during the 1967 war was

to give the 619 Palestinian inhabitants of the

Maghribi Quarter just three hours to evacuate

their homes. Then the bulldozers came in and

destroyed this historic district. This act, in

contravention of the Geneva Convention was

done in order to create a plaza big enough to

accommodate the thousands of pilgrims who

were expected to flock to the Western Wall.

Close up, the Wall resembles an enormous

message board from the Jews to the Almighty;

every nook and cranny in its massive ancient

stones is stuffed with slips of paper bearing

personal prayers. Ancient it may be but the

Wall is bang up to date with modern

communications; through a commercial

website Jews can have an Orthodox Jew pray

for them at the Wall for forty days – the price

varies between US$90 and US$1800 depending

on whether they want a standard,exclusive or

premier prayer.

References: Al-Quds – Mohammed Abdul Hameed

Al-Khateeb, A history of Jerusalem – Karen

Armstrong, Western Wall – Ben Dov, The Rough

Guide to Jerusalem

Aerial view of the Temple Mount, with Western

Wall at left center.

Source : Wikipedia

Panorama of the Western Wall with the Dome of

the Rock (left) and al-Aqsa mosque (right) in the

background

Source : Wikipedia