MENORAH INSCRIBED ON EARLY ISLAMIC PERIOD COINS

[ygalg]

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Archeologists-discover-menorah-inscribed-on-Early-Islamic-period-coins-517190

Researchers recently discovered that menorahs prominently adorned Muslim coins and vessels during the early Islamic period 1,300 years ago.

Relics inscribed with the Jewish symbol dating to the Umayyad dynasty during the seventh-eighth centuries were found at various archeological sites in Israel and are now being exhibited to the public.

Last year, archeologists Assaf Avraham of Bar-Ilan University, and Peretz Reuven of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem exposed an early Islamic inscription referring to the Dome of the Rock as “Beit al-Maqdis.”

According to scholars, the “Nuba inscription,” as it is called, implies that in the early days of Islam, Muslims perceived the shrine as an Islamic version of the Temple of Solomon.

Now, researchers are exposing further finds in Israel that constitute evidence of Jewish influences in the early days of Islam.

“The Jewish symbol which the Muslims were using was the menorah [the gold seven-branch candelabra from the Temple], which appeared on several coins and other early Islamic artifacts,” said Avraham on Wednesday.

“The menorah coins bear the Shahada Arabic inscription on one side: ‘There is no god but Allah,’ while the menorah appears in the center of the coin. The other side bears the inscription: ‘Muhammad [is the] messenger of God.’”

In addition to the coins, the archeologists are presenting several pottery and lead vessels from the early Islamic period that also utilized the menorah symbol in their design.

“They are dated to the early days of the Islamic caliphate, and were in use by Muslims,” said Avraham, noting that the finds are of great importance for understanding the history of Islam.

“We wish that many Muslims will be exposed to this knowledge, which is part of their own religious and cultural heritage,” he continued.

“We have launched an informational project whose goal is to expose this information to the world and to Muslims in particular. We hope that this exposure will promote an educated dialogue between Jews and Muslims.”

[Ibn Rushd]

Yet further proof that Islam viewed itself as partaking of building the 3rd Temple, and that to do so was to be Jewish?

[ygalg]

Yet further proof that Islam viewed itself as partaking of building the 3rd Temple, and that to do so was to be Jewish?

Ibrahim was a muslim

[SAM]

Yet further proof that Islam viewed itself as partaking of building the 3rd Temple, and that to do so was to be Jewish?

Don't be fool.

“The menorah coins bear the Shahada Arabic inscription on one side: ‘There is no god but Allah,’ while the menorah appears in the center of the coin. The other side bears the inscription: ‘Muhammad [is the] messenger of God.’”

Is is not the Judaic Declaration of Faith (Shema). This means the Jews converted to Islam.

[manfred]

SAM, during the early Muslim period there were not a great deal of Jews living in the Levant, the whole area was part of of the Byzantine Empire before the Muslim conquest, so it was mostly orthodox Christian, some Nestorians and others, and a Jewish minority.

Some of the original inhabitants did indeed "convert" to Islam, many more left or chose the dhimmi status. The Umayyads had their capital in Damascus, and not Jerusalem. After the Muslim conquest, few Muslims wanted to settle in the Levant at first, for fear of retribution by the Byzantine Empire. It was then and only then that the legend of the "night journey" was being circulated, to give Jerusalem and the surrounding country religious significance in the eyes of Muslims. The "farthest mosque" of the Qur'an cannot be Al Aqsa, as this was not actually built until some 50 years after the death of Mohammed. This is a later interpretation.

What the coins suggest is that the dome of the rock too underwent a re-interpretation. The menorah with the shahadda is a political statement by the Umayyads, saying that the dome was for a time a least seen as a kind of continuation of the temple of Solomon. This is also part of the effort to make Jerusalem more important to Muslims. Remember, when Mohammed was still alive, he changed the qibla away from Jerusalem, reducing its importance. Now it was politically expedient to do the opposite.

So what does the menorah with the shahadda say? It claims a kind of CONTINUITY from the days of the temple to the days of Mohammed, suggesting that in effect at the temple in Jerusalem in the past Islam was also practised.

[SAM]

SAM, during the early Muslim period there were not a great deal of Jews living in the Levant, the whole area was part of of the Byzantine Empire before the Muslim conquest, so it was mostly orthodox Christian, some Nestorians and others, and a Jewish minority.

Not a single Jew was in Jerusalem before Sophronius officially handed over to the Caliph Umar without bloodshed. He is mentioned in the Bible as the one who will take over Jerusalem. It has been foretold in the Bible.

Some of the original inhabitants did indeed "convert" to Islam, many more left or chose the dhimmi status. The Umayyads had their capital in Damascus, and not Jerusalem. After the Muslim conquest, few Muslims wanted to settle in the Levant at first, for fear of retribution by the Byzantine Empire. It was then and only then that the legend of the "night journey" was being circulated, to give Jerusalem and the surrounding country religious significance in the eyes of Muslims. The "farthest mosque" of the Qur'an cannot be Al Aqsa, as this was not actually built until some 50 years after the death of Mohammed. This is a later interpretation.

What the coins suggest is that the dome of the rock too underwent a re-interpretation. The menorah with the shahadda is a political statement by the Umayyads, saying that the dome was for a time a least seen as a kind of continuation of the temple of Solomon. This is also part of the effort to make Jerusalem more important to Muslims. Remember, when Mohammed was still alive, he changed the qibla away from Jerusalem, reducing its importance. Now it was politically expedient to do the opposite.

So what does the menorah with the shahadda say? It claims a kind of CONTINUITY from the days of the temple to the days of Mohammed, suggesting that in effect at the temple in Jerusalem in the past Islam was also practised.

Give me a single name of the prophet since Adam to Jesus, who prayed towards Jerusalem as Qiblah.

[manfred]

Not a single Jew was in Jerusalem before Sophronius officially handed over to the Caliph Umar without bloodshed.

This is part of the "Palestinian" re-write of history, trying to say that Jerusalem is disconnected from Jews, which is utter nonsense. in fact, if you look at the "pact of Umar", you get a different story:

According to Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Patriarch Sophronius and Umar are reported to have agreed the Pact of Umar, which guaranteed Christians freedom of religion but prohibited Jews from living in the city.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demograph ... _Jerusalem

Why would he forbid Jews to stay if there were none to start with?

But that is not all. We do know that Umar made an exception and allowed about 70 Jewish families to stay.

A surviving Jewish chronicle from the Cairo Geniza however states that Umar permitted seventy Jewish families to settle in the city. The Jews requested to settle in the southern part of the city near the Temple Mount which was granted, evidence of this location of the Jewish quarter is provided in a Geniza letter dated 1064. Later Jewish texts from tenth and eleventh century also indicate the "King of Ishmael" allowing them to settle in the city.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demograph ... _Jerusalem

In fact, over all, we know that at the time of the Muslim conquest, there was clearly a Jewish minority in the Levant, but we do not know the exact numbers. Many historians estimate about 10%. some say more. There were not many (but some) in Jerusalem, but the main centres were further North near the sea of Galilee. This pattern has in fact remained much the same for centuries to come.

Jewish settlements declined from over 160 to 50 by the time of the Muslim conquest. Michael Avi-Yonah calculated that Jews constituted 10–15% of Palestine's population by the time of the Persian invasion of 614,[2] while Moshe Gil claims that Jews constituted the majority of the population until the 7th century Muslim conquest (638 CE).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_o ... _of_Israel

You can find some more details, including maps with distributions here:

http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~samuel/presence.html

Give me a single name of the prophet since Adam to Jesus, who prayed towards Jerusalem as Qiblah.

What does have to do with it? Are you saying Mohammed made a mistake in using Jerusalem as the qibla?

Can you tell me a single name of a Muslim prophet before Mohammed who prayed towards Mecca?

[SAM]

Give me a single name of the prophet since Adam to Jesus, who prayed towards Jerusalem as Qiblah.

What does have to do with it? Are you saying Mohammed made a mistake in using Jerusalem as the qibla?

Can you tell me a single name of a Muslim prophet before Mohammed who prayed towards Mecca?

You have no correct answer for my question ...

[manfred]

Oh, SAM, just stop your silly games. The point I was making is that during the lifetime of Mohammed Jerusalem was not a prominent issue at all. it is not mentioned in the Qur'an by name even once, despite mentioning characters who did have a very close connection to the city.

For a time, Mohammed prayed facing Jerusalem, as Jews have done certainly since Solomon, because he was hoping for Jewish converts. When this did not work he opted for Mecca instead, and decreasing the importance of Jerusalem in Islam in the process.

What is so hard to understand about that?

As to Muslim "prophets" I fundamentally disagree with the Muslim concept of "prophet" and I need to tell you there never was a single MUSLIM prophet, ever. Some of the characters Muslims call prophets were not even real people, but literary characters. However, the people the bible calls prophets, such as Jeremiah or Amos (no, not THAT Amos) would have all faced Jerusalem for prayer.

So your question is like "show me a chicken with teeth". I cannot show you what does not exist.

He (UMAR) is mentioned in the Bible as the one who will take over Jerusalem. It has been foretold in the Bible.

Really? Who told you that? I am sure you can show the passage, right?

Allow me to foretell something too: SAM will ignore that request as he cannot find the quote, or he will claim the reference has been removed from the bible without saying by whom, why, how and when.