User talk:Zero0000/Buraq

'''This is not a Wikipedia article. It is a work page in use by Zero to develop articles.''' If you have useful suggestions or comments, you are welcome to put them here (don't create a talk page), but they may be removed or refactored. Normal page editing rules do not apply. Zerotalk 05:07, 18 May 2013 (UTC)

This page is for developing al-Buraq mosque. Some of it might be suitable for other pages too.

The setting of the mosque
Just south of the women's section of the Western Wall, part of a massive gate lintel can be seen, measuring 7.5 meters long. It is the top part of a former gate of the compound, known as Barclay's Gate after the American missionary who described it in 1858. The threshold is now about 8 meters below ground, due to the gradual accretion of debris over the centuries that elevated the plaza surface to its present level. Vertically above the old gate is the Maghrebi ("Moroccan" or Moors') Gate (Bāb al-Maghāriba) by which modern tourists can enter the Haram compound.

MIGHT BE KIPONUS GATE?

WE NEED A PHOTO. The left end of the huge lintel is seen right of the bush in www.biblewalks.com/Photos54/BarkleyGate1.jpg.

Barclay's Gate dates from the time of the Herodian reconstruction of the wall. In the pre-Crusader period, it was known by a variety of names. Wilson, LeStrange and Kaplony identify it as the Muslims' Gate of Remission (Bab al-Huttah‎) and the Jews' Gate of the Priest (sha'ar ha-kōhēn). However, Elad disputes this identification for the 11th century.

Moshe Gil also identified Barclay's Gate with the Gate of the Cave (Bāb al-Maghāra) which was a focal point of Jewish devotion during the Fatimid period, but Kaplony and Murphy-O'Connor prefer to place the Gate of the Cave further north, at Warren's Gate.

LATER NAMES, gate of prophet, buraq gate, etc

Some time after 985, when it was listed as an active gate by al-Muqaddasi, Barclay's Gate was sealed up. Küchler dates this event to 1307–1314/5, while Bieberstein and Bloedhom give the range 1307–1336. The passage behind the gate continued straight for 21 meters then turned to the south. At some time after the gate closure, the Mosque of al-Buraq was established in the part just inside the wall. The passage was also divided into two by an internal wall, with the part not containing the mosque used as a cistern known as the Well of the Fountain of Abu Sa'ūd. Access to the mosque was provided by a staircase to the surface. The Maghrebi Gate directly above the Barclay Gate was probably constructed around the end of the 12th century, when the Moroccan Quarter was established.

The Night Journey
The opening verse of the Al-Isra chapter of the Qur'an (17:1) reads: "'Glory be to Him, who carried His servant by night from the Sacred Place of Prayer (al-masjid al-harām (Mecca) to the Furthest Place of Prayer (al-masjid al-aqsā)." The flight was said to have taken place a year or more prior to the hijra. Subsequently various traditions arose with regard to this verse and related passages in the Qur'an. In later hadith, the text was taken to refer to a journey, literal or spiritual,  undertaken by the prophet Muhammed  from Mecca to Jerusalem and back, in which he ascended from Jerusalem to heaven on the twenty-seventh day of Rahab. It is related that, while sleeping near the Ka'aba, he was kicked awake three times by  the angel Gibril  and taken outside the sanctuary where a fabulous animal, al-Buraq (perhaps meaning  'little lightening (bolt)' or 'steed'), took him on a night flight to the furthest mosque. Originally al-masjid al-aqsā denoted the celestial sanctuary, the seventh heaven near Allah's throne, and appears to have been identified with the Temple in Jerusalem (Haram Ash-Sharif ) by the time of Abd al-Malik. Two distinct themes developed, one highlighting Mohammad's ride from Mecca to Jerusalem on the celestial steed (isrā'), the other focused on his ascent from Jerusalem into heaven ( mi'rāj). On waking in Mecca, he related the experience to Umm Hani. Divergent accounts regarding the manner of the Prophet's flight to heaven and the sequence of events exist. The Ascension is variously periodized by Ibn Ishaq as preceding or coming after Muhammad's prayer with the earlier prophets at Jerusalem, while Nasir-i-Khusraw has Muhammed ascend to heaven on the fabled creature. Local traditions hold the ascent was made by ladder from the Dome, while al-Buraq was left tethered outside the southwest corner of the sanctuary, where the earlier prophets were thought to have customarily hitched their mounts before ascending to heaven. In another version, al-Buraq morphed into a chariot of fire and bore him upwards to the Lote tree rooted in the throne of heaven. In accounts where Muhammad ascended to heaven by a ladder, al-Buraq's function is restricted to the isrā, and either Mohammad or the angel Gibril is said to have fastened the steed to a ring at the stopping place (al-Mawqif) somewhere on the Haram al-Sharif, to the gate of the shrine or, alternatively, to the massive rockwork under the Dome of the Rock, or, Gibril made a hole in a stone somewhere on the wall with his finger and tethered it there.

The place where Buraq was tethered
Over time the location of the place where Buraq was tied was identified in different areas. By the 9th century CE, several narratives state Buraq was tethered to the place, sometimes referred as a 'circle' or 'ring', where the earlier prophets had hitched their animals before him. Over the Marwānid (685-813) and High ‘Abbāsid (813-969) periods, the ring was reported to be somewhere at the southwest corner of al-Aqsa mosque or the southwest corner of the Haram, perhaps as a ring-shaped hole in the Haram wall, sometimes specified as the outside corner of the South Minaret (Manārat al-qibla) under the corner of a mosque.

A manuscript of Ibrahim b. Ishaq al-Ansari (Ibn Furkah, died 1328) gave the location as the Gate of the Prophet (Bab al-Nabi). The same location was given by Kamâl (or Shams) ad Din as-Suyuti in 1470, who identified the Gate of the Prophet as the Maghrebi Gate. Suyûtî also mentioned a similar tradition for the Gate of the Inspector (Bab al-Nazir), in the northern part of the western wall. The same two gates are named by Mujir al-Din in his famous history of Jerusalem published around 1495.

[This may be an outlier, keeping for now.] In the 15th century, just prior to the period of Suleiman the Magnificent's reconstructive work, the tethering place where Buraq was hitched was located at the Hadid or Iron Gate, (Bab al-Hadid‎/Shaar Barzel‎) near the ''Ha-kotel Ha-katan (The Little Western Wall).

When a British Jew asked the Egyptian authorities in 1840 for permission to re-pave the ground in front of the Western Wall, the governor of Syria wrote:
 * It is evident from the copy of the record of the deliberations of the Consultative Council in Jerusalem that the place the Jews asked for permission to pave adjoins the wall of the Haram al-Sharif and also the spot where al-Buraq was tethered, and is included in the endowment charter of Abu Madyan, may God bless his memory; that the Jews never carried out any repairs in that place in the past. ... Therefore the Jews must not be enabled to pave the place.

Carl Sandreczki, who was charged with compiling a list of place names for Charles Wilson's Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem in 1865, reported that the street leading to the Western Wall, including the part alongside the wall, belonged to the Hosh (court/enclosure) of al Burâk, "not Obrâk, nor Obrat". In 1866, the Prussian Consul and Orientalist Georg Rosen wrote that "The Arabs call Obrâk the entire length of the wall at the wailing place of the Jews, southwards down to the house of Abu Su'ud and northwards up to the substructure of the Mechkemeh [Shariah court]. Obrâk is not, as was formerly claimed, a corruption of the word Ibri (Hebrews), but simply the neo-Arabic pronunciation of Bōrâk, ... which, whilst (Muhammad) was at prayer at the holy rock, is said to have been tethered by him inside the wall location mentioned above."

The name Hosh al Buraq appeared on the maps of Wilson's 1865 survey, its revised editions of 1876 and 1900, and other maps in the early 20th century. In 1922, it was the street name specified by the official Pro-Jerusalem Council.

Descriptions of the Mosque
In 1689, the Muslim scholar Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi described a visit to the mosque:
 * Afterwards we went to the Mosque of the Maghribis, which is located outside al-Aqsa Mosque, inside the Haram ... towards the west ... then, after we left it, we turned to visit the place of al-Buraq. This is the place located to the right of the person leaving the gate of the Mosque, next to the Mosque of the Maghribis; one descends to it down a long and narrow stairway. At the bottom of the steps ... we turned to go to the left, to the place about which it was said that there al-Buraq was tied on the night journey of the Prophet. This place is a house in which (people) live. And we ... entered and saw a dark place. and a small mosque .... And we found there a large ring in the wall, it is said that it is the ring that the prophets, prayer be unto them, used to fasten al-Buraq with and with which the Prophet, may Allah's prayer be with him and bless him with peace, tied [al-Buraq] on the night of his night journey.

In 1807, the Spanish explorer Domènec Badia i Leblich visited the Haram disguised as a Muslim called Ali Bey al-Abbasi. As well as describing the mosque (though not calling it a mosque), he recognised the passage as an ancient temple gate:
 * Continuing along the west side of the court also, we come to an apartment under lock and key, in which is a staircase that leads to a subterraneous vault, about fifteen feet square. It was at this place that the prophet alighted from El Borak, having come from Mecca in a single night. There is still an iron ring fixed in the wall, to which the prophet tied the celestial mare before he entered the temple to pray with the angels and the prophets. This spot, which is at present under-ground, was formerly one of the gates of the temple; for the upper part of a magnificent portal is still to be seen; the superior portion of which consists of a single stone 20 feet long. It is thought also, that the roof of the vault is one entire stone, but I perceived very plainly the joints which compose it.

In the early 1850s, the American missionary James T. Barclay noticed the sealed gate of the Haram wall that now bears his name. With some difficulty he gained access to the widened passage behind the gate. He reported:
 * I discovered in this immediate vicinity, on the interior, a portion of a closed gateway, about fourteen or fifteen feet wide; but whether it is connected with that on the exterior, I was not enabled to determine—for the guards became so much exasperated by my infidel desecration of the sacred room, el-Borak, where the great prophet tied his mule on that memorable night of the Hegira, that it was deemed the part of prudence to tarry there but a short time, and never to visit it again. But the accompanying illustration, though rather hastily taken, will convey a better impression of this place than the most prolix description. Only the upper portion of the gateway can be seen—the lower part being excluded from view by a room, the roof or top of which is formed by the floor of this small apartment.

Melchior de Vogüé examined and drew the passages in 1862.

Captain Wilson of the Royal Engineers conducted a more detailed examination in 1865. In his report he wrote:
 * Near the Bab-al-Maghâibé is the Mosque of Al Burak, situated some distance, 23 feet, below the level of the Haram; access is obtained to it by a flight of steps leading down from the eastern cloisters of the area, and within is shown the ring to which Mahomet fastened his steed Al Burak, during his famous night journey, but something far more interesting may be seen here, in the interior elevation of the old doorway described at page 27, the opening on this side is covered by a flat arch of stone, forming a facing to the large lintel which lies immediately behind it. The western portion of the Mosque is covered by a solid segmental arch, of fine workmanship, having a simple moulding round its eastern face, the eastern by an elliptical arch built with smaller stones, but of greater height and span than the segmental one; the level of the floor is here 1 foot 4 inches below that of the western half. The walls are covered with plaster, and on being knocked with a hammer give out a hollow sound, which may arise from bad plastering or chambers beyond, probably the former. The three arches have been built at different periods, the flat arch first, then the segmental one, and last the elliptical. The ascent from this doorway to the Haram level must always have been by steps, but no trace of the original ones remain, the present are certainly modern, and in forming some of the upper ones a portion of the crown of the segmental arch has been cut away. The old entrance is called by some writers, the "Gate of Mahomet," but the Sheikh of the Haram knew nothing of this name.

Conrad Schick, a local missionary who accompanied Wilson in his explorations, made detailed diagrams that were published by the Prussian consul in 1866. (expand this with an extract from the book?)

The modern period
1930s reports 1967 claims Burgoyne

The mosque is sometimes used on special occasions.

Notes, Questions, Requests

 * Spellings: buraq, burak, borak, boraq, bouraq, bourak


 * James Turner Barclay could use an article of his own. He was an American missionary who worked in Jerusalem from February 1851 to July 1854.  He returned there in 1857 or 1858 (sources differ) but his book is based on his earlier visit.  He was not a US consul; this is a mistake (there is no chance sources like the Dictionary of American Biography would fail to mention it, let alone the several full-length biographies; but PEF 38p124 says he was!).  This book says he was twice offered the job of consul but refused it. Nobody seems to know exactly when he visited "Barclay's Gate" from the inside, but it wasn't in 1848 as some say (confirmed by Lewis).  Page about him with photo. Journal article about him. Biography of him.  Another biography of him. His book. His daughter's book. This book calls him a slave-holder (p. 206). Another web page about him, but ignore the inaccurate "sketch" at the beginning.


 * Another early mention of the mosque in German (old script) is this 1869 book by Wolff (p85).
 * It appears to follow Tobler and Rosen, some wording is almost identical (re Borak/Obraq etc)Nishidani (talk) 07:16, 21 May 2013 (UTC)


 * PEF references: V1-2,pp50,113: mentions of Mosque el Burak, referring to Wilson 1866. V11-12, pp16-19, report by Wilson and plan of the mosque incl. ring and mihrab; also see pp32,47 (Mejr-ed-Din's Gate of Burak.) V19-20, pp91–98. Placed at Plan K.  p142 Gate of Borak V23-24, p24. "Thus, for instance, travellers, even although expressly wishing it, are not brought to the Mosque of the Prophet, which is underground, near the wailing place of the Jews, and where there is the ring to which the Prophet tied the animal "Burak," on which he made the heavenly journey, and are not allowed to go up to the roofs of the large mosques."


 * SWP-Jerusalem, p191ff. Detailed description of mosque.


 * This 1864 French book is supposed to have a detailed description, but I can't find it.
 * Charles Jean Melchoir de Vogüé,Le temple de Jérusalem, monographie du Haram-Ech-Chérif suivie d'un essai sur la topographie de la ville sainte, ‎1864
 * It is cited already. I meant that I can't get hold of it.  I got a copy of one plate that shows a plan of the mosque. Zerotalk 01:31, 24 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Found it at Gallica.


 * 'The petition made for the Prophet's intercession on the northeast side of the arcade, paralleled by its longer counterpart on the east gate panel (Dome of the Rock Nishidani), faces the direction of the Mount of Olives, where the gathering of resurrected beings is destined to take place on the plain of al-Sahira. That is why the eastern staircase of the platform and a gate on the eastern wall of the precinct eventually came to be named after al-Buraq, on which the Prophet is to be transported to his station near the divine Throne as future intercessor for his community' p.50 (more detail n-151 p.95)
 * Yes, but this is getting too far off target. Let's keep it to where he tied up al Buraq. The book by Kaplony is 700 pages of traditions, many involving Buraq in some way. Zerotalk 17:04, 23 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Fine. I don't have that. Shouldn't we add this (cf. I mentioned it at Western Wall), The ladder of ascension in Alexander Altmann, Von der mittelalterlichen zur modernen Aufklärung: Studien zur jūdischen Geistesgeschichte, Mohr Siebeck,1987 pp.30-58.
 * It should go into al-Buraq. This article should focus on stuff directly pertaining to the mosque. Zerotalk 08:10, 24 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Probably need a division in the first section, into earliest legends and their development, and then a second section on the 19th century.Nishidani (talk) 20:07, 23 May 2013 (UTC)


 * The saddle of al-Buraq (sarj al-Buraq) near the Prophet's footprint (qadam muhammad), within the wooden railing surrounding the rock. See 11.p.58 and p.59 for map reprinting the map of the walls in the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem (1865). In later tradition (Ibn al-'Arabi) the footprint on the Rock's southern side marks where he ascended to heaven with al-Buraq. (p.69)Nishidani (talk) 15:01, 23 May 2013 (UTC)


 * A list of damage claims made after Israel's demolition of the Maghrebi Quarter in 1967 includes "Buraq Mosque: Prayer room, offices, wall, well and place for ablutions; 5000 dinars". I don't know how to take this.  Maybe we need some independent assessment. Zerotalk 11:51, 24 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Kamâl (or Shams) ad Din as-Suyuti in 1470. If you look at the title page of the 1836 translation, this writer is referred to as Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, and also as Suyuti Muhammad ibn 'Ahmad Shams-al-din ('Abu 'Abdallah). The dates fit? Nishidani (talk) 14:00, 12 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Check le Strange's paper (I sent it, I think). He takes Reynolds to task for misidentifying the writer as well as multiple severe translation errors. After reading le Strange, you will surely agree that we should ignore Reynolds. Zerotalk 01:18, 13 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Scus'I, guv.Nishidani (talk) 18:28, 19 June 2013 (UTC)


 * I suspect there is a mix-up wtr to the works of Charles-Jean-Melchior de Vogüé and Melchior de Vogüé.  The best source is  apparently Academie francaise; alas, my french is non-existent. Nishidani? No copy of the book in any library in my country, but it should be available  here? Cheers, Huldra (talk) 15:57, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 * The one born in 1848 was too young, so it must be Charles born 1829. The French link is dead, alas, try this.  Trove is just a catalogue and doesn't have any books.  However, I paid for a copy of one plate from the book that shows a diagram of the wall with the ring.  I should add it. Zerotalk 17:20, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I thought so too. But according to wikipedia Melchior de Vogüé started publishing lots of books from 1855; (quite a child genius ;)) ..including "Le temple de Jérusalem, monographie du Haram-Ech-Chérif". (Those two  de Vogüé articles are really a mess: they mixed up names, works, and photos....) A diagram of the wall with the ring would be nice. Cheers, Huldra (talk) 18:10, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Sorry missed this. flat-out like a liizard drinken these daze. Point me to the text you want me to look at in French, Zero, or which one above (I still owe Huldra a tanslation but forgot of what, and where). I'm getting to be a lazy *****.Nishidani (talk) 18:34, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Heh, having less than 50 edits for the last two months, I´m not the one to complain about other people being lazy ;P. Anyway, I have tried to clean up the major mess-up in those two articles, & as I understand the Academie Francaise biography, Melchior de Vogüé is "our" man. Still don´t have a copy of the book, though. For french needed; see Talk:Nabi_Salih. Does Guerin mention anything about the Shrine of Salih in his 1863-visit? If so, I think it is the first "outside" mention  of the place: should be noted! Cheers, Huldra (talk) 19:51, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 * p.106 you uploaded there is later than 1863, 'It owes its name to a figure of that name who is venerated there under a koubbeh partially constructed with regular stonework with an appearance of antiquity.' p.107 has nothing abouyt Salih (sorry I'm watching 'Agora' re Hypatia, must rush).Nishidani (talk) 20:23, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Ok thanks; I´ll continue the discussion on Talk:Nabi_Salih. Huldra (talk) 20:46, 10 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Is there any way the 'setting of the mosque' overture can be fixed, at least to provide cogently the mininum of essential and uncontroversial info? As it stands with capitalised demands, and dumped stuff, it is a disincentive to work the page, since it suggests that even the setting is unknown.
 * The stuff in capitals is invitation for material to be added. I don't like the section title, though, any suggestions? Zerotalk 12:27, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

Modern times; notice the drums, compared with, Huldra (talk) 13:07, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Marmardji, p211: Au dehors de la mosquée, a la porte de la ville, à l’ouest, se trouve le mihrâb de David et l’endroit où fut attaché al-Burâq, à l’angle du minâret d’al-Qiblah. (Outside the mosque, at the gate of the city, to the west, is the mihrâb of David and the place where al-Burâq was tied to the corner of al-Qiblah's minaret.) ''Ibn al-Faqih (ca. 903). p212: On y trouve, parmi les monuments des prophètes, l’endroit où fut attaché al-Burâq, sous l’angle, de la mosquée. Dans cette mosquée, il y a les portes : de David, de Salomon, de Hittâh, mentionnée dans la parole de Dieu : « Dites Hittah, c’est la formule : il n’y a de dieu que Dieu. Ils dirent : Hintah, en se moquant. Dieu les maudit alors à cause de leur infidélité »; la porte de Muhammad, de la pénitence pour laquelle Dieu pardonna à David; la porte de la miséricorde que Dieu mentionna dans son livre : « Il a une porte à l’intérieur de laquelle est la miséricorde, et à l’extérieur, en face, le tourment », c’est-à-dire la vallée de Jahannam qui est à l’est de Bayt al-Maqdis. (Among the monuments of the prophets, there is found the place where al-Burak was attached, from the angle of the mosque. In this mosque, there are the doors: David, of Solomon, of Hittah, mentioned in the word of God: "Say Hittah is the formula: there is no god but God. They said, Hintah, making fun of him. God then curses them because of their unfaithfulness "; The door of Muhammad, of the penance for which God forgave David; The door of mercy which God mentioned in his book: "He has a gate within which is mercy, and on the outside, facing, the torment", that is, the valley of Jahannam which is to the east of Bayt al-Maqdis. Ibn 'Abdi Rabbih, ca. 913) p243: L’endroit, ajoute-t-il, est très éclairé, grâce aux lucarnes et aux fenêtres bien ajustées qui y ont été percées. La salle est formée de galeries dont les cintres sont soutenus par des colonnes de silex et par les angles de l’édifice. La largeur de cette salle va du sud au nord; certaines de ses parties ont 8 pics de largeur, d’autres, 9, et d’autres, 10. La hauteur de ses cintres, au-dessus du sol sur lequel se trouvent les portes qui s’ouvrent sur la tête de la vallée de la source de Siloé, est d’environ 20 pics pour les unes, et 15 pour les autres. On dit que l’une de ces portes était l'entrée des prophètes. A l’une de ces colonnes est fixé un anneau auquel, dit-on, le Burâq fut attaché, la nuit du voyage nocturne (du Prophète). (The place, he adds, is very bright, thanks to the dormers and the well-fitted windows that have been pierced. The hall is formed of galleries whose hangers are supported by columns of flint and by the corners of the building. The width of this room goes from south to north; Some of its parts have 8 peaks in width, others 9, and others, 10. The height of its hangers, above the ground on which are the doors that open on the head of the valley Of the Siloé source, is about 20 peaks for some, and 15 for the others. It is said that one of these doors was the entrance of the prophets. At one of these columns is fixed a ring to which, it is said, the Burak was tied, the night of the nocturnal journey (of the Prophet). p258: (La porte d'An-Nâdir) : C’est une porte ancienne qui fut restaurée sous le règne d’al-Malik al-Mu'addam 'Ysâ, vers la fin de l’an 600-1203. Jadis, elle était appelée la porte de Mîkâïl. On dit que c’est la porte où Gabriel attacha al-Burâq, la nuit du voyage nocturne. ((The Gate of An-Nadir): It is an ancient gate that was restored during the reign of al-Malik al-Mu'addam 'Ysa, towards the end of the year 600-1203. Formerly it was called the gate of Mikail. It is said that this is the gate where Gabriel tied al-Burak, the night of the night journey.) p258: (La porte des Magâribah) : Elle s’appelle ainsi, parce qu’elle est dans le voiinage de la porte de la mosquée des Magâribah dans laquelle on célèbre la première prière, et parce qu’elle donne accès au quartier des Magaribah. Cette porte se trouve à l’extrémité sud-ouest à'al-Masjid. On l’appelle la porte du Prophète qui dit : « Ensuite il (Gabriel) me conduisit jusqu’au moment où nous fûmes entrés dans la ville par la porte Yamânite. Arrivé à la Qiblah Y al-Masjid, il y attacha la monture, i. e. al-Burâq. J ’ai pénétré dans al-Masjid par une porte vers laquelle s’inclinent le soleil et la lune. Or les réglementaires de Bayt al-Maqdis ont dit : « Nous ne connaissons pas de porte, dans al-Masjid, ayant ces qualités, sinon la porte des Magâribah. » ((The Gate of Magadribah): It is called because it is in the doorway of the mosque of Magadribah in which the first prayer is celebrated, and because it gives access to the Magaribah district. This gate is at the south-west end of al-Masjid. It is called the gate of the Prophet who said, "Then he (Gabriel) led me until we entered the city through the Yamanite gate. Arrived at the Qiblah al-Masjid, he tied the mount, i. e. Al-Buraq. I entered al-Masjid through a door towards which the sun and the moon bow. However, Bayt al-Maqdis's lawyers said: "We do not know a door in al-Masjid, having these qualities, except the door of the Magâribah. ")

External link

 * Wall of al-Buraq