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According to the Standard Islamic Narrative, the Dome of the Rock and its inscriptions are believed to be referring to Muhammad’s journey into the seven heavens which supposedly happened around 621 AD. The Dome of the Rock was thus built to commemorate this event by Abd al-Malik in 691 AD, but evidence may suggest that there is no way these inscriptions could have dated this early.
Nonetheless, even if we accept the 691 AD date, the only surviving inscriptions from that period refer to the 'Shahada' which introduces God as one, and Muhammad as the prophet of God, which later became the statement of faith for Muslims.
To understand the 'Shahada' inscription one needs to look at the other inscriptions which precede it, which say:
“O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not “Three”. Cease! (it is) better for you! Allah is only One God. Far is it removed from His transcendent majesty that he should have a son.” (Now found in Surah 4:171)
“‘Praise be to God, Who hath not taken unto Himself a son, and Who hath no partner in the Sovereignty, nor hath He any protecting friend through dependence” (Now found in Surah 17:111)
“There is no god but God. He is One. He has no associate. Say: He is God, the One! God, the eternally Besought of all! He begetteth not nor was begotten. And there is none comparable unto Him. Muhammad is the Messenger of God” (Now found in Surah 112)
Note that all of these inscriptions are attacking Jesus' divinity, the trinity and the son-ship of Jesus, suggesting that this is an inter-Christian polemic, with anti-Trinitarians attacking the Trinitarian God of orthodox Christianity.
This is then followed by the 'Shahada' stating that 'God is one, and the praised one (that is what the word Muhammad means in Arabic) is the messenger of God'. The 'praised one' therefore seems to be Jesus himself, since all of the rest of the inscriptions are referring to him.
This clearly suggests that the earliest 'Shahada' was not referring to Muhammad at all, since it isn't a name but a title, but to Jesus the person. It wasn't until later that it was then changed to signify Muhammad the prophet of Islam.
If this is true, then it stands against everything we have known about early Islam, and confronts the Islamic Traditions completely.
Watch as Al Fadi and Dr. Jay discuss how the Dome of the Rock, one of the foundational pillars of Islam, crumbles in light of critical evidence.
© Pfander Centre for Apologetics - US, May 30, 2023
(75,700) Music: "Townsong" by Alexander Nakarada, from filmmusic-io