I ran across both of these bits of news on the same day several weeks ago. Apparently King Abdullah ben Adbulaziz (Saudi Arabia) is sponsoring a multi-billion dollar re-design of Mecca: Article, Pictures, Video.
Normally I wouldn’t find this information that interesting or surprising except that I came across this bit of news the same day. SheikhRadd Salah, leader of the Northern Wing of the Islamic Movement in Israel, makes the following statement at a conference organized by website Islam Online in Doha, Qatar:
“Netanyahu is about to build the false Temple, and when the Jews build the Temple they will do so upon the ruins of the Al-Aqsa [Mosque].”
On the ruins of the mosque? It is still standing as of today; I am curious as to how SheikhRadd Salah believes it will end up in ruins. In light of the fact that Al-Aqsa mosque is only the third most sacred site for Islam, and that first most sacred site (Mecca) may be receiving a major upgrade, it could be that a time is soon coming in which the Arab world will decide to forfeit/abandon/leave their claim to the Temple Mount. As much of a bargaining chip as the Temple Mount is for the Arabs, Radd Salah’s statements and Mecca’s re-design tend to make me believe that their forfeit or forcible removal from the mount is not that far-fetched, and may come sooner than later.