‘Jewish myth:’ In Arab world, many still refuse to accept the two Temples' existence - analysis

As with every year, Tisha B'Av, the Jewish day of mourning the destruction of the two Temples and the exile of Jews from Judea by the Romans in the year 70 CE, sparked controversy on Temple Mount as Jewish worshipers defied the status quo and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s directives and praying and prostrating in the holy place.

On the backdrop of the political, religious, and diplomatic prospects, Tisha B'Av also catalyzes a well-established practice across the pro-Palestinian world, nicknamed “Temple denial.” This practice provides anti-Zionist voices with a platform to deny the indigeneity of the Jewish people to Israel, negating empirical historical facts, all in an attempt to strip Israel of its right to exist.

Expressions of this practice vary, including denial of the very existence of the Temples, allegations of Jewish twisting of history, and gloating over an imagined “lack of archaeological evidence” for the old Jewish worship place in Jerusalem.

One example is Israeli MK Ahmed Tibi, who denied the existence of the Temple in a 2014 interview, where he was asked: “Was there a temple on Temple Mount?” to which he answered “These are imagined things… do you have proof? There were archaeological diggings for years – and what did they find?”

Likewise, Ekrima Sabri, the main preacher at al-Aqsa Mosque who was ordered removed from the mosque for his eulogy of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, also wrote on his formal website an entry deeming the two temples “a myth,” quoting a Quranic verse regarding al-Aqsa, and alleging: “Historically, if the Jews were able to prove something related to the Temple, they would have announced it. We are satisfied that their history books are based on conjecture, and conjecture does not outweigh certainty.

What is certain is that Al-Aqsa Mosque has been standing for fifteen centuries and is visible and fixed. A certainty does not disappear simply because of illusion and conjecture. A certainty remains in place until another certainty comes that is stronger than it or at least equal to it. We do not accept that Solomon’s Temple – that is, Solomon’s place of worship – was in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

In an article on Al Jazeera titled “The Jewish myth of Solomon’s Temple...does it stand up to historical facts?” the temple was repeatedly referred to as “the alleged temple,” arguing that “Since the Jews occupied the eastern part of Jerusalem in 1967 until today, they have been trying to find any trace that indicates the remains of the alleged temple, and proves its location under the Noble Sanctuary.”

The article was written by Ali Mohammad Al-Salabi, chair of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, which is seen as a supreme clerical authority for the Muslim Brotherhood. The organization was previously led by Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, who endorsed and promoted suicide bombings against Israelis. Al-Salabi’s article also makes the claim that the area was Islamic “prior to even the strongest evidence provided by the Jews”

In the article, Al-Salabi reached the rather unsurprising conclusion that the Temples never existed, further pondering: “How strange that you Jews… claim that the temple is a symbol of your existence and your ancient state… in Palestine!”

On a popular website named Islam Q&A, one user asked regarding the historical truth of Solomon’s Temple. The response writer suggested that the story of Solomon’s Temple is a “fabrication by the Jews,” adding that no credible source confirms its existence or construction by Solomon. He also alleged that “despite extensive archaeological excavations since 1968, no evidence of Solomon’s Temple has been found, reinforcing the notion that the temple is a myth crafted by the authors of the Bible to strengthen Jewish claims to Jerusalem and encourage their return.”

Other voices

Another entry on the Al Jazeera Encyclopedia from 2023 surprisingly referred to the two Temples dryly as apparent historical fact (albeit located in “Palestine”). Despite this, in the later part of the entry, the Qatari mouthpiece opted to mix between fact and prejudice, adding: “The Jews did not raise the issue of searching for Solomon’s Temple and rebuilding it until the nineteenth century, in the context of the search for historical claims of the Jews in Palestine, in preparation for issuing the famous Balfour Declaration and beginning the establishment of a national state for them on Palestinian lands.

"Jewish writings appeared in major Western newspapers calling for the rebuilding of the Temple in Palestine. Then the first practical steps in this direction were on 20/3/1918, when a Jewish mission led by Chaim Weizmann arrived in Jerusalem and submitted a request to the British military governor at the time, General Storrs, asking him to establish a Hebrew university in Jerusalem and take over the al-Buraq (Western) Wall in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in addition to a project to own lands in the Holy City.”

The article also nefariously referred to the arson attempt at al-Aqsa in 1969, carried out by Australian Christian tourist Denis Michael Rohan, as “part of the Jewish attempts to demolish [the mosque] and build Solomon’s Temple in its place.”

Despite Temple denial being a common practice nowadays, this was not always the case. A well-known pamphlet distributed by the Waqf in Jerusalem back in 1929 shows the local supreme Muslim authority highlighting that Temple Mount’s “identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute,” adding that “This, too, is the spot, according to the universal belief, on which David built there an altar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.”

Likewise, many traditional Muslim commentators referred to the Temples in their exegesis, including 14th century Damascus scholar Ibn Katheer and 10th century scholar from Baghdad, Al-Tabari.

Luay Al-Shareef, a known peace activist residing in the UAE, has referred to the issue several times, commenting for instance that “All Islamic references confirm that Al-Aqsa Mosque is Solomon’s Temple or his mosque [Beit HaMikdash], but then came an [Arab] embarrassment after the establishment of the State of Israel and it was said that it was the alleged temple.”

In another place Al-Shareef wrote: “You can say that the Bayt Al-Maqdis, or the Temple, is a fact that we do not deny and it may have become Islamic, but to call it ‘alleged’? …Even the guide to the Noble Sanctuary… proves that the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are, beyond any doubt, on the same site as “Solomon’s Temple” and in the Istanbul Museum there are remains of it that attest to its authenticity. Peace.”