Dark Moment of 21 August, 1969

What is it with 21st August? 21 August has always been a dark moment for Muslims around the world. It was 41 years ago (21 August, 1969) that the dignity of Muslims was tainted with an insult when the Al-Aqsa Mosque was burned by extremist Jews who were strongly supported by the Christian Zionists. Such a heinous feat was undertaken by a criminal of Australian origin named Michael Dennis Rohan.

It all happened when Michael Rohan lit a fire in the Al-Aqsa Mosque with the intention burning and thus destroying it. The roaring fire almost destroyed the entire Al-Aqsa Mosque. But the swift actions of Muslims in Jerusalem which took them all day long managed to get the fire extinguished before it was too late.

No, he certainly did not.

Michael Rohan wasn't actually alone in committing this damnable crime. He had a strong support from the Zionist regime of Israel who wanted to see the Al-Aqsa Mosque vanish from the face of the earth in order to continue their project of building a Jewish temple, known as the Solomon Temple, on the very site where Al-Aqsa was.

 

The criminal responsible for the burning was arrested but later released without facing any consequences on his deed. It has always been clear to everyone that the Israeli court of justice tried to defend him by pulling a ridiculous act in ruling out that Michael Rohan, a medical practitioner, was a person of unsound mind and the only action taken upon him was merely sending him back to Australia.

Michael Rohan vainly announced that what he did was a religious duty as enshrined in the teachings of the Talmud. He also claimed that he had been successful in implementing his mission, which was a commandment from God.

It seemed that the Zionists had planned this event in advance by turning off the water supply to the Al-Aqsa Mosque so that their evil agenda would successfully yield maximum results. Meanwhile, the Israeli soldiers played their part by preventing the fire brigade and Arab citizens from entering the mosque on that particular day.

The barbaric action has caused:

· Most of the Al-Aqsa Mosque to be damaged and destroyed down to the ash. The total damage on that day was recorded at more than one third of the total area of the mosque which was about 1,500 square meters of the whole 4,400 square meters of the mosque.

· The historic Pulpit of Saladin, the Sanctuary of Zachariah, 'Umar al-Khattab Mosque and most part of the mosque's porch perished in the fire

· Also destroyed were the roofs of the mosque and the pillars which were beautifully decorated with verses of the Quran.

The burning down of Al-Aqsa caused a major uproar and invoked protests from the whole of the Islamic world ranging from Morocco in the west to Indonesia in the east.

Meetings and negotiations, on regional and international level, were organized in order to repel the anger of Muslims. The United Nations had to call for an emergency session that led to the issuance of Resolution 271 which condemned Israel and called on the Zionist state to stop all efforts aimed at changing the status of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The leaders of Islamic countries were united in agreeing to the establishment of the OIC as a result of the torching of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. An emergency meeting was held in Rabat, the capital of Morocco and resulted in the issuance of a few resolutions targeted at preventing any desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Regrettably, all resolutions remained mere resolutions which failed to be implemented. OIC, in actuality, has been proven to fail in representing Muslims to address the safety and sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The bitter effects from the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969 continued to be felt by the Muslim world up till now. Many more acts of crime have been committed against Al-Aqsa, some of which are:

· On 27 January, 1982, a group of radical Jews managed to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque to torch it yet again, but their effort was successfully rebutted.

· On 14 January, 1989, a few members of the Israeli Knesset marched into the Al-Aqsa Mosque guarded by the Zionist regime's army to recite the sacred scriptures of Judaism in Al-Aqsa.

· On 28 September, 2000, the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, with a strong Zionist military unit alongside him paid a visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and entered it. He said that the visit was the right of the people of Israel in visiting part of their land. The visit by this Sabra and Shatila terrorist leader caused the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada.

Now, after 41 years of the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, there are still thousands of radical Zionist and Jewish terrorists who keep on waiting for the opportunity to destroy the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque should Muslims be careless enough to let that happen.

 

What are the Zionist's other crimes on the Al-Aqsa Mosque?

The Zionists have worked hard to Judainize the Al-Aqsa Mosque ever since the An-Naksah incident (the repeated disaster) which was the occupation of East Jerusalem and the A-Aqsa Mosque in 1967.

 

Among the crime of the Judainizing of Al-Aqsa are:

· The prevention on Muslims from visiting and inhabiting the mosque

· The prevention from repairing the Al-Aqsa Mosque

· The seizing of the Buraq Wall, which is part of Al-Aqsa

The performing of Jewish rites in the Al-Aqsa Mosque

· The series of planned bombings on the Al-Aqsa Mosque

· The series of massacre of Muslims at the Al-Aqsa Mosque

· The excavation of big and long tunnels beneath the mosque

· The changing of the identity of Muslims and Arabs to the Jewish identity in Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque

· The construction of Hover Synagogue next to Al-Aqsa, etc.

There have been too many crimes committed by the Zionist regime against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is so dear of the Muslims. Al-Aqsa was the first qiblat for the Muslims, the third holiest mosque and also where the event of Isra' and Mi'raj took place. The Al-Aqsa Mosque must be saved from destruction and disintegration by the hands of the Zionist regime's terrorists and Jewish extremist.

What has and is happening to Al-Aqsa is something that should be enough to snatch the Muslims out of their dreams.

 

In fact, there are many practical steps that we can take to save the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the threat of destruction. Among them are:

· Starting with ourselves by knowing the history of Palestine and the importance of the Al-Aqsa Mosque as stated in the Islamic faith.

· Educate your family and your community on the importance of caring for Muslim affairs, including with what is happening in Palestine and Al-Aqsa, and spread awareness on the true status of the Al-Aqsa Mosque to them by any means.

· Organize programs related to the al-Aqsa Mosque on the celebration of events such as Isra' and Mi'raj or on the Al-Aqsa day on 21 August in the mosques, schools, university campuses and in other premises by involving the media.

· Provide financial contributions to organizations that fight for the future of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

· Support the call for economic boycott on Zionist goods as well as their proponents'.

· Involve the non-Muslims in this issue on the basis of mutual understanding and human dimensions. The understanding should be derived from the focal point of humanity, universal justice and the true understanding.

· Push this issue to the international arena for the struggle on the liberation of Al-Aqsa is the issue that unites the ambitions and aspirations of Muslims worldwide.

· Pray to Allah so that Masjid al-Aqsa is saved from the enemies of Islam and its glory is kept intact.

Let us all act immediately on an ongoing basis and systematically for the future of Al-Aqsa. Before it is too late, let us join hands and move forward in fighting for the glory of our beloved Al-Aqsa......

 

Prof. Madya Dr. Zainur Rashid Bin Zainuddin - Consultant for Aman Palestin

August 2010