3 Kaabas in Jerusalem precede Mecca's Kaaba

So, there were three 7th century Jerusalem Kaabas which all preceded the final 8th century Kaaba which had been moved down to Mecca during the later Umayyad period! Once again Mel has sleuthed his way into yet another gem of a find, this time with the most holy building in Islam, the 'Masjid al Haram', also referred to as the Kaaba, that 'cuboid' black building to which every Muslim must pray 5 times a day. But the Kaaba we have today in Mecca was not the first, nor was it always in Mecca. It looks like the earliest Arab rulers in the 7th century, starting with Umar in 638 AD, upon conquering Jerusalem, went to the Temple Mount and built the first 'Masjid' on that spot, known as the Temple Mount. Then in 661 AD the Umayyad ruler Muawiya rebuilt a newer structure on the same spot out of wood which exactly resembled the much earlier Jewish Tabernacle. Finally, in 692 AD, the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik built the largest and greatest structure of its kind, the 'Dome of the Rock' exactly where the previous two structures had been erected, and there it remains till this day. So, when did the final 'Masjid al-Haram' get built in Mecca? To answer that we need to go to John of Damascus, who in the 730s AD mocks the Umayyad rulers for building their structure for sacrificing (the Kaaba?) in a place devoid of wood, and thus not suitable for sacrificing. What is the only place which qualifies? Mecca! So, the earlier 7th century Arabs, including the Umayyads, simply retained the Jewish tradition of placing Abraham's sacrifice on the temple Mount in Jerusalem, and then in the 8th century they moved it further south to Mecca, where the Abbasids finalized it and made it the center of Islam, which it still is today; proving once again just how dependent Islam is on Judaism, and the city of Jerusalem. © Pfander Centre for Apologetics - US, 2021 (54,230) Music: Epic Trailer, by Rafael Krux, from filmmusic-io

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