Al-Aqsa Mosque: Firefighters tackle blaze in Jerusalem top stories direct to your inbox SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up to receive our rundown of the day'sdirect to your inbox When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Shocking footage from the scene in Jerusalem’s old town shows smoke billowing from the roof of the Marwani Prayer Hall, also known as Solomon's Stables. The Palestine News Agency reported: “The fire broke out in the guard's room outside the roof of the Marwani Prayer Room and the fire brigade of the Islamic Waqf handled the matter successfully.” Solomon’s Stables is at the bottom of the stairs, which lead down from the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which has the capacity to hold 5,000 people. The historic room is thought to have been built by King Herod, who is said to have been the king of Judea when Jesus was born. The mosque was built on top of the Temple Mount, known as Haram esh-Sharif in Islam, and also contains the Dome of the Rock. Monday’s fire was contained quickly, and no injuries or damage was reported to the 2000-year-old holy worship site. The blaze came on the same night one of Europe’s most famous Christian sites burned in Paris, with the spire collapsing in to the abyss of flames. Al Aqsa Mosque was struck by a fire The fire broke out in the guard's room outside the roof of the Marwani Prayer Room and the fire brigade of the Islamic Waqf handled the matter successfully But many valuable art works were saved after more than 400 firemen worked to contain the blaze, finally quelling it 14 hours after it began. As the city and the country grieved for a potent national symbol, billionaires, companies and local authorities have been quick to offer donations. And French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to rebuild the fire-devastated Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, saying he hoped the work would be done in five years and the French people would pull together to repair their national symbol. Mr Macron devoted a brief prime-time televised address to Monday's catastrophic blaze in the heart of the capital. Al-Aqsa Mosque is a 2000-year-old holy worship site French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to restore the Notre Dame<doc-sep>The world watched as the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris burned, due to a disastrous inferno that nearly crippled the 850-year-old church. Nearly 3,000 miles away, the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem also dealt with an apparently accidental fire of its own. The al-Aqsa fire received much less attention in the news, but the burning of this 984-year-old mosque draws our attention to two of the important sites in Christendom and the Islamic world. While the fires are indeed unfortunate, they provide an opportunity for Christians and Muslims to reflect upon their common humanity and assist each other in the repairing of sacred spaces. Outside of Saint Peter's Cathedral in Rome, Notre Dame Cathedral is considered one of the holiest places in Christendom. For Muslims, al-Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam behind al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina. Thankfully, two of the Catholic holy relics in Notre Dame—the Crown of Thorns and the Fragment of the Cross—survived the devastating blaze. No news outlets have reported any damage to al-Aqsa, which was built on the Temple Mount, known as Haram esh-Sharif to Muslims. The significance of the two fires pushes us beyond the mere structure of the buildings. Notre Dame and al-Aqsa symbolize the challenges and hopes for Christians and Muslims in their respective histories. For centuries, Notre Dame was the epicenter of Christianity on the European continent. Al-Aqsa is the place where Muslims believe Prophet Muhammad was transported during his Night Journey. For Muslims, al-Aqsa is not the most impressive mosque in the world, but it represents the permanent symbol of the Islamic faith in the holy land. For centuries, Notre Dame was the prize of foreign, revolutionary, and secular forces that pressured the church to bend to its will. After the first stone was laid by Pope Alexander III in 1163, the church witnessed the crowning of Henry XI, the English King, in 1431, an infiltration by the Huguenots in the 1540s, an assault in the 1790s by French revolutionaries, who rededicated Notre Dame to the "Cult of Reason," and of course the rise of Nazism during World War II. Notre Dame was also the spot where Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself emperor and where the French hero, Joan of Arc, was beatified by the Vatican in 1909. Notre Dame managed to stand tall during the trying and hopeful times. The building represents much more than Christian identity—it serves as a reminder of the French peoples' will to persevere and their aspirations for France as well as humanity and Christendom. A similar kind of symbolism holds true for Muslims and their connection to al-Aqsa. The mosque is much more than a place that holds the five daily prayers. Like Notre Dame, al-Aqsa has a complex history of religious tension, warfare and occupation. Originally built by Caliph Umar on the grounds of a former Byzantine building, al-Aqsa was imagined as a continuation and perfection of Judaism and Christianity. Several Muslim dynasties, from the Umayyads to the Abbasids to the Shi'a Fatimids, had control over al-Asqa in the early centuries of the Islamic empire. In the 11th century, the Seljuk Turks, a Sunni group from Central Asia, seized control of the mosque, only then to be lost to the Crusaders that invaded from Western Europe. In the early 16th century, the Ottoman Sultan Selim I invaded Jerusalem and conquered the Mamluks, and the Ottoman Turks maintained control until World War I, when Jerusalem was then handed over to the British Empire. Today, al-Aqsa rests on Israeli-occupied territory, a cause of much tension for Palestinian Muslims as well as the wider ummah, or "Muslim world." The fire at al-Aqsa ignites feelings among Muslims that are similar to the feelings of Christians who watched the inferno at Notre Dame Cathedral. Both of these holy sites capture the diversity of both Christianity and Islam as well as the good and the bad of our common humanity. These places of worship symbolize the battleground of civilizations, the glories of revolutions, the emergence of nation-states and empires, as well as the struggle for liberty and independence among oppressed peoples. The Holy Week of the Catholic tradition is already under way. Catholics and Protestants in France and around the world are gearing up for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. In a few weeks, Muslims will celebrate Ramadan, the Islamic holy month. The fires at Notre Dame and al-Aqsa provide an opportunity for Christians and Muslims to reflect upon the importance of worship as well as the achievements of those who came before them. Perhaps more importantly, Christians and Muslims have a chance to support each other as they work to repair their sacred spaces. As Notre Dame and al-Aqsa remind us, Christians and Muslims have a lot more in common than belief in the monotheistic tradition or the ability to pray in some of the world's most glorious places of worship. Christians and Muslims struggle, grieve, hope and pray as so many humans do during times of strife. Dr. Craig Considine is a U.S. Catholic of Irish and Italian descent. He is based at the Department of Sociology at Rice University. Considine is the author of Islam in America: Exploring the Issues (ABC-CLIO Summer 2019), Muslims in America: Examining the Facts (ABC-CLIO 2018), Muhammad the Prophet of Love(Noura 2018), and Islam, Race, and Pluralism in the Pakistani Diaspora (Routledge, 2017). The views expressed in this article are the author's own.​​​​​​​<doc-sep>
A fire broke out at the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem just as flames ravaged the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Footage showing smoke and fire emerging from the roof of a structure known as the Marwani Prayer Room, or Solomon's Stables, could be seen on social media. The Palestine News Agency, the official outlet of the Palestinian National Authority, cited a guard as saying Monday that "the fire broke out in the guard's room outside the roof of the Marwani Prayer Room, and the fire brigade of the Islamic Waqf handled the matter successfully." No injuries or damage was reported during the short blaze. News of the incident at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam and central to the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict, was largely overshadowed by a much larger blaze engulfing the Notre Dame Cathedral at the same time. There was no evidence of any link between the two fires. طواقم الإطفاء تخمد حريقاً اندلع على سطح المصلى المرواني في المسجد الأقصى. pic.twitter.com/CVx8X7nx4N — المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) April 15, 2019 The Palestine News Agency reported that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' office "expressed its deep regret Monday over the fire that broke out at the historic Notre Dame Cathedral in the center of the French capital of Paris, which caused the collapse of the cathedral tower." "The Presidency confirmed its solidarity and sympathy with our friends in France over this incident," the outlet added. The Marwani Prayer Room is located underneath the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, which contains both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, director general of the Jerusalem Waqf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, told Jordan's Al-Mamlaka TV that the fire broke out in the courtyard and preliminary information suggested that it may have been caused by children tampering in the area. The compound as a whole is located in Old City section of East Jerusalem, initially occupied by Jordan during the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict that followed the establishment of Israel, but later seized by Israel during a second war in 1967. Israel annexed the entirety of the city in 1980 in a move not recognized by much of the international community, though Jordan's monarchy was granted custodial rights over the Islamic holy sites. In a controversial move, President Donald Trump recognized the entirety of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2017, dismissing competing Palestinian claims to the city and upsetting a broad international consensus. No official explanations have yet been provided for either of Monday's fires, though French media has suggested that the fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral may have been related to ongoing renovation efforts. Update (04/16/19 8:30 a.m.): This story was updated with reports that there was no damage during the fire and that to clarify that there was no link between the fire at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the one at Notre Dame Cathedral.