Dome of the rock-research chorniclers and pilgrims narratives through Essay

Dome of the rock-research chorniclers and pilgrims narratives through the time period of the structure and religious changes mainly through the time 600-1244 - Essay Example Islam as a religion has been faced with massive dissent and this has influenced its historical development as a religion found within the Middle East. During the time of Muhammad, Muslims would pray facing Jerusalem as it was considered as the Theqibla. However, the growth of other monotheist religions who believed that Jerusalem was the holy city influenced the decision of the prophet to change and begin paying pilgrimage to mecca. In the 17th century, the rivalry between the Muslims led to division and this prompted Chaliph Abd El-Malik to discourage his followers from paying pilgrimage to mecca, leading to a shift to Jerusalem among this faction (Kaplony 91). To strengthen the use of Jerusalem as the direction to face during prayers, the leader built the dome of the rock believing that this will assist him in convincing most of his followers to change. The establishment of the dome within Jerusalem, a city revered by Muslims created controversies and wars but the Muslims were able to retain their symbolic image in the city after enduring the impacts of the wars. Accessibility into the dome of the rock has been restricted for a long time though it has been considered as a tourist site in the country. Before 1967, non-Muslims were not granted access into the mosque though this was changed and limited access has been allowed to other people under strict supervision of security officers. Palestinian residents have been restricted from accessing the site due to security concerns that have existed within the west bank area (Pringle 43). However, Palestinian-Israelis are allowed to access the dome without limitation though security checks are beefed up to avoid the possibility of an attack. Access of the dome of the rock or the mosque’s prayer area is prohibited for non-Muslims during prayer days and on Muslim holy days. Though tourists have flocked the area to witness the magnificent structure, the Jewish orthodox rabbis

When Things Fall Apart by Chodrun from chapter 1 to 18 Essay

When Things Fall Apart by Chodrun from chapter 1 to 18 - Essay Example Difficulties of life like aging, illness, getting what they do not want and many more are facts. The Buddha also faces these challenges. The teaching goes on stating that what causes unhappiness is when someone wants to avoid the facts of life and try to find happiness (Von Rosenberg 15). Turning upside down enables individuals to think upside down.Pema Chodrun states that suffering has a great role to play in our lives. Suffering will motivate people to look for answers to the problems us facing. Through suffering people, learn to have the feeling of empathy for other people facing the same problem. Through right thinking, we create the feeling of compassion for ourselves. We are compassionate on every part of ourselves that are unwanted. Compassion will create a room of relief and joy in us. It is a fundamental thing for everyone to feel happiness and in any case, when we start feeling unhappy, depressed we think that we lost something or we made a mistake (Von Rosenberg 19). When we incorporate the right thinking, we will appreciate suffering and view pain as a transformation to have the right thinking. When someone faces pain, we always look for happiness and satisfaction rather than having the right thinking and honor the quality of precisely what is happening in your life. It makes people run away from discomfort facing them. The situation makes them disappointed and unhappy Thus, Pema Chodrun urges one to have the right thinking and view situations like this as trying to develop our inner strengths (Von Rosenberg 21). What is more important is considering the inner strength as something that is only available when we are facing discomfort. When certain situation threatens us, we need to view first how we found ourselves at the discomfort. Inner strength will help find why we are in the situation. Pema Chodrun urges that we should accept