In April 637, Jerusalem became one of the Arab Caliphate's first conquests. The Rashidun Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab personally went to the city to receive its submission and prayed on the Temple Mount. Umar ibn al-Khattab also allowed the Jews back into the city and freedom to live and worship. Sixty years later the Dome of the Rock was built, a structure enshrining a stone from which Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven during the Isra. The oldest part of Jerusalem was settled in the 4th millennium B.C., making it one of the oldest cities in the world. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. | |