Amman (JT): The replica of the Salah Al Din Ayyubi minbar (pulpit), which was completed after four years of intensive work, arrived late Tuesday at Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Work to install the pulpit in Al Aqsa Mosque was set to start yesterday and the installation process is expected to take two weeks, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Several technicians and engineers from Jordan and other countries will work on installing the minbar, Petra added.
The original wood and ivory pulpit that was shipped to Jerusalem by Salah Al Din, was destroyed on August 21, 1969, when Michael Dennis Rohan, a tourist from Australia and a member of the "Church of God," set fire to the mosque in an attempt to hasten the coming of the Messiah, the Associated Press reported.
He was judged insane and deported, the agency added.
His Majesty King Abdullah yesterday received cables of appreciation from Al Aqsa Mosque imams and Jerusalem residents.
The creation of an exact replica of the pulpit for Al Aqsa Mosque -- Islam's third holiest site -- started upon the King's directives in 2002, although the original plan to recreate it was ordered by His Majesty the late King Hussein.
The Monarch unveiled the replica of the minbar in July last year.
Several unsuccessful attempts were made by various groups to reconstruct the minbar since the pulpit was destroyed.
The handmade minbar, finished at a cost of JD1.25 million, is six metres high and 4.5 metres wide and consists of 16,500 pieces fixed using the dovetail joints technique -- without the use of glue or nails.
The faculty of traditional Islamic arts at Balqa University in Salt carried out the minbar's recreation, along with craftsmen and experts in Islamic architecture from Egypt, Morocco and Turkey, among other countries.
HRH Prince Ghazi launched the faculty in 1998 to revive and widen the understanding of Islamic art.
Its academic programmes lead both to the mastery of practical skills and to the understanding of the principles of Islamic art, its sacred origins, its philosophy, its objectives and its role in Islamic history.
© Jordan Times 2007
