The United Nations General Assembly on October 20, 2010 proclaimed the first week of February of each year as an Interfaith Harmony Week for all religions, faiths and beliefs; recognizing “the imperative need for dialogue among faiths and religions in enhancing mutual understanding, harmony, and cooperation among people.” So I offer this article on the Holy Link between the Muslim Kaab’a and the Jewish Temple.

The famous temple complex of Angkor Wat in Cambodia is the largest religious monument in the world, and includes more than 70 temples and around 1,000 buildings sprawling over 400 square kilometers. Constructed in the early 12th Century as the capital of the Khmer empire, the site was originally a major Hindu temple, but was converted into a Buddhist temple by the end of the 12th century, and is now one of the most important pilgrimage sites for Buddhists.

But shamefully, politicalized religious leaders have turned sacred sites in both India and Israel into battlegrounds for their brand of religious exclusivity. Yet an ancient Jewish legend predicts that when the Messiah comes and resurrection day occurs; the Kaab’a in holy Mecca, will go to join the Temple Mount’s Foundation Stone in holy Jerusalem, bringing the inhabitants of Mecca, and they shall be joined together. When the Foundation Stone sees the Kaab’a approaching, it shall cry out, “Peace be to the great guest”. (Zev Vilnay, Legends of Jerusalem)

The Muslim Kaab’a in Mecca was a very ancient ruined holy site that was rebuilt under God’s direction by Prophets Abraham and his oldest son Ishmael. The Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was built on a site God chose for an offering of Prophet Abraham’s youngest son, and built by Prophet Solomon the son of King David, more than four centuries after Prophet Abraham.

There is a wonderful legend that explains what linked these two sacred sites that had become holy to the descendants of the two sons of Prophet Abraham.

“Two brothers who inherited a valley to hilltop farm from their father, divided the land in half so each one could farm his own section. Over time, the older brother married and had four children, while the younger brother was still not married.

One year there was very little rain, and the crop was very meager. The younger brother lay awake one night praying and thought. “My brother has a wife and four children to feed and I have no children. He needs more grain than I do; especially now when grain is scarce.”


So that night the younger brother went to his barn, gathered a large sack of wheat, and left his wheat in his brother’s barn. Then he returned home.

Earlier that very same night, the older brother was also lying awake praying for rain when he thought: “In my old age my wife and I will have our grown children to take care of us, as........

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