Editing Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (section)

===Foundation of the Dome of the Rock===
[[File:Jerusalem DomeoftheRock J65.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=An octagonal, multi-colored building, the upper trim of which is inscribed in Arabic, topped by a golden-plated dome|The [[Dome of the Rock]] (''pictured in 2015'') in [[Jerusalem]] was founded by Abd al-Malik in 691/92]]

In 685/86 or 688, Abd al-Malik began planning the construction of the [[Dome of the Rock]] in Jerusalem.{{sfn|Elad|1999|pp=24, 44}} Its dedication inscription mentions the year 691/92, which most scholars agree is the completion date of the building.{{sfn|Johns|2003|pp=424–426}}{{sfn|Elad|1999|p=45}} It is the earliest archaeologically attested religious structure to be built by a Muslim ruler and the building's inscriptions contain the earliest [[epigraphic]] proclamations of Islam and of Muhammad.{{sfn|Johns|2003|p=416}} The inscriptions proved to be a milestone, as afterward they became a common feature in Islamic structures and almost always mention Muhammad.{{sfn|Johns|2003|p=416}} The Dome of the Rock remains a "unique monument of Islamic culture in almost all respects", including as a "work of art and as a cultural and pious document", according to historian [[Oleg Grabar]].{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}}

[[File:Jerusalem-2013(2)-Temple Mount-Dome of the Chain (south exposure).jpg|thumb|left|upright=.9|alt=A gray metal-domed octagonal structure decorated with tiles of different colors and geometric designs, supported by dark stone columns with beige-colored capitals|Abd al-Malik also erected the [[Dome of the Chain]] (''pictured in 2013''), which is adjacent to the Dome of the Rock]]

Narratives by the medieval sources about Abd al-Malik's motivations in building the Dome of the Rock vary.{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}} At the time of its construction, the caliph was engaged in war with Christian Byzantium and its Syrian Christian allies on the one hand and with the rival caliph Ibn al-Zubayr, who controlled Mecca, the annual destination of Muslim pilgrimage, on the other hand.{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}}{{sfn|Johns|2003|pp=425–426}} Thus, one series of explanations was that Abd al-Malik intended for the Dome of the Rock to be a religious monument of victory over the Christians that would distinguish Islam's uniqueness within the common [[Abrahamic]] religious setting of Jerusalem, home of the two older Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Christianity.{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}}{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=60}} The other main explanation holds that Abd al-Malik, in the heat of the war with Ibn al-Zubayr, sought to build the structure to divert the focus of the Muslims in his realm from the Ka'aba in Mecca, where Ibn al-Zubayr would publicly condemn the Umayyads during the annual pilgrimage to the sanctuary.{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}}{{sfn|Johns|2003|pp=425–426}}{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=60}} Though most modern historians dismiss the latter account as a product of anti-Umayyad propaganda in the traditional Muslim sources and doubt that Abd al-Malik would attempt to alter the sacred Muslim requirement of fulfilling the pilgrimage to the Ka'aba, other historians concede this cannot be conclusively dismissed.{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}}{{sfn|Johns|2003|pp=425–426}}{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=60}}

While his sons commissioned numerous [[Umayyad architecture|architectural works]], Abd al-Malik's known building activities were limited to Jerusalem.{{sfn|Bacharach|1996|p=28}} As well as the Dome of the Rock, he is credited with constructing the adjacent [[Dome of the Chain]],{{sfn|Elad|1999|p=47}} expanding the boundaries of the [[Temple Mount]] (Haram al-Sharif) to include the [[Foundation Stone]] around which the Dome of the Rock was built and building two gates of the Temple Mount (possibly the [[Golden Gate (Jerusalem)|Mercy Gate]] and the [[Gates of the Temple Mount#Triple Gate|Prophet's Gate]]).{{sfn|Bacharach|1996|p=28}}{{sfn|Elad|1999|pp=25–26}} Theophanes, possibly conserving an original Syro-Palestinian [[Melkite]] source, reports that Abd al-Malik sought to remove some columns from a Christian shrine at [[Gethsemane]] to rebuild the Ka'aba, but he was dissuaded by his Christian treasurer, [[Sarjun ibn Mansur]] (the father of [[John of Damascus]]), and another leading Christian, called Patrikios, from Palestine, who successfully petitioned Emperor Justinian II to supply other columns instead.{{sfn|PmbZ|loc=[https://www.degruyter.com/view/PMBZ/PMBZ11095 'Abd al-Malik (#18/corr.)]}}{{sfn|Mango|Scott|1997|p=510, note 5}}