Christians saw Muslim building on the Temple Mount as demonic work

Evidence

Reinink (p. 185) concludes that “the hypothesis that the Apocalypse of ps.-Methodius was composed in reaction to ‘Abd al-Malik’s foundation of the Dome of the Rock on the site of the Jewish Temple is very attractive.” — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1503 (#responds-to, via linked claim)

The crisis in Christian minds would have been accentuated by the construction of the Dome of the Rock mosque, a refutation of the Christian vision of history anchored firmly in the bedrock of Jerusalem, spiritual center of the Christian world. Surely the chroniclers who had portrayed the Muslim invaders as an ephemeral divine chastisement were wrong. Confronted by this symbol of Muslim political and spiritual might, in the midst of the rising tide of conversion and Arabization, a new, darker vision of God’s plan was forged: the anonymous Syriac author of the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius (c. 692) presented the Muslim domination as part of the drama of the last days. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 315 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Dome of the Rock pushed Christians to apocalyptic readings of Muslim rule — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 315; The Dome of the Rock’s construction forced Christians to view Muslim rule as permanent — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 315; Polemical insistence on Islam’s demonic alliance intensified where resemblance was obvious — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 304 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• An apocalyptic text responded to Muslim building on the Jewish Temple site #responds-to (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1503
• The Dome of the Rock pushed Christians to apocalyptic readings of Muslim rule #expands (0.95) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 315