Why are the keys to the Temple of the Holy Sepulcher held by Muslims

Temple of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
Photo: depositphotos

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (Israel) is one of the most revered Christian shrines. Believers believe that this is where Jesus Christ was buried, but Muslims hold the keys to its gates.

This is due to the uneasy history of the temple, built about 1600 years ago, reports The Washington Post.

The first Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built in 335 by the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, Helen. At a fairly old age, after accepting Christianity, she made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. At that time, on the site of the current Temple there was a pagan temple of Venus, built under the Emperor Hadrian. In the dungeon of the temple, Elena discovered the entrance to a cave with the Holy Sepulcher. She also discovered the cross on which Jesus was crucified.

For the centuries-old history of Jerusalem, the Temple was repeatedly destroyed, rebuilt, and passed under the authority of either Christian or Muslim rulers. In the form in which it exists now, the Temple was rebuilt in 1810, after a huge fire.

But even when there were no wars around the temple, it became the subject of controversy of various currents of Christianity.

For centuries, it was in the joint jurisdiction of 6 of ancient Christian communities: Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Syrian Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox churches and Egyptian Copts.

Contradictions between these confessions from the very moment of the appearance of the temple led to protests, street riots and fights.

Conflicts exist to this day and inhibit much-needed repairs on the temple grounds. In 2009, a bloody brawl broke out between Armenian and Greek Orthodox priests, which had to be separated by the Israeli police.

Relatively recent incidents:

• In 2002, the Coptic monk, whose job was to sit on the roof and defend the interests of the Copts near the Ethiopian part of the roof, moved his chair into the shadow, which was closer to the Ethiopian part. This caused Ethiopian complaints and a fight, which resulted in 11 monks in the hospital.
• In 2004, an Orthodox monk allegedly left the door to the Franciscan chapel after the procession. Franciscans took it as a sign of disrespect, a fight ensued, which the police again separated.
• In April 2008 on Palm Sunday, another fight broke out after an Orthodox monk was expelled from the building. The police had to intervene in the process.
• In 2016, during the observation of the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire, a scuffle took place between the monks and the temple visitors.

The insoluble nature of the confrontations between Christians led to a rather curious mechanism for the maintenance and management of order in the temple, which was introduced in the XII century: 2 Muslim families were entrusted to be the gatekeepers of the church. The Judeh family owns the keys, while the Nuseibeh family opens the doors of the church every morning and locks them in the evening. This order is still valid.

Adib Judeh, who holds the keys now, calls the Church of the Holy Sepulcher a symbol of the coexistence of Islam and Christianity.

His colleague, Waji Nuseibeh, said that Christian monks sometimes have differences, and Muslims in charge of the temple try to smooth them out whenever possible.

“We are neutral people in this church. We are like the United Nations. We are helping to maintain peace in this holy place,” he said.

Recall at the end of October 2016 of the year for the first time in 500 years, archaeologists conducted an autopsy on the tomb of Jesus Christ, which is located in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. They will try to find out if the body of Christ was really there.

Read also on ForumDaily:

For the first time in 500 years, archaeologists have uncovered the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem

Why did scientists open the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem

In Israel, archaeologists have found the mask of God

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