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The Dome of the Rock Jerusalem
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The Dome of the Rock – Jerusalem
The Dome of the Rock is absolutely the most significant Islamic structure on earth that is perched high above Jerusalem on the Temple Mount that is known as Haram al-Sharif. The golden dome and brilliant exterior mosaic that was sponsored by a Muslim ruler Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik to be of spiritual and political significance depicts an agreement, promise, victory and splendor of the Islamic faith. It is undeniable that the Dome of the Rock is one of the greatest artistic works and its visual indicates that the structure’s religious function is surpassed by its physical manifestation. Many meanings and history relate to the Dome of the Rock but what remains significant is the location on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as well as the beauty and monumentality.
The Jews believe Temple Mount in Jerusalem is Mount Moriah where Abraham’s sacrifice took place and that it is the center of the world as well as the presumed site of Solomon’s Temple built under Solomon’s reign. It is therefore apparent that the Dome of the Rock is looked at in terms of its relationship with existing beliefs and the sacredness connected to it including prevailing principle of Islam, Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Christianity. It is apparent that the Dome of the Rock has significance in Islam, Jewish and Christian beliefs even though it was constructed to show the superiority and legitimacy of Islam especially the power the religion has over Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock is seen as Solomon’s Temple rebuilt and that it has drawn parallels between Islam and Judaism because Muslims view the Koran, as ‘True Torah’ and that Muslims are the true people of Israel.
By looking at the Dome of the Rock’s location, there is evidence of the religious landscape of Israel on the Temple Mount and the awareness of the sacredness and spirituality is also integrated with social and political implications. The expansive rectangular structure is about 500 by 300 meters and covers an area of almost 37 acres while sitting on a smaller trapezoidal platform that is west of center on the Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock dominates the surrounding topography and is surrounded by huge Al-Aqsa mosque and many other tiny Islamic structures. The structure has been labeled many with many architectural terms but is popularly known as the ciborium that symbolizes the vault of heaven and has a large slab of bedrock that protrudes from below the Temple Mount up into the Dome of the Rock. The large slab of bedrock serves the main function of the structure of housing the rock because Muslims believe that the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven thus making it a commemorative structure.
The Dome of the Rock is one of the greatest architectural works due to the aesthetical utilization of geometrical strategy and great size as well as its external legibility. The centrally planned structure is octagonal in plan with two octagonal ambulatories that flank a circular opening where the rock decides and the outer ambulatory is made up of eight piers and twelve columns while the rock projects approximately five feet above the building level. The Rock of the Dome’s structural layout tends to inhibit viewing of the rock and the dome from outside the building, something that reinforces the dominating opinion that main issue was to focus on the building’s exterior as a symbol of Islam’s strength and authority. 240-metre long inscription in the mosaic frieze circling the octagonal arcade and part of the inner praises God and the Prophet and mostly use Koranic quotations. The inscriptions symbolizes decorative motifs that are reminiscent of the styles of late Antiquity in the Mediterranean and its magnificently colored exterior sets it from other monuments thus commanding a stately appearance.
Sacred Interpretations
The Dome of the Rock’s location on Temple Mount is associated with the Islamic conquest during the time in 638 CE after almost 300 years of Christian dominancy. The Muslim leader Umar ibn al-Khattab who was led on a tour by the Christian patriarch Sophronious ex-ruler of Jerusalem was interested in “islamization” of Jerusalem and in the Temple Mount. During the reign of Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik, plans were put forward to develop on the Temple Mount and finally the Dome of the Rock was constructed though the building was motivated by both religious and secular motives.
Clearly, the Temple Mount means a lot to each of the Abrahamic faiths and the Roman pagans whereas the Jews believed that it was a site of the Jewish Temple and the location where Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac as well as a representative of sacred time. The Temple stood for the past, future and that the Jews believed that the Temple will be rebuilt and Messiah will come but during the reign of Hadrian, it symbolized the authority and influence of Rome and victory over Judaism. On the other hand, Christians saw the Temple Mount as a testament to the superiority of Christianity over Judaism but Umar ibn was interested in the site because it was an ancient Jewish holy site. Umar was convinced that Jewish traditions hugely influenced the development of early Islam and therefore being at the site would mean a lot to the Islamic religion.
Role played by the Rock
In these early associations, the rock plays a crucial role and beginning in 17th century, the rock appeared mainly as a symbol of the Jewish Temple even though at that time, there were no attachment to the rock during the Islamic conquest. The rock was initially not a point of focus on the Temple Mount even though it later merited an extravagant commemorative feature. Abd al-Malik only became interested in the rock after ascending to power, almost 60 years after the Islamic conquest because of his belief on the authority and power of the Islam as well as the association of the place with the Jewish religion. It was apparent that the jewish association with Mount Moriah and the Rock influenced Abd al-Malik to build in that particular location especially the identification of the Mount as omphalos or the center of the earth, something that meant a lot to the Jews. Sacrifice of Abraham that took place at that specific location was also crucial to both the Jewish and Muslim because of the sacred association of the event.
The Care Act of 2014
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The Care Act of 2014
The Care Act of 2014 came into effect in the year 2015, is a representation of the most significant reform of care and support in more than 60 years, putting individuals and their caregivers in control of their care and support (Penhale et al.). The primary reason for the establishment of the Care Act was to protect adults from being mistreated and as well help in improving the quality of life and to make this possible; the caregivers must, therefore, follow the Act’s principles to the letter. The Act principles are aimed to emphasize that everyone in the care is a human being and to whom have wants and needs. Besides, they help the significance of involving the service consumer in the process of assessing their safeguarding needs. When the principles of the Act are followed, the service provider increases the autonomy of vulnerable adults and therefore enhance the consumer’s commitment to delivering the best care.
The Care Act of 2014 encourages the care providers to adopt the person-centered approach in the attempt of safeguarding the vulnerable adults, as this helps in putting the needs as well as the wellbeing of the vulnerable beings at the forefront and thus safeguarding the processes of caregiving (Donnelly et al.). The various principles of the Care Act include; empowerment, protection, prevention, proportionality, partnership, and accountability. Most of the abused or neglected adults are in most cases silent victims at the time of safeguarding their concerns, implying that the care providers have to make all the decisions while the service consumer has little or no involvement at all in decision making. Due to the existence of such cases, the Care Act principles aim to eliminate the detached approach between the caregivers and consumers. Following the principles help empower the adults so that they take an active part in safeguarding processes so that they receive the most appropriate care and at the same time feel in control.
Empowerment is one of the principles and which encourages the support of vulnerable adults so that they are able to confidently make their own individuals and provide informed consent in regards to their care. To ensure the effective empowerment of the vulnerable adults, the care provider should assess the nature of provisions if any, so that they are able to reach decisions confidently. Information should be provided in a straightforward and through a jargon free form and also questions related to the changes in the consumer’s safeguarding or care plan, which should include advocacy.
The principle of protection states that the care provider should support and represent the people in greater need (Stevens). It aims at providing the consumers with clear and straightforward information in regards to the recognition of abuse signs and also advice on the best time to seek help. Prevention is one of the most crucial principles of care in that even after being freed from neglect and abuse, the vulnerable individual may still suffer from long-lasting physical and psychological damage, and therefore, the caregivers should preemptively provide protection to the vulnerable people in order to reduce the long-term harm.
The principle of proportionality ensures the utilization of preventive measures in the most un-obstructive way possible, and therefore do not apply the concept of one-size-fits-all, which can prevent the care provider from making the wrong decision. Partnership requires that the care provider partner with the local services and the communities so that they can jointly help in preventing, detecting, and reporting the suspected cases of neglect and abuse among the vulnerable populations. On the other hand, the principle of accountability requires that the care provider be wholly transparent and should be ready to take responsibility for all the safeguarding practices used in support of the vulnerable populations.
Works Cited
Donnelly, Sarah, et al. “Adult safeguarding legislation and policy rapid realist literature review.” (2017).
Penhale, Bridget, et al. “The Care Act 2014: a new legal framework for safeguarding adults in civil society.” The Journal of Adult Protection 19.4 (2017): 169-174.
Stevens, Rosemary A. Welfare medicine in America: A case study of Medicaid. Routledge, 2017.
Potential roles of religion in our lives
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Question One
Potential roles of religion in our lives
Religion is a belief in and worship of a supernatural being. A person inclined to a certain religious faith is expected to be devoted, conform to the set code of conducts by that group and be ready to believe without asking for any proof. Religion is as old as man because its origin can be traced to the Stone Age period when man was shifting from hunting and gathering to a more sedentary lifestyle. Some of the major roles of religion in the contemporary society include, but not limited to the following:
First and foremost, religion helps in inculcating social virtues to the follower. Philosophically, God is the main source of ethics in the society. Thus, individuals get to know about the generally accepted codes of conduct to be used to create harmony and peaceful coexistence at all the times. This means that a committed follower must accept such norms and abide too live by them. It is rewarding when people live according to the expectations of such virtues. This is because everyone aspires to have a fulfilling life after death. In quote four, Meineck, Peter, and Paul Woodruff assert in Theban Plays that the faithful followers are assured of just rewards through the grace of God. Truly, all the Christians, Muslims and members of other classical religions expect a perpetual spiritual reward after death. This explains why they all want to lead a virtuous life in order to be able to receive the perceived blissful eternal life in heaven.
Besides, religion helps to promote social solidarity in the society. It is one of the most popular agents of socialization which nearly all the people are ready to identify with. Religion is societal in nature and brings different classes of people together. Thus, it acts as a unifying factor that unites people from diverse backgrounds. They identify as one body regardless of their differences. This explains why Christians usually consider other themselves as brothers. In quote number eleven, W.E.B. Dubois argues in the Souls of Black Folk that the world is laid open before mankind. This means that there is some exposure got from religion which results from bringing diverse people together. Through such unions, followers come together and share their experiences, testimonies and expectations. This brings a sense of direction and guidance to all of them.
Last but not least, religion determines the political destiny of a country. This began from the medieval period when the clergy used to perform both religious and administrative duties. Many empires were theocratic in nature and considered the monarch to be a representative of God. However, this has continued up to the present times when religion plays a major role in politics. Whenever there is any contentious issue, their opinion is sought. In quote sixteen, the Holy Quran states that God has power over every thing. This is a belief which has been guiding Vatican, England, German, Yemen, Iran and Pakistan to establish theocratic states. They believe in the supreme authority of God. Therefore, they have given Him power to appoint leaders for them. Such leaders are revered and can not be gone against. They are spiritual mentors whose decisions are final.
Conclusively, I would like to agree with the fact that religion is a very important aspect of human life. A part from bringing solidarity, it goes beyond humans to give answers to any metaphysical question concerning their lives. Everyone should identify one religious grouping to belong to. This can help him lead a holistic life full of hopes and promises of rewards in the days to come.