Why was the Dome of the Rock Constructed? (Al-Muqaddasi)

Now one day I said, speaking to my father's brother, 'O my uncle, verily it was not well of the Khalif al Walîd to expend so much of the wealth of the Muslims on the Mosque at Damascus. Had he expended the same on making roads, or for caravanserais, or in the restoration of the Frontier Fortresses, it would have been more fitting and more excellent of him.' But my uncle said to me in answer, 'O my little son, thou hast not understanding! Verily Al Walîd was right, he was prompted to a worthy work. For he beheld Syria to be a country that had long been occupied by the Christians, and he noted herein the beautiful churches still belonging to them, so enchantingly fair, and so renowned for their splendour, even as are the Kumâmah (the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem), and the churches of Lydda and Edessa. So he sought to build for the Muslims a Mosque that should prevent their regarding these, and that should be unique and a wonder to the world. And in like manner is it not evident how the Khalif 'Abd al Malik, noting the greatness of the Dome of the (Holy Sepulchre called) Al Kumâmah and its magnificence, was moved lest it should dazzle the minds of the Muslims, and hence erected above the Rock, the Dome which now is seen there?

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