Iran is famous to Jews as the backdrop for the Purim story of Mordechai and Esther, who mobilised the Jewish people and thwarted Haman's effort to annihilate the Jewish people. For centuries, Islam has with some distortions incorporated Jewish and christian figures into its religion, claiming to revere Abraham and Moses on the Jewish side as well as Jesus, Mary and John the Baptist. Now, self proclaimed Islamic fundamentalists have threatened to destroy the tomb of the biblical Queen Esther if anything happens to the Al Aksa mosque on the Temple Mount, a mosque built on the site reserved in Jewish Scriptures for the Holy Temple, the Bet HaMikdash.
AFP News quotes the basij, or hardline Islamist militia, at Bu-Ali-Sina university of Hamedan as follows.
"Muslims beware that they have started the destruction of Al-Aqsa mosque while their second sacred site in Iran, the Esther and Mordecai tomb is at peace and no Muslims make a sound.
We, the student basijis… warn Zionist regime leaders if they assault the Al-Aqsa mosque in any way we will destroy the tomb of these lowly murderers."
For years, the Waqf, the Muslim religious authorities on the Temple Mount have willfully destroyed artifacts of the First and Second Temples as a part of a plan to erase archaeological evidence of the historic Jewish presence there. In so doing, they have shot themselves in the foot by causing structural damage to the foundation of their mosque. Yet they seek to blame Jews for what they themselves have done to the Temple Mount.
Both Muslims and Jews believe in the resurrection of the dead. Neither religions believe that man can thwart the resurrection by destroying the body of the deceased. The Basij in Iran are true heretics to Islam, who believe they can spit in G-d's face and thwart the resurrection of a saintly Jewish figure. Their threats are borne of desperation. For over 40 years, since 1967, the Muslims have been allowed free access to the Temple Mount. If anyone causes harm to the Al Aksa mosque, it will be the Muslims themselves
http://globetribune.info/2010/12/12/iran...http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/art...http://www.farsinet.com/hamadan/esther1....