Tamar Yonah: Alright so how should I, address Mr. Oktar? As Mr.Oktar or does he want to use his Pen name?

Adnan Oktar: Both is okay for me.

Tamar Yonah: Oktar is I think easier for me to pronounce, but I want to make him happy. So whatever he prefers I’ll do.

Adnan Oktar: What is easy for her would be beautiful for me as well. But of course the names Harun and Yahya are very very beautiful. They are the names of two prophets.

Tamar Yonah: Mr. Yahya. You met with the Rabbis and you mentioned it is possible to work together to build a worship center on the Temple Mount. Can you describe what exactly you are imagining to happen here? You have met with Rabbis in a discussion to possibly work together to built a worship center on the Temple Mount. Tell us about that.

Adnan Oktar : I love the Prophet Solomon (pbuh) very much. I love his zest, his understanding of beauty, his understanding of aesthetics. It is of course very exciting to remember those beautiful days, to rebuild this beautiful building, this beautiful masjid that is referred to in the Qur’an. This very much excites me as a Muslim and excites other believers as well. It will excite the Christians and also the Jews. Christians, Jews and Muslims, by rebuilding this beauty altogether hand in hand, rebuilding this beautiful masjid, they can be able to worship in it as well. It is a matter of joy. But of course it will be much better if we perform it altogether. Let’s adorn it in the same way as it was before. I would like to see Jerusalem in its most beautiful and brilliant state, just like it was in that period. When this happens we will feel relieved. It will be a joy for us. To live those beautiful days of the Prophet Solomon (pbuh) will give joy to every believer.

Tamar Yonah: I’ve always said to my listeners that we are all the children of Adam and after that Noah and we are all brothers and sisters and we should live together peacefully. But there are other people in the world who do not believe like that. And what we have seen in the Muslim world today is an intolerance to other religions and the people on the Temple Mount today, the Wakf does not share the same views that Mr. Yahya believes in. How can he convince the people on the Temple Mount to share his view and open up and allow Jewish prayer?

Adnan Oktar : It is very very nice to see a Jew pray in a Masjid. It is the house of Allah, of course Jews would pray there, Christians also would pray there, or a person who just embraced a faith would go and pray there. It is very atrocious to forbid praying. It is ruthless. Of course, all the faithful people would pray there. As a matter of fact, here in Suleymaniye Mosque, foreign tourists come and pray. Some perform their religious obligations according to their own faith. It is intensely beautiful.

Tamar Yonah: How would he enforce that? Because right now you have the Wakf who does not allow any type of praying from other religions on the Temple Mount. So how would he enforce that?

Adnan Oktar: This is what we call the system of the Anti-Christ (Dajjal). I mean during the End of Times, the system called the Anti-Christ, the Dajjal- I do not know what our Jewish brothers call it but - this system that is against the system of Allah is very wide spread all over the world. It is also prevalent in Israel. This really is something unbelievable. Our Jewish brothers should be able to perform their prayers there. Our Christian brothers should be able to comfortably perform their own prayers there. The freedom of worship is such an essential issue. We are brothers. Let us embrace each other, to talk together, slaughter our sacrifices for the name of Allah and eat them together there, let us talk about faith and Allah there. That is a location that Allah announced to be sacred, it is a place that all the believers should live joyfully, it is a place of festivity. To try to cast us out from those places, to prevent our worship there, is a very heinous thing and a cruel thing to do. But if we unite, if the Jews, Christians and Muslims, if we all love each other and if every one of us take pains in our own faiths, if we are eager in our own religions, then Insha’Allah we will all take good results in the end.

Tamar Yonah: Okay. Tell me how he envisions this Center to look like? Will this be one big building where all three religions would pray together? Perhaps it would be called the Third Temple or he calls it Solomon’s Palace or would this be three separate buildings leaving the Mosque that is on the Temple Mount, building a big church for the Christians and building a giant Synagogue for the Jews? Is that what he envisions? Which way does he see this?

Adnan Oktar: First of all I would like to have the building constructed exactly the same as the one before and I want it to be decorated exactly as it was, with the same beautiful ornaments. I want it to be reinstated with all its glamour, all its beauty. However it would be very useful for it to be very big. I mean it would be best if it can be as big as possible. It would be best if we could adorn the surrounding area with very beautiful gardens, with fruit trees. The land there, is very convenient in that respect, I mean it can be placed just a little away from Qubbat As-Sakhrah, a little ahead of Masjid el-Aqsa. There are very wide, big areas there, those places can be made use. Let us construct and build the Masjid of our blessed Prophet Solomon (pbuh) there, with all its glory insha’Allah. Here of course there will be a place for every person to pray in a separate place, Christians in a separate place, Muslims in their masjids, the Jews in their synagogues. I mean it will be possible to build these sections within the Masjid of the Prophet Solomon (as), this will be possible as well. It can be built like this but there is of course a very essential issue here, and that is; everyone believes that his own religion is the real one, that it is the real valid religion. This is exceedingly natural, I, as a Muslim, of course do believe that my religion is the actual valid religion. A Jew would believe that his religion is the actual valid religion and a Christian would believe that his religion is the actual valid one, this is only natural. But everyone has to respect each other. Everyone should be able to perform his own prayers in joy and awe. But it is everyone’s aspiration for that city to be adorned, to be beautified, to regain the magnificent glory it had in the days of the Prophet Solomon (pbuh). Every Christian, every Muslim, every Jew would want that. Let us accomplish that beauty all together.

Tamar Yonah: Yes. Who do you believe would be involved in this project financially?

Adnan Oktar: All believers, all devout Muslims, devout Christians, devout Jews would be very much willing to passionately and gladly take part in this task. We would all make contributions. In fact I personally would very much like to take part in decoration, adornment and ornamentation activities of this masjid. I would like it very much to personally take part in and lead it’s decoration, adornment and the activities carried out for its beautification. This is something that would be done very easily once we are given this permission, once the way of such an attempt is paved. When such an opportunity is given, Muslims, Christians and Jews would accomplish this task with great excitement. All of them would love to do it, I cannot think of a person who wouldn’t.

Tamar Yonah: If the UN wanted to help fund and make it perhaps a historical site under the UN would you except the money? Would you want to work with them as well?

Adnan Oktar: Of course why not, I mean any help, any support coming from people approaching compassionately, approaching honestly with good will, would be most welcomed. But to be aggressive, to be stern in that issue, to have a rigid attitude in this subject is something atrocious. We all are servants of Allah, we all will live through this short life on earth and will pass to the presence of Allah. We should have manners that would please Allah, we should approach to each other with love. We will see who is on the right path, who has been acting right only in the Hereafter. For that reason it is necessary that we approach each other with love and affection. But it is extremely natural for the members of each religion to see themselves as the superior one. I should state that again. I mean it is atrocious to make this a point of dispute, an element of conflict. Everyone should cordially worship in their own faiths. I, as a Muslim, believe that Islam is the only valid religion. A Jew might also believe that his religion is the only valid religion and a Christian might as well believe that his religion is the only valid one. It is of top importance for everyone to be very respectful towards one another. But what is really important here is that we all believe in the same Allah, the same Hereafter, we all believe in Heaven and Hell, we all believe in angels, we all believe in the Prophets. We should make use of all these common traits and love each other deeply. The believers’ contribution to peace and brotherhood in the world will really be very strong insha’Allah. I do believe that the Mahdi, the Mahdi according to my belief and the Messiah according to your belief, has already arrived. I mean the Mahdi had appeared according to my opinion.

Tamar Yonah: Really? Does he know the name of this Mahdi?

Adnan Oktar: The Mahdi will be the descendant of our Prophet. He is the person who will conduce to the world dominion of Islam in the End of Times. But if she is asking me who that specific person is, I haven’t met the Mahdi up until now. I mean I do not know who he is. But for us to know for sure, Islam should prevail the world. The Prophet Jesus (pbuh) should perform the prayers with him, perform the prayers behind him. When we meet someone like that, we will say, by Allah’s leave, Allah knows the fact, this possibly is the Mahdi, only then we will be of the opinion that he is the Mahdi. Or else I do not have a proof at the moment to say that this person is the Mahdi but I do believe that he has arrived. I have proofs that he had arrived.

Tamar Yonah: What are those proofs?

Adnan Oktar: For instance solar eclipses occurring during Ramadan for two years successively. The war in between Iran and Iraq. The invasion of Afghanistan. The blockage of the waters of the Euphrates, that had happened with a dam, this had been realized. The lunar and solar eclipses in the month of Ramadan, this happened as well. The birth of a comet, this happened as well, the comet Halley. The coming of a second comet, that comet had been seen as well. It is stated in the accounts that this comet moves from west to east. And it is stated that it has two ends. The comet Lulin is the one mentioned. The raid in the Kaaba and the spill of blood in Kaaba; this portent had also happened. The appearance of a sign in the sun; the biggest blast of this century had happened. An army which would sink into the desert, the Iraqi army had been lost in the desert. The destruction of Baghdad in flames, this also is a portent. The incident of 9/11, a dusty and foggy dissension, this also is a portent. The reconstruction of Iraq, this also is a portent. There are lots of such portents. For instance a person talking to the end of his whip; this refers to the telephones of our age. This event had also happened. A person’s own voice talking to him; when a person talks into a tape or similar audio devices, his own voice can talk to that person. Or a voice that is recorded in the television or video can also be played back to that person.

Adnan Oktar: Moreover there are almost a hundred portents. I mean in addition to those I have just talked about, I am not listing them all as we do not have that much time. There are almost 100 prophecied portents which had already been realized. And these are all hadiths, all are the words of our blessed Prophet (pbuh). And these are mentioned in the books written more than a thousand years ago.

Tamar Yonah: Whose idea was it at first to build this center on top of the Temple Mount that was discussed just recently with the Rabbis? Was it Mr. Yahya or was it the Rabbis he did the meeting with?

Adnan Oktar: No, I do love the Prophet Solomon (pbuh) very much. Because I am someone who deeply enjoys arts, someone who enjoys aesthetics. As you know I have studied in Fine Arts. I do enjoy everything that is beautiful. The Prophet Solomon’s zest for beauty and aesthetics had increased my love for him intensely. The Prophet Solomon (pbuh) is praised very beautifully in the Qur’an, he is described in great details. I do want to revive those beautiful days. The thought come to my mind, Allah had inspired that in my heart. To rebuild that beautiful masjid, to revive those beautiful days in the Jerusalem is something that I do want very much and I am telling these to the believers. I ask them to be my helpmates and I want that from Allah, I am praying for it to happen.

Tamar Yonah: Just one moment. You talk about Solomon’s Temple and that this will be a worship center, is there a problem with you saying the word Third Temple or do you not see it as the Third Temple?

Adnan Oktar: Of course, I, as a Muslim, refer to that place as a masjid, I consider it to be a masjid but within this masjid to build a church on one side, a synagogue on another side and to have a part of it as a masjid would be the best, and this way it would be a place which would serve all these three religions. It will be a place that all three religions would love, in that respect I think that would be great.

Tamar Yonah: Let me go on a different direction now. You proclaim yourself to be a Muslim that is against violence and religious coercion. You look at mankind as being brothers and sisters and you are very tolerant as what we have seen from the Muslim community lately. What makes you different?

Adnan Oktar : This is in essence what the moral values of the Qur’an dictate on us. However ignorant people who misinterpret the Qur’an are inclined to violence and blood spilling. For instance the Mahdi, Mahdi is a person of love, he will by no means spill blood, not even a drop of blood would be spilled by him, in his times not even the noses of people would bleed, this is very explicitly stated in the hadith. In the accounts it is said that he would not even wake a sleeper and would destroy all the weapons in the world, that is to say there will not be even a single weapon left on earth. The blessed Mahdi (pbuh) is someone who is truly against violence and coercion. There will not be anything but peace, brotherhood and love during his time. And violence would never be a part of Mahdi’s life in any stage his life. That is something clearly mentioned in the accounts. However some people, some people who are inclined to violence are distort this situation and attempt to pull this beautifully put aim, which is stated clearly by the Rasulullah (pbuh), to a completely different line, but those people will not succeed. The ones who defend love, brotherhood and friendship will be the successful ones. The blessed Mahdi (pbuh) would address the Christians with the true version of the Bible, the Jews with the true version of the Torah and the Muslims with the moral values of the Qur’an. This had been clearly stated in the hadith.

Tamar Yonah: Being a man that is against violence and I see you even have a website that talk about that you have one called IslamDenouncesTerrorism.com. And HolocaustViolence.com and another one where Islam is against antisemitism. Why haven’t we heard these voices before, after 9/11 people around the world were looking for Muslims to condemn this act. After terror attacks, after terror attacks around the world people were looking for the moderate, tolerant Muslims. They were looking for Muslim peace groups, they were looking for leaders and demonstrations, people to write things about this and to stand up and take a stand against the awful violence that was taking place around the world with terrorist attacks in the name of Islam. Why haven’t we heard of him if people were looking for him, why is he so silent, why isn’t he out there leading groups, why is there no Islamic peace groups that is finding his voice? That would be so welcomed in Western media and in Israel as well, why isn’t he doing more in order to bring out this side of Islam that he claims that he believes in and yet so much is going on that counters what he claims he wants to do?

Adnan Oktar: My circle of friends consists of approximately three hundred people in total. Consequently I do have a small group of friends and this is the only power we have financially and also in respect of manpower, and this is the utmost endeavor that could be put forward by such means. I mean we can do much more should we had more means. But at this moment apart from what we do over the internet, apart from publishing books, apart from issuing periodicals, we do not have such a power on the mainstream television channels, on the globally famous radio channels or on the mainstream press, however in the future had we gain such a power, of course we would very much like to perform such an urgent task, such an urgent service passionately, in fervor and with great excitement. But at this instant this is the means that Allah had given us and these are the results we achieve when we use all our power to its limits.

Tamar Yonah: It seems to me that the media would be hungry to hear this voice, that it wouldn’t cost any money and there have been people who served movements with one or two people or three people. I hope that he will take this advantage that he has, the three hundred people and make his voice heard especially with his high profile as he is a bestselling author in the Muslim world. Let me ask you one more question. Have you ever had any death threats for your ideas, trying to be more peaceful with what many Islamic people believe are infidels?

Adnan Oktar: The souls of an ignorant small fragment of Muslims are very much inclined to spilling blood, violence and cruelty. These are people who had Darwinist materialistic education. They are loveless, far removed from philanthropy and are jealous. They do not possess good morals however these are people whom we have to refer to as Muslims because this is what it writes in the religion column of their identity cards. We of course are subjected to the coercion of such people. However apart from such we are also subjected to the oppression of the Masons, the communists, the alleged communist deep state organization, that is to say the alleged Ergenekon terror organization. I have been subjected to nine assassination attempts. And eight of those were armed assassination attempts and once they had attempted to assassinate me with weapon like a dagger, something like a big knife. Allah had protected me from all those. Apart from this, they didn’t leave it at that, they had taken me into custody, they had mixed cocaine within my food, within my food and drinks. And they have presented me as a person who uses cocaine, for a long time. Later on it had been determined by the Forensic Medicine that the cocaine had been mixed in my food during the time I was detained in custody and thus I had been acquitted from this accusation. But I am facing lots of other plots similar to this one. And I face various conspiracies. Actually the major part of my day passes with my attempts to abate such events, by struggling with such allegations. Or sometimes they gather three-five people, they make them slander me. They make them bring lawsuits against me, I get acquitted from their slanders but nevertheless it takes a lot of my time. Once they have placed me in a mental hospital claiming that I was mentally challenged. I have been kept there in the asylum for ten months among mentally ill people, I mean during the time I was there the resident mental patients had killed seven people. These were people with severe mental illnesses. However I have been given a report by the Military Hospital stating that I am perfectly healthy mentally and physically. Moreover a higher expert commission had issued a report, the higher expertise commission of the hospital had given me a report stating that I am perfectly healthy mentally and physically and only then I have been saved from this slander. However during this period it was propagated that I was mentally ill and they have placed an enormous coercion on me. From time to time such three to five sometimes ten to fifteen people gather and by talking scandal about me they bring lawsuit against me and thus I have to account for these for such a long time. They are using coercion on me through various similar attempts. But since I am a Muslim, I face all these with great joy and excitement. People giving a struggle in the name of Allah face such coercions very frequently. My fervor increases as I experience such violence and coercion, my love for love, peace and brotherhood increases even more.

Tamar Yonah: What is the next step in regard to this religious center in the Temple Mount that you want to built? You have discussed it now with the Rabbis to see if there is interest. Of course the Jews want to see the Third Temple built the way that we see it, but what is your next step now that you are going to do in order to work and see this project that you want to see fulfilled go forward?

Adnan Oktar: The owner of this issue is the blessed Mahdi (pbuh) himself. He will be instrumental in the building of the temple, I mean the masjid. That is to say the Messiah. This is a holy person who is referred to also in the Torah. As you know the Messiah is described in great details in the Torah. And all the Jews await for the blessed Messiah (pbuh). There is no difference in between this Messiah and the blessed Mahdi we, as Sunni Muslims are waiting for. As per physical appearance our blessed Prophet (pbuh) states that he has broad forehead, that he will be a descendant from his descent. He is a descendant of blessed Ali. Blessed Ali has a lineage coming from blessed David (pbuh) and a lineage coming from the Prophet Abraham (pbuh). The blessed Mahdi (pbuh) will be a descent of the the blessed Abraham. He is a descent of the blessed Ali. And he is a sayyid. He has curved eyebrows, middle stature, broad chest, broad stomach and he has two different moles on his back. We see this the same way in the Torah as well. It is stated in the Torah that he will have a beautiful face, he will possess good manners and that he will rule the world from his house. Let us pray to Allah for the arrival of the Messiah, that is to say the Mahdi (pbuh). When Allah sends this beautiful person to earth, this subject will be dealt with. Otherwise this can’t be realized with my efforts nor with the efforts of any other third person. But we are only forming the foundation of it, we are preparing a convenience for Him.

Tamar Yonah: When I asked what the next step would be I asked more in practice, I meant more in practical terms. Meaning is he going to meet with officials on the Waqf and try to get this pushed forward or with government officials from the Israeli government or with Turkish officials? I am looking in a more practical term what he, what the next step would be in seeing his project move forward.

Adnan Oktar: My endevavour at the moment is to pray for the appearance of the blessed Mahdi (pbuh). This is not something that we can do. This is how it is stated in the accounts and also in the Torah. But we are to voice our such aspirations in our conversations, in our efforts. We are to prepare the way for this. Or else I am only an ordinary humble servant of Allah. This is not something that I can or any other person can do. This task is not meant to be done by an ordinary person. Consequently we should pray for the arrival of the Messiah, the blessed Mahdi (pbuh) and pave the way for him. We will fight against Darwinism, materialism. We will motivate Christians, Jews and Muslims to give a collective intellectual cultural struggle against such evil forces. This is the only way to get results. That is not going to happen while the atheism is still present, while the Darwinism materialism is still present. We will struggle against materialism, Darwinism and atheism. Or else, whilst all those are still standing the building of the Solomon’s Masjid there would not be that effective. What is stated in destiny is that it would be the blessed Mahdi, that is to say the blessed Messiah (pbuh) who will rebuild it. I am saying this in a language that you will understand because this person is referred to as the Messiah in the Torah. But it is the blessed Mahdi (pbuh) according to our belief.

Tamar Yonah: In English Messiah is pronounced as “Messiah”, so that all of our listeners understand. Mr. Harun Yahya I want to thank you very much for your interview. I enjoyed hearing your views and where you are coming from and I am sure that our listeners have been educated well as to the stand that you are taking and what -just a moment- It was very interesting to hear your views and we thank you very much for your being with us. Thank you.

Adnan Oktar: I do thank you too. I love you all. I am sending my regards to all devout Jews. I am sending my affections to all of them. I am also sending my regards to my devout Muslim brothers and devout Christian brothers, to all of them out there.

Tamar Yonah: I just want to say again thank you very much for the interview. It was very interesting to hear your views and haven’t had anybody really coming on us talking about the Mahdi. It was very interesting to hear the views, the Muslim view of the Mahdi for me personally, so I thank you for that as well… I thank you very much and I am very happy to continue to be in touch with you if you like to be in touch in the future. I am a very open person. And please tell Mr. Oktar or Mr. Yahya that I have said again on my own radio show that I stand with him, we are all brothers and sisters and though we may have different religious beliefs. We can agree to disagree but we can still appreciate each other as creations of God and respect each other as creations of God. And I am very very happy to have made his acquaintance and yours as well.

Adnan Oktar: I thank you too and I am presenting you my best regards.

Tamar Yonah: Very good. Thank you for being with us and I thank you very much.

Producer: It was very interesting and it was nice to listen to somebody, a true intellectual and very honest, open-minded person. It was refreshing to hear.

Adnan Oktar: Masha’Allah.