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To
understand the status of Jerusalem in Islam we will talk about the
basic Islamic sources
namely the Holy Qur’an and the Sunna.
There are many verses
in various chapters in the Holy Qur’an that give an indicationas to
the
status of Jerusalem
and Islam such as Surah XVII entitled Al-Isra where in Prophet
Muhammad ascended to Heaven in
621 CE (Common Era). This verse shows that Al-Aqsa Mosque is the
occasion of the
ascent of Prophet Muhammad, the first kiblah for Muslims, one of the
three holy mosques to be built on the globe, and a holy and sacred
place where the reward for good deeds and actions are multiplied and
sins are forgiven.
Muslims—Not
Jews—Have the Right to Defend Jerusalem: Muslims strongly
believe
that Jerusalem and its
surrounding neighbourhood is holy land which can never be given up
because it is a part of
their faith. Muslims are the only people who believe in all the
Prophets (peace be upon
them all) from the time of Adam through to Prophet Muhammed.
There is no even one
statement in either the Qur’an or Sunna that attributes any sins or
misdeeds committed by
any of them.I n addition, a Muslim’s faith will not be perfect unless
they believe in all of
the Prophets.
Thus, all Muslims are
obligated to defend all religious places wherever they are because
Muslims are the best
and most honourable nation ever created for Mankind (Surat Al-Imran
[The Family of Imran],
verse 110; and Surat Al-Hajj [The Pilgrimage], verse 78). Actually,
this a great
responsibility compared with the Jews’ attitude toward the Prophets
throughout
history; they have been
described in the Holy Qur’an, as well as in both the Old and New
Testaments, as the
murderers of Prophets, the Sons of Serpents, the Stray or Blind, and
the
Cursed and Condemned
because of their disbelief in many of the Prophets. In this light,
it
is obvious that they
would be unable to carry out this mission.
The
Talmud states that all nations are cursed and condemned except the
Jews, who
are honourable and have the right to
capture whatever the non-Jews have because
they deserve to be murdered. As a
result, how can such people be trusted to defend
and protect the holy places and the
human legacy (Surat Al-Baqarah, verse 61), and
who has more right to do so, Muslims
or Jews?
Muslims have always viewed Jerusalem
as a holy place which must be defended because
it is similar to Mecca in its
holiness and has been for more than 14 centuries. These places
must be protected given that Abraham,
the Father of all Prophets (peace be upon them all),
had built the Kaaba in Mecca and
thereafter moved to Palestine where he passed away
and was buried in Hebron near
Jerusalem. Muslims will never forget that they used to pray
toward Jerusalem in the early
stages of Islam before Allah ordered it to be changed to the
Holy Shrine in Mecca. There is a
mosque in Medina that still has the two directions (one
pointing toward Jerusalem and one
towards Mecca), namely Al-Qiblatain Mosque, as real
evidence for this intimate connection
between Jerusalem and Mecca. On the other hand,
Muslims still consider the places
where God spoke to Moses; where David and Soloman
repented to God and where the
mountains and birds had been put in their service; where
Issac asked his sons to bury him; and
where Christ was born, spoke in the cradle, the
banquet was descended from the
Heavens, where he was raised to the Heavens and where
Mariam passed away (16), as holy
places to be guarded. This is the real and sincere
attitude of all Muslims toward
Jerusalem, which shows their appreciation and respect for
all Prophets and their holy places as
an immense historical and religious responsibility.
On the contrary to this honorable
attitude, the Jews have been rude and aggressive toward
all Prophets (peace be upon
them all). They have changed and deformed all the real
teachings and texts of the
Bible. Muslims all over the world feel this responsibility because
Muslims are ordered to defend and
protect all of the Prophets’ legacy and heritage, and
they must fight any Jewish attempt to
deform and forge the truth and facts about these
human issues.
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