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Jerusalem and Islam
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Tent of Wounded
Pillars By
Mr. Khalid Nusseibeh
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Sometimes, ideas may be
likened to a tent in a desert that houses the beliefs of a group,
but at times, encounters a storm that partially changes the
structure of the tent, perhaps some of the pillars on which it
stands.
Tragically, the changed structure of the tent (which, in this
context, corresponds to a group's sense of the sacred, of what is
true) becomes a harbinger of conflict among religious denominations,
among tribes, even among civilizations... Likewise, oftentimes it
creates a movement in a culture's direction, which may have negative
consequences for a society for many an era.
To extend the metaphor further, the truth that the ancestral
patriarch of monotheists-- Abraham-- communicated was, in essence,
human surrender to the One God, coupled with an adherence to His
Revealed Doctrine and Law. In effect this basic doctrine or truth
was disseminated and taught by Isaac, Jacob and Ishmael and many
other Prophets, the seal of whom, according to Muslims, is the
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)-- to whom was revealed the Holy
Qur'an.
It is not a coincidence that the ummah (community) of God's Final
Revelation, to which any human being of any tribe, race or
geographic location may belong-- through witnessing that there is
Only One God and Muhammad is His Messenger-- became custodian of
Mecca's Sacred Sanctuary (built by Abraham and Ishmael), and of
Jerusalem. To Muslims, the Arabization and Islamization of Jerusalem
and Palestine represented the worldly vindication of monotheistic
faith manifested in the governance of Islam's tolerant and just
system of Law and values.
The realization of these ideals in actual human reality (i.e. the
Arab-Muslim history of Jerusalem)-- in a multi-ethnic,
multi-denominational urban setting-- was a task that Arab and
non-Arab Muslims undertook to perform with varying degrees of piety,
political success, moral probity and judiciousness.
The opening of Mecca by the Prophet Muhammed and the faithful in AD
7th century (1st Hijri) and the purification of its Sacred Sanctuary
was a crescendo in the human striving to demolish idolatry and to
cleanse the House of Allah from its evil. Equally, the Arab Muslim
conquest of Jerusalem in roughly the same period was a milestone in
terms of ushering in the age of the political sovereignty of the
Unitarian, Universal Caliphate of Islam.
The pact signed between the Patriarch Sophronious and 'Umar Ibn Al-Khattab
(the second Rightly Guided Caliph) on the hour of the Arab-Islamic
opening of Jerusalem in AD 637 was an enduring framework for
dignified coexistence between Christians and Muslims in the shadow
of God's Final Revealed Code. The liberation of Jerusalem
symbolized, moreover, the vindication of early Christian and Jewish
teachings insofar as Islam is the consummation and perfect
elaboration of earlier monotheistic Revealed Religions.
Paradoxically, therefore, Islam was Heaven's vindication of the
Torah revealed to Moses (peace upon him), as it was a vindication of
the original teachings and doctrines of Christianity (which
prophesied the mission of Muhammad)-- and yet, it was viewed by many
churches, by many Jewish theologians as a heresy. Inevitably, this
fostered much conflict through the prolonged wars of the crusades,
and in the present day, through the Zionist occupation of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is the Holy City of Peace or Salaam. Salaam is one of the
Attributes of the One God who gives people the blessing of peace
when the pillars of His Covenant with mankind are revered and
observed: faith in the One God, His angels, His Revealed Books, His
Messengers, the Hereafter and Divine Predestination—and observance
of and obedience to His Merciful and Just Law.
The earth is in need of making peace with Heaven: to achieve that,
its inhabitants must honor the pact with God which includes
spreading justice, mercy and love on earth, and resisting
oppression, corruption and bigotry. Then, the reasonable foundations
of peace may be built.
(Indeed We have sent Our Messengers with the ostensive proofs, and
We sent down with them the Book and the Balance, that man may uphold
equity. And We have sent down iron, wherein is mighty power and many
uses for mankind; that God may know who helps Him and His Messengers
in the unseen). (Holy Qur'an, Sura 57, Ayah 25)
March 24, 1999
Mr. Khaled Nusseibeh is a translator and writer. He currently
manages the Ubada Center for Writing and Translation Services in
Amman. Born in Amman in 1961, he obtained his BA and MA from
Columbia and Princeton Universities, respectively. Mr. Nusseibeh,
who originates from Jerusalem, specialized in Near Eastern Studies
with a focus on Islamic thought and studies.
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