Jerusalem
By: Dr. Ahmad Shafaat
(1987)
THE ORIGINS OF JERUSALEM AND
ITS PLACE IN HISTORY
According
to ancient tradition, Jerusalem was at first a small village known as
Salem and inhabited by Canaanites, the ancestors of the Palestinians. A
great and righteous Canaanite king turned his village into a city and
called it Jerusalem. He also built a temple there. The tradition is
recorded by the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in his
book, The Great Roman-Jewish War. Josephus writes:
"But he who first built (the
city of Jerusalem) was a potent man among the Canaanites, and is in our
tongue called Melchizedek, 'The Righteous King', for such he really
was; on which account he was (there) the first priest of God, and first
built a temple (there), and called the city Jerusalem, which was
formerly called Salem."
According
to the Bible, Melchizedek was a contemporary of the Prophet Abraham
(upon whom be peace) who lived around 1800 BC. It can thus be said that
Jerusalem was originally a Canaanite city built, along with its temple,
by a Canaanite king some 3800 years ago.
From
1600 to 1300 BC the city came under Egyptian suzerainty, but continued
to be governed by Canaanite rulers who paid tribute to the Pharaohs.
During this period the city increasingly came under attacks from a
people known as Hapiru or Habiru, probably the same as Hebrews who are
presented in the Bible as the ancestors of Jews. In ancient Egyptian
writings on tablet discovered in 1897 and known as the Tell El-Amarna
Tablets, we find a correspondence exchanged between a Pharaoh in the
fourteenth century BC and Abdi-Kheba, the Canaanite ruler of Urasalim
(Jerusalem), in which the later appeals to his Egyptian overlord for
help against the pestering incursions of the Habiru.
Egyptians
and Canaanites had by now been seriously weakened by moral
degeneration, magic and superstition and it seems that the Habiru were
able to get a strong foothold in Northern Canaan or Palestine. In the
meantime, among the Israelite group of the Hebrews, who were living as
slaves in Egypt, there arose a great leader, the Prophet Moses (upon
whom be peace). Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and after him
Aaron and Joshua led them to Northern Canaan, where they joined other
Hebrews and shared their prosperity and freedom.
Despite
their numerous divisions and frequent lapses into idolatrous and
immoral practices, something of the tradition left by Moses lived on
among them and helped in the occasional rising of great men. Two such
men were King David and his illustrious son, Solomon. It was under King
David that the Israelites were first able to establish a strong kingdom
in the whole of Canaan. It was also then (about 1000 BC) that Jerusalem
first became a Jewish city, which King David proclaimed as the capital
of the kingdom of Judah. Later, King Solomon built a Jewish temple on
the site of the earlier Canaanite shrine built by Melchizedek.
After
Solomon's death, Jewish rule continued in Jerusalem under precarious
conditions for about four centuries, during which time it was
periodically besieged and taken by the Assyrians, the Philistines, the
Arabs, the Syrians and the Egyptians.
The Kingdom of Judah itself became a vassal State
and for long periods of time paid tribute to Assyria, Egypt and
Babylonia. In 587 BC, when the Kingdom of Judah was under Babylonian
suzerainty, Jews became extremely seditious and the Babylonians were
left with no choice but to move against them in full force. They
destroyed the Kingdom and its capital, the city of Jerusalem, burned
Solomon's temple and carried the Jews into captivity. Regarding this the Qur`an
says:
"And We made it known to the children of Israel in
the Book: 'Twice, indeed, will you do corruption on earth and will
become grossly overbearing; Hence when, the prediction of the first of
those two (periods of iniquity) came to pass, We sent against you some
of Our servants of terrible prowess in war, and they brought havoc
throughout the land and so the prediction was fulfilled.'" (17: 4-5)
About fifty years later, in 538 BC, the Persian
emperor Cyrus defeated the Babylonians and took control of Palestine.
He adopted a favorable policy towards the Jews and allowed them to
return them to Palestine and to rebuild the temple, which they did in
515 BC. Under the able leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah the Jews
reformed and reorganized their religious and political life and
prospered for awhile. The Babylonians meanwhile were absorbed by the
Persians. Referring
to these developments the Qur`an says:
"Then We let you prevail against them (i.e. those
who were sent to punish you) once again, and aided you with wealth and
offspring, and made you the more numerous in manpower." (17:6)
From
Persians, Palestine and Jerusalem passed on to Alexander the Great and
stayed under Greek rule from 332 BC onwards. The beginning of the end
of Greek rule came when in 167 BC they started placing idols in the
temple. This unwise action by the generally enlightened Greeks enabled
the Jews to organize a vigorous revolt under the Maccabees family and
in 164 BC they recovered Jerusalem. This Jewish rule over the city
lasted for about a hundred years, after which the Romans came in and
stayed in control, first as pagans and then as Christians, until the
time of the second Khalifa, "Umar ibn al-Khattab".
Their successors under the Maccabees had made the
Jews very arrogant. They had by now also developed a destructive
tendency to live in the past. Their reaction to Roman rule was blind
resistance and arrogant defiance. They produced such blind and violent
rebel movements as that of the Zealots who, without proper assessment
of the situation, wanted to take on the vastly superior Roman power.
The Jews also showed a stiff-necked attitude to the Messenger of God
who arose among them in about 30 CE in the person of Jesus Christ in order to teach them
humility, peacefulness, patience, faith, love and inward purity.
So God punished the Jews again, this time at the hands of the Romans.
In 70 CE, under Titus, son of the Emperor Vespasian, the Romans laid
siege to Jerusalem and won a victory. They then completely razed the
city and its temple. Together with the massacre, a famine occurred in
which many of the 200,000 to 600,000 inhabitants perished. Later, the
Romans, built a new city in place of Jerusalem and called it Aelia
Capitulina and they forbade Jews, upon pain of death, to enter it.
Referring to this defeat and destruction of the Jews and their capital,
the Qur`an
says:
"And so, when the prediction of the second (period
of your iniquity) came true, (We raised new enemies against you and let
them) disgrace you utterly, and to enter the Temple as (their
forerunners) had entered it once before, and to destroy with utter
destruction all that they conquered." (17:7)
During
all these changes in the fortunes of the ancient city and its temple
and changes in the political rule over them, a religious development
connected with them was also taking place. A whole set of religious
sentiments and ideas, some revealed and some produced by the minds of
men, was being woven around the city and the temple. One of the most
significant of the revealed ideas is the prophecy that Jerusalem and
the Temple, which had remained until then of only regional
significance, will one day become holy places for the entire world.
This prophecy is recorded in many forms in several books of the Bible -
Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, etc. (i.e. Isa 56:7 and Isa 2:3)
THE IMPACT OF THE PROPHETIC
MISSION ON JERUSALEM
The Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, started
his mission in the early years of the seventh century, when Jerusalem
was still under the control of the Romans, as it had been for more than
six centuries. The prophetic mission had a profound influence on the
history of Jerusalem and its temple, as it had on so many other aspects
of life. In particular, it resulted in the fulfillment of the prophecy that
one day Jerusalem will become a holy city 'for many nations' and its
temple, which lay in ruins in those days, will become 'a house of
prayer for all people'.
An
important part of the mission of the Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be
peace, was to reform and unify all the religious traditions of the
world, especially the two Abrahamic traditions — the Ishmaelite
tradition, which developed among the Arabs, and the Israelite
tradition, which developed among the Jews. Since
the Ka'bah in Makkah and 'Solomon's temple' in Jerusalem were important
institutions and symbols of these two branches of the Abrahamic
tradition, Islam, from the very beginning, showed a very keen interest
in them. Both houses of worship were at one time or
another qiblas, towards which Muslims faced when
they stood for prayers. In Makkah, the Prophet used to pray on the
south side of the Ka'bah facing north and thus facing both the Ka'bah
and the Jerusalem temple. But, clearly, no such orientation was
possible when he migrated to Medina, since Medina was between Makkah
and Jerusalem. One could not face both of them at one and the same
time. At first, in Medina, the Prophet continued facing north towards
Jerusalem, but about a year and a half after the hijra
(migration to Medina), the Qur`an finally fixed the Ka'bah as the qibla.
The reason for this preference was
that the Ka'bah was older (3:96), since it was built by the Prophets
Abraham and Ishmael, upon them both be peace. The
Jerusalem temple, at least as a house of worship in the monotheistic
Abrahamic tradition, is connected with the much later figure of King
Solomon.
The two houses of worship also appear in the
all-important Nocturnal Journey of the Prophet to Heaven. In a
reference to this journey, the Qur`an says:
'Glory to Him who transported His servant by night
from the Inviolable House of Worship — the environs of which We have
blessed — so that We show him some of our signs: for, verily, He is the
One who hears and sees all things' (17:1).
'The Inviolable House of
Worship' (Masjid al-Haram) is the Ka'bah in Makkah while 'the Remote
House of Worship' (Masjid al-Aqsa) is the temple hundreds of miles
north, in Jerusalem, or rather its site, since the temple itself had
been destroyed by the pagan Romans. In
a most profound mystic experience which took place about a year before
the hijra, the Prophet found himself spiritually
or, as many Muslims believe, physically transported from one house of
worship to the other and, from there, taken to heaven. According to
several well-documented traditions, at the site of the Jerusalem
temple, the Prophet met all the earlier prophets and led them in
congregational prayers. This vision or experience has several profound
meanings. Firstly, it
means that the mission of Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, was a
continuation of, and in essential harmony with, the work of all the
prophets. Secondly, it
means that Muhammad, upon whom be peace, is the chief of all the
prophets who confirms, completes and perfects their work in turn
supports and helps him. In this sense, the vision or experience is a
representation and renewal of the 'Covenant of the Prophets' mentioned
in the Qur`an:
'Behold;
God took the Covenant of the Prophets, saying, I give you a book and
wisdom: then comes to you a Messenger confirming what is with you; do
ye believe in him and give him help. God said, Do ye agree and take
this Covenant of mine binding on you? They said, We agree. He said,
Then bear witness and I am with you among the witnesses' (3:81).
Earlier
prophets, by ranging themselves in prayer behind the Prophet Muhammad,
reaffirmed this covenant, taken from them before the dawn of history.
Finally,
it means that, with the coming of the Prophet, the time had come for
the Jerusalem temple to become a house of prayer for all nations, as
had been predicted in earlier revelations. For the various prophets are
representatives of the nations in which they were raised and their
praying together behind the Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, at
the Jerusalem temple means that, under
Islam, people from all these nations will come to the temple and pray
there. This meaning of the vision began to be actualized
on the plane of history within a few decades after the vision took
place. But, in the meantime, Jerusalem was once again the scene of war
and destruction.
JERUSALEM'S PLACE IN ISLAMIC
HISTORY
Nearly
five years after the death of the Prophet, upon whom be peace,
Jerusalem surrendered to Muslims. Many neighboring cities had already
fallen to them and, in 637 C.E., they laid siege to Jerusalem itself.
Considering the holy character of Jerusalem,
Muslims were especially keen to avoid fighting, and the city's
defenders, the Christians, also soon realized that they did not stand a
chance against the Muslim forces. This resulted in a peaceful
conquest of Jerusalem by the Muslims.
One
of the conditions that the Christians put before the Muslims for a
peaceful surrender was that the commander-in-chief of the Muslims,
Khalifah 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, should come in person to take possession
of the city. The reason for this unusual request, which would have been
scornfully rejected by almost any other army, was probably that the people of Jerusalem had not forgotten
what the Persians had done when they took the city two decades earlier
– massacres, pillage and desecration of holy places. They must have
known that Muslims were different, but still some fears
about their security existed in their minds. Sensing that Muslims were
keen to avoid bloodshed, the city's Christian defenders tried to
exploit the situation in an attempt to extract maximum guarantees for
their security. A treaty of peace signed in person by the
commander-in-chief, rather than the local commander, would provide such
guarantee.
'Umar
ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, would, in any case, have
wanted, sooner or later, to visit the city. It was after all connected
with so many prophets, including David, Solomon and Jesus, may peace be
upon them all, and with the isra and mir'aj of Prophet Muhammad, upon
whom be peace. So, without much difficulty, he decided to accept the
Christian condition and went to Jerusalem, thus combining a visit to
the holy city with gaining the goodwill and trust of its people.
Khalifah 'Umar
arrived in Jerusalem with the simplicity and humility of appearance and
manner which were so characteristic of early Muslims. A treaty giving the vanquished Christians every
possible guarantee of security and religious freedom was signed. In
fulfillment of a request by the Christians, the treaty also affirmed a
ban on Jews (in force since 135 C.E.) preventing them from living in
Jerusalem. The
ban gradually lifted as Jerusalem changed from a Christian to a Muslim
city by conversions and Muslim settlements.
After
the city formally came under Muslim control, Khalifah 'Umar went to the
site of Solomon's temple. The Christian Patriarch Sophronious
accompanied him to identify the site. The place had been reduced to a
garbage dump. The last building that stood there was a temple of one of
the Roman gods, Jupiter, built by Aelius Hadrianus (who also changed
the name of the city to his own, in honour of Aelia) as a reaction to
the brief Jewish rebellion resulting in the Jewish takeover of
Jerusalem from 132 to 135 C.E. This pagan temple was either destroyed
or gradually reduced to rubble by centuries of neglect, resulting from
the fact that the Romans had converted to Christianity and thus
abandoned such earlier gods as Jupiter.
The
Christians showed no interest in restoring Solomon's temple, for in
their minds the temple was a Jewish institution which had little
relevance for Christianity. They were more interested in places where
the crucifixion and burial Jesus, upon whom be peace, supposedly took
place. On these sites, they built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
the fourth century C.E. If they showed any interest in Solomon's
temple, it was only out of an expectation that the temple will be
restored by Jesus, upon whom be peace, on his second coming.
The
Jews also did not do anything to restore the temple first because they
were denied access to the site by the Romans, but also because they too
had come to expect that the temple would be restored by the Messiah
when he returned to establish the kingdom of God on earth.
As
a result, the site of the sacred shrine lay neglected and garbage piled
up on it. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab joined other Muslims in cleaning the
place and then in erecting a wooden mosque. This
makeshift mosque later became the Masjid al-Aqsa, the same name which
the Qur`an uses for Solomon's temple. The boundary of the
area in which Solomon's temple once stood was not known exactly at the
time. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab therefore did not attempt to cover the whole
area with the mosque but only a sure part of it. About sixty years
later, in the reign of 'Abd al-Malik, another mosque was constructed on
a different part of the sacred area. 'Abd al-Malik also rebuilt the
mosque erected by Khalifah 'Umar. The area enclosed by the two mosques
is called the Haram ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) and constitutes
the third holiest place in Islam.
The fact that Solomon's
temple and the mosque built by Muslims have been given in Islam the
same name – Masjid al-Aqsa – points to a continuity, even identity,
between the two houses of worship.
This is the same type of continuity of identity that exists in Muslim
understanding between the religion of the Prophet Muhammad, upon whom
be peace, and of all the earlier prophets, including Solomon, a
continuity or identity which is often expressed in Islamic tradition by
saying that the religion of all the prophets was Islam.
THE QUR`ANIC PROPHECY
In
603 C.E., a war broke out between the Christian Roman (Byzantine)
Empire and the pagan Persian Empire which was to continue for about a
quarter century. At first, the Persians won sweeping victories,
conquering, by 613 C.E., Aleppo Antioch and the chief Syrian cities,
including Damascus. In 614, they took Jerusalem. A year or two later,
Egypt fell to them and, at about the same time, they laid siege to the
very seat of the Byzantine Empire — Constantinople or Byzantium.
When
the Persians took Jerusalem, burning, pillage and massacre followed.
The churches were reduced to ashes, the 'burial place' of Jesus, upon
whom be peace, was desecrated, and many relics, including what
Christians believe to be the 'true Cross' (i.e. the cross on which they
believed Jesus, upon whom be peace, to have been crucified by the pagan
Romans at the recommendation of the Jews), were carried away to Persia.
When the news of these events reached Makkah, it
was received with much more than usual interest and curiosity. The
Makkans identified themselves with the Persians, while the Muslims, who
numbered a few hundred at that time, sympathized with the Christians,
because the Prophet had recognized Jesus, upon whom be peace, as a true
prophet of God, the Gospel as originally based on divine revelation and
Jerusalem as a holy city. At the news of Persian victories, the pagan
Makkans exulted in delight and ridiculed the Muslims because they were
on the losing side. The Qur`an reacted to this situation and prophesied
that both the Christian defeats at the hands of the Persians and pagan
jubilations at those defeats will be short-lived:
'The Byzantines have been vanquished in the lands
close by; but they, notwithstanding this, their defeat, shall be
victorious within a few (three to nine) years: (for) with God rests all
power of decision, both before and after. On that day shall the
believers rejoice in the help of Good; He helps whom He wills and He is
All-Mighty and most Merciful; (this is) God's promise — but most people
do not know. They know only the outer surface of this world's life, but
of the end of things, they are unaware' (30:2-7).
When these verses were revealed in 615 or 616, the
total collapse of the Byzantine Empire seemed imminent. Not only had
the Empire lost many of its parts — Syria, Anatolia, Egypt and its
holiest city Jerusalem, and its very capital was under threat — but it
also had to deal with other enemies: Avars were pressing toward
Constantinople from the other side at the same time as the Persians
were knocking at its doors from the east. There were also internal
enemies. Jews who were discontent with centuries-old Roman domination
and a number of Christian sects who were persecuted as heretics by the
Romans joined the fray and sided with the Persians. There was also
famine and pestilence. When, therefore, the Qur`an predicted that the
Byzantines would be victorious within a period of three to nine years,
it is not surprising that the pagan Arabs received this with derision.
Pressed
and blocked on land, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius transported his
army by sea and took the Persians in the rear. The plan worked and, in
622, six or seven years after the Qur`anic prediction, he succeeded in
defeating the Persians at Issus, south of the Taurus Mountains.
Subsequently, he drove them out of Asia Minor. By 625, he penetrated
into Persia and was in a position to strike at the very heart of the
Persian Empire. In a decisive battle on the Tigris near the city of
Mosul in December 627, the Persians were completely routed. All that
the Persians had conquered, including Jerusalem, was back in Christian
hands.
Four
months later, in March 628, Heraclius celebrated his triumph. In
pursuance of a vow that he had made, he went south to Emessa and, from
there, marched on foot to Jerusalem to restore in its place the 'true
Cross' that had been carried away by the Persians and was now returned
to the emperor as a condition of peace.
Heraclius's
route was strewn with costly carpets on which he walked in purple robes
at the head of his general courtiers. He probably believed that the
final deliverance had come for his people and his empire, but, only ten
years later, when Heraclius was still in power, another conqueror
walked on foot to Jerusalem, this one not on costly carpets, in purple
robes or at the head of his generals and courtiers, but on sand, in
simple patched-up clothes and leading a horse on which a Black
Abyssinian slave (Bilal) of the Prophet was riding.
Heraclius's
victory over paganism, to the extent that it was a victory, was partial
and temporary. It was no more than a preparation for a more decisive
and lasting victory by a pure and perfect light that was shining in
Arabia in the south at the same time that Heraclius was battling with
the Persians. A ray of that light had, in fact, already reached
Heraclius. Either during his march to Jerusalem or after his arrival
there, he met a messenger carrying a letter from the Prophet Muhammad,
upon whom be peace, in which the Christian emperor was invited to the
divine light as manifested in its fullness in the Islamic revelation.
Heraclius did not realize the full import of the letter but he sensed
the truth in it and was greatly impressed by the story of the Prophet.
It is said that the Christian emperor would have declared himself a
Muslim were he not afraid of the unfavorable reaction of his people and
the priests around him.
It
is noteworthy that the Christian recovery of Jerusalem proceeds almost
parallel to the developments leading to the Muslim conquest of Makkah.
The year 622, when Heraclius won his first decisive victory over the
Persians at Issus, was also the year of the hijrah when Muslims found
significant support in Medina and their persecution at the hands of the
Makkan pagans ended. The year 624, when Heraclius carried his
counteroffensive to Persian territory, was also the year of the Battle
of Badr, when the Muslims decisively defeated a very much superior
force of Makkan pagans. In 630, about two years after Heraclius's march
to Jerusalem, the struggle of the Muslims against the pagans ended with
the conquest of Makkah. There is thus a double meaning in the Qur`anic
prophecy 'On that day shall the believers rejoice' (30:4). 'That day'
or 'that time' is the period from 622 to 630 when paganism received two
decisive blows simultaneously and, consequently, the believers had
cause for celebration.
MASJID AL-AQSA: THE FULFILLMENT
OF GOD'S PROMISE
The continuity between
Solomon's temple and the mosque constructed on its site is established
by some expectations found in Judeo-Christian tradition and fulfilled
by the construction of the mosque.
Thus, both the Jews and Christians believed that Solomon's temple would
be rebuilt by the Messiah. The term messiah has many varied meanings
attached to it in Judeo-Christian tradition, but the common denominator
of all these is 'a God-sent figure
who would establish God's kingdom on earth'. In this sense, the term
can be applied to the Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, with
greater justification than to any other figure. For he did
more than anyone else to establish the principle that God alone is the
real Lord and King of mankind. He also created a just and moral social
order on the basis of that principle in the world. The construction of Masjid
al-Aqsa on the site of Solomon's temple by the companions of the
prophet is thus a fulfillment of the Judeo-Christian expectation that
Solomon's temple will be restored not by ordinary men, but by the
Messiah, i.e. a figure sent by God to establish His kingdom on earth.
It
is interesting that early Muslims found the site of Solomon's temple
without any structure. Had there
been on it a Jewish or Christian place of worship, Islamic principles
of tolerance for other religions would have prevented Muslims from
demolishing such a place of worship and erecting a mosque in its place.
It is as if Providence had ensured that the site of Solomon's temple
would remain un-built for centuries until the Muslims arrived on the
scene.
Another Judeo-Christian
expectation about Solomon's temple, which is also found in the Bible,
is that one day it will become a house of prayer for all mankind. This happened
with the advent of Islam. Before Islam, Masjid al-Aqsa was
primarily a shrine for the Canaanite or Jewish people with some other
neighboring people occasionally joining them in its veneration. But
with the advent of Islam, it became a holy house of God and an object
of pilgrimage for an ever-increasing number of peoples — Arabs,
Egyptians, Ethiopians, Berbers, Syrians, Persians, Afghans, Indians,
Malays, Indonesians, Filipinos, Turks, Yugoslavs, etc.
The
Muslim construction of Masjid al-Aqsa also links up with the Prophet's isra,
his miraculous journey from Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa and his
leading all earlier prophets in prayer in the latter masjid. For the
Prophet's journey to Masjid al-Aqsa foreshadowed in a prophetic way the
journey of Islam from the city of its origin — Makkah — to Jerusalem,
and beyond, while his praying there as the imam of all the prophets
foreshadowed the joining in Islam of the followers of earlier religions
and their coming to Masjid al-Aqsa to offer prayers as pilgrims. Thus,
the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 637 C.E. and the construction of
Masjid al-Aqsa was an event of great religious and spiritual
significance which is both a symbol and proof of Islam's continuity of
the message of all the earlier prophets and of its destiny as a
movement to unite all mankind in a brotherhood under God.
From
637 to 1917, a period of about 13 centuries, Jerusalem remained under
Muslim control except for two relatively short periods. During all
these centuries of Muslim control, Jerusalem enjoyed peace and
security. There were no massacres, no burning and looting, no
desecration of holy places. The only conflict that marred the peace of
the city was the conflict between the various Christian sects for
control of the Christian holy sites, but Muslims were generally
successful in keeping them from violent confrontations.
The
two periods during which Muslims lost control of Jerusalem were 1099 to
1187 and 1229 to 1238(39) C.E. During the first of these two periods,
the crusaders took control of the city, bringing back to it the death
and destruction which had so often been the city's lot in pre-Islamic
times. The second period of non-Muslim control was the nine- or
ten-year period starting in 1229 when the German emperor, Frederick II,
managed, by diplomacy and intrigue, to conclude a treaty with Sultan
Malik al-Kamil which conceded Jerusalem and some other neighboring
cities to the emperor. With the death of Malik in 1238(39), the treaty
expired, and despite Christian attempts to retain control over the
city, Jerusalem returned to Muslim hands. And it then remained in
Muslim hands until December 9, 1917, when the British occupied it
during the First World War.
The
British mandate over Palestine and Jerusalem ended on May 15, 1948
without making any provision for a successor administration. This
enabled the Zionists, who had been migrating to Palestine in increasing
numbers, in connivance with the British, from the Middle East and
Europe, to proclaim the Zionist state of Israel. In the conflict which
erupted between the Arab nationalists and Zionists, the latter extended
their control over four-fifths of Palestine, including most of
Jerusalem, and then moved, by massacres and other terrorist acts, to
expel the Muslim inhabitants of the captured territory. The small part
of Jerusalem that was left in Muslim hands and that contained most of
the holy places fell to the Zionists in the June, 1967 war. Since that
time, some small but determined Jewish terrorist groups with the
support of a few equally small and determined Christian groups have
made several attempts to destroy the Masjid al-Aqsa.
The
history of Jerusalem is, therefore, no ordinary history. In this
history, the purpose of God is manifested in a very special way. The
events that have taken place in Jerusalem in recent years or are now
taking place also have divine purpose. They are meant, it seems, to
remind us that we have not been living up to our responsibility as
Muslims to strive to make supreme the word of God. They are also meant,
it seems, to prepare for yet another decisive battle, both of arms and
of ideas, between tawhid and shirk, between the
worship of the one true universal God and the worship of the three
idols of Zionism: nation, race and land.