Chapter V : Other Holy Cities in Palestine

1. Hebron

Hebron is the second holy city in Palestine and, perhaps, even holier than Jerusalem. It is called ‘al-Khalil’, or ‘Khalil Al-Rahman’, abbreviated from ‘The City of the Friend of God’, the friend of God being Abraham [p. 899, vol. 9, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics]. It is reputed to be the oldest city in the world, or at least one of the oldest. It is the burial place of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their wives, as well as of Joseph. The mosque, known as ‘Haram Ibrahim’ – The sanctuary of Abraham – or Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi, is supposed to be originally a Crusaders’ Church. Hebron was the first capital of David. The Crusaders captured it in 1099, but it was retaken by Saladin in 1187.

The sacredness of the town for the Muslims derives from the twofold fact that Abraham is the father of the Arabs as well as the Jews, and that the Jewish prophets and leaders, and their wives, buried there are regarded by Muslims with reverence and sanctity. Abraham is usually referred to by the Arabs as ‘Abuna Ibrahim Al-Khalil’ – ‘Our Father Abraham the Friend’. Abraham is said to have pitched his tent under the oaks of Mamre. Josephus regards Hebron as an Edomite (Arab?), and not a Jewish, city. The city shared the fate of Palestine under the Romans, Byzantines and Arabs and Muslims. In 1912, there were only 2 000 Jews among 22 000 Muslim Arabs.

The sacredness of the town centres around the Haram which consists of the Mosque on the south side. It is believed that the Mosque was originally a building erected by the Crusaders in 1167-87, probably on the site of a church. Two openings in the floor are said to lead to the Cave of Macphelah(18). There are, above ground, six shrines of Isaac and Rebecca, of Abraham and Sarah, and of Jacob and Leah. The oldest building of the Mosque dates back to 1331, under the Mamluk Sultan Muhammad Ibn Kalawun. The Mosque is also famous for its twelfth-century workmanship pulpit, similar to that of Al-Aqsa.

This is another example of a town venerated by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. I think such towns in Palestine could have continued to be respected and worshipped in by the followers of the three great religions if the Crusaders and the Zionists had not introduced a nationalist and secular element into their endeavour. The example of Sultan ’Isa Al-Mu’azzam, referred to above, could have served as a guide.

Hebron is one of the sacred places in Palestine to which pious visits are made by Muslims. The Prophet is said to have given Hebron as a fief to one of his famous companions, Tamim Ibn Aus Al-Dari. The descendants of this holy man are still in existence in large numbers in Hebron, Nablus, Beersheba, and Transjordan. Mujir Al-Din Al-Hanbali gives in his book on the history of Jerusalem and Hebron accounts of the ancient and Arab families in Hebron. In their “Handbook of Palestine” [p. 112, London, 1930], Luke and Keith-Roach say about Hebron: ‘Except for a small Jewish community, Hebron is a Muslim town and, owing to its connexion with Abraham, is a place of intense Muslim veneration. The town . . . is a remarkably complete specimen of an Arab city.’ Not very far from Hebron, to the west, somewhere near Bait-Jibran, the battle of Ajnadan was fought in A.D. 634 when Amir, an Arab commander, routed a large Byzantine army.

2. Gaza

Another town of Islamic and Arab significance is the town of Gaza, or Ghazza in Arabic, in the south of the maritime plain between Mount Carmel and the frontier with Egypt. It was the southernmost of the five allied cities of Ascalon, Ashdod, Gath, Ekron, and Gaza of the ‘Pelishtim’ or Philistines, the non-Semetic people who were inhabiting the country of Peleshat in the plain. In the course of history, Gaza has been the scene of innumerable battles. Its affinities in antiquity lied generally with Egypt. During the great war between Egypt and Assyria, and also between Syria and Egypt, the Philistine plain generally, and Gaza particularly, became strategically important. The strife between the Jews and the Philistines dragged on until the Maccabaeans succeeded in subjugating them. The Assyrians captured the town in 734 B.C., and it was also ruled by the Babylonians and Persians in addition to the Egyptians. Alexander the Great took it after a protracted siege, and it was contested for a long time by the Ptolemies and the Seleucids. In 96 B.C. it was seized and destroyed by Alexander Jannaeus. A new Gaza was built some distance to the south. After Herod, the town became part of the Roman province of Syria. Under the Romans, Gaza enjoyed a peaceful and prosperous life. The Arabs conquered it in A.D. 634.

Gaza was the meeting-place of three trade routes, besides the direct route from Egypt to Damascus. The first was the frankincense route from the Yemen through the Hejaz to Petra and off to Gaza; the second was the sea route from the east, to Elath (Aqaba) and then to Petra or Gaza; the third connected Gaza with lower Mesopotamia by way of Petra and Jauf. For Gaza, the most important route was the frankincense route. When Alexander the Great took Gaza, the booty included vast stores of frankincense. The demand for this commodity in ancient worship was very great. Gaza was then the largest city in Palestine and Syria [p. 109, Luke and Keith-roach]. Gaza is still an important market-place for the southern part of Palestine. In 1912, it was inhabited by about 40.000 people, of whom 150 were Jews.

Muslim tradition regards Gaza as the birth-place of Solomon. It is somewhat holy in the eyes of Muslims because the Prophet’s great-grandfather Hashim, a rich trader from Mecca, died in Gaza and was buried there. Hence Gaza is called Hashim’s Gaza. ’Umar ibn Al-Khattab, who became the second Muslim Caliph, was captured in Gaza and taken prisoner before Islam. It is also holy because it is the birth-place of Al-Shafi’i, the founder of one of the four religious schools of Sunni Islam.

The mosque of Hashim, which contains the tomb of the great-grandfather of the Prophet, is one of the major monuments of Gaza.

3. Ramla

Ramla, a town between Jaffa and Jerusalem, was founded in the year 716 by the Umayyid Caliph Suleiman, son of Abdul-Malik, builder of the Dome of the Rock. The word ‘ramla’ means ‘a spot of sand’. The Arabs have a historical custom of calling newly-founded towns by names which indicated the nature of the site or the terrain. This is exemplified in the names of Basra, Barqa, Hadba, Hijr, etc. In Ramla, Suleiman built a palace for himself, part of which is still standing, but the most remarkable monument of the town is the Tower of Ramla, which is still standing. Built early in the fourteenth century, it served as the minaret for the mosque, known as the White Mosque, Al-Jami’ Al-Abyad, now in ruins, built by Suleiman outside the town. The building was restored by Salah Al-Din (Saladin) in 1190, and Sultan Baibars built a minaret and a dome in 1268. Other restorations were made during the period of Sultan Muhammad Al-Nasir, as indicated by an Arabic inscription above the door, dated 1318. The Tower is sometimes called the Tower of the 40 Martyrs, according to a Muslim or Christian tradition that maintains that 40 martyrs are buried under the mosque. Inside the town, there is the Great Mosque (Al-Jami Al-Kabir), claimed to have been originally a Christian church of the twelfth century.

The Umayyad Caliphs were generally interested in Palestine. Apart from their magnificent buildings in Jerusalem and Ramla, they built palaces in Jericho such as the Palace of Hisham, and used to visit the lake of Tiberias in the north, a tradition maintained by other later Caliphs.(19)

4. Nablus

Nablus, the ancient Sechem, is a large Palestinian town between Haifa and Jerusalem, along the road on the hills and through the Plain of Esdraelon. According to one tradition, Nablus is the Holy House (Beit Al-Maqdis) and not Jerusalem. It is famous, among other things, for the Samaritan community that has lived there since the eighth century B.C. There are three large mosques in the city, the Great Mosque (Al-Jami’ Al-Kabir),  believed to have been originally a basilica built by Justinian, and later rebuilt by the canons of the Holy Sepultchre in 1167. The two other mosques, Al-Khadra and Al-Nasr, are also believed to be of Crusading origin. The former, Al-Khadra, stands on the traditional spot where Joseph’s brothers brought his coat to his father, Jacob. A little farther to the north of Jami’ Al-Masakin, is a mosque beside which is the traditional spot where Jacob’s sons are buried. The Well of Jacob lies just outside the eastern end of the city. A famous Muslim mystic, Shaikh Abd Al-Ghani Al-Nabulusi, traces his descent to Nablus. There is also in Nablus a Shrine in the memory of Mujir Al-Din.(20)

As we go up north in Palestine, Muslim associations become comparatively thinner. It is mostly in the eighteenth and  ninetheenth centuries that the northern part of Palestine became prominently involved in political and military affairs. The battle of Hittin in 1187 took place near Tiberias, when the Crusaders were defeated by Saladin. The village is also reputed to be the burial-place of the Prophet Shu’aib (Jethro). To the north-west of Jenin, the battle of Ain Jalut took place in A.D. 1260 between Mamluk Baibars and Kotuz of Egypt on the one hand and the Mongol hordes on the other(21). Towards the middle of the 18th century, Shaikh Dahir Al-Umar(22) made himself master of central Palestine, with Acre as his capital. His successor, Jazzar Pasha, ruled the country as far north as the Dog River and Baalbek in Lebanon, with Acre still as the capital. He is known for his buildings, especially the famous Jazzar Mosque in Acre. In 1799 Acre was successfully defended against Napoleon, and there are still in northern and central Palestine stories and legends about the part played by the people of Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, and the surrounding villages in dispatching contingents against Napoleon. In 1832, Ibrahim Pasah from Egypt destroyed Acre, and again contingents were sent from those towns and villages to repel the Egyptian army. In 1840 Acre was bombarded by British and Austrian vessels.