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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.
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