Arab and Islamic Identity of Al Quds

By : Dr Abduljaleel Abdulmahdi(*)

The topic of this paper is Jerusalem as it is geographically defined by its historian Mujeer Eddine Al 'Ulaimi Al Hanbali in his book “Al Uns Al Jaleel Bi Tarikh Al Quds”. The description runs as follows :

“As for the boundaries attributed by custom to Bayt Al Maqdis in regard to the Qibla and referred to as the jurisdiction of Al Quds Al Sharif :

- Starting at the Qibla : area of the land of our lord Abraham, may peace and prayers be upon him, separated by the village of Sa’ir and the surrounding areas, and falling under the jurisdiction of Jerusalem.

- From the East : the River Jordan.

- From the north : the jurisdiction of the city of Nablus and lying between the two is the village of Sanjal.

- From the West : the lands beyond Ramla and the village of Bayt Nuba, falling under the jurisdiction of Jerusalem.

In the present paper, I will address the Arab identity of Jerusalem in relation to the faith, as a symbol and in relation to this city’s history and civilisation. In this exercise, focus will be laid on the following axes :

- The Arab identity of Jerusalem before the Islamic conquest. This will be tackled through a study of the city's historical roots and rise, and the linguistic and civilisational significance of its different names.

- The Arab and Islamic identity of Jerusalem after the Islamic conquest. This aspect will be tackled through addressing the city's sanctity, the features of this holiness and the status enjoyed by the city. Another aspect which will be addressed is the Islamic conquest and the continuity of the Arab and Islamic presence there as proof of the Arab and Islamic identity of Jerusalem. A close look will be taken at the ‘Umariyya Covenant and its significance.

- Aspects of the city's holiness.

- The architectural, civilisational and cultural heritage of the holy city and how indicative it is of its Arab identity.

- The Zionist claim that Jerusalem was of no importance to the Muslims before the Crusades.

- The holy site of Al Buraq Wall, our right thereto and other Islamic waqf.

- The continuity of the Arab and Islamic presence throughout the ages.

- The insignificance of the Jewish presence there in ancient times.

Jerusalem : Pre-Islamic Historical Origins

The Canaanite Jebusite Era

A contemporary historian once wrote : “The use of a scientific approach in studying the history of cities requires that the historian engage in a search for the remnants that document the birth of the city whose history he is intent on writing about. Once he produces such documents, he can move on to the phases of childhood and adulthood of the life span of the city, and from there on to the other phases of its prosperity, its major events and its landmarks”(1).

Many eras succeeded one another in the history of Jerusalem before the Islamic conquest accomplished during the reign of 'Umar Ibn Al Khattab, May Allah be pleased with him. The earliest of these eras was the Jebusite Canaanite phase during which Jerusalem (Jebus) was founded.

The Jebusite Canaanites settled in Palestine, which was named “the Land of Canaan” in reference to its inhabitants. The name was a reflection of the identity of the people who settled there and is the oldest name ever known to the region(2). 

The Canaanites migrated from the Arab Peninsula, settled in these holy lands and lived there from 2500B.C, giving these lands the name of their Arab Semitic tribe, Canaan(3).

Many migratory movements took place from the Arab Peninsula to Mesopotamia and the Greater Syria as early as the fifth millennium before the birth of the Christ. The migration of the Canaanites from the Arab Peninsula was one of the earliest migratory movements ever recorded.

The historian Henry Breasted says : “The Canaanites were Arab tribes that settled in Palestine in the year 2500B.C. This explains why Palestine was known as the Land of Canaan, and was referred to as such even in the Torah”. This historian maintains that the Canaanite towns had an ancient civilisation, beautifully built houses and a highly developed government system… industries, trade, sciences and religion which were later on assimilated by the Israelites(4).

Many of the ancient cities still standing today were built by the Canaanites. They are reported to have built 118 or 119 cities, some of whose names are : Areha, Usdud, Bir Essabae, Bethlehem, Halhul, Akka, Al Karmel, Al Majdal, Beit Shan, Shikim, Jebus, and others. We will focus here on the city of Jebus(5).

The Jebusites built their homes in Jebus and surrounded the city with a great wall. They set up a government system and their first king was Malki-zedek who believed, as did his people, in monotheism, and created laws, rules and legislation(6).

It is written in the Tel El Amarna Tablets that the Land of Canaan used to refer to the Syrian coasts which were defined in ancient documents as the Syrian coast up to the borders of Egypt and included the mountainous part and the flat lands of Jordan.

Its original boundaries were reported as being Hamath in the North, the countryside of Syria and of Arab lands in the East, and more Arab lands in the South. Its lands did not stretch to the Mediterranean Sea on the western front, because the Palestinians lived on that coast from their emergence to their extinction(7).

Abdi Khipa, Egyptian governor of Jerusalem wrote a number of letters in which he drew the attention of Akhnaton to the dangers besieging Egyptian sovereignty over Palestine. Of such letters were the ones numbered 286 and 290. In the first one, one can read : “I have solicited the help of the King of Egypt to fend off the raids of the Hebrews on Urushalem”. In another letter, (n=287), the governor Abdi Khipa writes : “The King has declared the land of Urushalem as his property. Therefore, I cannot abandon the land of Urushalem”. In letter (n=289), he writes : “They (the enemies) are trying to lay claim to Urushalem.

But if this land belongs to the King, do we let it fall in their hands. If only the King would send us a fifty-man strong battalion to protect the city. The lands of the King have all risen”.

The Egyptians and Canaanites were able to repel the attacks of the Hebrews on the two occasions when the Land of Canaan was invaded. The first of these raids was carried out in 1600 B.C., and the second one towards 1200 B.C. Though the Hebrews managed to defeat the Canaanites, the conflict remained between the two rivals(8).

Canaan comprised the valleys of Philistia and was Phoenician on the coastal parts. “Palestine” is a derivative of the name of the people who used to live in the northern and southern plains of Palestine.

The earliest record of this was the name given by the Assyrian king Adanirai IV when he referred to the coast of Philistia, inhabited then by the Philistines.

The name “Palestine” was given to the region for the first time when Emperor Vespasian engraved his name on the coins he minted immediately after quelling the Hebrew revolution in 70 A.D. This word was used in ancient times to refer to Pelishtim or Philistines. The Torah reads :

“Rejoice not Philistia” (Joshua, 14/39).

“The call took over the people of Pelishtim” (Exodus, 15/14-15).

At the time of Herodotus and other subsequent writers, the name Palestine was used to refer to the coastal and internal parts of the country. Herodotus lived four centuries before the birth of Christ and this part of Syria was known then as Palestine.

The Jewish historian Josephus (37-59) mentioned the name Palestine in its comprehensive form and as comprising the coastal and inland parts.

The Greeks used the same name which was also adopted by the Romans and the Byzantines. The Romans divided Palestine into the following parts : the first, second and third Palestine.

As for the Arabs, they gave this name to the Roman potentate in the region and called it the first Palestine, arabicising the name long before the advent of Islam(9).

No king was able to subdue the Palestinians, except for David and Solomon and only for a brief period in history.

The Canaanites, including the Jebusites, established a unique Canaanite civilisation and distinguished themselves as edifiers of cities, realizing great achievements in farming and industry. They were the first to have introduced the olive tree in the country, and they transferred this knowledge to the peoples who lived after them'. They were equally skilled in pottery and weaving, glass blowing, the working of ivory, the manufacturing of weaponry and metal working, and during their times, trade prospered.

The Canaanites were described as the inventors of writing, trading and civilisation”.

Describing the Jebusites, a historian wrote : “They soon became a civilised people. Jerusalem, then called Jebus, was the manifestation of this civilisation which could clearly be perceived in the buildings, architecture, the means of subsistence and the prosperity of its inhabitants”. The first people to have settled in Palestine, the Canaanite Jebusites, were also the first people to give birth to the ancient civilisation of Palestine.

The Canaanite language was widely used. It is an ancient Arabic language which was used by the inhabitants of the Arab Peninsula before their migration. It gave birth to many dialects, one of which is this Canaanite language(10). 

The Canaanites were the first to use the alphabet in writing. Later, they transferred this knowledge to the Phoenicians who in turn transferred it, between 850 and 750 B.C, to Greek and Latin. In Greek, it became known under its Arabic name -the Alphabet- (alif baa). “The inscriptions on Mount Sinai were in ancient Canaanite”. Some researchers maintain that the invention of the alphabet took place in the region of Palestine and Syria(11).

In his book “The Arab Culture”, Al 'Aqqad says about the alphabet and its Canaanite origin : “… the names of letters, their forms and their significance are evidence of Arabic origins, whether Phoenician, Arabian, or South Yemenite. The alphabet was known to the Greeks as Alpha Beta, and started with the letters alif, baa and taa, and then many other letters pronounced in their Arabic form...” The Canaanites invented this alphabetical writing in Sinai and south of Palestine.

All of this serves only to confirm that the language commonly used in Palestine at the time was Arabic in origin, and that the Arab Canaanite Jebusites used this language in Jebus (Jerusalem).

It also shows beyond doubt that Jerusalem in particular and Palestine in general, was Arab in origin, in language and in most manifestations of their civilisation.

Describing Jerusalem in the Bronze Age, the Dutch orientalist researcher Franken says that the language of the Jebusites was Canaanite, and that “their beliefs were of the same nature as those of the Canaanites”. He pointed out that the decoding of the many inscriptions and texts found in Ras Shamra (ancient Ugaret), revealed that the Hebrew words and expressions which were suspected by scientists as having religious connotations turned out to pertain to the concept of cult in the Canaanite language', and that “all the Israeli laws, rites, ceremonies, songs and proverbs were borrowed from the Amorites and the Canaanites who lived in the region before the arrival of the Hebrews”(12).

Therefore, the language that was used then was a “Semitic Arabic language often referred to as Canaanite”, says this researcher(13).

Jerusalem remained Arab, Canaanite and Jebusite until it was invaded by the Hebrews two thousand years later, i.e. towards 1000 B.C.

This clearly shows that Jerusalem was not Hebrew, but was invaded by the Hebrews who remained intruders to this city. The Torah says that Palestine was a land of exile for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who remained strangers among the original inhabitants of the land of Palestine, the Canaanites. They were foreigners and remained intruders in Palestine. The Torah also said that Abraham went into exile in the land of the Palestinians, and that Jacob settled in Canaan, the land where his father was exiled(14).

The other peoples who lived in Jerusalem are Amorites, the 'Amaliqa, the Edmites, the Nabatheans and the Jebusites, long before Abraham arrived there and before the Jews were evicted from Egypt(15).

History books report that this invasion failed at first thanks to the steadfastness of the original inhabitants of Jerusalem. The 'Amaliqa fought off the Hebrews, as did the Edmites who tried to prevent them from reaching Urushalem. They were also fought by the Jebusites at the gate of their city.

This struggle persisted for a long stretch of history. Mujeer Eddine Al 'Ulaimi says that the Jebusites forced the Israelites to leave Jebus, and deflected the campaigns led by the Hebrews for many centuries(16). 

When the Hebrews managed to take hold of Al Quds : “They laid claim to it, applied the sword against it and set it alight”(17). However, their success was made possible by the conflicts that divided the Canaanite tribes at the time of the invasion.

The Palestinian coast, from the north of Yafa to the south of Gaza was not ruled by David ; it was under the control of Egypt. This is evidence that not all of Palestine fell in the hands of the invaders. The original inhabitants remained in their lands and their houses, and the Jews lived for a period of time as a minority among them until they were captured and taken as slaves to Babel. ..'(18).

Gustave Le Bon says : “The settling of Hebrews in Palestine occurred gradually. The Hebrews had to wait for many centuries before they could achieve an ephemeral hold over Palestine, let alone be its masters”. He added : “The Jebusites lived in Palestine ; and sovereignty there belonged to the Palestinians. The situation remained as such until the reign of David”(19) .

The Jews did not have a civilisation, so they adopted that of the Jebusites when they began to settle in Jerusalem. They left their tents behind and moved into houses, discarded the skins and hides they wore as clothes, and started to wear woven clothes like the Canaanites(20).

The Jews entered Palestine as rustic Bedouins and borrowed much from the Canaanites, including their language which became the Jews' official language. According to some researchers, “It is easy to see that the masters of the Hebrews in civilisation and arts were the original inhabitants of the land. It is therefore no wonder that the original language of the land prevailed over their own language”.

As invaders, the Jews did not have a language, a culture or a civilisation of their own. They built theirs on “a purely Canaanite heritage as history and its events have shown”. Thus, Jerusalem, and all of Palestine, remained “Canaanite in terms of culture, civilisation and language”(21).

Jerusalem was raided many times by the Assyrians and the Caledonians. During the latter’s invasion of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar attacked the city, captured all the Jews and took them to Babel (Babylon) as slaves, setting fire to the temple. The dynasty of David was exterminated and the city was evacuated. Not one single Hebrew remained in Palestine, and Jerusalem remained in ruins for seventy years, until the Persian king Korsh rebuilt it and allowed the Jews to return there(22).

Upon their return, “people from the east and west of Jordan” rose against them and sent many petitions to the Persian king who succeeded Korsh to the throne, warning him against the Jews(23).

This was a clear indication of the persistent hatred between Jews and the original inhabitants of the city and the latter's resentment of them. Their attempts bore fruits and orders were issued banning Jews from returning to Jerusalem. They remained shunned until permission was given to them by Dara II to build homes there. Nonetheless, they were resisted by the population from Transjordan and Palestine, as well as by the Assyrians and the Palestinians, which resistance betrayed the original inhabitants' resentment of the return and settlement of Jews in Palestine.

Under Alexander the Macedonian, the Greeks occupied Palestine and defeated the Persians. When Alexander died, Jerusalem and its surroundings fell under the control of the Ptolemaic in Egypt, then under that of the Seljuks. In 63 B.C., the Roman commander Pompeii marched into Palestine, besieged Jerusalem, conquered it, and put an end to the political independence of the Jews who continued to live under the rule of other nations.

Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman emperor Titus, and was abandoned for a long span of time after its occupation by Titus' who banned the Jews from returning there ; Rome was  convinced that Jews were 'the source of trouble and the unrest that marred the whole country in general, and Jerusalem in particular'. The Jews left Palestine, and since then 'they had never had much significance in history'. Jerusalem fell into ruins during the rule of Emperor Hadrian who annihilated it. It became a small hamlet falling under the jurisdiction of Qissariyya. In 139, Hadrian built a new city on the ruins of the old one, and named it Aelia Capitolina.

When the Roman Empire split into two blocks : eastern and western, Palestine fell under the control of Constantine.

Towards 615 A.D., the Persians, triumphing over the Romans, took hold of Syria and Palestine, and occupied Jerusalem. The Jews embarked on a revenge campaign against the Christians in Jerusalem and other parts of Palestine.

In 625, Hercules defeated the Persians and entered Jerusalem. He evicted all the Jews from Palestine. The Christians took their revenge over them, and many massacres were perpetrated on both sides in the pre-Islamic era. Filled with hatred for the Jews, the Christians set as a condition for the Jews’ surrender and signature of the Covenant of Omar that no Jew be allowed to reside in Jerusalem(24).

The City’s Names and their Linguistic

and Civilisational Significance

Jerusalem was given many names that reflected its history, its glory, and often the composition of its population. These names were the subject of study by linguists and by other scholars interested in the history of Islamic civilisation; their meanings and significance will be discussed in the following paragraphs.

As centuries went by, the city accumulated various names, each reflecting part of its civilisational heritage, its religious position, etc. These names are mentioned in the Quran, the hadith, history, literature, travel literature, atlases, and special books dedicated to extolling the virtues of our holy city.

One of the oldest names was Jebus, which was used during the era of the Canaanite Jebusites who founded the city circa 3000 B.C. It is said that Malki-zedek, the king of the Jebusites, was the first one to draw up the layout of Jebus and to build it. After him, came Salem the Jebusite who expanded it and built a tower on Mount Zion.

Thus, the holy city was named after its Jebusite founders who settled in and around the City of Peace. As was customary in those days, the city was named after this Arab Canaanite tribe(25).

This name appears in the Book of Genesis, and in Judges : Jebus is Urushalem, and ‘Urushalem is the City of the Jebusites’(26).

In the fifteenth century before the birth of the Christ, it was known by the name of Urusalem.

This name is made up of two parts : Uru, a Canaanite word meaning “city”, and “salem”, a derivative of the word peace. It is highly probable that it was named the City of Peace, the House of Peace, or the Legacy of Peace. It is also believed that it was named so in tribute to Salem, Shalem or Shaleem. Perhaps it served as a temple for the Semitic deity called Salem as Shalem or Shalam, a Canaanite word meaning “peace”.

Worthy of note is that the ruler Malki-zedek was such a great lover of peace that he was named the “king of peace”. It is quite possible that the names Shalem, Shaleem or Salem were derived from this(27).

This same name appeared in the Tel El Amarna Tablets which contained the letters addressed by King Abdi Khipa (Egyptian ruler of Jerusalem) to the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep IV known as Akhnaton, requesting help to fend off the attacks of the highlanders (Abiru, Hebrew or Khabiru). These were the Hebrews hailing from the northern countryside. The governor clearly expressed the danger they posed to the Egyptian sovereignty over Palestine(28).

In these letters, Abdi Khipa goes on to say : “This land, the land of Urusalem, was not given to me by my father or mother. It was the King’s mighty hand that set me firmly in the land of my forefathers and ancestors. I was not a prince, but a soldier in the service of the King, a subject. The eternal ownership of the land of Urusalem was given to the King and cannot be surrendered to the enemies”.

This shows why the name Urusalem was recurrent in the Canaanite writings that date back to the fifteenth century BC(29).

Al ‘Ibri maintains that it was Malki-zedek who built the village of peace. He goes on to say : “Hence its name Salem, Shalim or Orosalam. He lived there for the rest of his life, dedicated to worship, observing celibacy, and never took a life. He ate nothing, save bread and wine, and was called the king of peace(30)”.

In other sources, the city is said to have been called Aushamem. This version appears in an ancient Egyptian inscription that dates back to the nineteenth century B.C. In the ancient Egyptian scrolls, the name Aushamem appears as that given to the city of Urushalem. In these documents, mention is made of the governor of Aushamem Yaqar Amu and his entourage. A researcher contends that Aushamem was the “correct ancient Egyptian pronunciation”.

The name Urushalem appears in the Tel El Amarna Tablets. In a letter written by Abdi Khipa to the Pharaoh, he said : “Behold, the King has laid his claim to the land of Urushalem until now, so I cannot abandon the land of Urusahlem”.

In another letter, he says : “They (the enemies) are trying to lay claim to Urushalem. But if this land belongs to the King, do we let it fall in their hands. If only the King would send us a fifty-man strong battalion to protect the city”(31).

The Hebrews were unable to conquer Urushalem “at first, and it continued to be governed by a Canaanite Jebusite until the time of Joshua”. “The city of Urushalem was for long the theatre of wars because the Canaanites refused to surrender to Joshua”(32).

With their fabrications which they incorporated in the Torah, the Jews sought to infuse a religious dimension into the name which in fact was an Arab name. But the Jews seek to “present it as an Hebrew name, when in fact it is a purely Canaanite Aramaic word that appeared in this form in the Canaanite documents found in Egypt many centuries before the birth of Moses”(33).

This name also appears in the Torah. In Judges : 8, in which one can read : “The sons of Yehuda fought Urushalem, took hold of it and applied the sword there”, and : “The sons of Benyamin did not chase the Jebusites out of Urushalem. The Jebusites lived side by side with the descendants of Benyamin to date… and….Urushalem fought off the Israelite occupation”.

The Torah says : “…and Jehovah said to Urushalem : your birth and your rise will be from the land of Canaan. Your father is Amorite and your mother is a Hethite”(34).

The name Urushalem also appears in other accounts, in folklore books, as well as in other sources.

In the account of Attae, it is said : “Rejoice Orishalam”, in reference to Jerusalem(35).

Al A’sha said :

In pursuit of wealth I wandered around the world

I toured Oman, Hims, then Orishalam(36)

Yaqut Al Hamawi mentions this name as Orishalami/Orishalama, then explains that it was the Hebrew name of Bayt Al Maqdis and that the Jews pronounced it as Orishalam.

The name also occurs in other forms, such as Orislam, Orishallam, Orasalam, and even Orasalim.

Mujeer Eddine Al ‘Ulaimi refers to it as Uarushalam, and Uruashalam which in Hebrew means : the house of peace(37).

In Lissan Al Arab, under the entry of “Shalam”, we can read : “Shalam : Bayt Al Maqdis, a place in Greater Syria. It is said to be the Hebrew name of Bayt Al Maqdis. Ibn Barri says : “Ibn Khalwiyya mentioned many names for Bayt Al Maqdis, including : Shallam, Shalam, Shalim, Orishalim. Then he quoted the above-mentioned verse of Al A’sha”(38).

Many contemporary authors spoke about Urushalem. Philip Hatta contends that the origin of the name Urushalem is Canaanite and means “Let Shalem edify”. Shalem was the name of the Canaanite god of peace(39).

Judaic Encyclopaedia points out that this name dates back to ancient times, and was engraved on ancient Hebrew coins as Yeroshalem, in Aramaic as Yeroshalm, and in Assyrian as Urosalem, or Urosalemo. The name meant the “house of peace”, or the “house of Salem”, or the “base of peace”. As mentioned earlier, Shalem was the god of peace(40).

The name Urushalem was clearly well known during the Canaanite Jebusite era. It is Canaanite, and the city itself was Canaanite. What is claimed today to be a Hebrew name was in origin an Arabic Canaanite one(41).

The western name of the holy city, Jerusalem, was also derived from the same origin(42)(43). It was also called the city of David because David had conquered it and made a capital. However, though the city was taken over by David, it was not deserted by the Canaanites, and one of them was Ornan the Jebusite.

The purpose behind the renaming was reportedly a desire to strip the city of its Canaanite character.  But King David would not have found a new name for the city in a language other than the Canaanite language because at that time the language itself was Canaanite’; hence the survival of the Canaanite name of the city to date.

David settled in the Mount Zion Fortress, renamed the city David’s Town, and made Mount Zion the seat of his throne. The Jebusites were the ones to have built the Zion Fortress.

It is also said that the Jebusites, ‘the inhabitants of the land, said to David : “Do not enter this city. But David took hold of the Fortress of Zion in the Town of David...and resided there. This is the reason why it was called David’s Town”(44).

The holy city was also called Zion, according to Mujeer Eddine Al ‘Ulaimi Al Hanbali(45). This name was mentioned in folklore books, and also to Al Bakri who stated that it was another name for Jerusalem(46). Yaqut Al Hamawi and Wasfi Eddine Ibn Abdulhaq also mentioned it and described it as a well known place in the holy city(47).

All that has been said above clearly shows that it was the name of a place (a mountain) in Bayt Al Maqdis, and was named as such “when the Israelites usurped this holy site from the Canaanite Jebusites. Then the Jews introduced this name in their distorted Torah in a bid to confer on it a false religious character(48)".

This same name occurred in a poem by Al A’sha where he says :

If Zion were to rally against you someday(49)

Then you will be ready for the war machine

In this verse, Al A’sha means that if all Rome were to attack Jerusalem, its inhabitants would be ready to face them(50).

This city was called Aelia, a name given to it by the Romans. When the Roman emperor Hadrian destroyed Urushalem in 135 A.D., he ordered that no Jew be allowed to reside there and that all descendants of the Jewish race be hunted down and exterminated. He gave his directives that the city be inhabited by Greeks and be called by the royal choice name of Aelia, the name it became known by since then. Aelia Capitolina, the name given by Hadrian, was often mentioned by historians(51).

The name Aelia was mentioned in the “the Covenant of Omar” in the sentence : “such is the safe-conduct granted by the servant of Allah, “Omar, to the people of Aelia”(52).

Yaqut Al Hamawi mentioned Aelia as the name of the city of Bayt Al Maqdis and explained that it meant the house of Allah.

This name was used in the short form of Aelia as well as in the longer one where an ‘e’ is added at the end to form Aeliae(53).

Mention of this name can also be found in poetry such as in the verse of Al Farazdaq :

Two houses of one of which we are the custodians

And a palace rising on the heights of Aelia(54)

It is also mentioned in other folk poetry such as in :

If birds were tasked to take as long a road as his

To Wasset, they would tire before reaching Aelia

On the fillies he rode from Palestine

After the shade overtook the day’s dying sunshine(55)

Access to Bayt Al Maqdis (Aelia) continued to be denied to the Jews since the times of Emperor Hadrian until Constantine (306-337A.D.) came to power. The latter gave them permission to enter the city once every year, and restored the city’s old name of Urushalem in 324 A.D. Though the name Aelia was officially annulled, it remained in use among people(56).

In addition, the name of Aelia was mentioned in many historical documents and sources such as Ibn Qutaiba’s ‘Uyun Al Akhbar where a soliloquy reads : ‘O Lord, from the animals I chose the sheep, from the birds the dove, from the plants the Hubla (a type of leafy green), from the lands Makkah, and from Bayt Al Maqdis Aelia’, in another version : “From the lands Aelia, and from Aelia, Bayt Al Maqdis”.

Ibn Qutaiba provided an account of the fall and destruction of Aelia and the annihilation of its people despite the fact that it was “the Mother of all Cities’ and the Mother of all villages (Umm Al Qura), as he called it.

He says : “It was a stretch of desolate land where no building existed for more than three thousand years”(57).

Of the many other sources that mention the city are history and geography books, such as : Futuh Al Buldan by Baladhiri, Al Buldan of Al Yaaqubi,  Al Idrissis’ Nuzhat Al Mushtaqi, Mu’jam Al Buldan  by Yaqut Al Hamawi, Al Uns Al Jaleel by Mujeer Eddine Al ‘Ulaimi, and Nihayat Al Arab by Al Nuwairi.

Al ‘'Ulaimi reports that the Prophet, peace and prayers be upon him : “sent letters to Caesar who was then Hercules and who was, at that time, stationed in Jerusalem”. In this story, he mentions Aelia as he says : “He walked from Hims to Aelia, by way of giving thanks to Allah for making him victorious over the Persian armies”. This was in the seventh year of the Hijra(58).

Many of the books written on the virtues of Jerusalem talk about the holy city, and in these books there is mention and talk of Aelia. Among these books is Fadael Al Quds of Ibn Al Jauzi who explains that the phrase “holy city” was meant to refer to Aelia and to Bayt Al Maqdis, and quoted Ibn Qutaiba’s words in this respect. Ibn Al Jauzi mentioned Aelia, Bayt Al Maqdis and Urushalem as he says :

“Sha’ya was the one who said to Aelia, the village of Bayt Al Maqdis, and to Urushalem : rejoice Urushalem (repeating this last phrase three times), now will come to you the man on the ass -meaning the Messiah-, and after him will come the man on the camel - meaning Mohammed-, peace and prayers be upon him”. Ibn Al Jauzi spoke at length about Aelia and Bayt Al Maqdis in many parts of his above-mentioned book(59).

The other names of the city are : Bayt Al Maqdis and Al Quds, the two names commonly used by Muslims and Christians. These two names denote the holy character of the city, as shown in this Lissan Al Arab entry :

Qods : pure and exonerated from all flaws and shortcomings... Qudus, and Qods as a noun and an adjective, hence the description of paradise as the realm of purity (hadheerat Al Quds). Taqdees is a synonym for purification and blessing and the verb taqaddasa means to cleanse oneself. In the holy books also: “We hymn thy praises and glorify thee”.

Ibn Mandhur adds : “this is Bayt Al Maqdis, the pure house, or the house where all the sins are cleansed...., and Al Quds the Blessed”. The blessed land is Greater Syria, including Bayt Al Maqdis, as Ibn Mandhur says in Lissan Al Arab. He also says : “The blessed land means the pure land and it refers to Damascus, Palestine, and part of Jordan, as Al Furaa says”(60).

In addition to the mention of Bayt Al Maqdis and Al Quds in the Holy Quran, Hadith and the language, the city has been mentioned by poets from the pre-Islamic era to date. Following are a few verses that spoke about Bayt Al Maqdis and Al Quds(61) in the old times.

Of these is the poem of Imru Al Qais which opens with the following verses :

O Mawi, can I hope for wedding bells or have you

chosen strictness that I shall I despair of a come-together

In this poem, Al Qais says in his description of the wild bull :

They overtook him, grabbing leg and hind

In the way the children grasp the cloth of the holy man

The reference here is to the monk who, when he arrives in Bayt Al Maqdis and comes down from his tower, is surrounded by children who grab his clothes and pull at them seeking his blessings.

In his verse, Imru Al Qais draws a comparison between what the hunting dogs do to a bull and what the Christian children do to the cloth of the holy man (62).

We can also cite the poet’s verse :

No sleep till you reach the land of Jerusalem

And drink but from the best water in a holy land

By this is meant the holy land of Al Quds as defined by Al Hamawi and Ibn Mandhur(63).

Marwane says :

Tell Al Farazdaq and impudence is like its name

If you are leaving what I ordered you to leave,

Then leave the city for it is off bounds to you

And head for Makkah or Bayt Al Maqdis

Al Mu’alla Ibn Tarif said :

O friend I have performed pilgrimage

And visited Bayt Al Maqdis

I came upon a place with columns

During a feast for Saint George

And there I saw women

As beautiful as the brushed gazelles(64)

In his poem in Al Khaseeb, Nawwas mentions the river Fotros :

By the morning they had crossed the River Fotros

Pilgrims from Bayt Al Maqdis they were

In caravans seeking the Gaza of Hasher

And distances they crossed in quest of pilgrimage(65).

As for Abu Al Alaa Al Maari, he said :

The master of the Charia had Al Quds as his Qibla

Prayed towards it for a while then changed it(66)

 Remove your shoes in respect when in its vicinity

As Moses who spoke to Allah did in Jerusalem(67)

In the Selouane Spring in Al Quds

Water almost tastes like Zamzam(68)

And also :

I will wander the heart of Al Quds throughout my youth

For those are the lands of joy and happiness in the time of youth(69)

Historians, geographers and travellers also spoke about this city. The two names of Bayt Al Maqdis and Al Quds became well known. The name Bayt Al Maqdis became widely used after the Islamic conquest by ‘Omar, replacing other names such as Urushalem and Aelia. The same applies to the name Al Quds.

These names are also used in abundance in other sources such as : Attarikh by Attabari, Masalik Al Mamalik by Al Istakhri, Ahssan Attaqassim by Al Maqdisi, Safar Nameh by Nacer Khasru and Maarifat Azziyarat by Al Harwi.

Other relevant books include the Journey of Ibn Jubayr, Mu’ujam Al Buldan by Yaqut Al Hamawi, Al Kamel fi Tarikh by Ibn Al Atheer, Taqweem Al Buldan by Abu Al Fida, Masalik Al Absar by Ibn Fadl Allah Al ‘Imari, Zubdat Kachf Al Mamalik by Adhahiri, Al Uns Al Jaleel by Mujeer Eddine Al ‘Ulaimi, and others.

The two names are more commonly used in the works dedicated to Bayt Al Maqdis. Of such books is Fadael Al Quds by Ibn Jauzi, Arrawdh Al Mugharrass Fi Fadael Bayt Al Maqdis by Abdulwahed Al Hussein Addimachqui, Al Uns fi Fadael Al Quds by Amine Eddine Ahmed Ibn Ahmed Chaafii, Mawanih Al Uns Bi Rihlati Liwadi Al Quds by Mostafa Asaad Addumiati, Al Hadra Al Insiyya in Arrihla Al Qudusiyya by Sheikh Abdulghani Annablussi, and many other books.

If we look at the table of contents of one of these books, Fadael Al Quds by Ibn Jauzi, we will find that the two names are used extensively, and that Bayt Al Maqdis is more prevalent. This table of contents reads as follows :

Chapter I :  On the Virtue of the Holy Land.

Chapter II :  On the Mountain over which Bayt Al Maqdis is Built.

Chapter III : On the Status and Founding of Bayt Al Maqdis.

Chapter IV : On the Marvels that Occurred there (in Bayt Al Maqdis).

Chapter V : On the Virtue of Bayt Al Maqdis.

Chapter XII : On the Destruction and Looting of Bayt Al Maqdis.

Chapter XIII : On Moses’ Conquest of Bayt Al Maqdis.

Chapter XIV : On Joshuwa’s conquest of Bayt Al Maqdis

Chapter XV : On the Prayer of the Prophet (PBUH) in Bayt Al Maqdis.

Chapter XVI : On the Nightly Journey of the Prophet (PBUH) to Bayt Al Maqdis.

Chapter XVII : On the Conquest by ‘Omar Ibn Al Khattab, May Allah be pleased with him, of Bayt Al Maqdis.

Chapter XVIII : On Recent Events in Bayt Al Maqdis(70).

Similar titles occur in the book until Chapter 27.

This extensive presence is a clear indication of the common use of this name during the Islamic era and since Omar’s conquest.

The different spellings and versions of this name are : Al Quds, Al Qudus, Al Bayt Al Muqaddas, Bayt Al Maqdis, Al Quds Al Sharif, Al Madinah Al Muqaddassa, and others. They occur in many books, such as the World Atlas of Yaqut Al Hamawi, Al Uns Al Jaleel of Mujeer Eddine Al ‘Ulaimi, Lissan Al ‘Arab of Ibn Mandhur, and others.

The Islamic Encyclopaedia states that Al Quds is the most commonly used Arab name in recent times(71). Old Arab writers also referred to it as Bayt Al Maqdis.

It was also referred to as the Hamlet. In Al Baqara chapter, Allah (SWT) says : “Or (take) the similitude of one who passed by a hamlet, all in ruins to its roofs. He said : "Oh ! How shall Allah bring it (ever) to life, after (this) its death?" But Allah caused him to die for a hundred years”(72). Interpreters of this verse differ as to what the village refers to. Some say it is Bayt Al Maqdis, others say the Holy Land, and still others maintain it is a village located two miles away from Bayt Al Maqdis(73).

The Almighty says in the Holy Quran, chapter of Al A’raf : “And remember it was said to them : “Dwell in this town and eat therein as ye wish, but say the word of humility and enter the gate in a posture of humility : We shall forgive your faults ; We shall increase (the portion of) those who do good”(74). Here again, interpreters disagree on what the village refers to. Some say it was Bayt Al Maqdis. The “gate” refers to a gate in Bayt Al Maqdis that still exists today and that is known as Bab Hitta.

Some say it is Areha, others Balqaa, Syria ; there are many other interpretations(75).

This holy city was also called the “village of peace” in the History of Ibn Al ‘Abari where he relates : “There he built a city called Urushalem, meaning the village of peace”(76).

It was also called “Al Balaat”. Al Maqdisi said about the city that it was “known as Aelia or Al Balaat”(77). In this regard, the Islamic Encyclopaedia says that the name Al Balaat was probably a synonym of “Royal Abode”. It is derived from the word palatium, a Latin word which was borrowed by the Arabs(78).

Islamic Conquest

The Islamic conquest came as a confirmation of the Arab and Islamic identity of the city of Bayt Al Maqdis, and a consecration of the Arab presence there. The Prophet (PBUH) was “The conqueror of Bayt Al Maqdis, and the one to lay the cornerstone of the Islamic presence in this pure part of the earth”. This moral conquest had been preceded by another Arab conquest, that of the Jebusites and the Canaanites who had settled in this holy land which took their name and became known as Jebus sometimes, and at other times as the land of Canaan(79).

It is narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) announced the conquest by Muslims of Bayt Al Maqdis in the following words : “O Mu'ad, Allah, the Almighty, will open before you the Greater Syria after my death, from Al ‘Areech to the Euphrates, with its men and women, and they shall remain steadfast for the cause of Islam until the Day of Judgement. Whoever conquers and settles on a coast of Syria and Bayt Al Maqdis shall remain in Jihad until the Day of Judgement”(80).

During the rule of Abu Bakr Seddiq, armies were brought together and laid out for the conquest of the Greater Syria. One of these armies headed for Palestine under the leadership of ‘Amru Ibn Al ‘As. Giving Amru Ibn Al ‘Ass the final instructions and advice, Abu Bakr said : “Follow the road of Aelia until you reach the land of Palestine”, after which Ibn Al ‘As led an army of seven thousand men to Palestine.

Then the Battle of Yarmuke, a decisive moment in the history of Islam, took place and sealed the fate of Palestine and other lands of Islam(81).

 The “interest of Muslims in Jerusalem, immediately after defeating the Romans and conquering their capital in the region, Damascus, was stimulated by the close religious ties that Islam nurtured in their souls by emphasising the holiness of Bayt Al Maqdis as the destination of the Prophet’s Nightly Journey, and the first Qibla for all Muslims”. In a famous Hadith, the Prophet said : “Pilgrimage is undertaken to three destinations only : my mosque here, the Great Mosque of Makkah and the Al Aqsa Mosque”(82).

Of the Muslim army heading for Palestine under the command of Amru Ibn Al ‘As, a division, led by Muawiyya Ibn Abi Sufyan and his brother Al Yazid, took the road to Qissariyya, while a second battalion, under the command of Ayyub Al Maliki went to Ramla. A third battalion was led by ‘Ilqima Ibn Mujazzaz, and a fourth one that was under the command of Amru Ibn Al ‘As went to Ajnadine. A last division was led by ‘Ilqima Ibn Hakim and Masruq Al ‘Akki and headed for Bayt Al Maqdis(83).

When Amru Ibn Al ‘As entered Ajnadine, the Roman commander Aretion retreated to Jerusalem in defeat. The scene was described by Ziyyad Ibn Handhala in his poem :

We left Aretion retreating to Al Aqsa Mosque in defeat,

On the eve of Ajnadine when the troops followed each other ;

And eagles circled above them in the open.

In the battle dust we inflicted a deep wound upon him,

Profusely bleeding and drawing cries heard from afar ;

A hard blow we caused Rome to suffer.

And in Syria we shall have no more rivals ;

All the Romans in his steps followed,

And in terror they nearly flew away.

Many fell dead in the foray ;

And stray horses returned to Rome in shame(84).

Then, Abdu ‘Ubaida Al Jarrah took over the command of the Muslim army which was besieging Bayt Al Maqdis. The caliph Omar Ibn Al Khattab, May Allah be pleased with him, had requested Abu ‘Ubaida to march on Bayt Al Maqdis. The latter organised five Muslim commanders, and under each one of them placed an army of five thousand men. These commanders were Khaled Ibn Al Waleed, Yazid Ibn Abu Sufyan, Sharhabeel Ibn Hassana, Al Mirqal Ibn Hashem, Musseeb Ibn Najiyya Al Ghazali, Qaiss Ibn Al Muradi, and ‘Urwa Ibn Mohalhal Ibn Zayd Al Khail. All these armies were positioned in a way that would ensure the siege of Bayt Al Maqdi(85).

Abu ‘Ubayda in vain sent a letter of warning to the patriarchs and the inhabitants of Aelia(86). On the fifth day, Yazid Ibn Abu Sufyan, accompanied by an interpreter, approached them and gave them a choice between Islam, paying the jizya tax or fighting. They chose to fight.

The fighting began and the Muslims continued to besiege the holy city until the inhabitants of Aelia despaired and decided to surrender and seek reconciliation. However, they requested Caliph Omar Ibn Al Khattab in person, so Abu ‘Ubayda sent for him and informed him of their request. Caliph Omar convened a shura council which decided that the Caliph should head for Bayt Al Maqdis. This he did, and the city was handed over to the Muslims(87).

The caliph signed with the people of Aelia a covenant that granted them safe-conduct and immunity for their persons, property and churches, and freedom of worship on condition that a jizya tax be paid to the Muslims, and that no Jew inhabit Jerusalem with them. This last request was made by Patriarch Sophronius who prevented Jews from residing in the holy city(88).

The “Covenant of Omar”:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

This is an assurance of peace and protection given by the servant of Allah Omar, Commander of the Believers to the people of Ilia' (Jerusalem). He gave them an assurance of protection for their lives, property, church and crosses as well as the sick and healthy and all its religious community.

Their churches shall not be occupied, demolished nor taken away wholly or in part. None of their crosses nor property shall be seized. They shall not be coerced in their religion nor shall any of them be injured. None of the Jews shall reside with them in Ilia'.

The people of Ilia shall pay Jizia tax (head tax on free non-Muslims living under Muslim rule) as inhabitants of cities do. They shall evict all Romans and thieves.

He whoever gets out shall be guaranteed safety for his life and property until he reach his safe haven. He whoever stays shall be (also) safe, in which case he shall pay as much tax as the people of Ilia' do. Should any of the people of Ilia wish to move together with his property along with the Romans and to clear out of their churches and crosses, they shall be safe for their lives, churches and crosses, until they have reached then safe haven. He whoever chooses to stay he may do so and he shall pay as much tax as the people of Ilia' do. He whoever wishes to move along with the Roman, may do so, and whoever wishes to return back home to his kinsfolk, may do so. Nothing shall be taken from them, their crops have been harvested. To the contents of this covenant here are given the Covenant of Allah, the guarantees of His Messenger, the Caliphs and the Believers, provided they (the people of Ilia') pay their due Jizia tax”(89).

Witnesses hereto are : Khalid Ibn al-Waleed Amr Ibn al-Ass Abdul-Rahman Ibn'Auf Mu'awiya Ibn abi-Sifian(90) Made and executed in the year 15 AH.

It is clear that the Caliph was very conciliating with the people of Aelia. Al Aqad describes it “the best covenant in history that shows how a victorious people deal with the defeated one”, and “No victorious leader can hope to produce a more generous peace covenant than this one”(91).

Many companions of the Prophet (PBUH) lived to witness the conquest of Bayt Al Maqdis. Among these were Abu ‘Ubaida Al Jarrah, Bilal Ibn Rabah, Abdullah Ibn Salam, Abu Huraira, Abdurrahmane Ibn Sakhr, ‘Awf Ibn Malek Ibn ‘Awf Al Ashja’i, Yeela Ibn Shaddad, Said Ibn Zaid, Malek Ibn Aws, Khaled Ibn Al Waleed, Mu'ad Ibn Jabal, Abdu Dhir Al Ghifari, and many others.

Many companions and followers also visited the holy city, and many of them lived there and excelled in knowledge and science(92).

While Caliph Omar Ibn Al Khattab was visiting the Church of Resurrection, the call for prayers was made. But he refused to pray inside the church and performed his prayer in a nearby spot, to avoid that Muslims, emulating his acts, would afterwards lay claim to the church.

Omar also ordered the building of a mosque at the site of the noble rock which was covered in litter and rubbish and was cleaned by Omar and other Muslims (93).

The Muslim Caliph set out to to establish administrative and judicial structures. He allocated salaries and allowances, set up the Islamic calendar, divided the country, established a hisba system to control weights and measures, and encouraged trade and commerce. He said : “Do not let leadership and the love of power distract you, and do not let strangers defeat you at commerce, for it stands for one third of leadership”.

Omar Ibn Al Khattab appointed Yazid Ibn Abu Sufyan over Bayt Al Maqdis on condition that the latter follow the orders of Abu ‘Ubayda Al Jarrah. To lead prayers, he appointed Salama Ibn Qayssar.

On the military front, he divided the country in two parts. The northern one, with Ramla as its capital, was governed by ‘Ilqima Ibn Hakim, and the southern part, the capital of which was Aelia, was governed by ‘Ilqima Ibn Mujazzaz(94).

The conquest of Bayt Al Maqdis by Muslims was a religious, military and linguistic triumph. Victorious, Muslims defeated their enemies and Arab tribes settled in Bayt Al Maqdis. The Arab language soon spread there and people felt safe and at peace under Muslim rule.

The holy city remained peaceful under Islam and Muslims until the Crusaders occupied it in 492 A.H.

One wonders about the impact of such a great victory on Arab poetry, and even Arab literature. At a close look, one realises that not many poems reached us on the Islamic conquest, commemorating this great event or reflecting its value. Among the poems composed on the conquest of Greater Syria, including Bayt Al Maqdis, were the verses of Ziyyad Ibn Handhala :

I remembered the war of the Romans

In a year rife with wars and battles

While we were in the Hijaz and between us

Stretched a month’s long journey

While the Romans’ Aretion defended his land

Engaged in battle and fighting Qarmu

Al Faruq felt conquest was close at hand

He rose with his troops above the fighting 

And when they felt his power and feared his prowess

To him they came and said : ‘It is you we wish to meet’(95)

In this regard, mention should be made of the sermon given by Caliph Omar in Bayt Al Maqdis before his return journey to Makkah. In this sermon, he applauded the victory achieved by Muslims in conquering Bayt Al Maqdis, and reminded them of what laid ahead. After praising Allah, he said in his sermon : “O people of Islam, the Almighty has fulfilled His promise ; he had granted you victory over the enemy, bestowed the land upon you, and put you in command thereof. Let your reward to Him be your expressions of gratitude and praise.  Beware of committing sins, for in such deeds is a negation of Allah’s blessings, and very few are those who fail to recognise what Allah has granted them and who do not repent before Allah takes away their glory and turns their covenants against them”. Then he came down and when prayer time came, he said : “O Bilal, please call us to pray, may Allah bless you”. Bilal did so, and after praying Caliph Omar returned to Madinah in Hijaz(96).

Holiness of Jerusalem

The most salient points of the holiness of Bayt Al Maqdis lie in the following facts :

- Its association with the Nightly Journey and the Ascension of the Prophet, and with the decreeing of prayers on this night.

- Its status as the first direction of prayer.

- Its status as one of the three holiest mosques : the Haram Mosque, the Prophet’s Mosque and the Al Aqsa Mosque.

- The fact that it houses the following holy sites : The blessed Al Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, the Buraq wall, and many others.

-The fact that it was mentioned in the holy verse : “And question thou our apostles whom We sent before thee ; did We appoint any deities other than (Allah) Most Gracious, to be worshipped ?(97).

- Its being the venue and starting point of resurrection and judgement day.

- A place where the worth of a prayer is great.

- The possibility of its serving as a starting point for the major and minor pilgrimages (hajj and umra).

- A site worthy of visiting and settling in for worship purposes.

- The fact of it is as holy as Makkah and Madinah.

- As a city closely associated with Omar Ibn Al Khattab and his conquest.

In Islam, Al Quds acquires a sanctity and a holiness that are clearly depicted in the Noble Quran, the Hadith, and the many books written on the virtues of Bayt Al Maqdis, such as interpretation, literature, history and geography.

It is a bond with faith through the Nightly Journey and the Ascension, and with worship through its status as the first Qibla, and through the great value attributed to praying there. There is also the cultural, civilisational and political bond which this holy city represents.

Thus, the city of Bayt Al Maqdis holds an important position and has great significance in many fields, particularly in religion where it is the subject of respect and reverence by the three monotheistic religions : Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

In its sanctity, Bayt Al Maqdis is associated with Makkah and Madinah. These three cities represent the three Islamic destinations which Muslims throughout the world seek to visit and worship there.

The Prophet (PBUH) said : “Makkah is a land that Allah glorified and whose holiness He enhanced. He surrounded it with angels long before anything else was created on earth. Then He linked it to Madinah, and linked the latter to Bayt Al Maqdis. And one thousand years later, He re-created the earth”(98).

This clearly points to the existence of a divine link that brings these three holy cities together, a link that consolidates the spiritual bonds between them.

The city of Al Quds acquired its holiness very early in history. It was considered a holy site as early as the times of the Arab Canaanite Jebusites, long before the era of Prophet Abraham (PBUH), and more than five thousand years ago. Bayt Al Maqdis acquired its holy character long before the advent of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and it was, in fact, considered holy by Arab Jebusites. The Arab Jebusite Canaanite, Malki-zedek, who was born and raised in Bayt Al Maqdis, was considered the grand priest. Later on, his clerical rank became the highest position in the Christian ecclesiastic order. The Messiah was considered a Malki-zedek. In the Book of Genesis, it is said that Malki-zedek, King of Shalem, was the grand priest’, and that “He was here for the Most High”(99).

The city of Bayt Al Maqdis was considered holy before Islam and continued to enjoy this status under the rule of Islam(100).

The acquired sanctity of Al Quds takes shape in many events and phenomena. One of these is the abundance of holy places there. In it,are Al Aqsa Mosque which Allah honoured and glorified, the Dome of the Rock, the Mosque of Omar, the Buraq Wall (known amongst the Jews as the Wailing Wall which they claim to be a vestige of the Temple when, in fact, it is an Islamic monument which belongs to Muslims, is an integral part of the esplanade of the Noble Sanctuary, in addition to being an Islamic waqf). This was confirmed by the findings of an international commission created in 1930 A.D(101).

The other holy sites are : the Dome of the Prophet, the Mi’raj Dome, the Selsela Dome, the Dome of Moses, the Khudar Dome, the Dome of Joseph, and many others. The author of Al ‘Iqd Al Fareed mentioned that there were fifteen domes there.

Christian holy sites are the Church of Resurrection, the Saint Mary Church, the Church of Saint Hanna, located between the Hitta and Asbat Gates, the Zion Monastery, and others.

Yaqut Al Hamawi and Safie Eddine Ibn Abdulhaq said that there are in Bayt Al Maqdis “sites too many to enumerate which one can visit and seek the blessings thereof”(102).

Ancient historians, geographers and travellers write about the holy character of Bayt Al Maqdis. When he undertook his journey in 438 A.H., Nacer Khasru pointed out that the Muslims who could not reach Makkah to perform the pilgrimage went to Jerusalem instead during the Hajj season. They even slaughtered the sacrificial sheep on the day of Eid and performed the Sunnah. He added : “In some years, as many as twenty thousand pilgrims took the road to Jerusalem along with their children during the first days of Zhul Hijja”(103).

Yaqut Al Hamawi also said that : “The Christian Romans, French and Armenians, as well as people of other nationalities visited Jerusalem by way of pilgrimage to their church known as the Church of Resurrection which was their most sacred place of worship”. All these acts were performed while Jerusalem was ruled by Muslims(104).

In his journey, Ibn Battuta also addressed some aspects of the holiness of Bayt Al Maqdis, saying : “In Al Quds Al Sharif there exist some holy sites, such as : the spot from where Jesus ascended to the heavens, and a church of great status for the Christians who say that it houses the sepulchre of Mary. Another equally sacred church visited by Christians on pilgrimage is the cradle of Jesus whose blessings are sought(105).

Qadi al-qudat Mujeer Eddine Al ‘Ulaimi defines the aspects of this holiness in the following terms : “Allah spoke to Moses (PBUH), in Bayt Al Maqdis, and there he forgave David and Solomon, peace be upon them, restored the kingdom of Solomon, broke the news of John’s birth to Zachary, and in there Allah ordered the mountains and the birds to serve David. In this land, the prophets, peace be upon them, made sacrifices to God, and there Abraham and Isaac requested to be buried after their death”.

In this land Jesus was born, spoke in the cradle, and was raised to the heavens, and his resurrection and return to the earth will occur in the same land. Abraham (PBUH) migrated from there. Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) prayed for a certain period in the direction of Bayt Al Maqdis, and to that land he undertook the Nightly Journey, in addition to the many manifestations that confer on this sacred city great holiness(106).

All religions are in agreement as to the holiness of Bayt Al Maqdis, except for the Samaritans who, according to Mujeer Eddine Al ‘Ulaimi(107), believed that Jerusalem was Mount Nablus, thus disagreeing with all other nations on this point. 

Another significant testimony of the holiness of Bayt Al Maqdis came in the form of a sermon given by Judge Ibn Azzaki, Yahya Eddine Mohammed Ibn Ali Al Qurshi, at the Al Aqsa Mosque when it was liberated from the Crusaders’ hands by Salah Eddine El Ayyoubi. This liberation occurred on the twenty-seventh day of Rajab of 583 A.H, and this was the first sermon delivered in the Al Aqsa Mosque since its liberation. In this sermon, the judge said : “This is the homeland of your ancestor Abraham, the ascension place of your Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), the Makkah of holy men, the ultimate destination of messengers, the cradle of divine inspiration, and the source of all teachings and precepts. It is the site of the resurrection and the ascension point on Judgement Day. This mosque is located on the holy land that Allah described in His Glorious Book, the mosque where Mohammed (PBUH) prayed before Allah’s favoured angels. It is the land to which Allah sent his servant and messenger with the Message, honoured him with prophethood and never repealed his status in worship....It is the first of the two qiblas, the second holiest mosque, and third most sacred site. After the two mosques, no pilgrimage is undertaken except to this mosque”. It is the “house that was glorified by kings, and praised by prophets, and where the four books of divine inspiration were read”, according to Abu Shama Al Maqdisi in his book “Arrawdatayn fi Akhbari Addawlatayn” (108).

In the same vein, mention can be made of the sayings of some Western authors who remained objective in this respect. For example, under the entry ‘Jerusalem, Encyclopaedia Britannica says on the subject of the holiness of Bayt Al Maqdis that Al Quds was the number one holy city for Judaism and Christianity, and the main holy precincts of Islam after Makkah and Madinah. It was a centre of religious piety in the world, and a direction of prayers for an uninterrupted period of three thousand years before the birth of Jesus(109).

Its Holiness (In the Holy Quran)

The city of Al Quds was mentioned in the Quran which conferred on it holiness, importance and status in the hearts of Muslims. It is the land blessed by Allah, and was the destination of the Nightly Journey and ascension point of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). There is disagreement about when this Nightly Journey and Ascension took place. Some place them on the seventeenth day of Rabie al-awwal before the Hijra. But scholars tend to believe that these two miracles took place on the twenty-seventh day of Rajab, one year or a few months before the Hijra(110).

Allah (SWT) says : “Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless, in order that We might show him some of Our Signs : for He is the One Who hearths and seethe (all things)”(111).

The blessed land in this Verse was the subject of great controversy. Some said that the land of which Allah blessed these surroundings is Palestine, Jordan, Greater Syria in general, and sometimes Bayt Al Maqdis.

It was said that the surroundings are blessed because they house the tombs of prophets. Mujahid said : “It was described as blessed because it is the heart of prophethood, the destination of all prophets, the site where angels and inspiration came down to earth. It stands for the rock and is the gate from where all humanity will be resurrected on the Day of Judgement”(112).

Mujeer Eddine Al ‘Ulaimi speaks about the importance of the Nightly Journey and Ascension miracles for the holy city saying : “If Bayt Al Maqdis had no other virtue but this verse, it would have sufficed”(113).

Let us read some of what was written about the Nightly Journey and Ascension of the Prophet (PBUH). It is narrated that when he was taken on the Nightly Journey, he “arrived at the Buraq wall at the exact spot where other prophets stood. Then the angel Gabriel stood before him, and called for prayer. The angels came down from the heavens and Allah raised all the messengers, then the prayer was performed. All the angels and messengers prayed behind the Prophet (PBUH). Then he moved forward and a golden path was opened before him, and another silver one, it was the ascension path. This was opened in the lower dome to the right of the rock(114). It is reported that the Prophet (PBUH) said : “when I was brought by night to Bayt Al Maqdis, Gabriel took me by the grave of Abraham, and said : dismount here and pray two rak’as for, this here, is the grave of your father Abraham. Then we passed Bethlehem, and he said : dismount here and pray two rak'as for, this here, was born your brother Jesus(115)”.

There is no doubt that all of this has conferred on the city great holiness, honoured it and gave it a special and unique character that has its specific religious components and other elements which we will address later. Thus, the city acquired a high status in Islam and for Muslims.

The miracles of the Nightly Journey and the Ascension are very much associated with the duty of praying in Islam. The rite of praying was prescribed for Muslim