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Chapter One: The History of
Palestine
Palestine; the land of
the Prophets. Rich in history - the history of generations of
believers who lived and worshipped, and fought and died there,
praising their Lord and defending their faith.
Nearly 4,000 years ago
the Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him, stopped in the land of
Cannan. He was a true believer, one pure of faith. He
surrendered his will to god alone, with no associates.
From his sons Ishmael
and Isaac came two great nations of believers. The descendants
of Abraham - two rivers from a single sea. But the nearest to
Abraham were those who most closely followed his
way.
Figure1: Palestine at the time of the
Prophet David (peace and blessings upon
him)
Six centuries later the Prophet
Moses, peace be upon him, revived his teachings and led his
people, descendants of Isaac, out of Egypt. Their destination?
Palestine, the Land of Canaan.
Two more centuries and the Prophet David, peace be upon
him, united the scattered tribes of Israel. He took Jerusalem
for his capital. It is said that he brought with him the Ark of
the Coveneant.
The Prophet Solomon, peace be upon him, inherited the
Kingdom from David, and built fortifictations, and a place of
worship; a place of worship on a site revered since ancient
times, a hill known as Moriah.
The Kingdom split into two in the struggle for power
following Solomon's death; Israel to the North and tiny Judah,
including Jerusalem to the South.
After two hundred years of bitter rivalry between these
two kingdoms, Israel was conquered by the Syrians and Judah
found itself the sole remaining remnant of the Israelite
nation.
A temple cult developed in the house of worship built
by aolomon. Elaborate rituals and a paid priesthood were put
in place. Protagonists of a return to the pure teachings of
Moses were beaten and exiled. Incidents of injustice and
immorality within the general populace became rampant. The
destruction of the Temple, and with it Jerusalem, was
prophesied.
Nebuchadenezzar entered Jerusalem in 586 BC. The
temple was sacked and set fire to, and razed to the ground. The
Royal Palace and all the great houses were destroyed, the
population carried off in chains to Babylon. and they lamented
on their long march into exile:
"If we had just performed the will of God and
devoutly sung His praises, we would not have into your hands
been delivered"
Judah ceased to exist. Four hundred years of rule by
the house of David had to come to an end.
In 536 BC, the Persians overthrew the Babylonians and
encouraged exiles to return. Construction began on the Second
Temple and was completed in twenty years.
After 200 years of relative peace the Greeks captured
Jerusalem. Attempts at Hellenization, including the
rededication of the Second Temple of Zeus and the sacrifice of
pigs on its altar sparked a revolt.
In 164 BC Hasmonean Jews captured Mount Moriah and re -
consecrated the Temple. But after a hundred years of Jewish
rule, the society they created lay in ruins, broken down by
years of vicious infighting.
Jerusalem was overrun by rome in 63 BC. Herod was
appointed King of Judea. He slaughtered the last of the
Hasmoneans and ordered a lavish restoration and extension of
the Second Temple.
A period of great civil disorder followed with strife
between pacifists and Zealots, and riots against the Roman
authorities. In the midst of this chaos Jesus of Nazareth,
peace be upon him, began his teaching mission. His attempts to
call people back to the pure teachings of Abraham and Moses
were judged subversive by the authorities. He was tried and
sentenced to death; "yet they did not slay him but a
likeness that was shown to them."
Figure 2: The old walled city of
Jerusalem
Years later Jewish Zealots captured the Temple Mount
and massacred roman troops in Herod's palace. After three
years of revolt, Titus of Rome laid siege to Jerusalem. The
fiercely defended Temple eventually fell, and with it the
whole city. Seeking a complete and enduring victory, Titus
ordered the total destruction of the Herodian Temple. It was
the 70th year of the Christian Era.
A new city named Aelia was built by the Romans on the
ruins of Jerusalem, and a temple dedicated to Jupitor raised
up. In 324 Constantine of Byzantium marched on Aelia. He
rebuilt the City walls and commissioned the church of the Holy
Sepulchre, and opened the city for Christian
pilgrimmage.
After nearly 300 years of
Christian rule Jerusalem was sacked again, this time by the Sassanid Persians. The christians were
massacred and their holy places destroyed. Fifteen years later
Byzantine rule was restored and the Persians
expelled.
Attempts were made to rebuild the city. But the die was
cast: 600 miles to the south, Makkah had just surrendered to a
far more dynamic and copassionate force. And it was spreading
north, soon to overwhelm all of Byzantium, carrying with it
the pure essence of the teaching of abraham, the path revealed
to Muhammed, peace and blessings upon him, the path of
Isalm.
In 638 Jerusalem's thousand years
of recurrent persecution, intolerance and oppression, were
bought to an abrupt halt: 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, the Second
Khalif of Islam, entered al - Quds.
Eager to be rid of their Byzantine
overloads - and aware of their shared heritage with the Arabs,
the descendants of Ishmaeel, as well as the Musllims'
reputation for mercy and compassion in victory - the people
of Jerusalem handed over the city after a brief
siege.
They made only one condition: that the terms of their
surrender be negotiated directly with the Khalif 'Umar in
person.
'Umar enterd Jerusalem on foot. There was no bloodshed.
There were no massacres. Those who wanted to stay were
guarentedd protection for their lives, their property, and
places of worship.
It is related that 'Umar asked Sophronius, the city
patriarch, to take him to the Sanctuary of david, as soon as
he was through writing the terms of surrender. They were
joined by four thousand of the companions of the
Prophet.
When they reached the area of the Noble Sanctuary they
found it covered in rubbish. 'Umar proceeded to the West of
the sanctuary and unfurled his cloak. He filled it with
debris. those with him did likewise. They disposed of it and
returned, again and again, until the whole area where Al
- Aqsa Mosque now stands was cleared.
The entire area of the Haram ash - sharif, the Noble
sanctuary, included more than 35 acres. The great rock, site
of the Prophet's ascension to heaven on the Night Journey,
peace and blessings be upon him, and direction of the first
qibla, lay in the centre. The rock was uncovered and the
ground purified. It was suggested that the Muslims pray to the
North of the rock, to include it in the qibla when facing
south toward Makkah, but 'Umar rejected this idea, and
possible future confusion, by praying to the South of the
Rock, at the southernmost wall of the Noble
sanctuary.
Figure 3: The Dome of
the Rock
A huge timber mosque which held three thousand
worshippers was erected on this site, the site of the present
Aqsa Mosque. Fifity years later, near the end of the 7th
century, it was given to the Umayyad Khalif, 'Abdul Malik ibn
Marwan, to construct one of the world's most beautiful and
enduring shrines over the rock itself. Highlighting the
skyline of Jerusalem, and the memories of all that visit, the
dome of the rock is a tribute to the Muslims' love and respect
for this site.
Thabit Al-Bunani reported on the authority of Anas that
the Prophet said,
"I was brought al - Buraq, an animal
white and long, larger than a donkey but smaller than a
mule, whose stride was a distance equal to the range of its
vision.
I mounted it and came to Jerusalem,
and tied it to the ring used by the Prophets. After entering
the Mosque, and praying two rakats in it, I came out and
Gabriel brought me a vessel of wine and a vessel of milk. I
chose the milk, and Gabriel said, 'you have chosen the true
religion' We were then taken to heaven....."
Muslim transmitted
it
After completionof the Dome of the Rock, construction
began on the site of the original timber mosque at the south
end of the Sanctuary. A vast congregational mosque,
accomodating over 5,000 worshippers, rose up. It became known
as Masjid Al - Aqsa, although, in reality the entire Haram
ash-Sharif is considered Al - Aqsa Mosque, its entire precints
inviolable.
The next five centuries of Muslim rule were
characterized by peace, justice annd prosperity. The Noble
sanctuary became a great centre of learning; scholars came
from all over the world to worship at Al - Aqsa and to study
and teach within its precints. Except for a brief period under
the Fatimid Hakim which caused as much hardship for the
Muslims as the Christians and Jews, the Islamic injunctions to
respect the rights of the people fof the Book were respected
throughout this perioad.
Figure 4: The Al -
Aqsa Mosque
"And We gave Moses the book, and made it a guidance
for the children of Israel saying:
'Take not
unto yourselves any guardian other than me' They were the seed
of those We bore with Noah; surely he wa a thankful
servant.
And We decreed for the children of Israel in the
book: You shall do corruption in the earth twice, and you
shall become great tyrants. So when the time for the first of
these came to pass, We sent against you servants of ours, men
of great might, and they ravaged the country, and in it was a
promise performed."
(Surah al-Isra)
[Next: Chapter Two - People of
the Book]
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