Palestine and Masjid Al-Aqsa 5 Jun 2016 logo 0 comments

It is important to know historical facts about Palestine and Masjid al-Aqsa. Most of the Muslims may not be aware of the truth as to who were the prophets and messengers of God who, on the instructions of God, migrated to the holy place of Palestine, first and there built the renowned Aqsa mosque. This article is written on the basis of the material put down in the narrative captioned ‘Falasteen aur Masjid-e Aqsa’ (Palestine and Aqsa Mosque) by Rasheed Afroz, Ahmedabad in his column “Arzang” in the Urdu bi-monthly Gulbun, Lucknow (Issue: Jan. – Apr. 2016).
Rasheed Afroz, Assistant Editor of the Gulbun, writes that it was Prophet Abraham who along with his nephew first migrated to Palestine, which was called a place of ‘Virtues and Blessings’. It was about six hundred years thereafter when, with the help of Prophet Moses, the Israilies threw the yoke of slavery and got freedom from Pharaoh and then they were asked to make their settlement at Palestine. Consequently, they made their abodes and settled down there. Again, after a further span of three hundred years, with the blessings of God, Prophets David and Solomon (Dawood and Sulaiman) established their kingdoms at this holy place.
It was the year of 620 C.E when on the instruction of God, Angel Gabriel took the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) on the blissful journey to meet the Creator of the Universe. The Prophet of Islam, in the company of Gabriel, first landed at Baitul-Maqdis (in Palestine).
Palestine in Arabic is called ‘Baitul Maqdis’ (spot of virtue). Here is situated the famous Masjid al-Aqsa which served as the first place of worship, facing towards which people used to offer prayers. This in Arabic is called ‘Qibla’, (a reverential object) facing which Muslims offered prayers for a pretty long time. It must be kept in mind that this is the place which in the western language is ‘Jerusalem’.
In the first century B.C. Romans captured Jerusalem and named it Iliya. It is to be noted that the distance of Baitul Maqdis from Makkah is about 1300kms. The city of Baitul Maqdis is situated at 31.45’ latitude north and 35.13’ longitude east. Baitul Leham and Al-Khalil are on its southern side and Ramallah is on the north. Baitul Maqdis is situated on mountains and one from among these mountains is Mount Zion. It is worth noting that on the name of Zion, the world movement of Zios got surfaced and afterwards it came to be known as ‘Zionism’.
According to the revelation made by God, Prophet Jacob (Yaqoob), who is called Israel also, laid the foundation of Bailtul Maqdis and then this city began to get inhabited and flourished. Then, after a pretty long lime Prophet Solomon got the city and Masjid al-Aqsa was renovated. For this very reason the Zios used to call Aqsa mosque “Haikal-e Sulaimani” (appearance or figure of Sulaiman).
Now mark the turn of events. Both the Haikal-e Sulaimani and Baitul Maqdis were destroyed by the cruel emperor Bakht Nasar of the Kingdom of Babul (Iraq). It occurred in 586 BC. The emperor also carried with him about ten lakh Jews to Iraq and declared them slaves. It is quite interesting to note that during this pathetic and deplorable juncture of time, Prophet Ozair happened to pass through this place. He was amazed to find the city quite dead and thus expressed his wonder, saying if the city would ever be inhabited. On this frustrated and gloomy expression and despondency, God allowed him sleep, resembling death. It is equally amazing to note that when, after two hundred years, he awoke from his death-like sleep, he was astonished to find the city of Baitul Maqdis fully inhabited, embellishing and portraying a sign of prosperity and all round development.
After 559 BC, emperor of Persia (now Iran) Cyrus the Great conquered Babul and permitted the Israilies to go back to Palestine. He (Cyrus the Great) had then got both Baitul Maqdis and Haikal-e Sulaimani the city of Jerusalem rebuilt. It is sad to note that the city of Jerusalem met with the second destruction during the reign of the Romans. The Roman general, Titus destroyed both the city of Jerusalem and the Haikel-e Sulaimani in 70 B.C.
The history then got another twist. In 137 BC the Roman Emperor, Hedreen expelled the trouble-maker Jews out of Palestine and Baitul Maqdis. Then, in the fourth century of the Christian era Jews embraced Christianity and built a Church in Baitul Maqdis. It is worth noting that when the Prophet of Islam, while going on the journey (called ‘Meraj’) to meet the Creator of the universe, reached Baitul Maqdis, there was neither any formal mosque nor any haikel. Therefore, in the Qur’ān, the same spot was called the Aqsa mosque where Prophet Jacob had got a mosque built. In 639 C.E. according to a treaty made with the Christians, Baitul MaqdIs came under the control of Muslims. It happened during the Caliphate of the second Caliph, Omar Farooq. Then, during the Caliphate of Abdul Malik, construction of Aqsa Mosque was taken in hand and completed. Then in 1099 the European crusaders captured Baitul Maqdis. It is stated that about 70,000 Muslims were martyred during this critical period. Thereafter in 1187 C.E. Sultan Saladin, after a pitched battle, got the Baitul Maqdis freed from the clutch of the Christians.
In September 1917, Europeans captured the Baitul Maqdis and allowed the Jews to make their settlements and abodes there. Then in November 1947 the General Assembly of the UNO, acting upon a well-hatched plot, divided Palestine into two parts; one part each was given to Arabs and the Jews. When in May 1948 the General Assembly declared the formation and establishment of an   Israeli state, the first Arab-Israel war broke up. This proved to be very disastrous for the Arabs. The Israeli army, equipped with sophisticated arms, captured about 78 per cent of Arab land. But still the Eastern part of Jerusalem, where Baitul Maqdis is situated, remained under the control of Jordan (a Muslim dominated state). Thereafter, the Third Arab-Israel war broke up in 1967.  This war, like the previous wars, further gifted the Israelies with the greater portion of the remaining Palestine. Even the Baitul Maqdis (Aqsa mosque) came under the control of the Jews. The status quo is not changed as yet.
A small part of a wall of Baiul Maqdis remained intact even after its destruction caused to Palestine in 1970. This wall is called ‘Wailing Wall’ and the place had been inhabited for a long period of two thousand years. It is reported that the Jews have been constantly trying to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque and then translate their long cherished dream of constructing Haikal on its ruins. This nefarious plan of the Jews can be thwarted only by raising a forceful and effective voice of objection and resorting to means that could nip their ugly design in the bud. And, this must be treated as a holy duty ought to be performed by all the Muslim countries of the world wholeheartedly. It is now known to all that the Israelies have been regarding Baitul Maqdis as their capital. Narrative of Rasheed Afroz ends here. I now place before the learned readers certain other facts connected with the subject under discussion.
The Jews lived in Egypt for 400 years. Prophet Moses received the Ten Commandments in Egypt, not Canaan or Palestine. No wonder, the diaspora Jews did not exhibit any urge to migrate to Palestine. If they did, they could have easily migrated to it over centuries. Some of the most significant persons in Jewish history, such as the philosopher, Philo and Ramban, lived in Egypt; they visited Jerusalem but chose not to migrate there, preferring instead to continue to live in Egypt which was a great cultural centre. It is to be marked that the Jews did not even undertake the pilgrimage to Jerusalem in as much number as the Christians pilgrims would do. Notwithstanding, the Christians had much more affinity for Jerusalem but they never claimed territorial rights over their holy land. Incidentally, the Christian crusaders dealt with the local Jewish community very harshly and cruelly.
In the most recent times, beginning the middle of the 19th century, the Jews in Russia and East Europe, when the pogroms began, could have opted to go to Palestine, but their first and, in most cases, only choice was to go to West Europe and the United States of America. Those living in West Europe were desperate to assimilate with local surroundings and to prove their loyalty to the countries where they had settled.
Exposing the hypocrisy of the western countries, Shlomo Sand, a professor of history at the Tel Aviv University, points out that for all their concern for the well-being of Jews, the host countries were determined to block the immigration of the Jews. This was the policy of England at the beginning of the 20th century. Lord Balfour, who is rightly called the ‘greatest benefactor of the Jewish people in modern times’ had no much love for the Jews and did not want too many of them living in Britain itself. The US had laws forbidding the immigration of Jews from 1924 to 1948. Sand believes that if the Jews had unrestricted entry into the US, there would have been no State of Israel. It is clear that both the United States and Britain, boldly and in a planned manner, rejected the idea of allowing the Jews making settlements in their respective countries.
The campaign for the migration of Jews to the land of Palestine was initiated not by the Zionists but by Christian evangelists. It was not as if they had special concern for the suffering and plight of the Jews. They believed that the Christian redemption of the world would take place only if the Jews returned to Zion and converted to Christianity; only then would the world see the second coming of Jesus!
In the middle of the 19th century, the seventh Earl of Shaftsbury, credited with coining the phrase, “a land without people for a people without land”, did not consider Judaism a legitimate religion. He did not believe that the Jews deserved a state of their own, but he was convinced that restoration in the Middle East could do away with the Jewish faith and would pave the way for the redemption of the world.
Shlomo Sand reminds us that whatever right the Jews had to the holy land was derived as invaders and occupiers. Joshua, who brought his followers to Israel, occupied the land and presumably carried out the command to destroy all the autochthonous people. As mentioned earlier, Prophet Abraham and his descendants up to Joshua were immigrants who occupied the land. If occupation gives the occupiers the right to the occupied land, Sand argues, the Arabs who occupied and lived without break for several centuries (about 800 years) in Spain, would have at least an equal claim to that land.
Leaving other arguments aside, I would conclude this article quoting one exceptional Jewish intellectual, Yitzhk Epstein, who immigrated to Palestine in 1895. He wrote in 1907 that “among difficult questions – there is one that outweighs all others; the question of our attitude towards the Arabs”. This question still awaits an answer and so long as it is not addressed fairly and justly, the ‘land of Israel’ will not enjoy peace. And, the world is observing this with open eyes.
The west is well-known for the treacherous roles they have played in the world affairs, and for its vested interests alone. The sooner the United States and Britain bring about a significant change in their policy towards Israel and help solve the issue of Palestinian justly and amicably, the better for maintaining peace especially in the Middle East, which apparently has been sitting on the ball of fire since long.