- Category: ISLAMIC HISTORY
- Language: ENGLISH
- Format: PDF
This book seeks to provide a brief overview of the history and religious significance of the City of Jerusalem as a
background to understanding the current legal and political status of the city. Its rich history, its location as meeting-point between the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, and its spiritual wealth make Jerusalem — which literally means ‘city of peace’— a unique microcosm for the interplay of the world’s civilizations and religions. For Sophronius, the 7th century Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Old City was the “splendid sun of the world”1. Described in the Noble Qur’an (17:1) as the land whose surroundings God “blessed”, the area between the Jordan and the Mediterranean was — for a large portion of its history — called ‘Palestine’, the south-western part of the biblical Land of Canaan. Today, the mere mention of “Al-Quds”, one of the city’s Arabic names, conjures up a flood of emotions and longing for the holy sites within the confines of the Old City.
Jerusalem was the dwelling place of many of God’s Prophets: it is where Abraham was called upon to sacrifice Isaac (in the Bible), where David and Solomon reigned, where Jesus dwelled and ascended to Heaven and where Muhammad was called for Al-Mi’raj — his nocturnal ascent to Heaven. It has become common practice to politicize the sacred city but it remains, above all else, unutterably holy to Muslims, Christians and Jews.
