Scholar of Islam: Muslims Have No Religious Basis to Rule Jerusalem
Scholar of Islam: Muslims Have No Religious Basis to Rule Jerusalem
Citing the historical record and religious doctrine, a leading Pakistani historian proves that Muslims “have no religious basis to rule Jerusalem.”
unitedwithisrael.org, December 11 2017
Mobarak Haidar, a renowned Pakistani historian and author of multiple books, declared to the “Muslims of the world” that they “have no religious basis to rule Jerusalem.”
Following President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Haidar wrote in his Facebook page regarding “Jerusalem and Muslim Claims,” debunking various myths surrounding the city, which has been the capital of the Jewish people for the last 3,000 years, long before Islam was conceived.
Regarding the Muslim claim that the Al-Aqsa Mosque, situated on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, is supposedly mentioned in the Quran, the Pakistani historian explained: “The Holy Quran spoke of Al-Aqsa Mosque when it was not a ‘mosque’ in the Islamic sense. It was a holy place because of the prophets of Israel, from Moses to Jesus. It was the holy spot of worship for Jews and Christians.”
“Obviously, there were no Muslims in the city of Jerusalem till the era of Emir-ul-Momineen Umar ibn Khattab … . The Prophet [Muhammad] and his followers prayed with their faces toward this Jewish-Christian holy temple because Kaaba (the present center of Islamic Hajj) was full of idols,” Haidar pointed out, according to a translation of his Facebook post by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Jerusalem appears in the Hebrew Bible 669 times, but is not once directly mentioned by name in the Quran.
“After the ‘Conquest of Mecca,’ Muslims were told to turn their faces toward Kaaba and away from Jerusalem. They have never faced their loyalty toward Jerusalem after that, for the last 1,400 years. No Muslim ever went to pray in Jerusalem till it was conquered by the second caliph [Umar ibn Khattab in the 7th century] although there was no restriction on Muslims,” he wrote.
“Christians were masters of Jerusalem before Muslims conquered it. It is still a holy place for Christians. But Christians have no dispute over ownership of the city. It is their religious right to visit the holy city; and the Jews do not stop them,” he underscored.
“Muslims, too, should have the same religious rights, and in fact they have those rights; Jews do not stop them,” Haidar wrote.
Therefore, “Muslims of the world have no religious basis to rule Jerusalem. Most of the Muslims have never even wished to visit Jerusalem,” he said.
No Muslim Political Claims to Jerusalem
As for a political claim to the city, in his opinion, “only Palestinians can make it and only they should negotiate. It cannot be a collective Muslim claim.”
“Quraishi Arabs were masters of Jerusalem for some time. Then Mamluks [from Egypt], Muslim kings, took over. Turks came after them. Colonial Christians [the British Mandate] were the last political rulers.
He said it was “interesting to note that Iranian Muslims or Muslims of the Indian Subcontinent or Southeast Asia or Africa have never been its masters. They can claim only spiritual ties.”
He concluded by stating that “active centers of Muslim faith are none other than the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina.”
While Iranians have never controlled these active centers, “they are passionately building deadly weapons and jihadi forces to conquer or destroy Israel. It is sectarian politics of hegemony which can generate nothing but division and pain,” he warned.
Haidar is not the first Muslim or Arab scholar to concede that Muslims have no political connection to Jerusalem.
Renowned Egyptian scholar and novelist Youssef Ziedan conceded in an interview in December 2015 that the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is not the Al-Aqsa Mosque referred to in the Quran, and that the Temple Mount complex in the heart of Israel’s capital is not sacred to the Muslims.
Citing ancient scholars, Ziedan said that the Al-Haram Mosque and Al-Aqsa Mosque were “on the road from Mecca to Ta’if.”
He also contested the authenticity of other stories related to Mohammed in Muslim tradition.
In fact, the Temple Mount is Judaism’s holiest site, where the First and Second Holy Temples stood. There are many artifacts discovered by archaeologists as well as historical documentation that demonstrate these ties to the site.
Ziedan explained that “Hamikdash [the Temple] is a Hebrew word [which Muslims also used for the Temple Mount]. This is a Hebrew concept. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, in my view, is not the one [in Jerusalem]. It cannot be.”
He also pointed out that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is not the first direction of prayer for Muslims.
Ziedan also said there is no justification for a war over Jerusalem, and that Muslims should just leave Al-Aqsa, which would lead to peace.
By: United with Israel Staff
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Informed and educated Muslim scholars point out that Muslims do not have any religious right to rule Jerusalem.
If THEY do, then I have to question how informed and educated are those who say the Muslims DO have such a right.
I don’t think religion is a very good reference for making geopolitical decisions... but if anyone wants to do that, this is a killer.
I couldn't open a video but I did get this reference to it:
I'm sure that if such a channel existed the Arabs/Muslims would try their damndest to block it. For them it would be something like the "Tokyo Rose" broadcasts during WWII.
Actually, perhaps this is the whole interview. It made mincemeat out of the Al Jazeera interviewer:
Kedar explained how he came to be interviewed on Al-Jazeera:
"On June 1 of last year, Israel decided to build hundreds of more apartments in Har Homa and Pisgat Ze’ev, in eastern Jerusalem. Al-Jazeera – the jihadist channel, the terrorist station; I say this openly, though the English-language Al-Jazeera is more normal – turned it into the top news item, giving the impression that we are throwing all the Arabs out and expanding Jerusalem into the West Bank. Our Foreign Ministry did not want to respond because it condemned Al-Jazeera, so I appeared instead. Here is how it went [Kedar screens the video clip]:
Al-Jazeera announcer introduces Kedar from Bar Ilan University, and says: "This decision [to build more homes] bangs more nails into the coffin of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, no?"
Kedar: “I really don’t understand talk like this. Must Israel ask permission from someone in order to build in Jerusalem? Jerusalem has been our capital for 3,000 years, and we were there when your forefathers were drinking wine and burying girls alive and bowing down to [idols named] Uza and Allat and Almanat. Why do we even have to talk about this? This has been our city for 3,000 years, and it will remain our city forever and ever.”
Interviewer: “Excuse me, Mr. Mordechai, excuse me, excuse me. If you want to talk about history, we will talk about the Koran. You cannot erase Jerusalem from the Koran! I ask you to stay away from expressions that insult Arabs and Muslims. Please, let us remain on our topic, please.”
Kedar: “Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran!”
Interviewer in exasperation: “Praised be Allah who took his servant.”
Kedar: “Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran even one time! You cannot rewrite the Koran on the screen of Al-Jazeera.”
Interviewer: “Let’s talk politics, with your permission.”
Kedar: “Jerusalem is out of the negotiations. Jerusalem belongs to the Jews, period! Jerusalem is absolutely not for discussion, yet you keep bringing it up.”
Interviewer: “Mr. Kedar, the settlements! The settlements!”
Kedar: “We are talking about the construction of apartments within the city of Jerusalem.”
Interviewer: “You are talking about the construction of 1,000 new apartments, and there was a decision to build another 10,000 units, which was suspended. Now there is talk of building another 1,000 or 2,000 or 3,000 – Jerusalem will end up including the entire West Bank, is this not true?”
Kedar: “My brother, Israel doesn’t count the buildings that Qatar chooses to build on the Qatar Peninsula, so why do you count what we build in Jerusalem? Jerusalem is our eternal city forever and ever, and what we do there is not the business of Al-Jazeera or anyone else, period! The city belongs to Jews only!”
Interviewer: “Do you mean to imply that the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations are based on these facts-on-the-ground that you are talking about, Mr. Mordechai Kedar?”
Kedar: "My brother, I invite you to come to Jerusalem to see with your own eyes how Jerusalem has become a flowering city, after a period of ruins under Arab rule until 1967. We built this city anew, and it is now open to Christians, Moslems and Jews in an equal manner, as it never was under Islamic rule when the Moslems kept the Jews away, and sometimes the Christians as well – and now it is open to all."
Interviewer: "I would like an answer. Why is it that every time there are Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, you talk about the settlements? You decide to add new settlements, to bite off more land, and to Judaize more Palestinian land, and in this way you undermine any option of establishing a Palestinian state in the future, is this not true?"
Kedar: "As of now, bli ayin hara, the Palestinians already have two states – one in Gaza, and one that will be established, if Allah wills it, in the West Bank. And if the Palestinians continue their irresponsible behavior in the negotiations, there will soon be another state in Hebron, and one in Nablus, and one in Ramallah, and one in Jenin."
Interviewer: "That is according to the Israeli outline, but the international decisions are opposed to everything you are saying, Mr. Mordechai. Eastern Jerusalem is occupied, occupied, occupied. Everyone knows this."
Kedar: "The West Bank does not belong to any country in the world. There is no sovereignty over that area, just like Antarctica in the south. Jordan was in control of the area until 1967, but no country has sovereignty there, unlike the Golan and Sinai. Therefore, no one can say that this is occupied territory. From which country was it conquered? Jordan conquered it until 1967, and now it is under Israeli rule, and does not belong to any other country in the world. And therefore we can build there whatever we want."
At the conclusion of the video, the Jerusalem Conference audience applauded, and Prof. Kedar concluded his talk by emphasizing that what he told Al-Jazeera should be known to everyone: "I'm not from the extreme right-wing, but these are things that everyone must know and explain."