Islamization of Jerusalem

The Islamization of Jerusalem refers to the transformation of the city that followed the Islamic Conquest of Jerusalem by Umar ibn Al-Khattāb in 638 CE. The remodulation was grounded on a foundational narrative in early Islamic texts that emphasized the city's cosmological significance within God's creation.^[1] It has been argued that the central role Jerusalem assumed in Islamic belief began with Muhammad's instruction to his followers to observe the qibla by facing the direction of Jerusalem during their daily prostrations in prayer. After 16 months, the direction of prayer was changed to Mecca in present-day Saudi Arabia.^[2]

View of Jerusalem with the Haram al-Sharif in the foreground.

Jerusalem importance rose in Islam in 682 CE, when Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr rebelled against the Islamic rulers in Damascus, conquered Mecca and prevented pilgrims from reaching Mecca.^[3]

Although Jerusalem is not mentioned by its name in Quran, it is mentioned in later Islamic literature and in Hadiths, as the place of Muhammad ascension to heavenly sanctuary.^[4] According to early Arab historian and the biographer of Muhammad, Al-Waqidi, the 'further mosque' (al-Aqsa) are one of two located in the village ofin al-Gi'irranah between Mecca and Ta'if.^[3] The identification of Al Aqsa with Jerusalem came later, during Umayyad Caliphate in the late 7th century^[5]

Under the Caliphates

In 638 the Islamic Caliphate extended its dominion to Jerusalem.^[6] With the Arab conquest, Jews were allowed back into the city.^[7] While the majority population of Jerusalem during the time of Arab conquest was Christian,^[8] the majority of Palestine population about 300,000-400,000 inhabitants, was still Jewish.^[9] In the aftermath the process of cultural Arabization and Islamization took place, combining immigration to Palestine with the adoption of Arabic language and conversion of the part of local population to Islam.^[10] According to several Muslim scholars, including Mujir ad-Din, al-Suyuti, and al-Muqaddasi, the mosque was reconstructed and expanded by the caliph Abd al-Malik in 690 along with the Dome of the Rock.^[11][12] In planning his magnificent project on the Temple Mount, which in effect would turn the entire complex into the Haram al-Sharif ("the Noble Sanctuary"), Abd al-Malik wanted to replace the slipshod structure described by Arculf with a more sheltered structure enclosing the qibla, a necessary element in his grand scheme. The Jewish background in the construction of the Dome of the Rock is commonly accepted by historians. A number of scholars consider the construction of the Dome as the Muslim desire to rebuild Solomon's Temple or Mihrab Dawud. Grabar and Busse claimed that this was the primary Islamic legitimization for the sanctity of the Dome of the Rock, while the Al-mi'raj traditions were transferred to the rock only later.^[13] An early Islamic tradition from the converted rabbi Ka'ab al-Ahbar states "Ayrusalaim which means Jerusalem and the Rock which means the Temple. I shall send you my servant Abd al-Malik who will build you and adorn you. I shall surely restore you to Bayt Al Maqdis, its first kingdom and I shall crown it with gold, silver and gems. And I shall surely send you my creatures. And I shall surely invest my throne of glory upon the rock, since I am the sovereign God, and David is the king of the Children of Israel."^[14]

Under the Rashidun Caliphate

The Rashidun caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab signed a treaty with Monophysite Christian Patriarch Sophronius, assuring him that Jerusalem's Christian holy places and population would be protected under Muslim rule.^[15] When led to pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the holiest site for Christians, the caliph Umar declined to pray within the church in order not to establish a precedent that might be exploited later by some Muslims to convert the church into a mosque. He prayed outside the church, where the Mosque of Umar (Omar) stands to this day, opposite the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

According to the Gaullic bishop Arculf, who lived in Jerusalem from 679 to 688, the Mosque of Umar was a rectangular wooden structure built over ruins which could accommodate 3,000 worshipers.^[16]

Under the Umayyad Caliphate

The Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik commissioned the construction of the Dome of the Rock in the late 7th century.^[17] The 10th century historian al-Muqaddasi writes that Abd al-Malik built the shrine in order to "compete in grandeur" with Jerusalem's monumental churches.^[16] Over the next four hundred years Jerusalem's prominence diminished as Arab powers in the region jockeyed for control.^[18]

Under the Fatimid Caliphate

In 1099, The Fatimid ruler expelled the native Christian population before Jerusalem was conquered by the Crusaders, who massacred most of its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants when they took the solidly defended city by assault, after a period of siege; later the Crusaders created the Kingdom of Jerusalem. By early June 1099 Jerusalem’s population had declined from 70,000 to less than 30,000.^[19]

Under the Ayyubid dynasty

In 1187, the city was wrested from the Crusaders by Saladin who permitted Jews and Muslims to return and settle in the city.^[20] Under the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin, a period of huge investment began in the construction of houses, markets, public baths, and pilgrim hostels as well as the establishment of religious endowments. However, for most of the 13th century, Jerusalem declined to the status of a village due to city's fall of strategic value and Ayyubid internecine struggles.^[21]

Under the Mamluk Sultanate

In 1244, Jerusalem was sacked by the Khwarezmian Tartars, who decimated the city's Christian population and drove out the Jews.^[22] The Khwarezmian Tartars were driven out by the Ayyubids in 1247. From 1250 to 1517, Jerusalem was ruled by the Mamluks. During this period of time many clashes occurred between the Mamluks on one side and the crusaders and the Mongols on the other side. The area also suffered from many earthquakes and black plague.

Under Hashemite rule

The Arab Legion in the process of destroying the synagogue.

Jordan, although mandated by the UN to let Israeli Jews visit their holy sites, refused access to them. They also led a systematic destruction of the Jewish Quarter including many ancient synagogues.^[23] Under Jordanian rule of East Jerusalem, all Israelis (irrespective of their religion) were forbidden from entering the Old City and other holy sites.^[24] Between 40 000 and 50 000 tombstones from ancient Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery were desecrated.^[25] In the Old City of Jerusalem, the Jewish Quarter was destroyed after the end of fighting. The Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue was destroyed first, which was followed by the destruction of famous Hurva Synagogue built in 1701, first time destroyed by its Arab creditors in 1721 and rebuilt in 1864.^[26][27][28] On its part, Israeli authorities destroyed part of Mamila Muslim cemetery, near the armistice line.^[29] Altogether, the Jordanians destroyed 56 Synagogues in Jerusalem, while the remaining synagogues were used as toilets, stables and chicken coops.^[30] All Jewish inhabitants from the parts of city occupied by Jordan, including residents of Old City Jewish Quarter were expelled. Christian charities and religious institutions were prohibited from buying real estate in Jerusalem. Christian schools were subject to strict regulations.

An Arab Legion soldier in ruins of Hurva Synagogue.

Islamization of the Temple Mount

Muslim authorities have sought to appropriate and Islamicize the Temple Mount for exclusive Muslim use.^[31] Originally an Israelite and subsequently Jewish holy site, as the location of the First and Second Temples, the site was subsequently the location of a Byzantine church and later of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

At the time of the Muslim conquest, the Temple Mount may have been the site of a Byzantine public building, perhaps a church, with an elaborate mosaic floor, some of the remains of which have been discovered by the Temple Mount Sifting Project.^[32] In 682 CE, 50 years after Muhammad’s death, ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr rebelled against the Caliph of Damascus, conquered Mecca and stopped pilgrims from coming south to the Hajj in Mecca. ‘Abd al-Malik, the Umayyad Caliph, responded by creating a new holy site. He chose sura 17, verse 1, “Glory to Him who caused His servant to travel by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose precincts We have blessed, in order to show him some of Our Signs, He is indeed the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” And designated the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as the "Farthest Mosque" mentioned in that verse.

Dome of the Rock

The Islamization of the Temple Mount climaxed at the end of the seventh century, with the construction of the Dome of the Rock in the early 690s when Abd al-Malik was developing his program of Islamization. It was built over the Foundation Stone, the site of the historic Jewish Temple.^[33] The al-Aqsa mosque was built at the southern end of the mount in the 8th-century.

Throughout the entire period of the Muslim conquest until the capture of Jerusalem in 1099, various structures were built on the mount including memorial sites and gates.^[34]

From the 13th-century onwards, after the Muslims had regained control of the city, building projects in Jerusalem and around the Temple Mount sought to further establish the city’s Islamic character.^[35]

After the conquest of the city by Saladin, non-Muslims were permitted to set foot on the Temple Mount.^[36]

Al-Aqsa Mosque

It is unknown exactly when the al-Aqsa Mosque was first constructed and who ordered its construction, but it is certain that it was built in the early Umayyad period of rule in Palestine. Architectural historian K. A. C. Creswell, referring to a testimony by Arculf, a Gallic monk, during his pilgrimage to Palestine in 679–82, notes the possibility that the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, Umar ibn al-Khattab, erected a primitive quadrangular building for a capacity of 3,000 worshipers somewhere on the Haram ash-Sharif. However, Arculf visited Palestine during the reign of Mu'awiyah I, and it is possible that Mu'awiyah ordered the construction, not Umar. This latter claim is explicitly supported by the early Muslim scholar al-Muthahhar bin Tahir.^[11]

Post 1948 period of Jordanian rule to 1967

An Arab Legion soldier in ruins of Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue.

Destruction of Temple Mount antiquities, 1995–2001

Between 1995 and 2001, the Islamic Waqf carried out extensive construction work in order to build the biggest mosque in the region named Marwani mosque, with a capacity of 10,000 worshippers in an area of about 5,000 square meters. During unsupervised construction, the Waqf obliterated many of the antiquities at Solomon's Stables section of Temple Mount. The original Herodian structure was converted into a mosque. The structure stones were stripped of its original surface.^[37] At eastern Hulda gate, the Waqf destroyed the original Herodian ornamentation and later plastered them and painted them over.^[38] Tens of truck loads of dirt were dumped into Kidron Walley. Thousands of artifacts from the First Temple period until today were later rescued in the operation named Temple Mount Sifting Project. The findings included some 1000 ancient coins, Israelite bullas with ancient Hebrew inscriptions, 10,000-year-old tools like a blade and scraper, as well as Hasmonean, Ptolemaic and Herodian artifacts, ancient stones with signs of Second Temple destruction and other important artifacts.^[39] The Waqf justified its action by calling the site a "mosque from the time of Adam and Eve" and by rejecting Jewish historical connection with the site.^[40]

See also

• Demographic history of Jerusalem
• Islamization
• Jerusalem in Islam
• Judaization
• Judaization of Jerusalem
• Timeline of Jerusalem

References