THE MOSLEM CLAIM TO JERUSALEM IS FALSE
by Dr. Manfred R. Lehmann
The Moslem "claim" to Jerusalem is based on what is written in the Koran, which although Jerusalem is not mentioned even once, nevertheless talks (in Sura 17:1) of the "Furthest Mosque": "Glory be unto Allah who did take his servant for a journey at night from the Sacred Mosque to the Furthest Mosque." But is there any foundation to the Moslem argument that this "Furthest Mosque" (Al-Masujidi al-Aqtza) refers to what is today called the Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem? The answer is, none whatsoever.
In the days of Mohammed, who died in 632 of the Common Era, Jerusalem was a Christian city within the Byzantine Empire. Jerusalem was captured by Khalif Omar only in 638, six years after Mohammed's death. Throughout all this time there were only churches in Jerusalem, and a church stood on the Temple Mount, called the Church of Saint Mary of Justinian, built in the Byzantine architectural style.
The Aksa Mosque was built 20 years after the Dome of the Rock, which was built in 691-692 by Khalif Abd El Malik. The name "Omar Mosque" is therefore false. In or around 711, or about 80 years after Mohammed died, Malik's son, Abd El-Wahd - who ruled from 705-715 - reconstructed the Christian- Byzantine Church of St. Mary and converted it into a mosque. He left the structure as it was, a typical Byzantine "basilica" structure with a row of pillars on either side of the rectangular "ship" in the center. All he added was an onion-like dome on top of the building to make it look like a mosque. He then named it El-Aksa, so it would sound like the one mentioned in the Koran.
Therefore it is crystal clear that Mohammed could never have had this mosque in mind when he compiled the Koran, since it did not exist for another three generations after his death. Rather, as many scholars long ago established, it is logical that Mohammed intended the mosque in Mecca as the "Sacred Mosque," and the mosque in Medina as the "Furthest Mosque." So much for the Moslem claim based on the Aksa Mosque.
With this understood, it is no wonder that Mohammed issued a strict prohibition against facing Jerusalem in prayer, a practice that had been tolerated only for some months in order to lure Jews to convert to Islam. When that effort failed, Mohammed put an abrupt stop to it on February 12, 624. Jerusalem simply never held any sanctity for the Moslems themselves, but only for the Jews in their domain.
[DR. MANFRED R. LEHMANN is a writer for the Algemeiner Journal. Originally published in the Algemeiner Journal, August 19, 1994.]
in another vein ..........
Christianity and Islam have been eternal mortal enemies theologically and militarily. Each claims dominance over the other and both claim they are the rightful heirs to the Jews' Covenant with G-d. Both slaughtered the other in their claims over Jerusalem and the victor always denied the other access to their churches or mosques. Consistent with this philosophy of denial, the Palestinian clerics have declared that no Jew will be allowed to worship or set foot in the Mea'arat HaMachpelah (Cave of the Patriarchs - the burial cave of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca; Jacob and Leah) or the Temple Mount (which they now consider a mosque where Jews are not permitted.)
When they found they could not actually capture the Spirit within the Holy Temple, they build their own churches or
mosques on top of the Jewish Temple, as if to hold down and contain the spirit within. Often the victors built their
religious symbols on the foundations of each other's places of worship to demonstrate their superiority. Like the earlier cannibals, there was the thought that they could absorb the strength of the vanquished.
In the end, all they could do is to plunder the symbols of the Jews to carry back to their capital cities. The Golden
Menorah looted by the Roman soldiers from the Jewish Temple may yet be in the vaults of the Vatican in the hope that such a treasure carved by Jewish artisans according to G-d's instructions may offer some mystical benefits to her captors. In ancient times the Holy Ark that housed the Covenant was once captured by the Philistines.. Its captors began to die with the plague. They got frightened and soon returned it to the Jews.
It is now the year 2000. Because of Jewish law, for the first time both Christianity and Islam have unimpeded access to their places of worship. Yet, both proclaim to the world they want Jerusalem internationalized so they could have free access to their places of worship. They are creating the Big Lie in their war of words. Assaulting Jerusalem can be done by armies with weapons or armies of diplomats with words - or with both.
.......... one more proof of Arab expansionist interpretation of the Islam.
Palestine has never existed . . . as an autonomous entity. There is no language known as Palestinian.
There is no distinct Palestinian culture. There has never been a land known as Palestine governed by
Palestinians. Palestinians are Arabs, indistinguishable from Jordanians (another recent invention),
Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc.
Keep in mind that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East lands. Israel represents one-tenth of
one percent of the landmass. But that's too much for the Arabs. They want it all. And that is ultimately
what the fighting in Israel is about today . . . No matter how many land concessions the Israelis make, it
will never be enough. — from "Myths of the Middle East", Joseph Farah, Arab-American editor and
journalist, WorldNetDaily, 11 October 2000
worldnetdaily.com
worldnetdaily.com
worldnetdaily.com
until the Jews returned to Israel the land was a waste land
From the end of the Jewish state in antiquity to the beginning of British rule, the area now designated by
the name Palestine was not a country and had no frontiers, only administrative boundaries . . . . —
Professor Bernard Lewis, Commentary Magazine, January 1975
Travellers to Palestine from the Western world left records of what they saw there. The theme throughout their reports is dismal: The land was empty, neglected, abandoned, desolate, fallen into ruins
Nothing there [Jerusalem] to be seen but a little of the old walls which is yet remaining and all the rest is
grass, moss and weeds. — English pilgrim in 1590
The country is in a considerable degree empty of inhabitants and therefore its greatest need is of a body of
population — British consul in 1857
There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent [valley of Jezreel] — not for 30 miles in either
direction. . . . One may ride 10 miles hereabouts and not see 10 human beings.
For the sort of solitude to make one dreary, come to Galilee . . . Nazareth is forlorn . . . Jericho lies a
moldering ruin . . . Bethlehem and Bethany, in their poverty and humiliation . . . untenanted by any living
creature . . . .
A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds . . a silent, mournful
expanse . . . a desolation . . . . We never saw a human being on the whole route . . . . Hardly a tree or
shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost
deserted the country . . . .
Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes . . . desolate and unlovely . . . . — Mark Twain, The Innocents
Abroad, 1867
The restoration of the "desolate and unlovely" land began in the latter half of the Nineteenth
Century with the first Jewish pioneers. Their labors created newer and better conditions and
opportunities, which in turn attracted migrants from many parts of the Middle East, both Arabs
and others.
The Balfour Declaration of 1917, confirmed by the League of Nations Mandate, commited the
British Government to the principle that "His Majesty's government view with favour the
establishment in Palestine of a Jewish National Home, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate
the achievement of this object. . . . " It was specified both that this area be open to "close Jewish
settlement" and that the rights of all inhabitants already in the country be preserved and protected.
Mandate Palestine originally included all of what is now Jordan, as well as all of what is now Israel, and the territories between them. However, when Great Britain's protégé Emir Abdullah was forced to leave the ancestral Hashemite domain in Arabia, the British created a realm for him that included all of Manfate Palestine east of the Jordan River. There was no traditional or historic Arab name for this land, so it was called after the river: first Trans-Jordan and later Jordan.
By this political act, that violated the conditions of the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate, the British cut more than 75 percent out of the Jewish National Home. No Jew has ever been permitted to reside in Tans-Jordan/Jordan.
Those that hate Jews for sake of pure hate or out of envy for what ever reason justify the right of Arab terrorist to establish a state on the expense of Israel and Jews and are the same type of people who refused under various pretenses to allow the bombing of the concentration camps during WWII were Jews were gassed to death just because they are Jews.
That is the sad truth ..........hatred of Jews is still alive and well as it was 60 years ago and the other rumble jumble are just that. Today ALL ARABS are leveraging those sentiments to kill Jews who for them symbolize the essence of Western Civilization and is a sore torn in their eyes. For Arabs rulers who oppress their own people, Israel is a reminder of what true democracy and Western Culture can achieve in a land once was left to waste. To counter their own people aspiration for integration in the Western Culture those Arab rulers want Israel to be destroyed........ as a first step in their expansionist dreams ............ similar to conquering Kashmir in the East.
On the other hand, Arabs that accepted the Jewish state enjoy the rights as any other citizen in Israel, having prominent position in the Israeli government, a majority enrolls into the Israeli Armed Forces and defend their country against those Arabs who are leaded by terrorist and massacre every one who is in favor of Israel existence by calling them various degrading names.
One must wonder why the most wanted people on FBI wanted list and held responsible for the Sept. 11 massacre are from very wealthy families who are in power in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, including the grandson of the founder of the Arab League, others from other Arab countries. |
