The importance of Jerusalem in Islam- Palestinian Expo

Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. Peace and blessings be upon all of you, and good afternoon to each and every one, beginning by praising the almighty for the favor that the Almighty has bestowed upon us and salutations be upon the messengers of the Almighty and those who follow them in righteousness.

The title, of course, is with regard to Jewish Jerusalem being extremely important spiritually to all three Abrahamic faiths. It goes without saying that this is a reality that all the three major Abrahamic faiths, regard Jerusalem to be blessed.

And spiritually, they have a great attachment to Jerusalem. Now, I'm not an expert, to speak about the sacredness of Jerusalem, from the Jewish or the Christian perspective.

And I own venture to quote from the sources, because unfortunately, I've come to realize in the United Kingdom, by quoting someone you get can get into unfavorable

Nevertheless, I will just stick to speaking about the Islamic perspective with regard to Jerusalem, its sacredness, and also speak about

instances in history where there has been a great amount of peace in Jerusalem and freedom for all three major Abrahamic faiths. Let me start off by speaking about some aspects with regard to the sacredness of Jerusalem from an Islamic and Muslim perspective. We all know that Majid XL, the mosque that is in Jerusalem has been made mentioned in the Holy Quran. In chapter 17 verse one, the Almighty says Masjid accidentally Baraka hola Whoa, the masjid in Jerusalem with the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said Allah Allah wa sallam travelled from Mecca to Jerusalem and then in the presence of the Almighty. It was part and parcel of his historical and great epic journey known

as Mirage, and coming into the presence of the Almighty.

In the Holy Quran, it is also said out of del Makkah de the blessing land and of course, according to the famous commentator of the Holy Quran, Abdullah Nia buzz, the cousin of the Beloved Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, it refers to Jerusalem, and Palestine, the surroundings of Jerusalem. We are also aware that from the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. We have been told that Jerusalem and the masjid in Jerusalem was the second mosque

or shrine that was established on this earth after the one in Mecca. So the second one, and of course, this tradition is in the compile ation of Sahih, Muslim of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, in which he said that the second most to be established on this earth, after the one in Makkah, was the one in Jerusalem. And of course, part of making mention of this is to show the Muslims attachment to Jerusalem and to measure the Aqsa is as old as time and I will continue giving some examples with regard to that. We are also aware that the Prophet Muhammad said that to perform prayers in the masjid in the mosque in Jerusalem, is 500 times more superior, or in

one operation 1000 times more superior or more blessed than performing prayers in your local mosque. And there is a reason why Muslims throughout the world would like the opportunity to perform prayers in Nigeria except it gives me great pleasure that part of my congregation in Johannesburg, one of the prime

persons who organize the seclusion, which Muslims do at the end of Ramadan, the last 10 days of Ramadan. He has for the past several years arranged for Muslims in South Africa to spend the time of seclusion the last 10 days of Ramadan, in Nigeria. And this year, there were 150 Muslims from South Africa, who had spent this last 10 days of seclusion in the holy mosque in Jerusalem. We are also aware that this particular type of attachment to the masjid and the mosque in Jerusalem and Jerusalem in particular is always remained not only at that time, but throughout history. So 4000 companions of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, a buried in the proximity of Jerusalem and its

surroundings. That shows that there's always been

That type of relationship of Muslims with Jerusalem and its surroundings.

And together with that, you know, 50 years later after the demise and the passing on of the companions of the Prophet, he's remained to the Great Leader Abdul Malik bin Marwan to construct one of the most beautiful shrines in religious architecture, the Dome of the Rock, which still stands today, as a tribute, and a memorial for the Muslims love and attachment to Jerusalem. So this is one side the sacredness and the attachment of Muslims, spiritually to Jerusalem and its surroundings. And therefore it is very surprisingly sometimes to hear people saying that Muslims don't have any much attachment to Jerusalem in its surroundings. Although I can quote almost 70 different

references in the Holy Quran, which speaks about the blessedness of Majid, Aqsa Jerusalem and its surroundings. The second reason why Jerusalem is so important to Muslims is because it has always been the place in the center for Muslim and the messengers of the Almighty whether it be messengers who are supposedly attached to Judaism or Christianity. Now, anyone who knows and have read about Islam will know that it is an article of our faith, to believe in revere and to respect every divine messenger. The Quran says learn for Rick obey now I hadn't morosely we do not differentiate between any of the messengers of the Almighty. It is an article of our faith that just says we are supposed

to believe and respect and revere the Prophet Mohammed, we have to respect and revere every prophet and messenger, whether it be Moses, whether it be Jesus, whether it be David, whether it be Joseph, whether it be Yusuf and giving the both the biblical and the Arabic names, and every messenger, it is important for us to to speak about them highly and to review them. In fact, not only that, a person would cease to be a Muslim if he does not revere and does not regard them as messengers of the Almighty. The Quran sympathetically relates many of the great incidents of the messengers of the Almighty and speaks very highly about them. It will be surprising to many to hear that the incident

of Moses has been repeated more in the Holy Quran.

compared to any other Prophet, even Muhammad, out of the 50 parts of the Holy Quran.

Out of the 50 parts of the Holy Quran Moses incident has been made mentioned in 28 parts of the Holy Quran out of the 30 parts.

One of the most emotionally charged and to me one of the most emotionally charged verses of the Holy Quran relates to the miraculous birth of Jesus. And of course, that portion, and these are sort of in a chapter in the Holy Quran, which refers to marry, known as sort of Miriam. And in this particular verse.

The Quran vividly describes this time when Mary brings Jesus in her lap to the people of Jerusalem. And look at how beautifully the Quran puts it to the Harun makan Abu Kimora, so mechanical mokuba Oh, Mary, how do you bring a child out of wedlock? Your mother was not given to any wrong ways. And your family was a noble family. How is it that you bring a child out of wedlock to the people of Jerusalem? for shelter heroin makan Abu Kimura. So Omar can have fashola tell him and she indicates to Jesus for sure. And the people of Jerusalem say Mark Kevin Kelley moment can I film this, Amir? How do you expect us to speak to a just newly born child but this was not a newly born child, an

ordinary newly born child. Its birth was miraculous. And it speaks miraculously from the cradle. And it said, What does it say? Oh you

do not cast aspersions of my mother.

She is an upright woman. I'm a servant of the Almighty. I have been born miraculously is one of the manifestations and a showing of the greatness and the power of the Almighty.

You know, it is also amazing that Muslims find it very honorable to speak about a name they children under the names of the devil divine messengers.

Ibrahim is smart use of doubt is a very common names in the Muslim community and society. I like to quote my

Example, that in my situation, you know, for the past five generations, although we know Ibrahim, you know, Abraham had two children, Isaac, and Ishmael, Isaac, the father of Judaism, and Ishmael the father of the Arabs, and that is why they say Jews and Arabs are cousins and to one another. And surprisingly, they say many times many of the disputes are most intense between people who are very close family relatives. Because it may, you know, and you have O'Brien being the father Ishmael being the son, but in my situation in my family, for the past five generations, the name has interchange between Abraham and his smile. So my great grandfather's name was his smile. My

grandfather's name was Abraham, my father's name was his smile. My name is Ibrahim, my son's name is Ishmael. And I always tell him, you have to keep up the tradition. So when my eldest son gave, you know, my eldest son became a father of a child. So he said, am I supposed to keep the name is my associate No, that is my Unix and Unix.

So anyway, this just shows the importance and how we relate to the messengers, the Almighty, and that is a reason why

we have this great amount of attachment and we believe, I believe near buzz, the cover cousin of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, it said, There is not a piece of land in Jerusalem, in which a messenger of the Almighty did not pray to the Almighty. And because of the fact that Islam does not cut itself off from the previous prophets. It regards Islam regards itself as a continuation of the teachings of Moses and Jesus. Nasrallah, Allah clickatell, will help Musa de Colima Bay, the Quran had come with the intention of continuation of the teachings of Moses and Jesus. That's how we believe we do agree that there might be some differences with regard to that. But that is our belief

that Islam is a continuation of the teachings of Jesus and Moses, and keeping this in mind, Muslims whenever they have been in control, and and I can't speak on every epoch of Islamic history, because we all know that, while we tend to glorify certain aspects of our history, which are, which are good, which are romantic, sometimes they have been aspects of history, both from Islam, Christianity, Judaism, which have not always been covered in glory. But of course, part of the glorious situations has been the incident of Homer. When Omar conquered Jerusalem, he struck a very friendly relationship with a bishop of sufferance, who was Archbishop of Jerusalem to such an extent

that the Archbishop even offered to wash the clothes of Kumar. And of course, one of the very famous incident that time was Omar was at the time of the prayer at the Holy Sepulcher. And it was a time of the prayers and he was I asked for prayers. And the bishop told him that why don't you pray in the church. And Omar refused and declined saying that if I pray in the church, my followers and the Muslims will take it as a means of taking over the church which I do not want. And there was an agreement which was signed between the bishop sufferance of Jerusalem in which Homer gave the Christians the right to worship freely, without any hindrance. And even given them the opportunity

to have within the lives apply the the social law, the personal law upon themselves, something which Muslims in many parts of the world, even today don't have, and is always looked upon with suspicion, but was granted by Muslims to people of other faiths. And this particular aspect came to the fore when Sultan Selim the Ottoman Empire, when he conquered and he came in to Jerusalem in 1517, he met a Christian delegation who presented to him the agreement between Omar and the Christians at that time where they were allowed freedom of worship in Jerusalem. And Sultan Selim took that particular agreement of the very greatly revered halifa of Islam, Allah upon his eyes and said, I will see to

it that is upheld the way Omar upheld it. And of course, we all know with regard to what happened between the crusades, and then of course, you compare the Crusades with Salahuddin and of course, many even the western writers have spoken highly about how Salahuddin had been such a chivalrous person and so kind and kept with kindness, with your reading, if you want to read with regard to that is to read rider haggard, in which he has spoken so highly about Sarah codina up, I won't go into that particular aspect. So now, after saying this, we can give many examples with regard to this. And I can speak not only not on behalf of presently Muslim rulers or for example, rulers in

the past, I'll speak directly from the theological aspect.

And we'll come to the conclusion of the scope. The Quran in in speaks about the existence of people of different faiths. When we share our Bukola Jelena samata wahida Luna macula Illa Mara Mara book

you know, I do apologize if I

I have not been able to give a reference, because I know the Quran by heart. So sometimes I just quote the Arabic text. But if anyone requires the text, I can make it. The reference I can make it very clearly available in the Quran says that Quran except that there will be people of different faiths. So this gives rise to coexistence because of the fact that the Quran says that there are going to be people of different faiths, you have to mutually coexist. And there is a very clear cut principle of the Holy Quran like Rafi Dean, there is no compulsion in religion, you cannot impose religion upon anyone. It's a fundamental principle of the Holy Quran, that quote that religion

cannot be forcefully applied upon each and every year in any any person. The Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him is also known to have done agreements with regard to multiculturalism, in which, for example, the mythical Medina in which there are 47 claws, that when the Prophet Muhammad came into Madina, munawwara, the blessing city of Medina, there were 47 clauses, in which the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, had agreed with the citizens of Medina, which include the local indigenous citizens, and the Jews of Medina, in which they said how we are going to live as a United Community. In many ways we could say, that was one of the first multicultural societies. And of course, for

Muslims, there is evidence with regard to the aspect that the Prophet Muhammad had created such a system in which people of different faiths could live together. And of course, we have the example of Salah Houdini up, we have the example of Homer, can we have many other examples with regard to it. During the time of the Prophet Muhammad, there was a delegation of the Christians of Nigeria who came to meet the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. And it is absolutely amazing that when you look at history, how the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him treated them. And you find that the Prophet Mohammed set up a tent for them outside the mosque, and arrange for the meals. And when they

used to worship according to their own doctrines, and according to their own faiths, people came to complain to the Prophet Mohammed and he said, allow them to worship the way they have been taught to not interfere in that particular regard. So here we have an example of, you know, an example of, you know, acceptance, and about with regard to multiculturalism, of course, I've given you two, three, in fact, many examples during the course of Islamic history, in which Jerusalem had been an open city for people of different faiths. And I would like to conclude with those two things, just one or two very important points. You know, many times people do when they speak about Muslim

understanding, and Muslim relationship with people of other faiths. There is a verse in the Holy Quran, which, you know, it's such a beautiful verse and something for us to consider. The Almighty says lie and how kumala 111, LMU katello confetti in one

room, but toxic to claim that the almighty does not prevent you with regard to people of other faiths, who do not fight with you, who do not expel you from your homes, they are good with you. That what are you supposed to do with them and about room, and I would like you just to think about this word, the word that is used is the bar room below. Their means kindness and goodness, and not ordinary kindness and goodness, normally this word in the Arabic lecture terminology, and the Arabic grammar is used in Islamic in Islamic traditions, to refer to our relationship with our parents. So you will find in the holiday strips, traditions, you will find chapter by rule valleydale Be kind to

your parents. And I don't need to emphasize that how Muslims are required and emphasize to be kind towards the parents. And that same word has been used for our relationship with people of other faiths. That same word has been used to refer to our relationship with people of other faiths. Then you have for example, Muslims are not supposed and don't have love for people of other faiths. Now, all of us know from the Quran, that a Muslim man can get married to a Jewish and Christian woman. Now, if he gets married to a Jewish and Christian woman, now I wonder how is he going to get married to someone who doesn't love them? And can you imagine he's also going to have, you know, the mother

in law and also be perhaps be a Jewish and Christian woman. Now, I know you have films like monster in law, but I mean, we don't know talk about that. I mean, finally, from an Islamic and from a religious person, a spiritual perspective, you're supposed to love your your wife's family. So we use this aspect that Muslims don't have any regard for people of other faiths. And very quickly, let me just end off with a beautiful thing. And the passage of the Prophet Mohammed, really worth of listening. The Prophet Mohammed had said, Whosoever trades and non Muslim in an Islamic Society and justly whosoever treats another

Muslim in Islamic Society unjustly, I would, I would take up that non Muslims course and fight on his behalf against the Muslim on the Day of Judgment. Now, as I said, from the very beginning, I can't speak on behalf of Muslim rulers in the past or present. I can speak on what the tradition says. And I can speak to you what the Quran or Hadith says. And the Prophet Mohammed said, Whosoever inconveniences the non Muslim in Islamic Society, I will take up the cause of the non Muslim citizen on the day of judgment against the Muslims. And therefore I'm very optimistic. And I believe, as Christian said, beautifully said that, yes, there are examples in history that can be achieved, that

Jerusalem which is so central to our faiths, central to the Abrahamic faiths can live in such a way that each and every one of these faiths can have access and enjoy the spirituality and the centrality and the blessedness of Jerusalem, it is possible, let us thrive and let us not allow people to be able to differentiate and to create, you know, guided divisions of hatred, you know, on this particular basis. The Quran says when a cat Corona Bunny, when a cat kurama bunny Adam, we have granted respect and dignity to every child of

every human being by virtue of being a human being has been granted dignity and respect and honor by the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him by the words of Almighty Allah subhana wa Tada. And many times today, we respect titles. We respect titles. So it's not uncommon for a person to respect someone because he's a doctor. He's a lawyer, he's a politician. The Quran is never told us to respect titles. It is called upon us to respect human means. And I'm sure with these words, and I'm sure similar words that could be in other scriptures. We can come together. Thank you

very much. Both speakers will take some questions

are we I think we've been