Muslims pray in the Mihrab, a niche on a wall indicating the direction of the Kaaba to Mecca, on the first stone, under the Dome of the Rock within the walls of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Thomas Coex / AFP Getty Images
Violence that has spread from Jerusalem to the cities of Israel and the Palestinian territories has fresh old roots.
Tensions have e broken out in recent weeks over the expulsion of Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, with the Israeli government blocking access to the vital Damascus Gate square Ramadan and a march of thousands of Israeli ultranationalists across the city on May 6, 2021, to celebrate. “Jerusalem Day,” which marks the capture of East Jerusalem in 1967.
But the incident that led to a significant escalation concerned Israeli security forces firing rubber bullets, heartbreaking fuel and crippling grenades at the accumulated faithful at the Al-Aqsa mosque on 7 May.
Palestine Information Network – AQSA UPDATE – After Taraweeh last night and until the early hours of the morning, Masjid al-Aqsa was remodeled precisely in the same scenario of Israeli attacks as morning. pic. twitter. com/yv455UeQvI
As an expert in global Islam, I teach the advent of Islam and come with a discussion about al-Aqsa as a component of the program. This is because al-Aqsa is of profound and devout importance to Muslims around the world. to highlight its remarkable political relevance to the Palestinians. These two facts make it a focal point of conflict.
The Masjid al-Aqsa, or simply Al-Aqsa, “the maximum remote mosque” or “the maximum remote shrine” and refers to the lead-domed mosque in the sacred compound of Haram al-Sharif – “the noble complex”. The domain includes the Dome of the Rock, the 4 minarets, the historic gates of the complex and the mosque itself.
Mentioned in Surah 17, verse 1 of the Qur’an, the mosque is related to the story of Muhammad’s “Israel” – the “night trip” from Mecca to Jerusalem – which confirms it in a component as the last and highest authoritarian of the prophets for Muslims . . . The Qur’an says that the prophet “transported Array . . . night mosque [in Mecca] to the maximum remote mosque [Al-Aqsa], whose enclosure we have blessed. “
From there, muhammad is believed to have ascended to heaven, called Mir’aj. It is said that the Dome of the Rock, Qubbat as-Sakhra, would space the rock from which Muhammad physically climbed.
The origins of the mosque date back to the 7th century, was first built in 637 AD. C. , just five years after the prophet’s death, and has been destroyed, rebuilt and renewed several times.
The existing construction dates back much of the 11th century and hosts daily prayers and Friday gatherings that attract giant crowds. It is adjacent to devout Jewish and vital Christian sites, especially the site of the first and present Jewish temples.
Sometimes the Dome of the Rock – a shrine – and Al-Aqsa – a mosque – were one and the same thing. Although they are components of the same “noble sanctuary”, they are two separate buildings with other stories and purposes.
However, the term Al-Aqsa is used to refer to the entire complex of the “Noble Shrine”. Originally, it is the idea that the word “the ultimate remote sanctuary” refers to Jerusalem as a whole.
After Mecca and Medina, the vast majority of Muslims throughout Jerusalem occupy the third holiest place on the planet.
Often referred to in Islamic culture and ahaadeeth (accounts of all that the Prophet Muhammad said, did or approved incitedly) is the idea that in Mecca, Muhammad first directed his network’s prayers toward al-Aqsa.
In 622 . C, the network fled Mecca due to persecution, seeking refuge in Medina to the north. After just over a year there, Muslims asked Muhammad to return to Mecca to pray. In Surah 2, verses 149-150, the Qur’an says: “Turn your face to the sacred mosque [the Kaaba in Mecca] Array . wherever you are, turn your face to her. “
However, Jerusalem and its holy sites, in Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock, remained places of Islamic pilgrimage for 15 centuries.
Given its sacred importance, the fate of the resort after Israel’s victory in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and the forthcoming annexation of East Jerusalem is of great concern.
Although Israel has granted jurisdiction over the mosque and the complex to an Islamic waqf (“endowment”), Israel still orders access to the grounds and security forces conduct patrols and records of the complex. it also has legal access to various devoted teams, such as Christian pilgrims.
Many Israelis respect the sanctity of the position as the holiest site in Judaism. In 2005, the Great Rabbi of Israel declared that Jews were forbidden to walk on the site to avoid accidentally entering the Holy Place of Saints, the inner shrine of the Temple, where God promises his full presence. However, some ultra-Orthodox Jewish teams have controversially advocated greater access and the site, seeking to recover the historic Temple Mount and rebuild the Temple.
Described as “the most sensitive place in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” it has been the scene of political acts.
For example, in August 1969, an Australian Christian named Dennis Michael Rohan attempted to burn Al-Aqsa, destroying the traditionally significant and finely carved minbar or “chair” of Saladin, a valuable painting of Islamic art.
Israeli security forces fire sound grenades at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City on August 11, 2019.
On 28 September 2000, Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon and a delegation guarded by a bunch of Israeli insurrection policemen entered the compound. This sparked protests and violent repression by the Israeli authorities, prompting casualties. Many Muslims around the world saw this as a “desecration” of the sacred mosque, and the occasion helped provoke the moment of the intifada, or Palestinian uprising.
Tensions have stabilized after an attack on Yehuda Glick, a debatable right-wing rabbi, in the fall of 2014. In response, the Israeli government first shut down Al-Aqsa since 1967. In March and April of the same year, Israeli police used tear fuel and stun grenades against Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa, prompting a foreign protest.
Numerous incidents between Israeli forces and the faithful have occurred in Al-Aqsa in recent years.
Controlled access to the site reminds Palestinians of their relative impotence in their ongoing territorial disputes with the Israeli authorities. At the same time, attacks on al-Aqsa resonate with Muslims around the world who react in horror to what are one’s desecration. of its highest sacred places.
Al-Aqsa’s defense and the struggle for the right to access it, I support it, have indirect conflicts both over Palestinian demands and by a desire to protect Islam as a whole.
Ken Chitwood is a professor at Concordia College in New York and a journalist-fellow at the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture. This article is a publication of The Conversation, a non-profit data service committed to the dissemination of expertise, a Creative Commons license.
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