Jerusalem's Importance in Early Islam
According to tradition, Muḥammad son of ˓Abdallah was born in 570 or 571 CE to the Arab tribe of Quraysh in the small town of Mecca in western Arabia.[4] At the time, the Arabian peninsula was mostly an uninhabited desert with a few towns along ancient trading routes. The majority of the inhabitants were nomads who secured their livelihood by raising sheep, goats, and camels, and by occasionally raiding a nearby tribe. During the 6th century, Mecca became one of several flourishing towns as it lay along a trade route while the empires of Rome and Persia renewed their hostilities.
Muḥammad was 40 years old when the angel Gabriel appeared and revealed what would become the first four verses in the Qur˒ān.[5] Many more revelations followed. During the early years of Muḥammad’s mission he gained a number of converts, first among his family and tribe, followed by those in wider circles. This movement that began to stir in Mecca caused suspicion among many leading families. In 622, twelve years after his first revelation, Muḥammad and a group of his disciples left for the oasis town named Yathrib (a town that later became known as Medina from the Arabic, al-Madīna or the The City).[6]
Muḥammad was 40 years old when the angel Gabriel appeared and revealed what would become the first four verses in the Qur˒ān.[5] Many more revelations followed. During the early years of Muḥammad’s mission he gained a number of converts, first among his family and tribe, followed by those in wider circles. This movement that began to stir in Mecca caused suspicion among many leading families. In 622, twelve years after his first revelation, Muḥammad and a group of his disciples left for the oasis town named Yathrib (a town that later became known as Medina from the Arabic, al-Madīna or the The City).[6]
Whereas in Mecca, Muḥammad was seen as a nusiunce and rabble-rouser by many leading families, in Medina he was offered the role of arbitrator and mediator among the local families in exchange for their promise to defend him and his followers. Before long, Muḥammad became the town’s ruler wielding religious, political, and military power. Thus, Medina became the center of the new religion called Islam[7] and Muḥammad’s community became known as the Umma. After an eight year struggle, he conquered Mecca in 630 and established the Islamic faith. Two years later, on June 8, 632, Muḥammad died as the last monotheistic prophet and head of the Umma that would soon develop into an empire.
The crucial difference between Muḥammad and his chief predecessors, Jesus and Moses, lies in the marriage of religion, government, politics, and society. In Judaism, Moses led his people from bondage in Egypt to Israel in 1250-1200 BCE but he was not permitted to enter the promised land and died in the mountains outside the land of Canaan. The task of conquering the land promised to Abraham in the Old Testament and establishing a state and empire fell to his nephew, Joshua and his successors. In Christianity, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice and was crucified by the Romans for claiming to be a prophet of the Jews and preaching God’s word as he understood it. For three centuries after the death of Jesus, Christianity remained a stateless and persecuted minority religion until the Roman emperor Constantine embraced the faith in 312 CE.
In Islam, Muḥammad became his own Constantine and conquered his own promised land. Whereas in Christianity, the state had to create the church and both had to work in tandem, Islam faced no such difficulty. During Muḥammad’s lifetime, the Umma of Islam became a political and religious community with the Prophet as the head of state. He thus governed both a place and a people, dispensed justice, collected taxes, commanded armies, conducted diplomacy, waged wars and made peace. There was no prolonged test by persecution or tradition of resistance to a state power. On the contrary, they were ruled by the state of Islam and God’s approval was clear in their victories and expanding empire.[8]
As the "Seal of the Prophets," Muḥammad's mission was complete when he died in 632 CE, having received the final and complete revelations that began with Abraham in the Old Testament. The task left was the same perceived duty in Christianity: to spread God’s word to the unbelievers throughout the known world. With Muḥammad’s passing, his family and tribe needed to make pragmatic decisions. Although the spiritual task was complete, the religious and political functions required a new head of state to carry on God’s message. Abu Bakr was chosen from Muḥammad’s inner-circle and dubbed the Khalīfa[9] and the enduring institution known as the West as the Caliphate was created.
The dawn of Islam occurred within a political as well as religious framework. These considerations played a major role both in the expansion of Islam and the subsequent understanding of Muḥammad’s teaching. Without the marriage of religion and politics, Jerusalem's importance in Islam would be difficult to grasp. Afterall, the city is never explicitly mentioned in the Qur˒ān. Likewise, Ibrāhīm's decision to sacrifice one son rather than the other is not mentioned in the sacred Islamic text. The marriage of politics and religion created lasting traditions in Islam.
In Islam, Muḥammad became his own Constantine and conquered his own promised land. Whereas in Christianity, the state had to create the church and both had to work in tandem, Islam faced no such difficulty. During Muḥammad’s lifetime, the Umma of Islam became a political and religious community with the Prophet as the head of state. He thus governed both a place and a people, dispensed justice, collected taxes, commanded armies, conducted diplomacy, waged wars and made peace. There was no prolonged test by persecution or tradition of resistance to a state power. On the contrary, they were ruled by the state of Islam and God’s approval was clear in their victories and expanding empire.[8]
As the "Seal of the Prophets," Muḥammad's mission was complete when he died in 632 CE, having received the final and complete revelations that began with Abraham in the Old Testament. The task left was the same perceived duty in Christianity: to spread God’s word to the unbelievers throughout the known world. With Muḥammad’s passing, his family and tribe needed to make pragmatic decisions. Although the spiritual task was complete, the religious and political functions required a new head of state to carry on God’s message. Abu Bakr was chosen from Muḥammad’s inner-circle and dubbed the Khalīfa[9] and the enduring institution known as the West as the Caliphate was created.
The dawn of Islam occurred within a political as well as religious framework. These considerations played a major role both in the expansion of Islam and the subsequent understanding of Muḥammad’s teaching. Without the marriage of religion and politics, Jerusalem's importance in Islam would be difficult to grasp. Afterall, the city is never explicitly mentioned in the Qur˒ān. Likewise, Ibrāhīm's decision to sacrifice one son rather than the other is not mentioned in the sacred Islamic text. The marriage of politics and religion created lasting traditions in Islam.
The following timeline (according to Western dates) is important to bear in mind:
c. 570 CE — Muḥammad is born in Mecca
608 — The Ka’ba is created in Mecca as a Pagan Shrine
610-632 — Muḥammad receives divine revelations
620 — Muḥammad's Night Journey & Ascension
622 — Muḥammad makes the Hijra (migration) from Mecca to Medina
608 — The Ka’ba is created in Mecca as a Pagan Shrine
610-632 — Muḥammad receives divine revelations
620 — Muḥammad's Night Journey & Ascension
622 — Muḥammad makes the Hijra (migration) from Mecca to Medina
marking the beginning of the Islamic Calendar
624 — Muḥammad's followers defeat the Meccans at the Battle of Badr
630 — Mecca is conquered by Muhammad; the Ka’ba is rededicated
632 — Muḥammad dies and is succeeded by the first Caliph, Abu Bakr
632-661 — The age of the Rashidun or “The Four Rightly Guided Caliphs”: Abu Bakr; Umar; Uthman; Ali
632-634 — Caliph Abu Bakr's reign from Medina
634-644 — Caliph Umar's rein from Medina
633-637 — Islam conquers modern-day Syria and Iraq
638 — Caliph Umar captures Jerusalem
640-643 — Islam conquers Egypt and Persia
644-656 — Caliph Uthman's rein and compilation of the Qur˒ān
650 — The Qur˒ān is written
656-651 — Caliph Ali's rein
661 — Ali (the last of the 4 Caliphs) is assassinated
661 — Beginning of Umayyad Caliphate Dynasty in Damascus (until 750)
685-705 — Caliph Abd al-Malik's rein
691 — Dome of the Rock built in Jerusalem by Caliph Abd al-Malik
711 — al-Aqsa Mosque built in Jerusalem by al-Malik's son, Abd al-Wahd
750 — Beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate Dynasty in Baghdad (until 1258)
1099 — Christian Crusaders capture Jerusalem
1187 — Salah al-Din (Saladin) recaptures Jerusalem
624 — Muḥammad's followers defeat the Meccans at the Battle of Badr
630 — Mecca is conquered by Muhammad; the Ka’ba is rededicated
632 — Muḥammad dies and is succeeded by the first Caliph, Abu Bakr
632-661 — The age of the Rashidun or “The Four Rightly Guided Caliphs”: Abu Bakr; Umar; Uthman; Ali
632-634 — Caliph Abu Bakr's reign from Medina
634-644 — Caliph Umar's rein from Medina
633-637 — Islam conquers modern-day Syria and Iraq
638 — Caliph Umar captures Jerusalem
640-643 — Islam conquers Egypt and Persia
644-656 — Caliph Uthman's rein and compilation of the Qur˒ān
650 — The Qur˒ān is written
656-651 — Caliph Ali's rein
661 — Ali (the last of the 4 Caliphs) is assassinated
661 — Beginning of Umayyad Caliphate Dynasty in Damascus (until 750)
685-705 — Caliph Abd al-Malik's rein
691 — Dome of the Rock built in Jerusalem by Caliph Abd al-Malik
711 — al-Aqsa Mosque built in Jerusalem by al-Malik's son, Abd al-Wahd
750 — Beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate Dynasty in Baghdad (until 1258)
1099 — Christian Crusaders capture Jerusalem
1187 — Salah al-Din (Saladin) recaptures Jerusalem
[4] This area is commonly referred to as the Ḥijāz.
[5] Qur˒ān is an Arabic word combining the meaning of “reading” and “recitation.”
[6] The journey from Mecca to Medina in 622 is known as the Hijra (migration) and marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.
[7] Islam means Submission.
[8] Lewis, Bernard. The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years. Scribner: New York, 1995, p. 53.
[9] There are two traditions regarding the use of the word, Khalīfa: 1) It combined the idea of “successor” and “deputy,” and was thus the Khalīfatu Rasūl Allāh (Successor to the Prophet of God), and; 2) The Khalīfa was the Khalīfat Allāh (Deputy of God).