THE POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Al-Isra and Mira} of the Prophet
(sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa
sallam) have a
political significance and implication with respect to the status of Jerusalem
which is very important indeed for contemporary international politics and, in
particular, for the problem of Palestine (more popularly referred to as the
"Middle East Problem" - a term which skillfully avoids the use of the
word 'Palestine').
The Prophet's Isra and Miraj was
meant to demonstrate to Jews and to Christians that he, Muhammad (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam), was now God's Messenger on
earth and had, as a consequence, inherited spiritual authority over the
multi-dimensional legacies of previous Prophets. This was emphatically so in
respect of Jerusalem, to which he turned in prayer, and to which he was
transported by God's order.
The fact that the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam), upon his arrival in Jerusalem,
is reported to have led the congregational prayer in Masjid al-Aqsa, in which
participated all previous Prophets of Allah,· is indicative of the fact that Muhammad's (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) spiritual authority over
Jerusalem superseded all previous claims to (spiritual) authority over the
city. Of course, spiritual authority does not equate with political authority!
Had this been the case the Prophet (sallalahu
ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) would have taken steps in his own lifetime, or would at least
have given instructions to the Muslims to ensure that Islamic rule over
Jerusalem was established. He did no such thing!
Had the Jews and Christians correctly
understood the significance of the Prophet's miraculous journey to
Jerusalem they would have accepted his claim that he was the Prophet of God and,
in all probability, Jerusalem would have retained its exclusive status as the
spiritual capital of the world. The change of the Qibla from Jerusalem to
Makkah, took place seventeen months after the Hijrah to Madina, was a direct
consequence of the manifest refusal of the Jews and Christians to accept Muhammad
(sallalahu ta‘alah ‘alaihi wa
Sallam) as the
Prophet of God. For the Jews, indeed, this was their second consecutive
rejection of a Prophet of God since they had previously rejected and ridiculed
Jesus (pbuh), the son of Mary.
With the change of Qibla the
spiritual capital of Islam became Makkah. By clinging to Jerusalem as their
spiritual capital Jews and Christians reconfirm daily their rejection of the
Prophethood of Muhammad (sallalahu
ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam).
What then is the political
significance of AI-Isra, and Mira) and the change of Qibla?
Firstly, it is, I believe, of crucial
political significance to reiterate that although Jerusalem remained a
Christian city throughout the life-time of the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam), he made no attempt to subject
it to the rule of Islam and he left no instructions to this effect before his
death. And yet, at the end of his life he publicly declared that his mission
had been completed.
There does not, therefore,
appear to be any theological and scriptural basis for the insistent demand of
the member-States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) that no
other status for Jerusalem can be acceptable to the Muslim world, other than a
return of the city to Arab and Islamic sovereignty and control (Lahore
Declaration of the Second Islamic Summit Conference, 1974).
Indeed it would appear to us to
be, perhaps, an act of divine providence itself and the fulfillment of some
divine plan that Jerusalem and Palestine should today be occupied by a secular
nationalist Zionism which has 'high-jacked' Judaism. For it not only provides
authentic Islamic forces with a heaven-sent opportunity to mobilize the Ummah
and to break the chains which imprison the world of Islam today, but also, and
just as important, to reach out beyond the Ummah to build a grand alliance or
community of all forces which uphold authentic religion, divine truth and justice.
And it is in this specific context that we criticize the Lahore Declaration.
Now although Islam holds the entire
earth to be sacred to the extent that the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) described the entire earth as
a prayer carpet, al-Isra and Miraj confirm Jerusalem as a land
specially blessed by God (17:1) not only because of the Prophets who lived there
and because of the Sakhrah and the temple built by Solomon (pbuh) etc.,
but also because it was from Jerusalem that Allah took His Messenger on that
unique journey which culminated in the approach to the special divine presence.
Jerusalem, therefore, enjoys a
special spiritual status. It is
a land specially blessed by Allah. Consequently there is a political obligation
on the Muslims to protect the city's spiritual status and to prevent any
attempt to modify or repudiate it.
It is therefore inconceivable that the Muslim Ummah can
ever consent to, or acquiesce in, the establishment of a secular Jewish nation-state
in holy Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.’ Such would amount to nothing
less than a sacrilegious violation of the special spiritual status of Jerusalem.
Jewish nationalism, misled by
the secular Zionist Movement, did precisely this when it succeeded, in 1948, in
establishing a secular state in Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital. The
Palestine Liberation Organization, vanguard of secular Palestinian nationalism,
appears to have the identical goal.
Muslims, and all who will join
with them in that struggle, have a religious obligation to liberate Palestine
and Jerusalem because its sacred character and status is being continuously
violated by a bigoted occupying power with a monopoly claim of access to the sacred,
a power which oppresses the indigenous people of the land with a contempt
reserved for the sub-human.
To Be Continued ....
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