Muslims
and Jews squabble over Jerusalem, making a mockery of the very reason why the
city originally gained religious significance for both communities. It was here
that their common ancestor, Abraham, showed that true faith calls for sacrifice.
Today, they only need to be true to their faiths to live in peace….
If Muslims and Jews truly respect Jerusalem, they
would respect what it originally stood for for both of them — sacrifice. Just as
Abraham was willing to sacrifice his beloved son for his love of god, so would
they be willing to give up their claims on Jerusalem for their love of god and
his children. In renouncing their temporal rights, they would have truly claimed
the city’s spiritual legacy.
The same spirit of sacrifice would
lead them to be willing to concede rather than demand more land, relinquish
their own rights rather than appropriate what belongs to others. This was the
message their common ancestor once relayed to them — they only need to listen to
him to end their conflict and live in peace. -- Saif
Shahin
By
Saif Shahin
Jerusalem
or the abode of peace. A city of walls and cracks, peoples and passers by,
culture and commerce, loving and losing. Above all, a city of worship, of
religion — or so they say!
For
more than half a century, Muslims and Jews have been jousting for Jerusalem.
Both say it is among the holiest of their cities, and they have an assortment of
archaeological and architectural evidence to support their claims. Neither
denies the claims of the other; indeed, for Muslims it is partially so holy
because of the same claims that the Jews make upon it. Yet, both want exclusive
rights over it.
Lost
on both sides is the supreme irony that their thoroughly temporal squabble is in
direct defiance of spiritual legacy of the city they are struggling for — the
significance of sacrifice.
Jews
view Jerusalem, specifically the Old City, as the place where they were forged
into a nation for the first time by King David in the 10th century
BC. David’s son Solomon built the First Temple of the Jews here as the dwelling
place of god. Destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC, a
Second Temple was built — which stood until 70 AD, until the Romans pulled it
down.
The
site of the two temples, the Temple Mount, occupies a central place in Jewish
religion and culture. That is why Jews around the world pray facing Jerusalem,
and they hope to build a Third Temple there some day.
For
Muslims, who also consider David and Solomon as prophets, it is holy for all
these reasons. And it is rendered holier still because they also believe it was
from the Temple Mount, which they call the Noble Sanctuary, that prophet
Muhammad ascended on a journey to heaven on a winged steed called
Buraq.
Muslim
caliphs later built the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock at the Noble
Sanctuary, among the oldest Islamic architectures. Jerusalem is also the
original ‘qibla’ — or the direction of prayer — for Muslims, which was later
changed to Mecca.
But
for both religions, it is holy for another reason dating back to the 18th
century BC. It was to Jerusalem that prophet Abraham travelled for offering his
son in sacrifice after being asked by god. He tied his son to the altar and was
ready to make the sacrifice when an angel intervened, saying he had passed the
test and gave him a ram to sacrifice instead.
Muslims
believe it was Abraham’s first born Ishmael, from whom Arabs are said to have
descended, who was being sacrificed. Even today, the event is marked as Eid Al
Adha, one of the biggest festivals on the Islamic calendar. Jews say Abraham was
sacrificing his second son Issac, from whom they claim their own
lineage.
Both,
however, have absolute faith that Abraham was willing to make the supreme
sacrifice in Jerusalem. It is this message of sacrifice, reiterated in many
other ways in both faiths, that lends Jerusalem its original significance for
both communities.
Almost
four millennia have passed since. Jerusalem is remembered, as is Abraham, but no
one quite remembers why they are remembered. Not the Muslims who throw stones
from Al Aqsa Mosque on the Jews praying below the Western Wall, the only
remaining portion of the Second Temple. And certainly not Benjamin Netanyahu,
the Israeli prime minister who effusively declares that he will continue kicking
out the sons and daughters of his prophet Abraham — killing them if need be — to
build more illegal settlements in the holy land. Holy work
indeed!
If
Muslims and Jews truly respect Jerusalem, they would respect what it originally
stood for both of them — sacrifice. Just as Abraham was willing to sacrifice his
beloved son for his love of god, so would they be willing to give up their
claims on Jerusalem for their love of god and his children. In renouncing their
temporal rights, they would have truly claimed the city’s spiritual
legacy.
The
same spirit of sacrifice would lead them to be willing to concede rather than
demand more land, relinquish their own rights rather than appropriate what
belongs to others. This was the message their common ancestor once relayed to
them — they only need to listen to him to end their conflict and live in
peace.
Copyright:
Saif Shahin
The
writer is a PhD candidate in West Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi, India
12:49 AM
Sultan Shahin
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