THE
QUR'AN SAYS THAT ALLAH GAVE THE LAND OF ISRAEL TO THE JEWS
AND WILL RESTORE
THEM TO IT AT THE END OF DAYS
THE QUR'AN SAYS:
"To
Moses We [Allah] gave nine clear signs. Ask the Israelites how he [Moses] first
appeared amongst them. Pharoah said to him: 'Moses, I can see that you are bewitched.'
'You know full well,' he [Moses] replied, 'that none but the Lord of the heavens
and the earth has revealed these visible signs. Pharoah, you are doomed.'"
"Pharoah sought to scare
them [the Israelites] out of the land [of Israel]: but We [Allah] drowned him
[Pharoah] together with all who were with him. Then We [Allah] said to the Israelites:
'Dwell in this land [the Land of Israel]. When the promise of the hereafter [End
of Days] comes to be fulfilled, We [Allah] shall assemble you [the Israelites]
all together [in the Land of Israel]."
"We
[Allah] have revealed the Qur'an with the truth, and with the truth it has come
down. We have sent you [Mohammed] forth only to proclaim good news and to give
warning." [Qur'an, "Night Journey," chapter 17:100-104]
SHAYKH PROF. PALAZZI COMMENTS:
God wanted to give Avraham a double blessing, through Ishmael and through Isaac,
and ordered that Ishmael's descendents should live in the desert of Arabia and
Isaac's in Canaan.
The Qur'an recognizes the Land of Israel as the heritage of the Jews and it explains
that, before the Last Judgment, Jews will return to dwell there. This prophecy
has already been fulfilled.
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MUSLIMS MUST RECOGNIZE
THE STATE OF ISRAEL AS A JEWISH STATE
Is there any fundamental reason which prohibits Muslims from recognizing Israel
as a friendly State?
I realize that a negative answer to the above question is taken for granted by
popular opinion. My approach, however, is not based on popular opinion or the
current political situation, but on a theological analysis of authentic Islamic
sources.
Viewing the Jewish return to Israel as a Western invasion and Zionists as recent
colonizers is new. It has no basis in authentic Islamic faith. According to the
Qur'an, no person, people or religious community can claim a permanent right of
possession over any territory. The Earth belongs exclusively to God, and He is
free to entrust sovereignty over land to whomever He likes for whatever time period
that He chooses.
"Say:
'O God, King of the kingdom (1), Thou givest the kingdom to whom Thou pleasest,
and Thou strippest off the kingdom from whom Thou pleasest; Thou endowest with
honour whom Thou pleasest, and Thou bringest low whom Thou pleasest: all the best
is in Thy hand. Verily, Thou hast power over all things.'"(2) [Qur'an 3:26]
From the above Qur'anic verse we deduce a basic principle of the Monotheistic
philosophy of history: God chooses as He likes in the relationship between peoples
and countries. Sometimes He gives a land to a people, and sometimes He takes His
possession back and gives it to another people.
In general, we can say that He gives as a reward for faithfulness and takes back
as a punishment for wickedness, but this rule does not permit us to say that God's
ways are always plain and clear to our eyes, since His secrets are inaccessible
to the human intellect.
Using Islam as a basis for preventing Arabs from recognizing any sovereign right
of Jews over the Land of Israel is new. Such beliefs are not found in classical
Islamic sources.
Concluding that anti-Zionism is the logical outgrowth of Islamic faith is wrong.
This conclusion represents the false transformation of Islam from a religion into
a secularized ideology.
Such a false transformation of Islam was in fact made by the late Mufti of Jerusalem,
Haj Amin el-Husseini. He is the one person most responsible, both morally and
materially, for the repeated Arab defeats in their conflict with the Jews in Israel.
Husseni
not only incited Arabs against Jews. He also encouraged the torture and murder
of all Arabs who correctly understood that Arab cooperation with Jews was a precious
opportunity for the development of the Land of Israel. Husseini ended his woeful
life by putting his perverted religious teachings at the service of the evil and
pagan Nazis.
After Husseini came Jamal al-Din 'Abd al-Nasser. Nasser based his policy on Pan-Arabism,
hatred and contempt for Jews, and an alliance with the atheistic Soviet Union.
Nasser's terrible choices were critical factors in maintaining Arab backwardness.
Fortunately, most of Nasser's mistakes were afterward corrected by the martyr
Anwar Sadat. (3)
After the defeat of Nasserianism, Islamic fundamentalist movements made anti-Zionism
the primary feature of their propaganda. They presented the negation of any Jewish
rights to the Land of Israel as rooted in authentic Islam and derived from authentic
Islamic religious principles.
***********************************
THE LAND OF ISRAEL IN QUR'ANIC EXEGESIS
The fundamentalist Muslim program to use Islam as an instrument for political
warfare against Jews finds a major obstacle in the Qur'an itself. Both the Bible
and the Qur'an state quite clearly that the right of the Israelites to the Land
of Israel does not depend on conquest and colonization. This right flows from
the will of almighty God Himself.
Both the Jewish and Islamic Scriptures teach that God, through His chosen servant
Moses, decided to free the offspring of Jacob from slavery in Egypt and to constitute
them as heirs of the Promised Land. Whoever claims that Jewish sovereignty over
the Land of Israel is something new and rooted in human politics denies divine
revelation and divine prophecy as explicitly expressed in our Holy Books (the
Bible and Koran).
The Qur'an relates the words by which Moses ordered the Israelites to conquer
the Land:
"And
[remember] when Moses said to his people: 'O my people, call in remembrance the
favour of God unto you, when he produced prophets among you, made you kings, and
gave to you what He had not given to any other among the peoples. O my people,
enter the Holy Land which God has assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously,
for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin.'" [Qur'an 5:20-21]
Moreover - and those who try to use Islam as a weapon against Israel always conveniently
ignore this point - the Holy Qur'an explicitly refers to the return of the Jews
to the Land of Israel before the Last Judgment - where it says: "And thereafter
We [Allah] said to the Children of Israel: 'Dwell securely in the Promised Land.
And when the last warning will come to pass, we will gather you together in a
mingled crowd.'" [Qur'an 17:104]
Therefore, from an Islamic point of view, there is NO fundamental reason which
prohibits Muslims from recognizing Israel as a friendly State.
*********************************************
ISLAM AND NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONSHIPS
BETWEEN ISLAMIC STATES
AND THE JEWISH STATE
I live in Rome and I am a clergyman (Imam) of the Italian Islamic Community. I
consider myself a good friend of Israel and am trying my best to help Moslems
free themselves from anti-Zionism and to develop a positive attitude toward Jews
in general and towards Israelis in particular.
I believe that Israeli Arabs live in a privileged position: they are the only
Arabs in the Middle East who live in a democratic State. The comparison between
the positive way that Israel treats them and the terrible way that refugees from
"Palestine" were treated by their so-called Arab "brothers" is incredible.
I believe that "Palestinian identity" is something completely artificial: it was
forged as a propagandistic tool against Israel. The strange fact is that, at least
here in Europe, I have never heard an Arab from the Land of Israel ("Palestine")
say: "I am Palestinian."
Maybe this reflects the fact that here in Italy these Arab brothers live in a
democracy, while in the Moslem Middle East every word that comes out of ones'
mouth is monitored by dictatorial Arab authorities. Almost all of the Arabs here
in Europe say "I am Jordanian, and, thank God, I have nothing to do with Arafat
[Abdul Rauf el-Codbi el-Husseini] and his gang."
Please remember that the so-called hero of "Palestinian independence," the pro-Nazi
Grand Mufti of British Mandate Palestine, Haj Amin al-Husseini, never claimed
that "Palestinians" are to be an independent people: all of his official declarations
state that "Palestine must be recognized as a integral part of Syria."
The real "Palestinian State" is Jordan, and from a linguistic, ethnic, religious
and cultural point of view there is nothing that can be identified as "typically
Palestinian" and "non-Jordanian."
By signing the so-called Oslo Agreement, Israel made the worst of mistakes: it
legitimized a gang of killers in the eyes of worldwide public opinion. I believe
that the Israeli government should have dealt with Arafat [Abdul Rauf el-Codbi
el-Husseini] in the same way that it dealt with Adolf Eichmann.
A Palestinian State will be a disaster for both Israelis and Arabs. The Israelis
will lose their security and the Arabs will lose their freedom of speech under
a criminal government.
Since I love Israel, I ask God to protect it, and to help its leaders to understand
that the only way to survive is to declare the Oslo Agreement null and void.
************************************
PLO documents can in no way be regarded as Islamic. The PLO leaders are a gang
of criminals and thieves, and Arabs will be the main victims of any supposed "Palestinian
State" under their leadership.
I do not believe that Islam is the factor preventing normalization between Arabs
and the State of Israel. The real problem is that members of the ruling classes
in Arab countries believe their authority and power would be threatned by democracy,
modernization, and education in the Arab world. They use a distorted interpretation
of Islam as a political tool, and unfortunately the majority of uneducated Arabs
believe their poisonous propaganda.
I believe that we must return to the time when Islam was in the vanguard of scientific
progress and interfaith dialogue. Instead of false "leaders" such as Qadhafi,
Saddam Hussein, Arafat [el-Husseini] or Yasin, we Muslims again need true leaders
such as al-Ghazali, Ibn Rushd and Ibn Khaldum.
King Faysal of Iraq said: "The Arabs, and particularly the educated ones among
them, must look at the Zionist movement with the deepest sympathy."
Tragically, true leaders such as Faysal were silenced, and fanatics such as Haj
Amin al-Husseini prevailed.
The evil consequences of the victory of fanaticism are clear for all to see: Jews
expelled from Arab countries where the lived in peace for over one thousand years,
"Palestinian" refugees, terrorism, etc. To avoid future mistakes, we must learn
from our past ones.
Unfortunately, there are Arabs who believe that they must fight against Israel
until they completely destroy it (a tragedy which I do not believe the God of
Israel will ever permit to happen - Never again!).
Unfortunately, there are also naive and foolish Israelis who believe, incredibly
to me, that they will achieve "peace" with their Arab neighbours by giving the
murderer "Arafat" [el-Husseini] a State, an army, etc. This is insane. You Jews
are supposedly famous for your intelligence. How can some of your "leaders" be
so stupid?
From the perspective of the natural world, I am not optimistic about what the
future holds. However, from the supernatural perspective of faith, we who believe
in God must face the future with a positive attitude.
We must have faith that we will see the day when real peace and prosperity - which
can only be based on true faith in God and His Word (the Bible and Rabbinic Tradition
for you; the Bible, Qur'an and Authentic Islamic Tradition for us) - will spread
throughout the world. Meanwhile, we must work together to prepare for a better
future.
********************************************
MUSLIMS MUST RECOGNIZE JEWISH SOVEREIGNTY OVER JERUSALEM
From an Islamic point of
view, is there any fundamental reason which prohibits Muslims from recognizing
Jerusalem both as an Islamic Holy Place and as the capital of the State of Israel?
I realize
that a negative answer to the above question is taken for granted by popular opinion.
My approach, however, is not based on popular opinion or the current political
situation, but on a theological analysis of authentic Islamic sources.
JERUSALEM IN THE QUR'AN
The most common argument against Muslim acknowledgment of Israeli sovereignty
over Jerusalem is that, since al-Quds [Jerusalem] (4) is a Holy Place for Muslims,
Muslims cannot accept that it is ruled by non-Muslims, because such acceptance
amounts to a betrayal of Islam.
Before expressing our point of view on this question, we must reflect upon the
reason for which Jerusalem and Masjid al-Aqsa [the Al Aksa mosque] hold such a
sacred position in Islamic faith.
As is well known, the inclusion of Jerusalem among Islamic holy places derives
from al-Mi'raj, the Ascension of the Prophet Mohammed to heaven. The Ascension
began at the Rock, usually identified by Muslim scholars as the Foundation Stone
of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem referred to in Jewish sources.
Recalling this link requires us to admit that there is no connection between al-Miraj
[the Ascension] and Muslim sovereign rights over Jerusalem since, in the time
that al-Miraj took place, the City was not under Islamic, but under Byzantine
administration. Moreover, the Qur'an expressly recognizes that Jerusalem plays
for Jews the same role that Mecca does for Muslims.
We read:
"...They
would not follow thy direction of prayer (qiblah), nor art thou to follow their
direction of prayer; nor indeed will they follow each other's direction of prayer..."
(5)
All Qur'anic commentators explain that "thy qiblah" [direction of prayer for Muslims]
is clearly the Ka'bah of Mecca, while "their qiblah" [direction of prayer for
Jews] refers to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
To quote only one of the most important Muslim commentators, we read in Qadn Baydawn's
Commentary:
"Verily,
in their prayers Jews orientate themselves toward the Rock (sakhrah), while Christians
orientate themselves eastwards..." (6)
In complete opposition to what "Islamic" fundamentalists continuously claim, the
Book of Islam [the Qur'an] - as we have just now seen - recognizes Jerusalem as
the Jewish direction of prayer.
Some Muslim commentators also quote the Book of Daniel (7) as a proof for this.
After
reviewing the relevant Qur'anic passages concerning this matter, I conclude that,
as no one denies Muslims complete sovereignty over Mecca, from an Islamic point
of view - despite opposing, groundless claims - there is no reason for Muslims
to deny the State of Israel - which is a JEWISH state - complete sovereignty over
Jerusalem.
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ISLAMIC HOLY PLACES
Anti-Jewish sentiments expressed by Islamic leaders throughout the Middle East
are, in fact, not religious in nature, but, rather, political. The best proof
of this is in the fact that Islamic anti-Judaism is quite recent.
Omar ended the Roman ban that prevented Jews to enter Jerusalem, the Ummayad caliphs
in Cordoba built a synagogue for Maimonides, and Salahu-d-Din, after defeating
the Crusaders, wrote to the Jewish leaders, "Your exile is over. Whoever wants
to come back is welcome."
The late King Faysal of Iraq openly expressed his sympathy for the Zionist movement,
while King Abdullah of Jordan was compelled to wage war against Israel by the
other Arab leaders.
Recently, the Resident Arab ["Palestinian"] Wakf has made pronouncements, such
as that the Western Wall (Kotel) is not a Jewish shrine, but, rather, the wall
to which the Prophet's [steed] was tethered, or, at best, the wall surrounding
the Muslim Mosque. The Wakf has also stated that all of Hebron should be turned
over to the Resident Arab ["Palestinian"] Authority, and that Jews would be forbidden
to pray in the Cave of the Patriarchs.
These kinds of declarations by the PLO gangsters are ridiculous and absurd.
The Kotel was effectively, according to the Islamic tradition, the place where
al-Buraq [the Prophet's steed] was tethered, but it was already an existing part
of the Herodian structure. Muslims have never prayed close to it, and it has never
had a special relevance in Islam. On the contrary, everyone knows how important
it is for Jewish worshippers.
Apart from Mecca, no Islamic holy place is off-limits for non-Muslims. Historical
sources say that the Prophet Muhammad entertained a delegation of Christians from
Najran in the Mosque of Medina, and permitted them to celebrate a mass inside
the Mosque, notwithstanding the fact that Christian rites can include words that
are against Islam [such as stating that Jesus is God].
There is nothing in Jewish worship that can be offensive for Muslims, and nothing
in Islamic Law prevents Jews to pray on Haram al-Sharif/Har Habayyit (the Temple
Mount), in the Cave of Machpela or in any other place that is regarded as holy
by Muslims.
Every time I meet those who say otherwise, I ask them to identify a single authoritative
Islamic source as legal proof of their claim. None of them has ever answered such
a request of mine.
********************************************
NOTES:
1. The original Arabic word we translated as "kingdom" is mulk, from a Semitic
root m-l-k, that is common to both Arabic and Hebrew. According to Islamic theological
terminology, the three synonyms for "kingdom" are mulk, malakut and jabarut. They
refer respectively to the physical, psychic and spiritual levels of existence.
Of course, G-d can be called King of all of them; if here only mulk is quoted,
it depends on the fact that this verse directly concerns the earthly domain. To
denote a kingdom in the secular and political sense, Arabic commonly uses another
derived form, that is mamlakah.
2. Koran 3:26. For typographical reasons, it is not possible to reproduce here
the original Arabic text of the Koran, which must nevertheless be understood as
quoted. As well here as in other Koranic quotations, the English translation of
the meaning of Koranic words from Arabic is my own, but based on the most authoritative
English commentaries, such as M. Marmaduke Pickthall's "The Meaning of The Glorious
Koran" (Beirut 1973), 'A. Yusuf 'Ali, "The Holy Koran - Text, Translation and
Commentary" (Maryland 1983) and A. 'A. Maududi "The Holy Koran - Text, Translation
and Brief Notes" (Lahore 1986).
3. In using the term "martyr" I do not simply refer to one who lost his life for
a good cause. I give a precise translation of the Arabic word "shahid," which
identifies a "martyr" in the strictly religious sense; that is to say, someone
who spent his life serving the cause of G-d. Since making peace with former enemies
is an explicit Koranic order (see Koran 8:61), and since, according to Islam,
Peace is G-d Himself, any believer who is killed because of his search for Peace
must be understood as a religious martyr. The same considerations clearly apply
to Yitzhak Rabin. 4. Arabic name of Jerusalem, from the root q-d-s, meaning "holiness".
It is an abridged form of Bayt al-maqdis, "the sanctified House" or "the House
of the Sanctuary", an exact equivalent of the Hebrew Beth ha-mikdash. The name
originally referred only to the Temple Mount, and was afterward extended to the
City as a whole. This extension of meaning became common among Arabs from the
tenth century C.E. onwards. Earlier Islamic sources use the name Iliyia, an adaptation
to Arabic pronounciation of the Roman name Aelia.
5. Koran 2:145.
6. M. Shaykh Zadeh Hashiyaah 'ali Tafsir al-Qadn al-Baydawn (Istanbul 1979), Vol.
1, p. 456.
7. Daniel 6:10
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Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi has been a lecturer in the Department of the History
of Religion at the University of Velletri (Rome, Italy).
In 1987, after completing his secular and religious education in Rome and Cairo,
he was asked to serve as an Imam (spiritual leader) for the Italian Islamic Community.
In addition to numerous Masters Degrees, Prof. Palazzi hold a Ph.D in Islamic
Sciences by decree of the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In 1989 he was appointed a member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Muslim
Association (AMI) and afterward elected its Secretary General.
In 1991 he was asked to act as Director of the Cultural Institute of the Italian
Islamic Community (ICCII), with a program based on the development of Islamic
education in Italy, refutation of fundamentalism and fanaticism, and deep involvement
in inter-religious dialogue, especially with Jews and Christians.
In 1997, Prof. Palazzi's essay entitled "The Jewish-Moslem Dialogue and the Question
of Jerusalem" was published by the Institute of the World Jewish Congress.
In 1997, Prof. Palazzi joined the International Council of the Root & Branch Association.
In 1998,
Prof. Palazzi and Dr. Asher Eder (Jerusalem, Israel) co-founded the Islam-Israel
Fellowship, which promotes a positive Muslim attitude towards Jews and Israel
based on what Prof. Palazzi believes are the authentic teachings of Mohammed as
expressed in the Koran and Hadith (Muslim Oral Tradition). Prof. Palazzi serves
as Muslim Co-Chairman of the Fellowship. Dr. Eder serves as the Jewish Co-Chairman.
