Posted on: 1999

By Khalid Nusseibeh

Sometimes, ideas may be likened to a tent in a desert that houses the beliefs of a group, but at times, encounters a storm that partially changes the structure of the tent, perhaps some of the pillars on which it stands.

Tragically, the changed structure of the tent (which, in this context, corresponds to a group’s sense of the sacred, of what is true) becomes a harbinger of conflict among religious denominations, among tribes, even among civilizations… Likewise, oftentimes it creates a movement in a culture’s direction, which may have negative consequences for a society for many an era.

To extend the metaphor further, the truth that the ancestral patriarch of monotheists– Abraham– communicated was, in essence, human surrender to the One God, coupled with an adherence to His Revealed Doctrine and Law. In effect this basic doctrine or truth was disseminated and taught by Isaac, Jacob and Ishmael and many other Prophets, the seal of whom, according to Muslims, is the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)– to whom was revealed the Holy Qur’an.

It is not a coincidence that the ummah (community) of God’s Final Revelation, to which any human being of any tribe, race or geographic location may belong– through witnessing that there is Only One God and Muhammad is His Messenger– became custodian of Mecca’s Sacred Sanctuary (built by Abraham and Ishmael), and of Jerusalem. To Muslims, the Arabization and Islamization of Jerusalem and Palestine represented the worldly vindication of monotheistic faith manifested in the governance of Islam’s tolerant and just system of Law and values.

The realization of these ideals in actual human reality (i.e. the Arab-Muslim history of Jerusalem)– in a multi-ethnic, multi-denominational urban setting– was a task that Arab and non-Arab Muslims undertook to perform with varying degrees of piety, political success, moral probity and judiciousness.

The opening of Mecca by the Prophet Muhammed and the faithful in AD 7th century (1st Hijri) and the purification of its Sacred Sanctuary was a crescendo in the human striving to demolish idolatry and to cleanse the House of Allah from its evil. Equally, the Arab Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in roughly the same period was a milestone in terms of ushering in the age of the political sovereignty of the Unitarian, Universal Caliphate of Islam.

The pact signed between the Patriarch Sophronious and ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (the second Rightly Guided Caliph) on the hour of the Arab-Islamic opening of Jerusalem in AD 637 was an enduring framework for dignified coexistence between Christians and Muslims in the shadow of God’s Final Revealed Code. The liberation of Jerusalem symbolized, moreover, the vindication of early Christian and Jewish teachings insofar as Islam is the consummation and perfect elaboration of earlier monotheistic Revealed Religions.

Paradoxically, therefore, Islam was Heaven’s vindication of the Torah revealed to Moses (peace upon him), as it was a vindication of the original teachings and doctrines of Christianity (which prophesied the mission of Muhammad)– and yet, it was viewed by many churches, by many Jewish theologians as a heresy. Inevitably, this fostered much conflict through the prolonged wars of the crusades, and in the present day, through the Zionist occupation of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is the Holy City of Peace or Salaam. Salaam is one of the Attributes of the One God who gives people the blessing of peace when the pillars of His Covenant with mankind are revered and observed: faith in the One God, His angels, His Revealed Books, His Messengers, the Hereafter and Divine Predestination—and observance of and obedience to His Merciful and Just Law.

The earth is in need of making peace with Heaven: to achieve that, its inhabitants must honor the pact with God which includes spreading justice, mercy and love on earth, and resisting oppression, corruption and bigotry. Then, the reasonable foundations of peace may be built.

(Indeed We have sent Our Messengers with the ostensive proofs, and We sent down with them the Book and the Balance, that man may uphold equity. And We have sent down iron, wherein is mighty power and many uses for mankind; that God may know who helps Him and His Messengers in the unseen). (Holy Qur’an, Sura 57, Ayah 25)

Mr. Khaled Nusseibeh is a translator and writer. He currently manages the Ubada Center for Writing and Translation Services in Amman. Born in Amman in 1961, he obtained his BA and MA from Columbia and Princeton Universities, respectively. Mr. Nusseibeh, who originates from Jerusalem, specialized in Near Eastern Studies with a focus on Islamic thought and studies.