Synopsis

The significance of Chapter 5, verse 21 of the Quran (sura al-Mā’ida, ayah 21) is striking. It is a powerful command, as it is interpreted by the renowned 10th century Muslim exegete, Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (839-923 AD) as a command by Allah. Other high ranking Muslim exegetes such as Ibn Miskawayh (932-1030), Ibn Asakir (1106-1176 AD), Ibn al-Athir (1160-1233 AD) and Ibn Khallikan (1211-1282 AD) passed on Al-Tabari’s exegetical interpretation. The verse’s validity is strengthened by the existence of other, similar verses, while there is no Qur’anic verse that contradicts or abrogates any of the pro- Zionist verses. Additionally, there are theories (1) projecting that a number of additional pro- Zionist verses once existed but were lost or deliberately omitted during the Uthmanic recension of the Quran; we will investigate this further later on. It is fair to assume, there are many learned yet biased clerics who are aware of the multiple pro-Zionist verses of the Quran, and yet they deliberately keep the Muslim people uninformed about this topic. The people remain largely unaware because most have not dealt with this book in a scholarly manner.

Starting late in the 20th century, to compliment the cover up of the pro-Zionist Qur’anic verses, some dogmatic believers claimed the al-Aqsa mosque (Arab. al-Masjid al-Aqṣā) in Jerusalem to be the mosque referred to in the Quran when describing the Prophet’s spiritual Night Journey. In reality, Muslim troops set foot in Jerusalem for the first time in 638 CE, some five years after the passing of the Prophet, when there was no mosque yet in Jerusalem. In fact, the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem was built in 710 CE, some seven decades after the death of the Prophet.(2)

However, according to some narratives and objective Muslim sages, the al-Aqsa mosque referred to in the Quran at verse 17:01, known as al-Isra, is a mosque in Heaven.(3)

Further, Jerusalem has only been politically mischaracterized as Islam’s third holy city since the onset of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Earlier than that, it had no holiness for the Muslim world. Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran even once, nor is Al-Quds mentioned (its Arabic denomination). During the centuries of occupation by Muslim countries (Hashemite Jordan and the Ottoman Empire), Jerusalem was just another city and a part of Southern Syria, as admitted by some Muslim Arab politicians.(4) The diaries of well-known tourists give testimony to the fact that Jerusalem was, for the Muslims, a forgotten city.(5) In 1948, after Israel’s War of Independence when the Jordanian government occupied Jerusalem, the government failed to elect Jerusalem as their capital city for many years, and even moved the Supreme Muslim Council (6) from Jerusalem to Amman. There are numerous sources and materials covering the relative unimportance and/or unholiness of this city from the Muslim perspective.

Ever since 1937, there have been multiple attempts to resolve the Arab-Jewish conflict to no avail. Liberal offers for peace were not only rejected but were not even countered by Palestinian leadership. The hidden religious aspect of the conflict has been generally neglected by the parties. Accordingly, the Muslim world is often subjected to provocation by zealous clerics and politicians who implement anti-Jewish propaganda, including the misinterpretation of the Qur’anic verses. We can only assume they have left the Muslims generally unaware of the Quran’s pro-Zionist passages. This book, with all its detailed historical facts and thorough investigative studies of the pro-Zionist Qur’anic verses, is a compendium new both to Muslim countries and western literature. It should serve as an eye-opener for Muslim politicians, traditional clerics, and Muslims in general, as well as to westerners with an interest in intertextual Qur’anic studies. The well- documented accuracy and authenticity of the quoted facts render them beyond malicious interpretation. Only the revolting minded politicians and biased clerics who deliberately follow their blasphemous acts will doubt the offered facts. All facts presented here may easily be verified via the Quran itself. Disregarding and misconstruing the pro-Zionist verses have thus far resulted not only in blasphemy, but also in the loss of thousands of lives for two or more generations. It is time to analyze and reveal these little-known verses of the Quran from an alternative viewpoint. The radical Islamic doctrine, known as “The Islamic supremacy doctrine” (7), that demands that whatever territory was once controlled by Muslims be returned to Muslim rule, is illogical, colonialist, biased, and lacks any historic precedence. For the sake of peace and in favor of the people of the Middle East and all of humanity, we must put an end to the bloodshed and to the misery of the nations involved.

The history of the Jews after the destruction of their Second Temple in 70 CE is burdened with persecutions, oppressions, harassment, expulsions, and not seldom with personal attack, rape, and murder. The atrocities suffered by the Jews during the last centuries were not contained by any geographic or temporal limitation. As a result, about a century ago, the campaign to return to the ancestral homeland began, which later was historically dubbed as the Zionist movement. As a result of this movement, the State of Israel was reborn. All that the Jewish people want is to live in peace in their homeland, which enjoys legitimacy as such via Biblical, Qur’anic, historical, and archaeological evidence in addition to support by international laws and institutions. Israel was not so much created in response to the largest modern calamity suffered by the Jews (the Holocaust), but rather, the Holocaust was able to happen because the Jews did not have the safety and protection of their homeland, Israel.

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References:

(1) Cf. Ohlig, Karl-Heinz (2005): Wie der Koran wirklich entstand, in: Religion, forum 252, pp.62-63.
(2) Cf.  Buchanan, Allen (2004). States, Nations, and Borders: The Ethics of Making Boundaries. Cambridge University Press.
(3) Cf.  Frederick S. Colby (6 August 2008). Narrating Muhammad’s Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn ‘Abbas Ascension Discourse. SUNY Press. p. 15.
(4) Cf.  F. E. Peters Jerusalem (1985): The Holy City in the Eyes of Chroniclers, Visitors, Pilgrims, and Prophets from the Days of Abraham to the Beginnings of Modern Times. Princeton University Press, pp.32 ff.
(5) Ibid, pp. 42-44
(6) Cf.  www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/supreme-muslim-council
(7) Cf.  www.wsj.com, Islamic supremacy, Jan 16, 2009.