The Sanctity Of Jerusalem And Palestine In Early Islam

The Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage, was to be diverted from the Ka'ba to the new temple of Jerusalem, a procedure which was to be justified by sayings attributed to the Prophet or some of his Companions. As a matter of fact, the war with Ibn Zubayr, once the attack on Palestine was repulsed in the second battle of Ajnadayn! did not constitute a heavy burden for the Umayyads. As in many other matters, the mystics only developed and expanded ideas which originated in early Islam. Exhortations to live in Palestine are found in ancient Muslim literature in a wording which is strangely reminiscent of pre-Islamic Hebrew sayings.Keywords: early Islam; Jerusalem; Muslim pilgrimage; Palestine