The Importance of Palestine as a Holy Land for Muslims

 

Palestine holds a profound place in the hearts of Muslims around the world. Beyond its political significance, it is a land deeply rooted in faith, spirituality, and history. Its sacredness stretches back thousands of years and is inseparable from Islamic tradition, the lives of the Prophets, and the Qur’anic narrative.

1. The Land of the Prophets

Palestine is often described as the "Land of the Prophets." It was home to many of Allah’s messengers, including Ibrahim (Abraham), Dawud (David), Sulaiman (Solomon), Musa (Moses), and ‘Isa (Jesus, peace be upon them all). Their stories, struggles, and miracles unfolded in this land, making it a living witness to the divine guidance that shaped humanity. For Muslims, connecting with Palestine is a way of connecting with the legacy of these great figures.

2. Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque

At the heart of Palestine’s sacredness is Al-Quds (Jerusalem), home to Al-Masjid al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam after Makkah and Madinah. The Qur’an itself refers to it in Surah Al-Isra (17:1), describing the miraculous Isra’ and Mi’raj—the night journey of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ from the Sacred Mosque in Makkah to Al-Aqsa Mosque. From there, he ascended to the heavens, signifying the mosque’s elevated spiritual status. For Muslims, praying in Al-Aqsa carries immense reward, and the site represents a direct link to the Prophet’s journey and the unity of all prophets.

3. A Qibla Before Makkah

Before the Ka‘bah in Makkah became the permanent qibla (direction of prayer), Muslims initially faced Al-Aqsa Mosque. This historical detail underlines the mosque’s centrality in early Islamic worship and reaffirms its place in the sacred geography of Islam.

4. A Land Mentioned in the Qur’an and Hadith

The Qur’an speaks of the land around Al-Aqsa as being “blessed” (Surah Al-Isra 17:1). Numerous hadiths also emphasize its virtues, urging believers to visit Al-Aqsa and pray there if possible. The Prophet ﷺ encouraged Muslims to send oil to light its lamps if they could not reach it themselves, highlighting the importance of supporting and maintaining its sanctity.

5. A Symbol of Unity and Faith

For Muslims worldwide, Palestine and Al-Aqsa are not only historical and spiritual treasures but also symbols of resilience, unity, and steadfastness in faith. The love and attachment to this land transcend borders and cultures, reminding the Ummah of its shared responsibility to preserve and honor it.

Conclusion

Palestine is far more than a place on the map—it is a sacred trust in the Islamic tradition. Its soil has carried the footsteps of prophets, its skies have witnessed divine miracles, and its mosque continues to be a source of spiritual connection for Muslims across generations. To cherish Palestine is to cherish a vital part of Islam’s heritage and identity.

Hadith: On Jerusalem

 

 

“Glory be to the One Who took His servant Muhammad by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He alone is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.” (The Qur’an, 17:1)

Remnants of mosque from earliest decades of Islam found in Israel

 

Archaeologists in Israel say they have discovered the remnants of an early mosque believed to date to the earliest decades of Islam during an excavation in the northern city of Tiberias.

The foundations of the mosque, excavated just south of the Sea of Galilee by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, point to its construction roughly a generation after the death of the prophet Muhammad, making it one of the earliest Muslim houses of worship to be studied by archaeologists.

“We know about many early mosques that were founded right in the beginning of the Islamic period,” said Katia Cytryn-Silverman, a specialist in Islamic archaeology at Hebrew University who heads the dig. Other mosques dating from around the same time, such as the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, the Great Mosque of Damascus, and Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque, are still in use today and cannot be tampered with by archaeologists.

Cytryn-Silverman said excavating the Tiberian mosque provided a rare chance to study the architecture of Muslim prayer houses in their infancy, and the findings indicated a tolerance for other faiths by early Islamic leaders. She announced the findings this month in a virtual conference.

When the mosque was built around AD670, Tiberias had been a Muslim-ruled city for a few decades. Named after Rome’s second emperor in about AD20, the city was a major centre of Jewish life and scholarship for nearly five centuries. Before its conquest by Muslim armies in 635, the Byzantine city was home to one of a constellation of Christian holy sites dotting the Sea of Galilee’s shoreline.

Under Muslim rule, Tiberias became a provincial capital in the early Islamic empire and grew in prominence. Early caliphs built palaces on its outskirts along the lake shore. But until recently, little was known about the city’s early Muslim past.

Gideon Avni, the chief archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority, who was not involved in the excavation, said the discovery helped resolve a scholarly debate about when mosques began standardising their design, facing towards Mecca. “In the archaeological finds, it was very rare to find early mosques,” he said.

Since early last year the coronavirus pandemic has halted excavations, and lush Galilean grasses, herbs and weeds have grown over the ruins. Hebrew University and its partners at the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology plan to restart the dig next month.

Initial excavations of the site in the 1950s led scholars to believe the building was a Byzantine marketplace later used as a mosque. But Cytryn-Silverman’s excavations delved deeper beneath the floor. Coins and ceramics nestled at the base of the crudely crafted foundations helped date them to about AD660-680, barely a generation after the city’s capture. The building’s dimensions, pillared floorplan and qiblah, or prayer niche, closely resembled other mosques from the period.

Avni said that for a long time academics were unsure what had happened to cities in the Levant and Mesopotamia conquered by the Muslims in the early seventh century. “Earlier opinions said there was a process of conquest, destruction and devastation,” he said.

Today archaeologists understood that there was a “fairly gradual process, and in Tiberias you see that”, he said.

The first mosque built in the newly conquered city stood cheek by jowl with the local synagogues and the Byzantine church that dominated the skyline. This earliest phase of the mosque was “more humble” than a larger, grander structure that replaced it half a century later, Cytryn-Silverman said. “At least until the monumental mosque was erected in the eighth century, the church continued being the main building in Tiberias.”

She said this supported the idea that the early Muslim rulers who governed an overwhelmingly non-Muslim population adopted a tolerant approach towards other faiths, allowing a “golden age” of coexistence.

“You see that the beginning of the Islamic rule here respected very much the population that was the main population of the city: Christians, Jews, Samaritans,” Cytryn-Silverman said. “They were not in a hurry to make their presence expressed into buildings. They were not destroying others’ houses of prayers, but they were actually fitting themselves into the societies that they now were the leaders of.”

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