Islamization of Jerusalem
The Islamization of Jerusalem refers to the religious transformation of the Levantine city that occurred three times in history. The first Islamization of Jerusalem followed the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem under Umar ibn Al-Khattāb in 638 CE. The second Islamization followed the fall of the first Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187, leading to an almost uninterrupted seven centuries long period of Muslim rule with a dominant Islamic culture, during the Ayyubid, Mamluk and early Ottoman periods. Beginning in the late Ottoman ere, Jerusalem’s demographic turned increasingly multi-cultural, regaining a majority Jewish character during the late 19th and early 20th century that hadn’t been seen since the Roman era. However, with the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, Jerusalem underwent another round of Islamization and Arabization.
The remodulation was grounded on a foundational narrative in early Islamic texts, themselves drawing on Persian, Jewish and Christian traditions that emphasized the city's cosmological significance within God's creation. At the time of the Muslim conquest of the city, the victors encountered many traditions concerning the Temple Mount: Muslim beliefs regarding David and Solomon; shared beliefs that from there, on Mount Moriah Adam had been born and died; shared beliefs that Mount Moriah was also where Abraham almost sacrificed one of his sons; and they absorbed the Christian belief that Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father raised a mihrab to Mary, the mother of Jesus on the site. These and other such traditions affected the outlay of Islamic buildings. It has also been argued that the central role Jerusalem assumed in Islamic belief began with Muhammad's instruction to his followers to observe the qibla by facing the direction of Jerusalem during their daily prostrations in prayer. After 13 years, due to both divine guidance and practical matters the direction of prayer was changed to Mecca in present-day Saudi Arabia. The Umayyad construction of the Dome of the Rock was interpreted by later hostile Abbasid historians as an attempt to redirect the Hajj, or pilgrimage, from Mecca to Jerusalem.
Although Jerusalem is not mentioned by any of its names in the Quran, it is mentioned in later Islamic literature and in hadiths, as the place of Muhammad's ascension to heaven. The Qur'anic reference to a masjid al-aqṣā originally referred to one of two sanctuaries at al-Ji'ranah near Mecca, the other being masjid al-adnā, The Umayyad caliphate exploited these traditions connecting Muhammad’s night journey specifically to Jerusalem and, in the face of some concerted opposition, particularly from Shiites, their claim prevailed.
First Islamization of Jerusalem under the Caliphates
In 638 CE, the Islamic Caliphate extended its dominion to Jerusalem. With the Arab conquest of the region, Jews were allowed back into the city. While the majority population of Jerusalem during the time of Arab conquest was Christian, the majority of the Palestine population of about 300,000-400,000 inhabitants, was still Jewish. In the aftermath the process of cultural Arabization and Islamization took place, combining immigration to Palestine with the adoption of Arabic language and conversion of a part of the local population to Islam. According to several Muslim scholars, including Mujir ad-Din, al-Suyuti, and al-Muqaddasi, the mosque was reconstructed and expanded by the caliph Abd al-Malik in 690 along with the Dome of the Rock. In planning his magnificent project on the Temple Mount, which in effect would turn the entire complex into the Haram al-Sharif, Abd al-Malik wanted to replace the slipshod structure described by Arculf with a more sheltered structure enclosing the qibla, a necessary element in his grand scheme. The Jewish background in the construction of the Dome of the Rock is commonly accepted by historians. A number of scholars consider the construction of the Dome as the Muslim desire to rebuild Solomon's Temple or Mihrab Dawud. Grabar and Busse claimed that this was the primary Islamic legitimization for the sanctity of the Dome of the Rock, while the al-mi'raj traditions were transferred to the rock only later. An early Islamic tradition from the converted rabbi Ka'ab al-Ahbar states "Ayrusalaim which means Jerusalem and the Rock which means the Temple. I shall send you my servant Abd al-Malik who will build you and adorn you. I shall surely restore you to Bayt Al Maqdis, its first kingdom and I shall crown it with gold, silver and gems. And I shall surely send you my creatures. And I shall surely invest my throne of glory upon the rock, since I am the sovereign God, and David is the king of the Children of Israel."Under the Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab signed a treaty with Miaphysite Christian Patriarch Sophronius, assuring him that Jerusalem's Christian holy places and population would be protected under Muslim rule. When led to pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the holiest site for Christians, the caliph Umar declined to pray within the church in order not to establish a precedent that might be exploited later by some Muslims to convert the church into a mosque. He prayed outside the church, where the Mosque of Umar stands to this day, opposite the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.However, some of the most prominent Orientalists and historians of Early Islam, such as Heribert Busse, Moshe Sharon and Oleg Grabar, doubt that caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab had ever visited Jerusalem. The earliest Islamic sources attribute conquest of Jerusalem to a commander by the name Khālid b. Thābit al-Fahmi, whereas Umar appears only in sources written some two centuries after Muslim conquest of the city.
According to the Gaullic bishop Arculf, who lived in Jerusalem from 679 to 688, the Mosque of Umar was a rectangular wooden structure built over ruins which could accommodate 3,000 worshipers.
Under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate
The Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik commissioned the construction of the Dome of the Rock in the late 7th century. The 10th century historian al-Muqaddasi writes that Abd al-Malik built the shrine in order to "compete in grandeur" with Jerusalem's monumental churches. Over the next four hundred years Jerusalem's prominence diminished as Arab powers in the region jockeyed for control.During Rashidun Caliphate, Umayyad Caliphate and some two centuries of Abbasid Caliphate the name of the city was not known by Muslims. Jerusalem was called Iliya and later al-Bayt al-Muqaddas which comes from Hebrew Bait ha-Mikdash. Name Iliya originated from Latin Aelia Capitolina, but Muslims apparently believed that the name was given after the Prophet Elijah.
Under the Fatimid Caliphate
In 1099, The Fatimid ruler expelled the native Christian population before Jerusalem was conquered by the Crusaders, who massacred most of its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants when they took the solidly defended city by assault, after a period of siege; later the Crusaders created the Kingdom of Jerusalem. By early June 1099 Jerusalem’s population had declined from 70,000 to less than 30,000.Second Islamization of Jerusalem
Under the Ayyubid dynasty
In 1187, the city was wrested from the Crusaders by Saladin who permitted Jews and Muslims to return and settle in the city. Under the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin, a period of huge investment began in the construction of houses, markets, public baths, and pilgrim hostels as well as the establishment of religious endowments. However, for most of the 13th century, Jerusalem declined to the status of a village due to city's fall of strategic value and Ayyubid internecine struggles.Under the Mamluk Sultanate
In 1244, Jerusalem was sacked by the Khwarezmian Tartars, who decimated the city's Christian population and drove out the Jews. The Khwarezmian Tartars were driven out by the Ayyubids in 1247. From 1250 to 1517, Jerusalem was ruled by the Mamluks. During this period of time many clashes occurred between the Mamluks on one side and the crusaders and the Mongols on the other side. The area also suffered from many earthquakes and black plague.Third Islamization of Jerusalem under Jordanian rule
Jordan, although mandated by the UN to let Israeli Jews visit their holy sites, refused access to them. They also led a systematic destruction of the Jewish Quarter including many ancient synagogues. Under Jordanian rule of East Jerusalem, all Israelis were forbidden from entering the Old City and other holy sites. Between 40 000 and 50 000 tombstones from ancient Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery were desecrated. In the Old City of Jerusalem, the Jewish Quarter was destroyed after the end of fighting. The Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue was destroyed first, which was followed by the destruction of famous Hurva Synagogue built in 1701, first time destroyed by its Arab creditors in 1721 and rebuilt in 1864. On its part, Israeli authorities destroyed part of Mamila Muslim cemetery, near the armistice line. Altogether, the Jordanians destroyed 56 Synagogues in Jerusalem, while the remaining synagogues were used as toilets, stables and chicken coops.All Jewish inhabitants from the parts of city occupied by Jordan, including residents of Old City Jewish Quarter were expelled. Christian charities and religious institutions were prohibited from buying real estate in Jerusalem. Christian schools were subject to strict regulations.
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Islamization of the Temple Mount
appropriated Islamicize the Temple Mount for exclusive Muslim use after the conquest of the city. Originally an Israelite and subsequently Jewish holy site, as the location of the First and Second Temples, under the Byzantine Empire the site was essentially deserted, though a public building may have been erected, perhaps a church, with an elaborate mosaic floor, some of the remains of which have been discovered by the Temple Mount Sifting Project. In 682 CE, 50 years after Muhammad’s death, ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr rebelled against the Caliph of Damascus, conquered Mecca and thus, according to Ignaz Goldziher, stopped pilgrims from coming south to the Hajj in Mecca. ‘Abd al-Malik, the Umayyad Caliph, responded by creating a new holy site. He chose sura 17, verse 1, “Glory to Him who caused His servant to travel by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose precincts We have blessed, in order to show him some of Our Signs, He is indeed the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” And designated the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as the "Farthest Mosque" mentioned in that verse.Dome of the Rock
Monumental constructions made on the Temple Mount, exemplifying what Gideon Avni calls 'an outstanding manifestation of Islamic rule over Jerusalem,' climaxed at the end of the seventh century, with the construction of the Dome of the Rock in the early 690s when Abd al-Malik was developing his program of Islamization. It was built over the Foundation Stone, the site of the historic Jewish Temple. The al-Aqsa mosque was built at the southern end of the mount in the 8th-century.Throughout the entire period of the Muslim conquest until the capture of Jerusalem in 1099, various structures were built on the mount including memorial sites and gates.
From the 13th-century onwards, after the Muslims had regained control of the city, building projects in Jerusalem and around the Temple Mount sought to further establish the city’s Islamic character.
After the conquest of the city by Saladin, non-Muslims were permitted to set foot on the Temple Mount.