Power and Honor: Jerusalem and the Muslim World
"O God, the possessor of all rule, You grant rule to whom You will and You take it away from whom You will, You exalt [in honor and dominance] whom You will and You humiliate whom You will."
(Surah Imran, ayah 26. Translated by Moiz Amjad at www.understanding-islam.com)
The following verse, while in the form of prayer, is actually a prophecy given to Muhammad (S) that the nation of Ishmael (AS) was going to replace the Bani Israel (AS) as witnesses of the truth of tawheed to humanity. The fulfillment of this promise began during the time of Muhammad (S), where he (S) was given dominance over the Arabian peninsula by the end of his life. This included the House of God established by Abraham (AS) and his son Ishmael (AS) to serve as the symbol of tawheed for the rest of humanity until the Day of Judgement. The fulfillment of the promise continued after the death of Muhammad (S), extending to his followers, i.e. the other descendants of Abraham (AS) through Ishmael (AS). These descendants, led by personalities such as Umar al-Faruq, burst forth from the Arabian peninsula, conquering the lands that were promised to Abraham (AS) in the Old Testament. The Muslims took Jerusalem, with Umar (R) entering on foot while his servant rode the camel, with dignity and respect. This was a remarkably different situation 700 hundred years ago, when Jesus (AS) entered into the city whose leaders rejected him, plotted against him, and even attempted to kill him.
What is interesting about this city of Jerusalem is that God Almighty tied the House of Kaaba with this Blessed place in the opening verse of Surah Israh, i.e. the prelude which is regarding the ascendion of Muhammad (S).
"Glory be to Him Who made His servant to go on a night from the Sacred Mosque to the remote mosque of which We have blessed the precincts, so that We may show to him some of Our signs; surely He is the Hearing, the Seeing."
The ascension of Muhammad (S) was timed in a moment in history that was unique. Most seerah writers refer to this period in the context of the orphan who had just lost his beloved wife Khadija (R), and uncle Abu Talib. His message had gained only a few followers, and he was depressed and dis-heartened. God Almighty, in order to calm him, performed a wondrous miracle. But this misses the point.
The ascension occurred in 620 AD. This was immediately prior to the first pledge of Aqabah, when a group of six men coming for the hajj, happened to come across Muhammad (S). This personality was not new to them and in fact, Muhammad (S) lied in the very depths of their conscience. The Jews of the city of Yathrib were awaiting a Prophet that was to be like Moses (AS), and use to boast about this coming to the pagans saying that the time of their victory was near. The people of Medina knew this fact very well. When Muhammad's (S) message reached their ears, a few among them said that this was the Prophet the Jews were awaiting. It was a remarkable irony. The descendants of Ishmael (AS), hearing the call of Muhammad (S) and realizing this fact, accepted him immediately. Muhammad (S) than sent his Companion Musab (R) to Medina, to guide a people who had already pledged loyalty and allegiance to him at Aqabah. It was there that Muhammad's name really began to reach the Jews that had settled in Yathrib. All of these events began to occur immediately after the ascension.
"Glory be to Him Who made His servant to go on a night from the Sacred Mosque to the remote mosque of which We have blessed the precincts, so that We may show to him some of Our signs; surely He is the Hearing, the Seeing."
The Bani Israel of Medina, when they found out about the lineage of this Prophet, were shocked. The man they were so proud about came from the very people that they despised, i.e. the Arabs. Since the day they corrupted the scripture to make Isaac (AS) the one who was to be sacrificed, the enmity and racial pride started to permeate their whole nation. The Zionists continue to perpetuate the lie of origin and ancestry, totally extorting the label "anti-Semite" for those that allegedly hate their people. Yet, as Phillip Hitti points out in his monumental work "The History of the Arabs", as well as the Old Testament itself, the sacred scrpture of the Bani Israel, if ANY people can rightfully claim the Semitic label it is the people of the Arabian peninsula, the descendants of Ishmael (AS). Further, because of their geographic location, the various cultures could not influence them as much, contrary to the Israelites. Even before Muhammad (S), the Arabs were known as fiercely independent people. This hatred by the Zionists did not confine itself to just the Arabs, but extended to the tribes within their own nation. Judah and Israel fought amongst each other for hundreds of years, and various tribes would side with the pagan nations that lied outside Jerusalem to wage war against their own brethren. By the time of Jesus (AS), their were various groups within Israel competing for the respect of the people. These tribes all claimed that the Messiah would spring from their particular tribe. This hatred amongst each other was still the reality during the time of Muhammad (S).
After the First pledge of Aqabah, Islam began to make grounds in Medina, and the next year the Second Pledge of Aqabah was made with more numbers coming to the Muhammad (S). Medina had embraced Islam, and were anxiously awaiting the day the Noble Soul would grace their presence by entering the outskirts of Medina. Than it happened. In the very same surah regarding the ascension, God Almighty had already started alluding to the hijra.
"And say: My Lord! make me to enter a goodly entering, and cause me to go forth a goodly going forth, and grant me from near Thee power to assist (me).
(Surah Isra, verses 80 translated by Shakir)
This ascension was the PRELUDE to the momentous event that was about to happen, i.e. the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth that Jesus (AS) was sent to prepare for. As the next verse immediately states:
"And say: The truth has come and the falsehood has vanished; surely falsehood is a vanishing (thing)."
During the ascension, Muhammad (S) was taken to Masjid al-Aqsa, and from there went into the heavens. The ascension, on the prophetic level, had revealed to Muhammad (S) that the restoration of the religion of Abraham (AS) as spread by the faithful among the lineage of both Ishmael (AS) and Isaac (AS) was about the happen. This did not concern just the Arabian peninsula, but all of the land promised to Abraham (AS). During the hijrah, when Suraqah realized pursuing Muhammad (S) was a fruitless affair, and decided to seek peace with him, Muhammad (S) told Suraqah, that he (R) would oen day come to possess the crown of Chosroe. Imagine the astonishment of Suraqah... Here was Muhammad (S), accompanied only by one Companion, Abu Bakr (R), walking the deserts of the hijaz, because he was forced out of his city, saying with full confidence and a non-chalant, casual nature that the Persian Empire would fall, and Suraqah would possess the crown of Chosroe!
"Glory be to Him Who made His servant to go on a night from the Sacred Mosque to the remote mosque of which We have blessed the precincts, so that We may show to him some of Our signs; surely He is the Hearing, the Seeing."
This prophecy was fulfilled after the death of Muhammad (S), during the time of Umar (R). when that day came where he was holding the crown of Chosroe from the booty, Suraqah, a participant in the Battle against Persia, shed tears in memory of Mustapha (S).
Everything was happening by a Divine Plan.
"And it is a Quran which We have revealed in portions so that you may read it to the people by slow degrees, and We have revealed it, revealing in portions."
Persia was not the only nation going to fall, but Rome as well, including Constantinople. Most important though was Jerusalem. Jerusalem served as the temporary qiblah when the Bani Israel were led by David, Sulaiman, and thousands of other great personalities. Further, the Temple was built by David (AS) under the command of God. In other words, the construction of the Temple was an act of prohecy. It was only natural that the territory come under the nation of Muhammad (S), so that the truth would shine in history for a period of time giving witness to the truth of Muhammad (S), as well as the call of his forefather Abraham (AS), i.e. "Labbaik". It further meant to tie in the very universal nature of the prophetic movement throughout history.
When Muhammad (S) reached Medina, the real mission began. The city-state of Medina was founded, led by the very person whom Jesus (AS) called the son of Man. In a period of 13 years, with ten of those years in the state of war, the son of Man began to create a social order, based upon the Divine Will. This movement grew to such an extent that the whole Arabian peninsula could not stop its power. The Day of Furqan, i.e. the Battle of Badr, led to the death of 70 of the most hostile opponents of the Prophet, the leaders of Quraysh. This did not end the threat of the Jews, who plotted against the Muslism despite signing treaties. Muhammad (S) had forgiven their treachery once, but not the second time. He expelled some tribes, and did not let other tribes go, depending on the situation.
"O God, the possessor of all rule, You grant rule to whom You will and You take it away from whom You will, You exalt [in honor and dominance] whom You will and You humiliate whom You will."
Muhammad (S) than restored the Kaaba to its true position after 12 years of consistent strugle, with the help of his Loyal Companions. According to the New Testament, the Apostles allegedly fleed when Jesus (AS) was captured by the Romans. While this is obviousl untrue according to the Quran, which praises the Apostles and their being the helpers of God, the New Testament account is remarkably different from what happened with the Companions of Muhammad (S), as testified by not just the Quran, but Old Testament as well.
"And he said, The Lord came from Sinai,
and rose up from Seir unto them;
he shined forth from mount Paran,
and he came with ten thousands of saints:
from his right hand (went) a fiery law for them.
Yea, he loved the people;
all his saints (are) in Thy hand:
and they sat down at Thy feet;
(every one) shall receive of Thy words.
(King James Version Deuternomy 33:2)
The prophecy was made in past tense. According to the Semitic languages, the past expressed the certainty that the event was going to happen. The Lord, through the mouth of Moses (AS), is describing the gradual manifestation of his plan. God came in Sinai, granting the Torah to Musa (AS). This was the book that formed the social basis and law of the Israelite nation, who were commisioned to spread this truth to the world. The Lord would than rise up to Seir, through Jesus (AS), proclaiming that the kingdom of God is coming. The truth of the message would than SHINE forth in all its glory when the Lord would descend from Mount Paran, i.e. the hills of Mecca accompanied by ten thousand Saints, the very place according to the Old Testament that Ishmael (AS) was settled with his wife Hajar. This 10,000 was the exact number of men that accompanied Muhammad (S) to Mecca for the final victory, and the House of God was fully restored to its original place as the symbol of tawheed for the world. The fiery law was than established in Persia, Rome, and parts of North Africa. This was the fulfillment of the prophecy, found in the Jewish scripture, of Daniel regarding the destruction beasts. It is no tale. All of this is historical fact.
The Muslims did not simply take down the Roman and Persian Empires, they established themselves culturally, economically, and socially. They were sent to re-direct humanity from their self-imposed path of destruction.
"Yea, he loved the people;
all his saints (are) in Thy hand:
and they sat down at Thy feet;
(every one) shall receive of Thy words."
They brought the word of God to everyone. Contrary to the history text books force-fed down the throats of the little children in schools, the Arabs were not just invaders. It was the Quranic revolution that created a society that was heavily based on empiricism, giving birth to the modern scientific revolution. Muslim moral code permeated the code of chivalry found in Europe, and tales of love were clearly influenced by the Arab concepts of romance. The Arabs even touched literature, and Dante's Divine Comedy was heavily influenced by Islam and Arabic imagery, despite the fact that the author placed Muhammad (S) in hell. How ironic... Goethe, Germany's greatest intellectual mind, was fond of Islam and the Koran to such an extent that some claim he even became Muslim. Muhammad (S), to him, was a Prophet. India prior to the coming of Islam was never a real entity. It was a series of feudal states, with no central organization. Petty-kings constantly at odds with each other, and a religion that was based on a class system. Even those that did not convert in the region could not escape Islam's influence. Hinduism began to change, and started to adopt egalitarian notions of humanity.
God Almighty had given the Arabs power and honored them through it. But like their brethren the Bani Israel, they began to turn away from what God Almighty had sent, and were plagued with moral vices, petty in-fighting, useless hair-splitting controversies, as well as racial tendencies and self-righteousness. And because God has the interests of humanity at heart, the valuable contributions that the Muslim world made were placed into the hands of those that would use them, and further benefit humanity. And while Europe picked these works up and contributing what was beneficial to men, the Muslim world slowly began to decline. As they lost their power, they lost honor. They became humiliated, and were subject to invasion upon invasion.
"God does not change the condition of the people, until they change what is in their own selves."
The culmination of disgrace, when both power and honor was lost, was when the very people that benefitted from the Muslim world just over 500 years earlier carved up the Muslim nation according to their own random lines. They than inserted into this land, a small state, whose power threatened the very stability of that region. Jerusalem was taken away from the nation that restored the truth of Abraham (AS). The land promised to Abraham (AS) to serve as a symbol of tawheed was carved up into pieces. The city which houses the Blessed Masjid, which was an essential part of the prophecy given to Muhammad (S), whose conquering was foretold in his miraculous ascension, was no longer in their hands. It was all symbolic.
But it was bound to happen, for:
"O God, the possessor of all rule, You grant rule to whom You will and You take it away from whom You will, You exalt [in honor and dominance] whom You will and You humiliate whom You will."
(Surah Imran, ayah 26. Translated by Moiz Amjad at www.understanding-islam.com)
The following verse, while in the form of prayer, is actually a prophecy given to Muhammad (S) that the nation of Ishmael (AS) was going to replace the Bani Israel (AS) as witnesses of the truth of tawheed to humanity. The fulfillment of this promise began during the time of Muhammad (S), where he (S) was given dominance over the Arabian peninsula by the end of his life. This included the House of God established by Abraham (AS) and his son Ishmael (AS) to serve as the symbol of tawheed for the rest of humanity until the Day of Judgement. The fulfillment of the promise continued after the death of Muhammad (S), extending to his followers, i.e. the other descendants of Abraham (AS) through Ishmael (AS). These descendants, led by personalities such as Umar al-Faruq, burst forth from the Arabian peninsula, conquering the lands that were promised to Abraham (AS) in the Old Testament. The Muslims took Jerusalem, with Umar (R) entering on foot while his servant rode the camel, with dignity and respect. This was a remarkably different situation 700 hundred years ago, when Jesus (AS) entered into the city whose leaders rejected him, plotted against him, and even attempted to kill him.
What is interesting about this city of Jerusalem is that God Almighty tied the House of Kaaba with this Blessed place in the opening verse of Surah Israh, i.e. the prelude which is regarding the ascendion of Muhammad (S).
"Glory be to Him Who made His servant to go on a night from the Sacred Mosque to the remote mosque of which We have blessed the precincts, so that We may show to him some of Our signs; surely He is the Hearing, the Seeing."
The ascension of Muhammad (S) was timed in a moment in history that was unique. Most seerah writers refer to this period in the context of the orphan who had just lost his beloved wife Khadija (R), and uncle Abu Talib. His message had gained only a few followers, and he was depressed and dis-heartened. God Almighty, in order to calm him, performed a wondrous miracle. But this misses the point.
The ascension occurred in 620 AD. This was immediately prior to the first pledge of Aqabah, when a group of six men coming for the hajj, happened to come across Muhammad (S). This personality was not new to them and in fact, Muhammad (S) lied in the very depths of their conscience. The Jews of the city of Yathrib were awaiting a Prophet that was to be like Moses (AS), and use to boast about this coming to the pagans saying that the time of their victory was near. The people of Medina knew this fact very well. When Muhammad's (S) message reached their ears, a few among them said that this was the Prophet the Jews were awaiting. It was a remarkable irony. The descendants of Ishmael (AS), hearing the call of Muhammad (S) and realizing this fact, accepted him immediately. Muhammad (S) than sent his Companion Musab (R) to Medina, to guide a people who had already pledged loyalty and allegiance to him at Aqabah. It was there that Muhammad's name really began to reach the Jews that had settled in Yathrib. All of these events began to occur immediately after the ascension.
"Glory be to Him Who made His servant to go on a night from the Sacred Mosque to the remote mosque of which We have blessed the precincts, so that We may show to him some of Our signs; surely He is the Hearing, the Seeing."
The Bani Israel of Medina, when they found out about the lineage of this Prophet, were shocked. The man they were so proud about came from the very people that they despised, i.e. the Arabs. Since the day they corrupted the scripture to make Isaac (AS) the one who was to be sacrificed, the enmity and racial pride started to permeate their whole nation. The Zionists continue to perpetuate the lie of origin and ancestry, totally extorting the label "anti-Semite" for those that allegedly hate their people. Yet, as Phillip Hitti points out in his monumental work "The History of the Arabs", as well as the Old Testament itself, the sacred scrpture of the Bani Israel, if ANY people can rightfully claim the Semitic label it is the people of the Arabian peninsula, the descendants of Ishmael (AS). Further, because of their geographic location, the various cultures could not influence them as much, contrary to the Israelites. Even before Muhammad (S), the Arabs were known as fiercely independent people. This hatred by the Zionists did not confine itself to just the Arabs, but extended to the tribes within their own nation. Judah and Israel fought amongst each other for hundreds of years, and various tribes would side with the pagan nations that lied outside Jerusalem to wage war against their own brethren. By the time of Jesus (AS), their were various groups within Israel competing for the respect of the people. These tribes all claimed that the Messiah would spring from their particular tribe. This hatred amongst each other was still the reality during the time of Muhammad (S).
After the First pledge of Aqabah, Islam began to make grounds in Medina, and the next year the Second Pledge of Aqabah was made with more numbers coming to the Muhammad (S). Medina had embraced Islam, and were anxiously awaiting the day the Noble Soul would grace their presence by entering the outskirts of Medina. Than it happened. In the very same surah regarding the ascension, God Almighty had already started alluding to the hijra.
"And say: My Lord! make me to enter a goodly entering, and cause me to go forth a goodly going forth, and grant me from near Thee power to assist (me).
(Surah Isra, verses 80 translated by Shakir)
This ascension was the PRELUDE to the momentous event that was about to happen, i.e. the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth that Jesus (AS) was sent to prepare for. As the next verse immediately states:
"And say: The truth has come and the falsehood has vanished; surely falsehood is a vanishing (thing)."
During the ascension, Muhammad (S) was taken to Masjid al-Aqsa, and from there went into the heavens. The ascension, on the prophetic level, had revealed to Muhammad (S) that the restoration of the religion of Abraham (AS) as spread by the faithful among the lineage of both Ishmael (AS) and Isaac (AS) was about the happen. This did not concern just the Arabian peninsula, but all of the land promised to Abraham (AS). During the hijrah, when Suraqah realized pursuing Muhammad (S) was a fruitless affair, and decided to seek peace with him, Muhammad (S) told Suraqah, that he (R) would oen day come to possess the crown of Chosroe. Imagine the astonishment of Suraqah... Here was Muhammad (S), accompanied only by one Companion, Abu Bakr (R), walking the deserts of the hijaz, because he was forced out of his city, saying with full confidence and a non-chalant, casual nature that the Persian Empire would fall, and Suraqah would possess the crown of Chosroe!
"Glory be to Him Who made His servant to go on a night from the Sacred Mosque to the remote mosque of which We have blessed the precincts, so that We may show to him some of Our signs; surely He is the Hearing, the Seeing."
This prophecy was fulfilled after the death of Muhammad (S), during the time of Umar (R). when that day came where he was holding the crown of Chosroe from the booty, Suraqah, a participant in the Battle against Persia, shed tears in memory of Mustapha (S).
Everything was happening by a Divine Plan.
"And it is a Quran which We have revealed in portions so that you may read it to the people by slow degrees, and We have revealed it, revealing in portions."
Persia was not the only nation going to fall, but Rome as well, including Constantinople. Most important though was Jerusalem. Jerusalem served as the temporary qiblah when the Bani Israel were led by David, Sulaiman, and thousands of other great personalities. Further, the Temple was built by David (AS) under the command of God. In other words, the construction of the Temple was an act of prohecy. It was only natural that the territory come under the nation of Muhammad (S), so that the truth would shine in history for a period of time giving witness to the truth of Muhammad (S), as well as the call of his forefather Abraham (AS), i.e. "Labbaik". It further meant to tie in the very universal nature of the prophetic movement throughout history.
When Muhammad (S) reached Medina, the real mission began. The city-state of Medina was founded, led by the very person whom Jesus (AS) called the son of Man. In a period of 13 years, with ten of those years in the state of war, the son of Man began to create a social order, based upon the Divine Will. This movement grew to such an extent that the whole Arabian peninsula could not stop its power. The Day of Furqan, i.e. the Battle of Badr, led to the death of 70 of the most hostile opponents of the Prophet, the leaders of Quraysh. This did not end the threat of the Jews, who plotted against the Muslism despite signing treaties. Muhammad (S) had forgiven their treachery once, but not the second time. He expelled some tribes, and did not let other tribes go, depending on the situation.
"O God, the possessor of all rule, You grant rule to whom You will and You take it away from whom You will, You exalt [in honor and dominance] whom You will and You humiliate whom You will."
Muhammad (S) than restored the Kaaba to its true position after 12 years of consistent strugle, with the help of his Loyal Companions. According to the New Testament, the Apostles allegedly fleed when Jesus (AS) was captured by the Romans. While this is obviousl untrue according to the Quran, which praises the Apostles and their being the helpers of God, the New Testament account is remarkably different from what happened with the Companions of Muhammad (S), as testified by not just the Quran, but Old Testament as well.
"And he said, The Lord came from Sinai,
and rose up from Seir unto them;
he shined forth from mount Paran,
and he came with ten thousands of saints:
from his right hand (went) a fiery law for them.
Yea, he loved the people;
all his saints (are) in Thy hand:
and they sat down at Thy feet;
(every one) shall receive of Thy words.
(King James Version Deuternomy 33:2)
The prophecy was made in past tense. According to the Semitic languages, the past expressed the certainty that the event was going to happen. The Lord, through the mouth of Moses (AS), is describing the gradual manifestation of his plan. God came in Sinai, granting the Torah to Musa (AS). This was the book that formed the social basis and law of the Israelite nation, who were commisioned to spread this truth to the world. The Lord would than rise up to Seir, through Jesus (AS), proclaiming that the kingdom of God is coming. The truth of the message would than SHINE forth in all its glory when the Lord would descend from Mount Paran, i.e. the hills of Mecca accompanied by ten thousand Saints, the very place according to the Old Testament that Ishmael (AS) was settled with his wife Hajar. This 10,000 was the exact number of men that accompanied Muhammad (S) to Mecca for the final victory, and the House of God was fully restored to its original place as the symbol of tawheed for the world. The fiery law was than established in Persia, Rome, and parts of North Africa. This was the fulfillment of the prophecy, found in the Jewish scripture, of Daniel regarding the destruction beasts. It is no tale. All of this is historical fact.
The Muslims did not simply take down the Roman and Persian Empires, they established themselves culturally, economically, and socially. They were sent to re-direct humanity from their self-imposed path of destruction.
"Yea, he loved the people;
all his saints (are) in Thy hand:
and they sat down at Thy feet;
(every one) shall receive of Thy words."
They brought the word of God to everyone. Contrary to the history text books force-fed down the throats of the little children in schools, the Arabs were not just invaders. It was the Quranic revolution that created a society that was heavily based on empiricism, giving birth to the modern scientific revolution. Muslim moral code permeated the code of chivalry found in Europe, and tales of love were clearly influenced by the Arab concepts of romance. The Arabs even touched literature, and Dante's Divine Comedy was heavily influenced by Islam and Arabic imagery, despite the fact that the author placed Muhammad (S) in hell. How ironic... Goethe, Germany's greatest intellectual mind, was fond of Islam and the Koran to such an extent that some claim he even became Muslim. Muhammad (S), to him, was a Prophet. India prior to the coming of Islam was never a real entity. It was a series of feudal states, with no central organization. Petty-kings constantly at odds with each other, and a religion that was based on a class system. Even those that did not convert in the region could not escape Islam's influence. Hinduism began to change, and started to adopt egalitarian notions of humanity.
God Almighty had given the Arabs power and honored them through it. But like their brethren the Bani Israel, they began to turn away from what God Almighty had sent, and were plagued with moral vices, petty in-fighting, useless hair-splitting controversies, as well as racial tendencies and self-righteousness. And because God has the interests of humanity at heart, the valuable contributions that the Muslim world made were placed into the hands of those that would use them, and further benefit humanity. And while Europe picked these works up and contributing what was beneficial to men, the Muslim world slowly began to decline. As they lost their power, they lost honor. They became humiliated, and were subject to invasion upon invasion.
"God does not change the condition of the people, until they change what is in their own selves."
The culmination of disgrace, when both power and honor was lost, was when the very people that benefitted from the Muslim world just over 500 years earlier carved up the Muslim nation according to their own random lines. They than inserted into this land, a small state, whose power threatened the very stability of that region. Jerusalem was taken away from the nation that restored the truth of Abraham (AS). The land promised to Abraham (AS) to serve as a symbol of tawheed was carved up into pieces. The city which houses the Blessed Masjid, which was an essential part of the prophecy given to Muhammad (S), whose conquering was foretold in his miraculous ascension, was no longer in their hands. It was all symbolic.
But it was bound to happen, for:
"O God, the possessor of all rule, You grant rule to whom You will and You take it away from whom You will, You exalt [in honor and dominance] whom You will and You humiliate whom You will."
posted by Asim at 7:59 AM
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