Al Quds History Religion And Politics

The controversial decision of U.S. President Donald Trump to formally recognize the Holy City of al-Quds (Jerusalem) as the capital of Israel overturned decades of official U.S. policy. This decision resulted in moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on the eve of the Palestinian commemoration of 70 years of the Nakbah (Catastrophe) on May 15, 2018, during which Palestinians have been suffering persecutions, massacres, and ethnic cleansing. Not only is this decision against international law, but it is also in direct conflict with a number of resolutions by the UN Security Council. It brings an end to the two-state solution, which the international community has been trying to achieve for a long time. Moreover, this action is a practical step of the “Deal of the Century” which the Trump administration is trying to impose in the region. These developments require urgent publications to address different dimensions of this delicate issue, which lies at the heart of most of the regional problems. In order to develop a better understanding of this issue and other related regional problems, it is necessary to produce inclusive materials about the city. Accordingly, at this critical time, we have designed this edited book to provide a better understanding of this core issue to intellectuals, academics, politicians, and the wider public interested in the Holy Land.

This is a detailed yet accessible guide to the way in which religion and politics interacted during the earliest years of Islam. It focuses on the period of the first four caliphs, untangling the crisis of sucession and the subsequent schism between the Sunni and Shi'i movements in Islam, and drawing on a combination of primary documents and scholarship in the field. It includes two appendices featuring original English translations of key source material.

*Includes pictures *Includes quotes from the Koran and Hadith *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "The most holy spot [al-quds] on earth is Syria; the most holy spot in Syria is Palestine; the most holy spot in Palestine is Jerusalem [Bayt al-maqdis]; the most holy spot in Jerusalem is the Mountain; the most holy spot in Jerusalem is the place of worship [al-masjid], and the most holy spot in the place of worship is the Dome" - Thawr ibn Yazid, circa 770 In the campaign leading up to the election of Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate frequently discussed the importance of moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. For many conservative Christian Americans and Israelis, this was tantamount to the United States agreeing to Jewish control over Jerusalem. As it stands now, the U.S. has a consulate in Jerusalem, yet no country houses their embassy in Jerusalem due to the conflicting claims of the Israelis and Palestinians. The political issue is just one more reminder of how important Jerusalem is as both a secular and religious flashpoint. One of the oldest cities in the world, Jerusalem is a holy and special city to the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Throughout its more than 6,000 year history, Jerusalem has been a center of contention, from conflicting clans to warring states. In addition to its religious significance, Jerusalem's strategic location has also made the city desirable throughout history. While people in the West are more familiar with Jerusalem's importance to Jews and Christians, Jerusalem's particular importance to the religion of Islam is without question one of the major sticking points in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Prior to Israeli control, Jerusalem had been predominantly controlled by Muslim rulers since the 7th century and had been used as a type of political currency, legitimizing the ruling dynasty's claim over the city. This right of control by Muslims was viewed no more differently than control over Mecca and Medina in the Arabian Peninsula. For the world's Muslim population, Jerusalem is a holy site because Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad visited Jerusalem where he ascended to heaven during the famous "Night Journey." There was also a period of time during the Prophet's life when Muslims prayed in the direction of Jerusalem, as opposed to Mecca. Just as in Judaism and Christianity, Jerusalem plays a central role in End of Days prophecies in Islamic theology. As a result, Jerusalem has been an important symbol for Muslims for nearly 1,300 years, and it has played a crucial political role throughout the history of Islamic civilization as this important city has passed from ruler to ruler and dynasty to dynasty. Now that the city is again controlled by a Jewish state, Jerusalem has even further implications for various religious groups, and it will certainly affect the conflict-wrought region. Jerusalem and Islam: The History and Legacy of the Holy City's Importance to Muslims examines the tumultuous history of Jerusalem and its relationship to the Islamic world. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about Jerusalem and Islam like never before.

In The Story of Reason in Islam, leading public intellectual and political activist Sari Nusseibeh narrates a sweeping intellectual history—a quest for knowledge inspired by the Qu'ran and its language, a quest that employed Reason in the service of Faith. Eschewing the conventional separation of Faith and Reason, he takes a fresh look at why and how Islamic reasoning evolved over time. He surveys the different Islamic schools of thought and how they dealt with major philosophical issues, showing that Reason pervaded all disciplines, from philosophy and science to language, poetry, and law. Along the way, the best known Muslim philosophers are introduced in a new light. Countering received chronologies, in this story Reason reaches its zenith in the early seventeenth century; it then trails off, its demise as sudden as its appearance. Thereafter, Reason loses out to passive belief, lifeless logic, and a self-contained legalism—in other words, to a less flexible Islam. Nusseibeh's speculations as to why this occurred focus on the fortunes and misfortunes of classical Arabic in the Islamic world. Change, he suggests, may only come from the revivification of language itself.

A cri de coeur or fully imagined poem on the myth and history of Jerusalem/Al-Quds from the author revered as the greatest living Arabic poet At the age of eighty-six, Adonis, an Arabic poet with Syrian origins, a critic, an essayist, and a devoted secularist, has come out of retirement to pen an extended, innovative poem on Jerusalem/Al-Quds. It is a hymn to a troubled city embattled by the conflicting demands of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Adonis's city, as a coveted land, ought to suggest the universal love of humanity; as a land of tragedy, a place of contending history and beliefs, and a locus of bitterness, conflict, hatred, rivalry, and blood. Wrapping multiple voices, historical references, and political viewpoints within his ecstatic lyricism, Adonis has created a provocative work of unique beauty and profound wisdom, beautifully rendered in English by award-winning poet Khaled Mattawa.

This book offers a useful and extensive account of Japan’s past discoveries and present interactions with Muslim states and societies across Asia. Bearing in mind the U.S.-led global meta-narrative of Islam spoken in tandem with security and threats, this book examines how this reconciles with Japan’s self-proclaimed “values-based” approach to diplomacy across Asia in the twenty-first century. The author considers Japan’s historic conceptualization and learning of Islam, and its acute needs for access to markets and energy from Muslim-majority states in Asia. He also argues that Japan securitizes Islam in a manner distinct from Western, Russian, or Chinese securitization today, but that Japan promotes itself as a model for human security and development across an Asia inclusive of Muslim states. Japan’s approach to Islam and Muslim societies today offers much from which other great powers can learn.

This unique book investigates the complex transformation of Turkey's foreign policy, focusing on changing threat perceptions and the reformulation of its Western identity. This transformation cannot be explained solely in terms of strategic choices or agency driven policies but encompasses power shifts and systemic transformations. Is Turkey shifting its axis? Will this affect its traditional Western-oriented foreign policy? The book begins by discussing the relationship between security and globalization, using examples of Turkey's regional positioning. It then focuses on to what extent the 'traditional' discourse on security in Turkish politics, which prevailed during the Cold War era and beyond, has undergone a change in the new era. This timely book is a much needed account of how pragmatism rather than ideology is the main determinant in Turkey's current foreign policy and should be read by all looking for a fresh and stimulating take on Turkey's response to globalization and the internationalization of security in the 21st Century.