Jerusalem   ―Islam that remained tolerant of Christians and Jews

Jerusalem is the third sanctuary of Islam after Mecca and Medina, the first Qibla (direction of worship), and then changed to Mecca. It is interpreted that the Islamic prophet Muhammad “ascended” at the end of the “night trip (Isra’)”.

When Umar Ibn Hattab, the second caliph, entered Jerusalem in 638, he witnessed the complete destruction and devastation of the Jewish sanctuary, the Temple Hill. By 692, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, where Muslims gathered, was erected, and Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan, the fifth caliph of the Umayyad dynasty (661-750), constructed Dome of the Rock where Prophet Muhammad ascended from 688 to 691. On the other hand, because the Umayyad dynasty’s attention was focused on the development of its capital, Damascus, Jerusalem did not develop much until the Crusaders sought to recapture Jerusalem.

There are many Christian sanctuaries such as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and the Jews exiled by the Roman Empire in 135 were also allowed to return to Jerusalem by Muslims, and their population is believed to be larger than Muslims.

When the Crusaders attacked Jerusalem in July 1099, both Muslims and Jews fought the Crusaders, killing 40,000 or even 70,000 Muslims and Jews. When the Crusaders occupied Jerusalem, Dome of the Rock became a Christian church, the Al-Aqsa Mosque became the headquarters of the Knights Templar, and Muslims and Jews were expelled from Jerusalem. However, when  Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn regained Jerusalem in 1187, they returned these facilities to Islamic religious facilities, allowing all religious activities and allowing the return of Jews.

Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn came to dominate Jerusalem, but treated the crusader-hostile Christians generously, the Jewish community was protected, and Maimonides, a Jewish philosopher and medical doctor from Cordoba, Spain. Maimonides (1135-1204) became a doctor of Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn. Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn ruled Egypt, Syria, Yemen, etc. and founded the Ayyubid dynasty (1169-1260), but even under that rule, he continued to treat Egyptian Christian Copts and others generously, and the activities of the Coptic Church flourished in the Ayyubid dynasty, and some Coptics served as Ayyubid officials.

The rapid collapse of Jerusalem’s well-being began in the 19th century when the Ottoman Empire’s authority declined and European consulates, religious envoys, and archaeological teams flooded the city. Also, in Jerusalem, poor Jews began to compete with Muslims for influence with the support of the Rothschilds in Europe, and by 1900 the Jewish population was 35,000, which exdeeded population of Muslims and Christians’ 10,000 people.

The Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocated the US embassy to Jerusalem, but now Jerusalem settlements have been built around Jerusalem.