Even the Koran Affirms Jews' Rights to Yerushalayim
Muslim critics of Israel often
say that Yerushalayim's holy sites must be
transferred to Muslim control, because of
the central role they play in
Islamic theology. For instance, the Dome
of the Rock was built on the site where
Mohammed is believed to have ascended to Heaven to receive the revelation
of the Koran.
However, these people seldom actually
quote the Koran itself. This is
probably because the Koran actually
supports Jewish claims. Here
are several quotes straight from the Koran:
-Mohammed in Sura 5:21 quotes Moses
telling the Jews to "enter into the holy
land which Allah has assigned to you". While Mohammed later criticizes
the Jews for their sins and their refusal
to accept Mohammed's message, he never
says that, as punishment, Allah has revoked their title to the land. Hence
the title still stands, and Muslim anti-Zionists are apostates.
-A case could even be made that Israel's victory over the Arabs in the
1948 war was a judgement by Allah
against the Arabs for their apostasy in opposing
the Jews. This would be their just reward for transgressing Sura 2:190,
which says, "Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against
you, but begin not hostilities."
-Moreover, Sura 60:9 forbids aiding
the enemies of the Muslim people.
Contrast this with the Palestinians'
continued support of Saddam Hussein, whose
hands are red with the blood of Iranian, Kurdish, and Kuwaiti Muslims.
-The Jews' return from 19
centuries of exile is actually the fulfillment of
Islamic prophecy. Sura 17:104 says that
"when the promise of the Hereafter comes
to pass, We [Allah] shall bring you as a crowd gathered out of various nations".
-Sura 17:4 says, "And We
[Allah] gave (clear) warning to the children of
Israel in the Book, that twice would they
do mischief on the earth and be
elated with mighty arrogance (and twice
would they be punished)!" The
succeeding verses tell us that the
punishment referred to was banishment from
the land. But "twice" means twice, not three times; hence the Jews,
having been banished from the land once
by the Babylonians and a second time by
Rome, will never again be banished from the land. According to the Koran,
Israel is an eternal nation.
-Sura 83:1 says, "Woe to those
that deal in fraud"; yet Yasser Arafat
reneged on his promise to guard Joseph's
Tomb in Nablus after the Israeli troops
withdrew.
-The Palestinians deny that there ever was a Jewish Temple in Yerushalayim.
But Sura 17:7 records the destruction of
the First Temple by Babylon and the Second
Temple by Rome, and Mohammed never contests the Bible's claim that the
Temples were in Yerushalayim.