Lesson 3: "Jerusalem, an Arab-Islamic City" by Dr Hassanein Mohamed Rabi

01First: the author

• Dr Hassanein Mohamed Rabi: professor of history at Cairo University and former dean of the Faculty of Arts.
• He served as vice-president of Cairo University for community service and environment, and was a member of the Arabic Language Academy.
• He has many historical works that enrich the Arabic library.
• His style is that of a documented historian, relying on sources and evidence.

02Second: the occasion of the essay and its general direction

• The writer composed the essay in reply to the falsehoods of the Jews who claimed that they themselves founded Jerusalem three thousand years ago and who held celebrations and conferences on that occasion.
• The essay discloses, through historical and archaeological sources, that Jerusalem is an Arab-Islamic city.
• Type: a historical, argumentative essay (maqāl tārīkhī ḥujjājī) that answers a claim with evidence.
• Aim: to establish the Arab character of Jerusalem, to show the tolerance of Islam, and to set out the standing of Jerusalem with the Muslims.

03Third: idea one — the names of Jerusalem and its station

Its names

• al-Quds, Urushalim (Jerusalem), Dar al-Salam (Abode of Peace), Madīnat al-ʿAdl (City of Justice), Yābūs (Jebus), Iliyā (Iliya).

Its descriptions in the essay

• The place where the eye of Musa (Moses) is set, the goal of the heart of ʿIsā (Jesus), and the night-journey and upward ascent of our Prophet Muhammad.
• The Holy of holies of the three religions, the first qibla of Islam, and the temple of East and West.
• The most splendid of the cities of the Canaanite Arabs, and the symbol of the unity of the religion of the One God.
• It was a shining pearl in the history of the Arabs and the Muslims, and the flower of the cities (zahrat al-madāʾin).

What the descriptions signify

• He described it with religious and historical attributes to show that it belongs to all the revealed religions, not to one sect alone.

04Fourth: idea two — Jerusalem is an Arab city since the Canaanites

The writer's answer to the claim

• The ancient historical and archaeological sources expose the falsehoods of the Jews and confirm that Jerusalem is a pure Arab city.
• The Canaanite Arabs founded it thousands of years ago and named it "Ur-Salim", meaning the city of peace.

The origin of the Canaanites

• They migrated from the Arabian peninsula in the fourth millennium BC.
• The word Canaan in ancient Arabic means the roughness of the land — and from it comes the hardness of its people and their prowess.
• Several tribes branched from the Canaanites: the Amorites, the Jebusites, the Aramaeans, the Phoenicians and others.

05Fifth: idea three — the Assurance of Umar (al-ʿUhda al-ʿUmariyyah)

• The Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab came to Bayt al-Maqdis arriving from the City of the Prophet (Medina).
• He met the Patriarch Sophronius on the Mount of Olives, and dictated his document known as the Assurance of Umar.

The clauses of the Assurance

• He granted the people of Iliya (Jerusalem) safety for themselves, their wealth, their churches and their crosses.
• Their churches shall not be inhabited (by others) nor demolished, they shall not be compelled in religion, and none of them shall be harmed.
• The document also stipulated that no Jew shall dwell in Iliya along with them.

What it signifies

• The tolerance of Islam and its respect for the other religions.
• The far-sightedness of the Caliph and his care that the arrangement should not turn into injustice or dispute in the future.

06Sixth: idea four — Umar's stand at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and at the Rock

• Umar visited the Church of the Resurrection (the Holy Sepulchre); the time of noon prayer fell due, and the Patriarch invited him to pray where he stood.
• He refused to pray inside the church so that the Muslims after him would not take it as a mosque for themselves, and he prayed outside it.
• He visited the Sacred Rock and ordered a mosque to be built above it, so the Muslims began to build a mosque of wood.
• The significance: Umar's care to protect the churches of the Christians even from well-intentioned acts — and at the same time binding the Muslims to their holy land.

07Seventh: idea five — Jerusalem Islamic in administration and identity

• From that date Jerusalem became Islamic, administratively attached to the district of Palestine (Jund Filastīn).
• Arab tribes migrated to the Levant and entered the social make-up of the ancient cities — Damascus, Aleppo and Jerusalem.
• In time the Arab-Islamic element became the dominant one in Jerusalem, with all its civilisational and religious components.

08Eighth: idea six — Umayyad building: al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock

• After the rise of the Umayyad state, the Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan began the construction of al-Masjid al-Aqsa and the Mosque of the Dome of the Rock.
• He gathered for it the most skilled engineers and builders from across the Islamic state.
• He earmarked for its cost the land-tax (kharāj) of Egypt for seven consecutive years.
• He died in 86 AH (705 CE) and was succeeded by his son al-Walid, who completed some additions to al-Aqsa, so its building came out at the height of splendour and creativity.

09Ninth: idea seven — the tolerance of Islam with Christian pilgrims

• The Islamic presence in Jerusalem did not bring the journeys of Christians to the Holy Land to a stop.
• Christian pilgrims found safety and peace under Islamic rule for long centuries, until the end of the eleventh century CE.
• They lived in peace with the Muslims — and this is evidence of the tolerance of Islam, its greatness and its respect for the religions.

10Tenth: idea eight — the Crusader campaigns and the idea of jihad

• The Muslims profited from the ordeal of Jerusalem at the hands of the Crusaders: the idea of Islamic jihad spread and was revived in order to end the Crusader presence in the Levant.
• Nur al-Din Mahmud — the son of the cousin of Imad al-Din Zangi, the ruler of Mosul — held that jihad could not succeed except by unifying the Islamic front.

Nur al-Din's plan

• To end the Shiʿi Fatimid caliphate.
• To bring Egypt back into the fold of the Sunni Abbasid caliphate.
• To squeeze the Crusaders between the two millstones.

Carrying the plan out

• Nur al-Din took Damascus in 549 AH (1154 CE).
• His two commanders Asad al-Din Shirkuh and his nephew Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi took Egypt in 564 AH (1169 CE), after three attempts.
• The Fatimid caliphate ended in 567 AH (1171 CE), and Salah al-Din became the one in control of the Islamic forces.

11Eleventh: idea nine — Hattin and the liberation of Jerusalem

• Salah al-Din won a marvelous victory at the battle of Hattin on 4 July 1187, so the fortresses and towns of the Crusaders in the Levant lay at his mercy.
• Instead of heading straight for Jerusalem, he turned first to Acre (Akka) and opened the coastal towns.
• The significance: a military genius and far sight — he deprived the Crusaders of their naval bases linking them to Europe before he moved on Jerusalem.
• He entered al-Masjid al-Aqsa, prayed at the Dome of the Rock and thanked God for His granting of success in 583 AH / 1187 CE.

The first Friday sermon

• The judge Muhyi al-Din ibn Zaki al-Din gave the first Friday sermon after the liberation.
• He described Jerusalem as "the first of the two qiblas, the second of the two mosques, and the third of the two sanctuaries".
• He addressed the soldiers and gave them the good news that they had renewed for Islam the days of al-Qadisiyyah, al-Yarmuk and Khaybar.

12Twelfth: idea ten — Jerusalem after the liberation

• Salah al-Din purified Jerusalem, and the word of God was made the highest.
• Except for a period of fifteen years (1229–1244 CE) when it was under Crusader rule, Jerusalem returned to Islamic sovereignty.
• Its people and its visitors enjoyed security and freedom of worship, and trade and economic conditions revived.
• Markets, caravanserais (khānāt), charitable, scientific and religious institutions, public fountains (asbilah) and bath-houses multiplied.
• Nothing disturbed its calm until the First World War.

13Thirteenth: vocabulary and its meanings

14Fourteenth: the traits of the writer's style

• The style of the historian: he fixes the dates, the names and the events, and lays out his evidence.
• He begins by defining Jerusalem with rhymed-prose attributes — such as "the place where the eye of Musa is set, the goal of the heart of ʿIsā" — so he joins literature to history.
• He answers the opponent with sources rather than with emotion, and then builds the judgement on evidence.
• Argumentative phrasing, such as "and what the ancient sources confirm is that…".
• He quotes documented texts — the wording of the Assurance and the sermon of the liberation — to strengthen the proof.
• His position: the school of national history that defends the Arab-Islamic identity.

15Fifteenth: the values drawn from the essay

• Pride in the Arab identity of Jerusalem and defending it by argument.
• Religious tolerance and respect for places of worship — as Umar did.
• Far-sightedness in leadership — as Salah al-Din did when he began with Acre.
• The unity of the ranks is a condition of victory — as Nur al-Din did.
• Estimating the standing of Jerusalem for the Muslims and for the followers of all the religions.

16Exam traps and key takeaways

• Type and purpose: a historical argumentative essay, written as a reply to the claim that the Jews founded Jerusalem three thousand years ago, and argued from historical and archaeological sources — not from emotion.
• The six names: al-Quds · Urushalim · Dar al-Salam · Madinat al-Adl · Yabus · Iliya; and the founding name is "Ur-Salim" = the city of peace.
• The descriptions pair the three faiths — Moses' eye, Jesus' heart, the Prophet's night-journey and ascent — plus first qibla of Islam and "temple of East and West"; purpose of the descriptions: it belongs to all revealed religions, not one sect.
• Canaanite facts: from the Arabian peninsula, fourth millennium BC; the word Canaan means the roughness of the land (hence the toughness and prowess of its people); the branches are Amorites, Jebusites, Aramaeans, Phoenicians.
• The Assurance: Umar came from Medina, met Patriarch Sophronius on the Mount of Olives and dictated the document. Its clauses: safety for selves, wealth, churches and crosses · churches not occupied by others nor demolished · no compulsion in religion · no harm to any of them · and no Jew to dwell with them in Iliya. Its two significations: Islamic tolerance + the Caliph's far sight against future injustice or dispute.
• Umar at the Holy Sepulchre: the trap is to say he prayed inside — he prayed outside, so that Muslims later would not claim it as a mosque. At the Rock he ordered a mosque and the Muslims began one built of wood.
• Administration: Jerusalem became attached to Jund Filastin; Arab tribes entered the social structure of Damascus, Aleppo and Jerusalem; and the Arab-Islamic element became dominant in time — not by decree.
• Umayyad building: Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan founded al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock, gathered the best engineers from across the state, and funded it with the kharaj of Egypt for seven consecutive years; he died 86 AH / 705 CE, and al-Walid finished additions.
• Pilgrims: Christian travel to the Holy Land continued under Muslim rule until the end of the eleventh century CE — the Crusader occupation is what broke it, and that is why the essay uses it as proof of tolerance.
• Nur al-Din's plan is three ordered steps — end the Shi'i Fatimid caliphate, return Egypt to the Sunni Abbasids, and crush the Crusaders between the two millstones; dates: Damascus 549 AH/1154 · Egypt 564 AH/1169 after three attempts, by Asad al-Din Shirkuh and his nephew Salah al-Din · Fatimid caliphate ends 567 AH/1171.
• Nur al-Din's relation: he is the son of the cousin of Imad al-Din Zangi, ruler of Mosul — a frequent multiple-choice trap.
• Hattin: 4 July 1187; then the strategic choice — Acre and the coastal towns first, so the Crusaders lost the sea bases linking them to Europe before Jerusalem was taken. He prayed at the Dome of the Rock in 583 AH/1187.
• The first Friday sermon was by the judge Muhyi al-Din ibn Zaki al-Din, and its formula is fixed: "first of the two qiblas, second of the two mosques, third of the two sanctuaries"; the soldiers were told they had renewed the days of al-Qadisiyyah, al-Yarmuk and Khaybar.
• After the liberation: the fifteen-year Crusader interlude 1229–1244, then Islamic sovereignty, security, freedom of worship, revived trade, and a building boom of markets, khānāt, charitable and scientific institutions, asbilah and bath-houses — its calm unbroken until the First World War.
• Style markers to identify: exact dates and names, rhymed-prose opening attributes, evidence over emotion, argumentative phrases, and quoted documents — the school is national history defending the Arab-Islamic identity.