Islam in present day Jerusalem is influenced more than ever by political activities and agendas. This publication deals with Islamic activity and Islamic institutions in East Jerusalem under Jordanian and Israeli rule from 1948 until after the peace accords between Isreal, the PLO and Jordan. After the Israeli takeover of East Jerusalem in 1967 Islamic institutions remained Jordanian organs. This study elaborates on the strategy adopted by the Palestinians of establishing a local Palestinian Supreme Muslim Authority serving a political body to handle Palestinian religious and national debate for the future of Jerusalem. One of the features of this debate is the Jordanian-Palestinian-Israeli competence over the holy places in Jerusalem. The waqf (pious endowments) institution, which is in decline in many Muslim countries, has been revived under Israeli rule. The economic resources of the waaf have been mobilized for the political struggle and it serves as a means to preserve the Islamic character of East Jerusalem and to strengthen the Muslim Arab population's attachment to Islamic institution. This study focuses on the role of the Shari'a (Islamic law) Courts in various mechanisms which were developed to facilitate the adoptation of the traditional Islamic institutions to modern conditions.

Covers Israel's policy toward Islamic institutions within its borders, 1948-2000.

A compelling consideration of Jerusalem during the formative period of Islamic civilization

The book deals with the role of Jerusalem as a central religious-political symbol, and with the processes by which symbols of faith and sanctity are being employed in a political struggle. It examines the current Islamic ethos towards Jerusalem and the affinity between this religious ethos and the political aspirations of the Palestinians and other Arab and Islamic groups. It also compares current Jewish and Muslim narratives and processes of denial and de-legitimizing the affiliation of the other to the holy city and its sacred shrines and addresses the question whether religious outlook forms a major barrier for achieving peace in the Israeli-Arab arena.

This study presents the first comprehensive survey of the abundant early Islamic sources that recognize the historical Jewish bond to the Temple Mount (Masjid al-Aqsa) and Jerusalem. Analyzing these sources in light of the views of contemporary Muslim religious scholars, thinkers and writers, who – in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict – deny any Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and promote the argument that no Jewish Temple ever stood on the Temple Mount. The book describes how this process of denying Jewish ties to the site has become the cultural rationale for UNESCO decisions in recent years regarding holy sites in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron, which use Muslim Arabic terminology and overlook the Jewish (and Christian) history and sanctification of these sites. Denying the Jewish ties to the Temple Mount for political purposes inadvertently undermines the legitimacy of Islam’s sanctification of Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock as well as the credibility of the most important sources in Arabic, which constitute the classics of Islam and provide the foundation for its culture and identity. Identifying and presenting the Jewish sources in the Bible, Babylonian Talmud and exegesis on which these Islamic traditions are based, this volume is a key resource for readers interested in Islam, Judaism, religion and political science and history in the Middle East.

Jerusalem in the Qur'an made its debut at a crucial time when the morale of the Muslims was not only at its lowest... but is continually sinking... The blatant incessant Israeli incursions in the Holy Land go unabated, and Muslims are echoing the very words that their fellow brethren called out unto their Lord when they were being persecuted at the hands of the kuffar of Makkah: "When will the help of Allah come?''Shaikh Imran's insight into the events that are unfolding in the world today is a source of inspiration for Muslims for he convincingly argues from his scholarly interpretations of the Divine Writ (i.e., the Holy Qur'an) and the Ahadith of the Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu 'alaihi wa sallam) that the help of Allah (subhanahu wa ta'alah) is at hand, that the Holy Land will be liberated, and that Islam will re-emerge as the 'Ruling State' in the world. The reader will be enthralled by the author's grasp on world politics. Jerusalem in the Qur'an comes as a ray of sunshine for Muslims and is an eye-opener for the so-called 'People of the Book'. Though Jerusalem in the Qur'an is a meticulously written thesis combining religious and historical documents with recent political events and penetrating interpretations from the Qur'an and Hadith, it runs like a story. Once you begin reading it, it is hard to stop ... It is a reference that one needs to keep and re-read whenever the subject is to be researched. The book gives a detailed beautifully written exposition of these episodes with brilliant interpretations from the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah. No one would fail to appreciate his penetrative thought and his spiritual depth.

This study offers a thorough treatment of Ottoman policy with respect to Christianity's holiest shrines during the first two centuries of Ottoman rule in Jerusalem. Based on official Ottoman records found in the registers of the kadi's court in Jerusalem as well as the Prime Ministry's Archives in Istanbul, it sheds new light on one of the most obscure and controversial chapters in the history of Christianity under Islam in Jerusalem.