Thursday 25 March 2010

Holy Land NOT Promised Land

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I'm now going to start presenting other ayaat (verses) of Quran in which Allah Almighty has said that He has made Al Quds a blessed land. The word 'blessed' is going to come up again and again in the verses, but what does it mean?

Barakah in arabic means blessings and when we say Allah has blessed Al Quds, we mean that Allah has showered spiritual and physical blessings on that place so all of mankind can benefit. As a result the people who live in Al Quds are also blessed, as long as they obey the comands of Allah i.e. live Islam.


Example Two (first was the ayah in the last post):

After Musa (as), by the Mercy of Allah, led Banu Isra'il (the Children of Israel) away from the oppression of Pharaoh in Egypt he told his followers to enter the Holy Land. This land is described in Quran as Palestine in general and Al Quds (Jerusalem) more specifically. The Quran reveals what Musa (as) instructed Banu Isra'il:



"My people! Enter the holy land which Allah has ordained for you; and do not turn back for then you will turn about losers". (Surah Al- Ma'idah 5: 21)

There’s a very significant word in the ayah above. Musa (as) referred to Al Quds as the holy land and not the promised land. So unlike the Jewish tradition, which considers Al Quds to be the promised land for Jews alone, Muslims accept Allah's decree that the blessings of Al Quds are not limited to any one group. In fact in Quran Allah says that the blessings of Al Quds are for " 'al Alameen"- which means for all creatures for all time. This makes it clear that whoever is true to Allah and His commands they are the rightful inheritors of Al Quds, in whichever time they live. No group has the right to Al Quds through claiming it is singularly promised to them. Instead, the obedient slaves of Allah are the ones who have the right to live in this blessed land. As the ones who believe in Allah's last messenger, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and His last scripture Al Quran, today these slaves of Allah are the Muslims.

The next post will share the next example, inshaAllah

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