Yaqoob (Jacob)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Yaqoob (as) was the son of Ishaq (as) and therefore the grandson of Ibrahim (as). Like his grandfather and father, Yaqoob (as) eventually settled and lived in Al Sham, in an area called Canaan. Yaqoob (as) had many children, the most famous of which was Yusuf (as), who would also become a prophet of Allah.

Ibrahim (Abraham)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم


"And We rescued him and Lut (and brought them) to the land which We have blessed for (all) peoples". (Surah Al Anbiya 21: 71)

This ayah in Surah Anbiya refers to Ibrahim (as) making Hijrah to Al Sham. Ibrahim (as) was born in Ur, in modern day Iraq. However, he left his hometown along with his wife Sarah (as) and nephew Lut (as) after his people refused to accept his many calls to Islam.

After settling in Palestine, Ibrahim (as) and his wife travelled for a time in Egypt, where they were involved in an incident with a tryant leader who tried to seduce Sarah (as) because of her beauty. However, due to the dua of Sarah (as) for protection from the tyrant, he was confounded in his aim. Due to the punishments of Allah on him (because of the dua of Sarah) the tyrant was not only willing for Sarah (as) to leave Egypt safely with her husband, but he also gave her gifts including a maid, called Hajar, to encourage her departure. Ibrahim (as) later married Hajar (as), making her his second wife.

The family of Ibrahim (as) then settled in Palestine. After the birth of his eldest son Ismael (as), Ibrahim (as) made several visits to Makkah where his son was growing up. On the most famous of these occasions, he built Al Ka'bah with the help of his son, due to the command of Allah.

Despite his visits to Makkah, Ibrahim (as) remained in Palestine. Later his second son, Ishaq (as), also lived with his father in Palestine. Thus the noble land of Palestine was where Ibrahim (as) gave dawah, traded and eventually grew old and died. The graves of both Ibrahim (as) and Ishaq (as) are located in the city of Khalil, now known as Hebron. This is very near Al Quds (Jerusalem).

Ibrahim (as) is one of Allah's greatest prophets. Allah referred to him as 'Khalil' in the Quran, translating to 'intimate friend'. As all of the prophets after Ibrahim (as) are from his descendants, he is known amongst muslims as Abul Anbiya, Father of the Prophets. What a beloved place for such a beloved prophet to live and die!

Next post soon inshaAllah!

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Unfortunately I haven't posted in a while due to being busy on other things. But Allah willing I intend to have the next post out soon. =)

Al Quds: A Double History

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Now that I've covered some of the major references in the Quran and Sunnah which highlight the importance and blessings of Al Quds, I'm going to start moving onto the history of Al Quds (Jerusalem). I'm going to do this in two ways, inshaAllah.

First, I'll trace the history of Al Quds through people, namely some of the Prophets of Allah who lived in/travelled to Al Quds. So this will essentially be a series of posts tracing the history of prophethood in Al Quds.

Second, I'll trace the history of Al Quds through events, such as the history of Banu Isra'il (the Children of Israel), Al Isra' and Al Mi'raj and events connected to the End of Time (eschatological events)

Allah willing, this is where we're heading.