The Clay continued, "Moses and Aaron both died in the wilderness, in the plain of Teeh, Aaron dying before Moses within 2 years. Narrated Abu Huraira, radhiyallahu 'anhu,
"The Angel of Death was sent to Moses when he came to Moses, Moses slapped him on the eye. The angel returned to his Rabb and said, 'You have sent me to a Slave who does not want to die.' Allah said, 'Return to him and tell him to put his hand on the back of an ox and for every hair that will come under it, he will be granted one year of life.' Moses said, 'O Rabb! What will happen after that?" Allah replied, 'Then death.' Moses said, 'Let it come now.' Moses then requested Allah to let him die close to the Sacred Land so much so that he would be at a distance of a stone's throw from it." - [Sahih Bukhari]The angel inhaled him with a breath that took away his soul. The entire span of life of Moses was one hundred and twenty years. Moses's grave is located in the settlement of Jericho called 'Katheeb 'Ahmar', the Red Hill.
Men's promises are only words, but Allah's promise is the Truth. Then, after Moses, Allah fulfilled His promise. He sent Joshua bin Nun as a prophet and commanded him to journey toward Jericho and did battle with the powerful men who were there.At that time, Joshua was leading them to the Holy Land. According to the most reliable version, they went to Ariha, or Jericho, where they fought a battle against the powerful men mentioned on several occasions in the Quran who were Canaanites. The Israelites conquered Jericho and settled there.
Their prophet ordered them to enter the town and to eat whatever they wanted on condition that they crossed the gate on their knees saying, “ Forgive us” (bettah), that is to say, “ Lord, forgive us our sins”. Nevertheless, immersed in their rebelliousness, and out of arrogance and pride, they confused the word by saying hentah or “ wheat ”. They deceived Joshua and said they were victorious thanks only to their strength.
The Israelites settled in Palestine, where Jericho was their capital until the death of Joshua. The span of Joshua's life was one hundred and twenty-six years, and his authority over the Israelites, from the time of death of Moses until his death, lasted twenty-seven years. He was buried on Mount Ephraim. After that they became divided and made war among themselves. They had many prophets— more than any other people. At times there were up to three in a single town. "No sooner did one prophet die than another appeared”, said the Prophet (ﷺ).
Most of them disobeyed the prophets and even went on to murder them. Infidelity and arrogance became entrenched in their rebellious hearts, and they grew accustomed to associating Allah with other beings living in sin. They continued to defy the prophets, whom they disobeyed and even murdered. Having slaughtered those who were of their own faith and lineage, they ceased to hold anyone in regard. As a result, they drew the wrath of Allah on themselves.
In Jericho the Israelites were oppressed by the Canaanite, who submitted them to all manner of punishment, humiliation and slavery. They deprived them of their sacred possessions and their belongings, including the holiest of all— the Ark of the Covenant— where the tablets of the Law were housed.
However, a group of rebellious priests later produced replicas of the tablets, and word spread that only two of the original ten remained in the Ark, together with Moses’ staff and the garments of his brother, Aaron.
This situation endured until the time when the Philistine king Goliath ruled Jerusalem. The Israelites, who had become a defeated, divided, dispirited nation, had no ruler to reunite them. They then called on their prophet to restore their former glory and grandeur, to raise them out of their humiliation and to appoint a king who would lead them to victory. The prophet asked that, with their history of wicked deeds, if Allah were to grant their petitions, could they be trusted to be obedient and submissive, and not contravene his orders. They replied: “ Why shouldn’t we obey, when we are now being humiliated? Why should we disobey his orders when it is His wish to restore our former glory and grandeur?”
They were then informed by their prophet that Allah had appointed a king for them— his name was Saul. They lost no time in voicing their disapproval of this choice, as Saul was not from the customary bloodline of Israelite kings. They regarded others as more entitled to bear the royal title and flatly rejected Allah’s decision.
When the prophet told them about the king’s designation, he said that Allah would give them a sign as proof of it. This was to be the return of the Ark, borne by angels. Despite seeing it being transported by angels, they were unwilling to believe their eyes until it was safe in their hands. They then opened it and verified that it was indeed the lost Ark. The people celebrated its return and decided to accept Saul as their new king.
Archaeological finds have revealed the remains of drawings and other images depicting the Ark being transported by winged angels. This episode is documented in Jewish history and books. In fact, they did not actually see the angels. Far from it— they imagined the scene and produced drawings of it. The feat is well known among them, but, did this miracle lead them to show allegiance to their king?
Once again they apostatized and objected tenaciously. Nothing more than a limited group of those who had faith and resources went out to fight with their king. The king led the faithful Israelites, who passed by a river on their way. He ordered them not to drink any water from it. He warned them by saying that whoever drank from that river would have nothing more to do with him, and that whoever abstained from drinking its waters would continue with him. It was a way of testing their patience and their will to endure and resist the battle. But the majority satiated themselves, persisting in their disobedience and opposition.
In spite of everything, that limited group went into the battle that pitted them against sturdy giants. The majority who refused to take part due to their lack of courage saw how a minority of faithful Israelites were strong enough to defeat the giants who outnumbered them, thanks to Allah’s assistance, and this was because of their patience and prayers.
Historians tell us about a group of seventy Israelite warriors who held out in that battle against the sturdy giant. Goliath went out to challenge them to a duel, but no soldier had the courage to accept the challenge. Only a sixteen-year-old boy dared to go out. It was David. Goliath mocked him and turned him down because of his age, and insisted on encouraging the Israelites to accept the duel. He even promised to give his daughter in marriage to whoever won this combat, so that he would become his successor in the government. Finally, seeing that no one else would take up the offer, he allowed David to confront him. David placed a stone in his sling and went out to do battle. Goliath lunged at him, but David hurled the stone from his sling and it struck Goliath’s head. This is how Goliath died, and his army ended up defeated and expelled. Allah granted the Israelites a resounding victory under the command of their king, David.
After this victory, David married Sauls daughter. Saul died in the year 1004 BC and, immediately afterwards, discord and division ensued. Some followed Saul’s son. Others preferred David, thus fulfilling their late king’s recommendation, who saw his son-in-law to be more entitled to reign that his own son.
David subsequently consolidated his power beyond the kingdom of Judaea. His capital was Galilee. Meanwhile, Saul’s son governed Jerusalem and its surroundings. In the year 1000 there was a battle between David and his adversary, Saul’s son, which David won. He entered Jerusalem and made it the capital of the land of the Israelites. His kingdom included a large part of Philistine, since the Canaanites continued to govern on the coast.
[Part 1]David died that year and was succeeded by his son Solomon as ruler of the Jewish dynasty. Stories about this period are well-known throughout the Quran. Allah made elements of nature— such as the wind— subject to him, and put geniuses, birds and animals at his service. They would make anything he asked of them, such as altars, statues and palaces. When king Solomon passed away, his dynasty disintegrated and was divided among his children.
We should make it clear that the first Jewish kingdom originated in Palestine in 995 BC, but we know that the Canaanites and the Jebusites were the first to settle and govern Palestine for a very long time, going back as far as 2700 BC. Indeed, its origins becomes lost in antiquity and means that those people were the inhabitants of Palestine 1200 years before the Jews arrived. Such evidence denies any entitlement of the Jews to Palestine or any claim to them having roots there, due to the fact that the period of David’s rule, followed by that of his son Solomon, did not last more than ninety years. After this time the Jewish community split up and spread around the world.
According to some sources, it was Solomon who built the first temple, and even today the Jews are proud of its existence. What is for certain, according to the official Islamic sources, is that Solomon had renovated an original place of worship, a “ Mosque” of Jerusalem, but he did not build any temple. The word “ temple” came from books that were altered by the Israelites, who do not base their claim on any proof or documentation. It is therefore necessary to clarify the following points that are to be found in Jewish books in order to explain this matter of the temple:
First, many soldiers and bricklayers were said to have built the alleged temple. They were later known as "Masons", in other words, bricklayers. That is where the word "Masonry" comes from, originally taken to mean “ builders of the temple”. Second, the texts indicate that the Temple was built somewhere close to the Mosque of Jerusalem, but there is no specific date or any evidence to pinpoint its exact location. There is only a meticulous description of its interior and exterior shape in Jewish books.
Third, the description of its construction in Jewish books is nearer to imagination than reality. It contains much exaggeration and padding, and talks about a fully-fledged golden palace. The Jews boast about the detailed description in their holy books of this construction, with its mihrab or sanctum sanctorum (Holy of Holies) that measured 10 metres long, 10 metres wide and 10 metres deep. Before it stood the great altar. All of it was lined with gold, as well as the great chains that spread in front of the sanctum sanctorum, and the statues of angels with wings the size of ten armlengths, equally made of gold. Fourth, the Ark was placed in the sanctum sanctorum, inside the Temple, amid a great feast held for that purpose, and on which an enormous number of cattle and sheep were sacrificed. Fifth, historians cast doubt on the veracity of what has been stated about the Temple, because the Holy Scriptures were not written until seven hundred years after the death of Moses. During this time, these writings suffered several alterations and modifications that are admitted even by the Jewish priests themselves. Sixth, nowadays, the Jews have gone in search of the Temple and excavate in order to find it. Meanwhile, their books and other sources, such as their history books, insist that the Temple was destroyed, burned down and that not even a stone remains. Seventh, the history books specify that the columns of the Temple were not made of gold, as the Jews assume, but of stone and copper.
These facts are historically documented and corroborated in the Jewish Holy Scriptures, and in the western books, prior even to the Arab ones. In addition, the Quran and the Sunna have already related many details about these events.
The Arab tribes who emigrated from the Arabian Peninsula settled in Palestine 1000 years before the Israelites arrived and, when they did arrive, they stayed for approximately 90 years in Jerusalem, during the time of the reigns of David and his son Solomon."
Canary asked, "How did the Jews compile the Torah." Clay said, "The Torah was not recorded in one period. There were several contributions and in no specific order. The Jews wrote different parts, each of their own account, which allowed many of them to speculate and alter whatever they were writing, or to add whatever they fancied, such as gossip, fables, interpretations and exegesis—all of it lacked proper standardisation.
The Jews had a specific way of sanctifying and exalting the Torah. They considered it to be their illustrious book and therefore it was not written on consecutive pages. Their scholars wrote it on one single long scroll that they then rolled up completely. It had to be unrolled for it to be read and, once the ritual was over, they had to roll it up again and keep it in a special ark. Even today they continue with this ritual. As for the printed copies of the present-day pages of the Torah, they are nothing more than a glimmer of the Holy Scriptures. It is prohibited even to touch them directly.
When reading and unrolling the pages, they use a metal pointing device to manipulate the sheets. So it is not admissible in their creed to touch it in spite of the fact that the Torah was written by human hand and did not escape, as stated earlier, alterations and changes. Besides, it is mentioned in the Old Testament and the Talmud that the Torah is not the result of divine inspiration, nor even the words of Moses. These books were mixed with the Torah, as described in the Quran.
The alterations introduced by some scholars and notaries deformed canonical laws. Not even Moses or his contemporary disciples authorized this. In this context, we should bear the following factors in mind, first, texts in the Talmud suggest the children of Israel are allowed to subjugate, oppress and exploit through usury the whole of humanity, except the Jews. Second, the Jews considered themselves to be Allah’s chosen people and they distinguish the rest as “the others”, who they believe they are entitled to exploit by every possible means. Third, the Jews do not attempt to spread their faith because outsiders can only convert to Judaism on very strict terms. In addition, you are only Jewish if your mother is Jewish. Nevertheless, this subject still raises differences, even among their own kind. There are liberals and those who are extremely conservative. These do not even recognize Yemenite or African Jews as such, because they do not consider them to be the authentic children of Israel. Today there is an agreement among the Jews that nobody can be converted to their religion. Their religion admits no adherence because it is the one belonging to Allah’s chosen people and hence Paradise is only for them and not for anyone else."
Then the Clay said, "O my brothers and sisters, it is Allah’s Sunnat and line of action that all tyrannical and unjust nations who subjugate and persecute and humiliate other weaker nations, a day surely comes when those weak ones become inheritors of the land and bring an end to the rule of those unjust rulers. The groups of people or nations who are filled with their intoxication of power, government and wealth have always been prepared to wage battle against the invitation and call towards truth, but the history of nations also informs us that such groups have always been defeated in the end and have had to stare failure in the face. The person or group of people who recognise the truth and still reject Allah's signs with acts of disobedience, for them Allah’s law is this that he destroys within them the ability to accept truth because that is the necessary result of rebellion against Allah.
We are believers in all the revelations of Allah and in all the prophets of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. Likewise, we cannot separate parts of the places which Allah has honored for some of His prophets. If we do this it is as if we were to believe in some of the message and disbelieve in the rest of His message.
Bayt ul-Maqdis is connected with the Makkah and Medina. To separate Masjid al-Aqsa from Mecca and Medina, as if to separate one part of Islam from another. The Prophet ﷺ), while in Makkah, would face Bayt ul-Maqdis in prayer. For 16 months after he made hijrah to Medina, he would face Bayt ul-Maqdis until he would be commanded to pray towards Makkah. The position of Palestine and these lands in the Qur’an and Sunnah cannot be denied. It is about Tawheed. It is about taqwa. If we give-up Palestine, it is like saying, we believe in Muhammad, ﷺ) only, and not ‘Esa and Moses, alayhimussalam. This is not in accordance with the pillars of Eeman, one of which is belief in the commissioned Messengers. And Allah know best."
"And your Rabb creates what He wills and chooses; not for them was the choice. Exalted is Allah and high above what they associate with Him." - [QS.28:68]
References :
- Dr. Tareq M. Suwaidan, Palestine : Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, EBDDA
- The History of al-Tabari, The Children of Israel, Volume III, Translated by William M. Brinner, SUNY Press.
- Maulana Hifzur Rahman Soeharwy, Qasasul Ambiyaa, Idara Impex
