SURAH BANI-ISRAEL

AYAT 1-10

• "Purity is to Him Who took His bondman in a part of the night from the Sacred Mosque(Masjid-e-Haram) to the Aqsa Mosque(Masjid-e-Aqsa) around which We have placed blessings, in order that We may show him Our great signs; indeed he is the listener, the beholder." [Bani- Israel 17:1].

AL MASJID-E-AQSA( االقصى (  المسجد• Meaning: "the Farthest Mosque“

• Location: Old City of Jerusalem

• Importance:

• Destination of the Prophetic journey called Isra

• Spot from where Miraj or the Ascension of the Prophet(S.A.W.W) into heavens took place.

• Jews had a Covenant with God.

• They would get His blessings, control of Jerusalem, as long as they obey the terms of that Covenant.

• Otherwise they would be severely punished.

• Two major punishments were promised.

• Jerusalem has been destroyed twice

• Besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times

• Captured and recaptured 44 times

HISTORY• Around the year 1010 B.C, David (Hazrat Daud)

defeated the Jebusites (Yaboosi) in Jerusalem

• David's son, Solomon(Hazrat Sulaiman) built the Hekhal.

• After Solomon died in 931 B.C, a civil war led to a split in the Israelite nation.

• Jerusalem became part of the southern kingdom of Judah until 722 B.C

• When the Assyrians conquered the Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C.

• Jerusalem was strengthened by a great arrival of refugees from the northern kingdom.

• Jeroboam I, the first king of Israel ( 10th century BC), victimized Prophets at the insistence of his wife Jezebel.

FIRST PUNISHMENT• Around 586 B.C, as the Babylonians conquered

Judah and Jerusalem, and laid waste to Solomon's Temple.

• As Britannica encyclopedia notes: "Rebellious Jerusalem was reduced [to rubble] by Nebuchadrezzar(Bukht nazzar), the temple was burnt."

• Remaining Jews were exiled into Babylon.

• This was the first punishment mentioned by the Qur'an.

Temple Destroyed

• As they repented, and mended their ways, the Jews were given a second chance.

• In 538 BC, after 50 years of Babylonian captivity, Persian King Cyrus the Great invited the Jews to return to Judah to rebuild the Temple.

• Herod being appointed the client king for the Roman Empire. He built the Temple but destroyed the religion.

• The Temple was still being rebuilt when Jews joined with Roman paganism(شرك) to persecute Prophet Jesus and his followers.

Temple Reconstructed

SECOND PUNISHMENT• John the Baptist (Hazrat Yahya) was beheaded by Herod

Agrippa, the grandson of Herod.

• In 70A.D the second punishment mentioned by the Qur'an came.

• The armies of Roman commander Titus moved into the city and burnt it to ground on the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Ab (the very month and day on which 657 years earlier the Babylonians attacked)

• The punishment had come on an appointed time!

Treasures Captured

Triumph Parade

Arch of Titus Menorah(lampstand)

Arch of Titus

Gladiators

Judaea Capta coinage

• Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.W) 's night journey in which he lead all the prophets in prayers at Al-Aqsa signified that:

the leadership role had been transferred from the Children of Israel to the Children of Ismail

• Hazrat Umar (R.A) invaded Jerusalem in 638.

• The Arabs built (688-691) the Dome of the Rock mosque on the site of the Temple.

Dome of Rock

Masjid-e-Aqsa

Entrance of Masjid-e-Aqsa

Islamic Architecture on Wall

Interior of Masjid-e-Aqsa

• FATIMID caliph al-Hakim (996-1021) • SELJUKS seized Jerusalem in 1071. • European Christians (CRUSADERS) conquered Jerusalem

in 1099• SALAHUDDIN recaptured the city for the Muslims in 1187• Ottoman Empire took control in 1517. • British occupied Jerusalem in 1917 Jerusalem was capital

of PALESTINE from 1923 until 1948.• UN called for internationalization of the city in 1948. • From 1949, Jerusalem was divided into an Israeli and a

Jordanian sector. • The city remained divided until 1967, when Israel took

the entire city following the Six Day War. • The city is reunited today under Israeli government.

Timeline

South of Temple Mount

Temple Mount

Wailing Wall of Herold Temple

Tower of David

Lessons !!!• Repentance, trust in Allah, righteousness leads to victory.

• In this eternal battleground b/w monotheism(Tauheed) and paganism(Shirk), the forces of monotheism would win as long as they remain true to it.

• Whenever we’ll betray our Covenant, we would be punished.

• The world needs monotheism for only it can provide true universalism.

• The world is waiting for the forces of true monotheism to conquer Jerusalem once again……..

JazakALLAH !!!