It was a twenty minutes walk from our hotel. The last street we would enter presented interesting combination of Muslims in traditional clothes and Jews in their traditional clothes hurrying down the lane together. Just a few steps from the gates of Haram the Jews would turn right into the lane of "Western (wailing) Wall."
You have a distinct relationship feeling with the Abrahamic faiths. That is the most prominent feeling in this beautiful city with a great and poignant history mentioned in the Quran (part of it) There are groups wandering around all the "old city" with guides lecturing the visitors, all Muslims or all Christians or all Jews. No other city has such mix of faiths being clearly represented. It makes one feel as if there are all prophets and their followers still wandering around here what a picture. No wonder, Allah SWT decided to take the prophet SAWS to this place before Meraj.
"Glory to Allah who did take his Servant for a night journey from sacred mosque to the farthest mosque. whose precincts We did bless, in order that We might show him some of Our signs, for He is the one who heareth and Seeth all things."
How many prophets passed through here and how many are burried somewhere here. If you leave the political and such things out this is so remarkable and I felt like hugging Christians and Jews all for we as Muslims know they are so close to our beliefs. No other city provokes such feelings and yet as we were walking around we were exposed to armed guards of Israeli forces. There was a check post before we enter the gates of our Haram. I felt that masjid Aqsa is "imprisoned". There is no other city where you see so many Jews in their typical garb men women and children with hats and Yarmukes etc. To tell you the truth I felt happy for the Jews and that they have a "country" of their own. However the hurting side is the Palestinians and their condition, their misery. I do not need to expand. When I saw inside of Masjid Aqsa and a metal box to drop in donations which as I and my wife did make me burst out out into tears. I literally continued to cry until I finished my Nafel. Surely Allah SWT did not want Muslims Jews and Christians to fight with each other, must be we ourselves who have done wrong to each other in the past and continue to do so. When I saw Salahuddin's name on the mehrab I wondered if there would be another Salahuddin available for us now. I believe he was a strategy maker more than "fighter". We could all live in peace together. What I see is the Israel, the Zionist state has taken over the Jewish garb and it seems to exist with the force of fire-power only (supplied and supported by mainly US (JerUSAlem)-how long it would last.
"And We wished to be gracious to those who were being depressed in the land to make them leaders (in faith) and make them heirs-- to establish a firm place for them in the land......" (Sura 28th Aya 5-6)
It seems Allah SWT wanted the "oppressed and suppressed" who had suffered so much to give them 'land' It brings to my mind the Western peoples decided after the Holocaust a similar thing but the way it has been done is contrary to the rules of Allah SWT with the resulting 'permanent' rift I wish the 'leaders' in Balfore's position had thought of all human beings before creating a 'Jewish state' but Hitler's excesses made it happen in the way it did.
Man, always, the loser. Never learns from history or the Scripture.
Please visit my Urdu blog at http://saugoree-bsc.blogspot.com/
Please visit my Urdu blog at http://saugoree-bsc.blogspot.com/
