The Status of the Al-Aqsa and in the Prophetic Traditions

Mustafa Abu Sway

Introduction

I translated and shared originally eleven Prophetic traditions related to the title of this paper, with the participants of an academic conference that took place at Åbo Akademi University in Turku, Finland. This version has twenty- seven translated traditions that address Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif and Jerusalem in the Islamic worldview. There are still few more traditions that I hope to publish in an independent booklet. These traditions might also be found at www.sunna.com in and in English for comparison, or for other topics. This website is easy to navigate if one has the basic knowl- edge about the compendia of , but inserting key words should be suffi- cient. The two most authentic compendia are Sahih al-Bukhari1 by ibn Ismaʿil Al-Bukhari (d. 256AH / 870CE.), and Sahih Muslim2 by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj al-Nisaburi (d. 261AH / 875CE). The next category of reliable traditions is the four Sunan books: Sunan an- Nasaʾi,3 collected by al-Nasaʾi (d. 303AH / 915CE), Sunan Abu Dawud,4 collected by Abu Dawud (d. 275AH / 888CE), Jamiʿ at-Tirmidhi,5 collected by at-Tirmidhi (d. 279AH / 892CE), and Sunan ,6 collected by Ibn Majah (d. 273AH / 915CE). There are other books and sources including Malik’s Muwattaʾ, collected by Malik bin Anas (d. 179AH / 795), Sunan al-Darimi by ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Darimi (d. 255AH / 869CE), Sahih , by Muhammad

1 The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih Al-Bukhari: Muhammad Ibn Ismaiel Al-Bukhari; Muhammad M. Khan, trans. (Dar-us-Salam Publications, Houston, 1995). 2 , Imam Abul-Husain Muslim; Nasiruddin Al-Khattab, trans. (Dar-us-Salam Pub- lications, Houston, 2007). 3 Sunan An-Nasaʾi, Ahmad ibn Shuʿayb An-Nasai; Nasiruddin Al-Khattab, trans. (Darussalam, 2007). 4 Sunan Abu Dawud, Sulaiman bin Ashʿath Abu Dawud (Darussalam, 2008). 5 Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhi, Muhammad ibn Isa ibn Surah At-Tirmidhi (Darussalam, 2007). 6 with Commentary, Muhammad Bin Yazeed ibn Majah Al-Qazwini; Nasirud- din al-Khattab, trans. (Darussalam, 2007).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004406858_012 192 abu sway ibn Hibban (d. 354AH / 965CE), and by Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuzaymah (d. 311AH / 923CE). Parts of the latter compendia are lost. For a deeper hadith study, see Jonathan Brown, The Canonization of al- Bukhārī and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon (Leiden: Brill, 2007).

The Islamic Worldview is based primarily on the Holy Qurʾan and the Sunnah (i.e., way of the Prophet). The Sunnah is contained in the hadith literature that report verbal statements of the Prophet, his practical action and his position vis-à-vis acts performed in front of him. The relationship between the two is organic. The Holy Qurʾan makes it imperative to accept all that was brought by the prophet (i.e., the Sunnah):

… And whatever the Messenger has given you – take; and what he has forbidden you – refrain from … Qurʾan, 59:7

It is quite remarkable that the Prophet (May God’s peace and blessings be upon him) prophesized about the day when there will be calls to neglect the Prophetic traditions/Sunnah:7

Al-Miqdad Ibn Maʿdi Karb (May God be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (May God’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: Verily, I have been given the Book (i.e., The Qurʾan) and another [source] (i.e., the Sunnah) along with it. There will be a time in the future when a man who has reached satiety, reclining on his couch, would say: “Consider [only] the Qurʾan; whatever you find lawful, then make it so! And whatever you find prohibited, make it so …”

This paper aims at presenting these traditions to show the importance of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in . The very fact that these traditions cel- ebrate the holiness, merits and prominence of Jerusalem explains why flock to Jerusalem from all over the world, despite the Israeli occupation. Many Muslims also refrain from visiting while Jerusalem is still under occupation. There is an ongoing discussion about whether to visit would mean normal- ization of the political situation with the occupation. I am a strong advocate for visitation, for every visitor becomes a witness to the injustice that befell

7 Narrated by Abu Dawud in his Sunan (# 4604 Arabic; English translation # 4587).