The Historical Pivotal Role of Egypt in Liberating and Preserving Islamicjerusalem

JOURNAL OF ISLAMICJERUSALEM STUDIES (SUMMER 2013) 13:65-80 IN THE SHADOW OF THE 'ARAB SPRING': THE HISTORICAL PIVOTAL ROLE OF EGYPT IN LIBERATING AND PRESERVING ISLAMICJERUSALEM MAHER Y. ABU-MUNSHAR Q atc:zr U niversiry ABSTRACT: During the last three years) a number of Arab countries have witnessed 1 mass uprisings ''Arab Spring" resulted in the fall of so~e authoritarian regimes in Egyp0 Libya, Tunisia and Yemen. The fall of these regimes paved the wqy for matry Islamic movements) such as the Muslim Brothers and others to rise on the scene) and win the presidential election) as is the case in Egypt and parliamentary elections) as happened with other countries to varying degrees. These changes) espedal!J in Egypt recalled the historical pivotal role of Egypt in liberating and preserving Islamig.erusalem. It mqy be historical!J argued that the relationship between Islamig.erusalem and Egypt was established immediate!J after the Muslim conquests of both regions during the reign of Caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab. This relationship has developed dramatical!J with the passage of time on van·ous levels. The purpose of this article is to present a critical ana!Jsis of the histon·cal role of Egypt in liberating, controlling and maintaining Islamigerusalem. It will also endeavour to answer the following questions: how did Egypt plqy a crudal role in liberating and preserving Islamig.erusalem? How could Egypt resume its vital role towards Islamig·erusalem) especial!J with the recent developments following the ''Arab Spring"? KEYWORDS: Arab Spn·ng, Muslim Brothers) Islamigerusalem Egyp0 Crusaders, Jeffa treary) Camp David Accord. Introduction It was not long after the Muslims took Islamicjerusalem in the year 16AH/637CE, that Caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab sent in 20AH1/639CE (Ibn Kliayat, 1993: 100) a Muslim army under the leadership of 'Amr Ibn al-'Aas to conquer Egypt. Before these اﻟﻤﻜﺘﺒﺔ اﻹﻟﻜﺘﺮوﻧﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺸﺮوع اﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﻲ ﻟﺒﻴﺖ اﻟﻤﻘﺪس www.isravakfi.org 66 JOURNAL OF lSLAMICJERUSALEM STUDIES conquests, both Islamicjerusalem and Egypt were under the rule of the Byzantine state. The strategic plan to conquer Egypt did not occur in a vacuum, but was inspired by many factors. It is historically proven that Egypt was the gate to Islamicjerusalem; therefore, whoever possessed Egypt possessed Islamicjerusalem. This is evident when one considers that even during the late ·Crusade campaigns, i.e., the fourth, fifth and seventh, the idea of invading and controlling Egypt first, was an inevitable step to occupy Islamicjerusalem. Shortly after Egypt was conquered, the link between Islamicjerusalem and Egypt was established and strengthened. This relationship developed rapidly in many dimensions, including the political, economic, cultur.al and religious. For almost 1400 years, rulers, governors and sultans of Egypt had paid great attention to Islamicjerusalem and made great efforts to save, protect and to / liberate it from enemies. Historical literature provides us with several examples from the policies of the Umayyads, Abbasids, Fatimids, Ayyubids, and the Mamluk sultans and others, where Islamicjerusalem witnessed sustained growth in all aspects. However, on 17 September 1978, the official (not grassroots) relationship between Egypt and Islamicjerusalem was diminished when the late Egyptian president, Anwar al-Sadat, signed the Camp David accord with Israel. In this accord, Egypt recognised Israel -including the western part of Jerusalem- as a state. By this recognition, Egypt surrendered the important role it used to play in protecting and preserving Islamicjerusalem. The unhealthy attitude of the rulers of Egypt did not stop with the assassination of al-Sadat in 1981. On the contrary, it continued when the ousted president of Egypt, Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, assumed the presidency. During the reign of Mubarak (1981-2011), Egyptian relations with Israel were developed and dramatically strengthened on one hand, while on the other, the role of Egypt in protecting and preserving Islamicjerusalem, I would argue, was deliberately diminished and eventually vanished. اﻟﻤﻜﺘﺒﺔ اﻹﻟﻜﺘﺮوﻧﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺸﺮوع اﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﻲ ﻟﺒﻴﺖ اﻟﻤﻘﺪس www.isravakfi.org IN THE SHADOW OF THE 'ARAB SPRING' 67 On 11 February 2011, Mubarak was ousted from his post under the pressure of the Egyptian revolt, which erupted on the 25 January 2011. With the end of Mubarak and his regime, a new phase in the history of Egypt began. It is interesting that the Muslim Brothers who, for many years were subject to. repression and exclusion by the Egyptian governments, and were prevented from playing any substantial role in the political arena in Egypt, have won a sweeping victory in the county's parliamentary and shura council elections, and later on, won the presidency of the country This victory was not confined only for the Muslim Brothers. The Salqft movement has also claimed a good number of seats in both the parliamentary and shura council elections. Interestingly, According to· El-Awaisi (1998: 9) for the Muslim Bothers, Palestine and Islamicjerusalem had special significance that distinguished them from other Muslim ar'eas. He went further / to say that, for Muslim Brothers, Palestine and Islamicjerusalem are part of the Islamic belief, and therefore, it is not merely the property of the Palestinians or the Arabs, but they are for all Muslims who must participate in defending them (El-Awaisi 1998:10). This statement of El-Awaisi2 and the recent developments in Egypt encouraged me to conduct this research. This article aims to provide a critical analysis of the historical role of Egypt in liberating, controlling and mainta.uung Islamicjerusalem. It will attempt to answer the following questions: From a historical perspective, how did Egypt play an essential role in liberating and preserving Islamicjerusalem? How could Egypt resume its vital role towards Islamicjerusalem, especially with the recent developments following the "Arab Spring"?. To be able to answer the above questions, I will be focusing on a number of historical incidents from different historical periods. Egypt's Role in the History of Islamicjerusalem: Early Stages It seems that the significance of Egypt towards Islamicjerusalem and its vital role was clearly demonstrated from the very early stage of the Muslim history - during the Umayyad period, and more اﻟﻤﻜﺘﺒﺔ اﻹﻟﻜﺘﺮوﻧﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺸﺮوع اﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﻲ ﻟﺒﻴﺖ اﻟﻤﻘﺪس www.isravakfi.org 68 JOURNAL OF ISLAMICJERUSALEM STUDIES particularly, in the reign of the fifth Umayyad Caliph, Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan (d.86AH/705CE). It was reported by Mujir al-Din al Hanbali (1966: vol. 1, 272), that when Caliph Abd al-Malik decided to build the Dome of the Rock to shelter the Muslims from the elements, he assigned the land-revenue (kharq;) of Egypt for seven years for that purpose. He also appointed the two well-known engineers, Raja' Ibn Hayweh and Y azid Ibn Salam, to administer the construction and ordered them to spend generously on it. When the project was complete, a hundred thousand dinars remained from its budget. The Caliph offered the money as a reward to his two engineers, but they declined, indicating that they had already been generously rewarded. Abd al-Malik then ordered the gold coins to be melte~ and cast on the dome's exterior. The exclusive role of Egyptian revenue in the construction of this , important building within the enclave of al-Aqsa Mosque was arr important link that strengthened the relationship between Egypt and Islamicjerusalem. It is true that, as Shurrab (1994:367) argues, Caliph Abd al-Malik was, at that time, in control of only Egypt and historical Syria; and since the Arab Peninsula and Iraq were under the control of Abdullah Ibn al-Zubair, with whom he was in conflict, there were few other sources of revenue available at that time for the project. But this only underscores the fact that, though Caliph Abd al-Malik could have used the resources from Egypt in his conflict with Ibn al-Zubair, he used them, instead, for building the Dome of the Rock. This raises the question why, under those circumstances, Caliph Abd al-Malik would prioritise the construction of the Dome so highly? Al-Ratrout (2004: 455- 462) has thoroughly discussed his motives in this regard, noting that that their true nature has always been debated among both Muslims and non-Muslim scholars. Regardless of how this stands, it remains that despite the political crisis, Abd al-Malik saw the Dome of the Rock as an important enough priority to dedicate seven years of the Egyptian revenue to its construction. This constitutes a major link in the history of the two regions. اﻟﻤﻜﺘﺒﺔ اﻹﻟﻜﺘﺮوﻧﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺸﺮوع اﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﻲ ﻟﺒﻴﺖ اﻟﻤﻘﺪس www.isravakfi.org IN THE SHADOW OF THE 'ARAB SPRING' 69 Egypt, Islamicjerusalem and the Crusades As a demonstration of the importance of Egypt to Islamicjerusalem, and how strong is the link between the two regions, a notion had prevailed in Europe after the third Crusade (1189-1192CE), that the best course of action would he to attack and occupy Egypt before attacking and occupying Jerusalem, and that there would be no benefit in occupying Jerusalem as long as Egypt was strong, Therefore, the first step towards implementing this notion took place during the fourth Crusade (1202-1204CE), which was originally projected to seize Islamicjerusalem from Muslims through invading Egypt. In fact, the intended plan of the fourth Crusade was not achieved, as in April 1204CE, the Crusaders instead of invading Egypt, they attacked and occupied Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire (Phillips, 2010: 190-196). Some years later, the above notion was asserted during the fourth Lateran Council which wa.s held in 1215CE in / the Lateran Palace in Rome, and was convoked by Pope Innocent III. (Phillips, 2010:216). Among the purposes of the council was the recovery of Jerusalem and "to eliminate from the Holy Land the filth of the pagans" (Phillips, 2010:166).

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