In a recent article, Muhammad Khair Moussa, a member of the Qatar-supported International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), discusses the messages and lessons of dhikra Al-Isra Wal-Mi'raj, the anniversary of the Prophet's Night Journey and Ascent to Heaven, [1] which this year fell on February 17. Posted on the website of Qatar's Al-Jazeera channel and on the IUMS website, the article includes antisemitic motifs and urges the Muslims to wage jihad against Israel and the Jews.
In the article Khair Moussa writes that one of the messages of this festival is that there is a tight connection between the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Holy Mosque in Mecca, which means that, as long as the Zionists control Al-Aqsa, the Holy Mosque in Mecca is also in danger. "The Zionist Jews," he says, "have never concealed their ambitions regarding the mosque in Mecca and the soil of the Arabian Peninsula." He stressed that the Muslims have a duty to liberate Al-Aqsa by any means, including by means of jihad.
Khair Moussa also quotes an antisemitic hadith (Prophetic tradition) that states that the Day of Judgement will come when the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them. The Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, but the rocks and trees will call out to the Muslims to come and kill them, all except for the gharqad tree, which is "the tree of the Jews."
Muhammad Khair Moussa (Image: Iumsonline.org)
The following are translated excerpts from his article:[2]
"The anniversary of Al-Isra Wal-Mi'raj is associated with [both] pain and hope, and this helps us to draw a lesson that illuminates our path… The first message [of this festival] is a shot of hope in times of despair. Every trial also involves a boon, every hardship is followed by relief, every trouble is followed by reprieve and every dark night ends with a true dawn that eliminates all darkness. For example, the Quraysh, [the tribe of the Prophet Muhammad], prevented da'wa in Mecca, [namely] the spreading of Islam, and successfully besieged the da'wa, and those who practiced it, from every direction. The Prophet was in danger after the death of his uncle Abu Talib and his wife [Khadija, known as] the Mother of the Believers. He went to the city of Taif [near Mecca], where people turned their backs on him, attacked him, pelted him with stones and incited fools and children [to pester] him. Amid this atmosphere of despair and frustration, after all the doors had been closed to him and the earth, for all its vastness, closed in on him,[3] the Prophet declared his unwavering faith in his Lord with complete certainty. When the Prophet decided to return to Mecca after his experiences in Taif, [and his servant] Zayd [Bin Harithah] said to him, 'How will you enter [Mecca again] after they expelled you?', the Prophet's sincere and genuine reply was: 'O Zayd, Allah will transform [the hardships] you see into relief and deliverance, for Allah protects His religion and exalts His Messenger.'
"And what was the outcome of this certainty? What happened after that trial? What happened after the earth, for all its vastness, closed in on the Prophet and his supporters? The [Prophet's] Night Journey took place, by Allah's decree. This journey honored [the Prophet] and singled him out as the chosen one, conveying to him, 'If the people of the earth were vile to you, Heaven welcomes you… Allah favors you and hears your prayers and your innermost thoughts, and He knows your situation and your pain…
"This is the message to every believing Muslim: If you are beset by troubles… be confident that salvation, victory and empowerment will come.
"The second message is that the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the [Holy] Mosque in Mecca are brothers. Whoever abandons one of them, it is as though he has abandoned the other [as well]. Allah said: 'Holy is He Who carried His servant by night from the Holy Mosque to the Al-Aqsa Mosque' [Quran 17:1]. He drew a connection between the mosque in Mecca and Al-Aqsa, and here we must examine two issues. Firstly, this connection means that a threat to Al-Aqsa is a threat to the Holy Mosque in Mecca and to the people [of Mecca], that harming Al-Aqsa [reflects] a plot to harm the Holy Mosque [in Mecca], and that if the Muslims lose Al-Aqsa and it falls to the Zionist Jews, the Holy Mosque and the Hijaz [the region of the Arabian Peninsula where Mecca and Medina are located] may also be in danger. The Zionist Jews have never concealed their ambitions regarding the mosque in Mecca and the soil of the Arabian Peninsula.
"Another point is that the connection between the two mosques reflects the Muslims' duty towards Al-Aqsa and its importance to them as the destination of their Prophet's Night Journey and the first direction of prayer. They therefore have a responsibility to liberate it from the oppressors, to support it by every possible means, and to put this cause back [on the agenda]…
"Today, what ignites and fans the flame of Al-Aqsa and its precincts is the efforts of the jihad fighters of our nation, [who act] as much as they can, wherever they can, by means of their blood, their money and their words. [Despite] being busy with the bleeding wounds of the injured [Muslim] nation everywhere, they must not neglect the Al-Aqsa mosque and the crimes perpetrated by the Zionist occupation forces against it and against the people who are prepared for battle in its precincts and on its soil.
"The third message is that one way to liberate the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque is by worshipping Allah. In the [first] verse of the [Quranic surah dealing with the Prophet's] Night Journey, which describes [Muhammad's] first visit to Al-Aqsa, Allah calls [Muhammad] His 'servant.' When He discusses the [forces] that enter Jerusalem in the beginning of the same surah, he [again] calls those who enter Al-Aqsa for the first time His 'servants'…
"When the Prophet discussed the battle to liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque, he clarified that the war cry would be 'Serving Allah.' According to the Sahih Muslim,[4] the Prophet said: "The Last Hour will come when the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them, until the Jews hide themselves behind a rock or a tree, and the rock or tree will say: O Muslim, o servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the gharqad tree will not speak out, for it is the tree of the Jews.'
This clearly explains that the road to liberating Al-Aqsa begins with being a true servant of Allah, which means serving Him alone, obeying His directives, taking the initiative and rushing to fulfill his commandments, avoiding what he forbids and being subordinate to nobody but Him…"
[1] According to Islam, on the 27th of the month of Rajab, Muhammad rode by night from Mecca to Jerusalem upon his heavenly steed and then ascended to Heaven.
[2] Mubasher.aljazeera.net, February 20, 2023.
[3] This is a paraphrase of Quran 9:118.
[4] Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari are the two most authoritative compilations of Hadith in Sunni Islam.
