US President Donald Trump’s declaration of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as the capital of Israel, in order to fulfill his election promise, caused a justified explosion of anger in Turkey, as in many parts of the Islamic world.
In addition to the organized street demonstrations and slogans shouted, there was also a significant increase in conferences, panels, seminars and speeches on Al-Quds. Everyone is excited and enthusiastic about taking a step towards Al-Quds, according to their own horizons, perspectives and capacities. When the ant gets dark.
Al-Quds is a city about which we know very little, despite the fervor of our rhetoric and the grandeur of our claims. Apart from a few very important and common anecdotes, it can be said that our knowledge about Al-Quds is entirely based on memorization.
When we add to this the dangers of the subject becoming “obsolete” and “our attention being distracted as a result of becoming ordinary”, as everyone talks about it, it is the subject of political slogans and it is brought to the agenda a lot, it becomes an indisputable fact that we have deprived Al-Quds of the scientific attention it deserves.
Considering that we have only just begun to find an answer to the question of where Al-Aqsa Mosque is, it cannot be denied that we have a long way to go towards knowing, understanding and explaining Al-Quds in a fully developed way.
This is not the kind of responsibility that can be relieved by one person’s responsibility. It’s a task that rests on each of us, one by one.
Al-Quds is too important and special a city to be sacrificed to “periodic and cyclical excitements”. Remembering it only when there are attacks and violations and leaving it alone at other times is not an attitude that suits Muslims.
Our interest in Al-Quds should accompany us throughout life as an integral part of us. The more we can base this interest on knowledge, the more we can guarantee that Al-Quds will not move away from us.
This series of articles you have just started reading was prepared to make an “information-based” contribution to the Al-Quds mobilization we are witnessing these days. Of course, this series of articles does not claim to say everything that needs to be said about Al-Quds.
However, “where do I start?” It can be seen as a modest attempt to answer the question. The reading suggestions it contains and some of the names and events it brings to the agenda are entirely aimed at finding this starting point.
Chapter 2: Aelia Capitolina to Al-Quds
*Photo: Haley Black