THIRD PHASE: We
know that the Jews were banished
from
their religious center of Jerusalem after its destruction
in
70 CE at the hands of the Roman armies under General Titus. Later, Emperior Hadrian built a new Roman colony, called Aelia Capitolina, over the
desolate ruins of Jerusalem, but the Jews were not
allowed thereafter to settle
in Jerusalem.
After the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, Jerusalem or Aelia became a predominantly Christian city. Then, six centuries later, the Holy City surrendered without any fight to the Muslim Omar. The treaty of peace signed at that time between the Muslim conquerors and the Christian inhabitants of Jerusalem included an item about the Jews – incorporated into the pact at the request of the Christians – according to which, under the Muslim rule, the Jews were not to be allowed to settle in this city.
After the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, Jerusalem or Aelia became a predominantly Christian city. Then, six centuries later, the Holy City surrendered without any fight to the Muslim Omar. The treaty of peace signed at that time between the Muslim conquerors and the Christian inhabitants of Jerusalem included an item about the Jews – incorporated into the pact at the request of the Christians – according to which, under the Muslim rule, the Jews were not to be allowed to settle in this city.
The
destruction of Jerusalem
in
70 CE was followed
by what is
known as the
period of “Diaspora” in the
history of the Jews, when
they became scattered
throughout the world – some went to Russia or Europe, others escaped to Africa or India or Turkey.
Then Jews
were allowed to visit their holy places in Jerusalem but
they
were not permitted to buy property or
settle in the Holy
City, and this policy continued throughout the period of Muslim rule – from Caliph Omar
right down to Sultan Abdul Hameed
II of the Ottoman Empire. It was
only after the notorious Balfour Declaration of 1917 that the Jews finally got
in
a position,
due to the support and assistance of the
British government, to settle in Palestine.
What is
noteworthy here is that the condition set by the Christians, as mentioned above, that the Jews would not be allowed to settle in the Holy
Land, reveals the
hostility that was present between these two communities.
Their mutual antagonism has been referred to in the Holy Qur’an thus:
The
Jews
say the
Christians follow
nothing (true), and
the Christians say the Jews follow nothing (true); yet both are readers
of
the Scripture [i.e.,
the Old
Testament]. (Al-Baqara 2:113)
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