Abstract
Similarly to sanctity of Jerusalem in Judaism and Christianity, al-Quds (i.e., Jerusalem) is also the holy city of Islam. The essay focuses on the development of the idea of its sanctity in Islam and explores the religious traditions and historical conditions that helped to shape it.
Based on some verses from the Qurʾān and Ḥadīths, Jerusalem, the place of Al-Masjid Al-Aqṣā, very quickly assumed a position of Thālith Al-Masājid, the "Third of the Mosques", after Mecca and Al-Madīna. It was in the interests of the Umayyad caliph ʿAbd Al-Malik to promote Jerusalem's sanctity.
He not only built in 691 the magnificent Dome of the Rock, but also saw to it that the traditionalists made it their business to spread Ḥadīth sayings in praise of worship in Jerusalem. There was also some resistance in Islam to the sanctification of Jerusalem.
The article pays attention especially to attitudes of Taqī Al-Dīn b. Taymiyya (d. 1328) who came out openly against the idea of sanctity of Jerusalem.
Finally, the article treats the question of Faḍāʾil Al-Quds literature and its contribution to the promotion of Jerusalem as a holy city in Islam.