# Zionism 1,000 Years In the Making | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Al-Aqsa - Past, Present, and Promise
**Published:** 2025-02-13
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/OYPobyboihg
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/zionism-one-thousand-year-in-the-making-al-aqsa
**Topics:** History

## Description
How did we lose Jerusalem after Salahuddin’s victory? What will it take to liberate Masjid al-Aqsa today? What can we learn from the Crusades, the rise of Zionism, and the internal divisions that have plagued the ummah? Join Dr. Omar Suleiman on this story of resilience, betrayal, and a question...

## Transcript
**[0:00]** As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. A'udhu billahi minash shaytanir rajim. Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alameen.

**[0:15]** Wa la 'udwana illa 'ala al-dhalimeen. Wa al-'aqibatu lil muttaqeen. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik 'ala 'abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim tasliman kathira. So insha'Allah ta'ala as we are wrapping up the series and we are near Ramadan,

**[0:32]** we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to first and foremost allow us to live to see Ramadan and to accept us, Allahumma ballighna Ramadan, and to accept us and to forgive us and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make this Ramadan as it always has been a month of victory

**[0:47]** for our brothers and sisters in Palestine and beyond, Allahumma ameen. Secondly, subhanAllah, as we enter into this part of the series, the ninth and the tenth lectures bi idhnillah, at which we reach the conclusion,

**[1:02]** it's important for every single person to start to make connections between the past and the present and the promise and the future. And that was the entire intention of this series, not to historically entertain you

**[1:17]** or to give you, you know, some context to the architecture that is left there in Jerusalem as it's under occupation or to marvel at the likes of Salahuddin, but instead to see in your own families, your own role in the liberation of al-Aqsa

**[1:33]** and subhanAllah, as the series has been going along, things have become relevant to the world that otherwise were not relevant, were not known. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make that a sign of acceptance and a sign of victory to come, Allahumma ameen. I also don't want you to get caught up with the names and with, you know,

**[1:52]** the various details and the years that things happen. My goal is to give you a coherent picture as to how we got to the place that we are at right now. And so I'm going to be covering about a thousand years of history tonight, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make it easy.

**[2:07]** And I want you to catch the flash points, to catch the turning points. And for all the sisters and the two brothers that are taking notes, if you miss a name, then it's okay. Go back insha'Allah ta'ala, capture it again and do your further reading.

**[2:23]** This of course is not all encompassing, nor is it meant to be. I have to leave out chunks of history. This is for you to keep reading and acting and renewing your intention, bi idhnillahi ta'ala, as we look forward to the future ahead. So where are we tonight?

**[2:38]** We're going to get to Zionism, bi idhnillahi ta'ala, and what has happened in the last 100 years in particular. But before that, there's a context that once again is lost. When we talk about Salahuddin al-Ayubi rahimahullah ta'ala, one of the things that I mentioned at the very start of that lecture

**[2:56]** was that it's interesting that we don't talk about how we lost Jerusalem before Salahuddin in the first place. What happened between Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) and Salahuddin al-Ayubi rahimahullah, for Jerusalem to be lost in the first place?

**[3:12]** And there are several factors at play. There is the weakness that is a direct result of the division within the ummah that renders it impotent. There is a moving away from prophetic guidance and a privileging of the types of things

**[3:28]** that would not distinguish us from our enemies. There is a privileging of wealth and power that leave us as an ummah exploitable. And so it was only a few hundred years after the glorious entrance of Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه)

**[3:43]** that you had the massacres that took place in Jerusalem at the hands of the crusaders. And as an ummah, we look back and we reflect. Likewise, when did we lose Jerusalem after Salahuddin al-Ayubi rahimahullah ta'ala?

**[3:58]** What happened from Salahuddin until now that led us to this place? And so I want to take you back to where we left off. The year is 1187 after Christ in the Gregorian calendar. October 2nd of 1187,

**[4:15]** where Salahuddin al-Ayubi rahimahullah ta'ala enters into Jerusalem and he installs the minbar of Nuruddin al-Zengi rahimahullah ta'ala who had looked forward to that day in which Al-Aqsa would be free once again.

**[4:30]** But as we said, the man lives his life for the next few years defending Jerusalem and defending the Muslim lands from the crusaders that were launched afterwards because the crusaders were not satisfied

**[4:45]** with the just and benevolent and beautiful treatment of Salahuddin rahimahullah ta'ala to the Christian and Jewish minorities or the way that he refused to reciprocate their evil but instead manifested idfa' billati hiya ahsan,

**[5:00]** respond to evil with that which is better. And so they launch another crusade once again and Salahuddin rahimahullah ta'ala is defending the Muslim lands. He's defending Jerusalem and he's commissioning troops here and there and sometimes he loses cities once again.

**[5:17]** But still he holds strong rahimahullah ta'ala. And it would only take a few years. So from 1187 to 1229 for Jerusalem to be lost once again.

**[5:32]** It didn't take long. But I'm going to elaborate on what lost means here. Salahuddin al-Ayubi rahimahullah ta'ala passes away at the age of 56 years old in Damascus in the year 1193.

**[5:49]** And despite the amazing treasures that he brought to the ummah as we said the man died with 47 dirhams to his name. A life fi sabilillah. Money spent fi sabilillah. Time spent in the path of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

**[6:05]** But one of the things that we notice after Salahuddin al-Ayubi rahimahullah is that as he was busy being the military general and solidifying a volatile state, he wasn't able to put in a long term political structure

**[6:23]** that could ward off the future attacks. And I don't say that as a critique of Salahuddin. Who am I with my comfort to criticize Salahuddin the way that some historians would write about him. I say that as a product of circumstance,

**[6:39]** not as a product of the man's intentions or any lack of effort on his part. That as you're fighting off the attacks, there is a difficulty in establishing a structure in place to be able to protect you. And so when Salahuddin passes away rahimahullah ta'ala,

**[6:55]** who's going to assume rule? The charismatic powerful leader was able to bring multiple territories under his rule. But now the territories will be divided once again primarily between his sons and his siblings.

**[7:11]** His sons and his siblings. None of whom can live up to Salahuddin Al-Ayubi rahimahullah ta'ala. And so you have his brother, who will eventually become the most powerful of the dynasty, Al-Adil, Al-Adil, Sayfuddin.

**[7:29]** Al-Adil Sayfuddin initially ruled the area of Karak, and what would be modern day Jordan, around the area of Al-Urdun at that time. And he was a trusted strategist to Salahuddin Al-Ayubi rahimahullah ta'ala. A brilliant man. A diplomat and a brilliant strategist.

**[7:46]** Salahuddin's eldest son, Al-Afdal, Al-Afdal, ruled Damascus. So Damascus under his son. Salahuddin's second son, Al-Aziz, is the ruler of Egypt.

**[8:01]** So Al-Afdal is in Damascus, Al-Aziz is in Egypt. And Al-Aziz would not last long in that role. It would be only a matter of time before Al-Adil, the brother of Salahuddin, would take Egypt from him as well.

**[8:16]** Lastly you have Al-Zahir, Al-Zahir was the third son of Salahuddin, and he is the ruler of Halab, the ruler of Aleppo. And Sultan, the Sultan of Halab, and that's not a small role, considering how great Halab was in the makeup of the region at the time.

**[8:34]** Al-Zahir was the son of Salahuddin who actually sent multiple reinforcements in the conquest of Jerusalem from the crusaders in the first place. So he was a powerful and smart and brilliant young man, and he ruled Damascus, I'm sorry, he ruled Aleppo, Halab. And then finally you have his nephew, Taqiyyuddin,

**[8:53]** who was the ruler of Hama, also in modern day Syria. Now what happens is that first and foremost, when you lose a figure like Salahuddin, you're already vulnerable, because no one can fill the man's shoes. On top of that internal dynamics, division, power plays,

**[9:13]** trying to divide the territories amongst themselves, unfortunately that weakens the entire state of the Ummah. And so yes, it's an unfortunate reality that the sons fight amongst themselves, that the siblings fight amongst themselves,

**[9:28]** that sometimes when you live in perpetual war time, you don't know how to turn off war. And it continues to perpetuate even amongst the Ummah. And so eventually, Al-Adil, the brother of Salahuddin,

**[9:43]** is able to consolidate the majority of the territories under him. Al-Adil, the brother of Salahuddin, and purge the sons of Salahuddin, and basically continue the Ayyubid dynasty, for what it's worth at that time, still not being able to live up to Salahuddin.

**[10:00]** The crusaders recognize the weaknesses here. They recognize the openings for themselves. And subhanAllah, it's important to mention once again, that Richard himself said that so long as Salahuddin is alive,

**[10:16]** Jerusalem will never be taken. He gave up hope on taking Al-Quds while Salahuddin was alive. But now the infighting happens again. Now the division of territories. And while Al-Adil, the brother of Salahuddin, is able to consolidate the majority of the territory,

**[10:31]** and lead the Ayyubid dynasty, they're still weakened greatly on the inside. On top of that, division perpetuates division. And so Al-Adil passes away in the year 1218.

**[10:46]** 1218, Al-Adil dies. His son, Al-Kamil, takes power in Masr, in Egypt. And the children of Al-Adil, repeat the same mistakes as the children of Salahuddin,

**[11:01]** and they start to bicker amongst themselves, and fight amongst themselves about territory. And subhanAllah, I want you to realize that when we say, Nahnu Abna Salahuddin, we're the children of Salahuddin, we're not talking about being of the lineage of Salahuddin, we're talking about carrying the passion of Salahuddin.

**[11:17]** And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us that sincerity, to put the Ummah before ourselves. And so again, remember the du'a of the Prophet (ﷺ), Allah yaj'al ba'sahum baynahum That their misfortune not be found amongst them. The misfortune is found amongst the Muslims themselves.

**[11:35]** Al-Kamil is in charge of the empire that is dwindling, of the Ayyubid dynasty. And Al-Kamil also makes a mistake of prioritizing Masr, prioritizing Egypt,

**[11:50]** to the detriment of the other territories. And the crusaders are like sharks, waiting with the poverty of Europe behind them, both moral poverty and economic poverty, as well as the humiliation of defeat at the hands of Salahuddin,

**[12:05]** after they had pillaged the area, and now you have an opening to attack. And so this is where you read about the sixth crusade. And so you'll notice the first crusade, the second crusade, the third crusade, the fourth crusade.

**[12:21]** The crusade is getting less and less religious, even using the veneer of religiosity being about Jerusalem. It's about pillaging the Muslim world, exerting domination over the Muslim world, and stealing the resources and opening the trade routes. And then the sixth crusade happens.

**[12:37]** Al-Kamil, who is the nephew of Salahuddin, finds himself in a weakened position. And he does something in the year 1229, that SubhanAllah would set the precedent for some of the scholarly discussions that have happened in the last 50 years.

**[12:54]** He basically negotiates Jerusalem. The nephew of Salahuddin. His focus is maintaining the power structure that he has, to the best of his ability, and he wants to maintain Egypt and some of the territories of Al-Sham. And so he starts to negotiate with the crusaders.

**[13:13]** And he surrenders in the year 1229, just a few decades after his uncle, he surrenders Al-Quds to the crusaders on the basis of what? SubhanAllah history repeats itself.

**[13:28]** A 10 year truce. In that 10 year truce, the Christians will retake the city of Jerusalem. The crusaders will retake the city of Jerusalem. But they have to ensure that the Muslims still have access to their holy sites.

**[13:44]** So it's not a bloody conquest. It's not the crusaders coming in like the first time. It's a negotiation where Al-Kamil is left with Egypt, and some of the territories of Al-Sham, but Al-Quds, the heart of his uncle Salahuddin,

**[14:02]** the beating heart of the Ummah, is given, and the logic that is used is, well, we still get to visit. We still can go and visit Al-Aqsa. Remember how bad it was under the crusaders,

**[14:17]** where they didn't even have Adhan and Iqama? And SubhanAllah, as I started to read the scholarly discourse, refuting that move, I started to think about the logic of normalization that's happening in this day and age. We don't want to just pray in Masjid Al-Aqsa as it remains occupied by these people.

**[14:39]** That's not the point of this. Would any one of us be satisfied with Mecca, with the Kaaba being under occupation, but you know what, at least we get to go do Hajj and Umrah? And so the scholars of the time start to write difficult letters,

**[14:55]** and give difficult sermons, about how this was unacceptable for Jerusalem to be given back, even if that meant that the Muslims under this 10-year agreement, could still technically go and visit and pray.

**[15:10]** And this is called Sulh-Yafa, the Treaty of Jaffa, or Sulh-Yafa. It's the year 1229. So Jerusalem is given back to the crusaders, but the Muslims can enter and the Muslims can still pray in Masjid Al-Aqsa.

**[15:27]** I want to take you to the sentiment that existed at the time. Remember one of the beauties of Salahuddin, was that he was able to unite Muslim scholars from different madhahib, from different schools of thought, because he was able to show the greater cause of Al-Aqsa.

**[15:44]** And so the scholars fought behind Salahuddin, the people gathered behind Salahuddin, and put aside their differences because of the mandate of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, the mandate of Al-Aqsa. And so imagine now, as these scholars are living at a time,

**[16:00]** when Jerusalem has been surrendered. Al-Imam Ibn Qudama Al-Maqdisi, rahimahullah ta'ala, who fought behind Salahuddin Al-Ayubi, a great Hanbali, fighting behind a great Shafi'i, putting aside any creedal differences or anything else,

**[16:15]** because Jerusalem is the priority. And I want to point to two scholars, that I found very interesting in their writings, and how they reacted to the moment. One of them is a scholar that if you watch the first, which I'll go back to doing after Ramadan insha'Allah ta'ala,

**[16:31]** you'll notice that I often quote Al-Imam Ibn Al-Athir. Al-Imam Ibn Al-Athir. Al-Imam Ibn Al-Athir, his name is Izz Al-Din Abul Hasan Ibn Al-Athir. Al-Imam Ibn Al-Athir. He actually wrote one of the books that I consult in the first multiple times,

**[16:48]** which is Usud Al-Ghaba Fi Ma'rifat Al-Sahaba. He wrote one of the most important collections in knowing the history of the companions. Ibn Al-Athir, rahimahullah ta'ala, writes one of the most extensive histories of the Muslim Ummah.

**[17:03]** So he's a great scholar, he's well recognized, he's a da'i, he's a jurist, he's a historian, and he also fought behind Salahuddin rahimahullah ta'ala in the battlefield. And so he documented the widespread resentment and the humiliation

**[17:19]** at handing back the keys of Al-Quds when Salahuddin rahimahullah ta'ala had liberated it just four decades prior. And then you get to a very specific scene. There's another scholar by the name of Shamsuddin Sibt Ibn Al-Jawzi.

**[17:40]** Sibt Ibn Al-Jawzi. There's a very famous scholar in Islamic history, Ibn Al-Jawzi rahimahullah ta'ala. He's the most prolific writer in Islamic history. He wrote more than any scholar in history. And he's a great Hanbali scholar. This is his grandson.

**[17:56]** So he's someone who is his grandson through the maternal side. And so he was called Sibt Ibn Al-Jawzi rahimahullah ta'ala. He was a great Hanafi scholar under the Ayyubid discipline. So his father was a soldier under Nuruddin and Salahuddin,

**[18:15]** and he grew up in the discipline of being a soldier, but he also inherited the lineage of scholarship. And he too wrote actually one of the most extensive collections of history, Mirat Al-Zaman Fi Tawarikh Al-A'yan,

**[18:30]** which is a mirror of time through the eyes or through the histories of the noble ones. So he writes history about what it felt like at that time, and he said that when the news spread through the Ummah, that Jerusalem was once again conceded after all of the joy of receiving it.

**[18:49]** It was as if Yawm Al-Qiyamah had come upon the Ummah. That people had held gatherings in the masajid across the Muslim world, lamenting the loss of Jerusalem. Once again, how could this happen just four decades after Salahuddin, under the rule of the nephew of Salahuddin?

**[19:07]** How does this happen so soon after all that we went through to get Al-Quds back? And he himself, he wrote, oh what a loss for those who used to live in its blessed surroundings. How many sajdas were performed in those places? How many tears were shed upon its sacred ground?

**[19:25]** By Allah, even if their tears or even if their eyes turned into rivers, it would not be enough. Even if their hearts broke from grief, it would not be enough. What a loss, what a loss. So he lamented himself, and he also was, subhanAllah, history replaying.

**[19:43]** He also was a khatib at Al-Masjid Al-Umawi. Keep coming back to the Umayyad Masjid. In Syria, which subhanAllah, just came into the memory of the Muslims again. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala preserve the victory of the people of Syria, and may Allah Azza wa Jal allow it to spread. Allahumma ameen.

**[20:01]** So he would stand on the minbar of Al-Masjid Al-Umawi and condemn the treaty of Yafa and the handing over of the keys of Jerusalem once again. And again, if you're thinking about some of the scholarly writings in the last several decades about how do we deal with Jerusalem under occupation?

**[20:19]** I want you to understand that yes, Muslims who can visit, visit and they pray in there. But let's not be satisfied if they opened, if they gave every Muslim in the world first class tickets to pray in Masjid Al-Aqsa, and they didn't harass us at the checkpoints coming into Masjid Al-Aqsa.

**[20:37]** We still should never be satisfied until it is liberated from occupation. Period. Period. And so some of the scholarly writings of this century are drawing from some of the condemnation of that time of such an action. And subhanAllah we find from Sibt Ibn Al-Jawzi, there's a famous story that is recorded in the books of a woman named Maysoon.

**[20:59]** And Maysoon is a woman who lost four of her brothers, ash-shuhada, against the crusaders. And she does something very famous. She starts the trend where she cuts her hair and she offers her hair to be used for the reins of the horses to continue to fight against the crusaders.

**[21:24]** Out of disgust for the complacency that is once again overtaking the ummah that these people are too powerful for us. And that there is no point in pushing back against the crusaders. And she says something very touching.

**[21:39]** She says, Innana lam nukhlaq rijalan nahmil al-suyoof wa naquod al-jiyush We were not created as men, where we hold our swords or we move the armies. walakinnana idha jabuna alrijalu namna'jiz al-amal

**[21:56]** But when the men become cowards, we will not back off of our deeds. And she says, hatha sha'ri athmanu ma amlik This is my hair, the most precious of that which I possess. aj'aluhu qaydan bi farasin tuqatilu fee sabeelillah la'alli uharriku ha'ula al-amwat

**[22:16]** I put it forth to be used for the horses. fee sabeelillah So that perhaps we can once again wake up the dead. She's talking about the Muslims themselves. SubhanAllah it's narrated that Sibt ibn al-Jawzi actually stands on the minbar in Masjid Bani Umayyah.

**[22:34]** And he holds the package. And he shames the men and says, Where are you? wayhakum ya muslimeen Woe to you, O Muslims. Where is your 'izzah? Where is your deen? Can you imagine the sight almost a thousand years ago of a man standing in the Umayyad Masjid and saying,

**[22:51]** What is wrong with you? How can you be complacent once again? You're the Ummah of Salahuddin al-Ayubi rahimahullah ta'ala. And then he puts forth and he says, If you're too cowardly, then at least make room for the women to go forward. What is it with you? That you have accepted this humiliating place for yourselves?

**[23:09]** And he says at the end of his khutbah, Qala, and I want you to imagine the scene. Qala tasadda'i ya qubbata al-nasr wa meedi ya umud al-masajid or ya umud al-masjid wa anqadhi ya rujoon

**[23:26]** laqad azaa'a alrijal rujoolatuhum So shake, O dome. Shake, O dome. Shake or crack, O dome of the masjid. Shake, O pillars of the masjid. Collapse, O stones of the masjid. Because the men have lost their manhood.

**[23:43]** Pushing the people. Do not accept the state of humiliation for yourself. So there was a great scholarly rejection of this idea of accepting humiliation after the sacrifices of what people have made to protect the masjid al-Aqsa and its honor

**[24:01]** from the crusaders before. The truce expires. I didn't even shake the microphone, by the way. The truce expires in the year 1239. So it was a 10-year truce. And subhanAllah, the Ayyubid dynasty is crumbling from within.

**[24:18]** So it's becoming weaker and weaker and weaker from within. And here you enter the rise of another dynasty, which in my opinion, in the story of Jerusalem, is the most underrated dynasty in the history of al-Quds. And that is the Mamluk dynasty.

**[24:35]** The most underrated group. You know, you think of al-Quds, you think Umar ibn al-Khattab, Salahuddin al-Ayyubi, al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyyah. And you kind of omit these people. But what the Mamluks would do, the Mamluk dynasty would do, to protect al-Masjid al-Aqsa and for Jerusalem,

**[24:53]** is actually subhanAllah, unrivaled. It's incredible what they were able to do. So who are the Mamluks that would then secure Jerusalem once again, and that would protect it for over 200 years? Who are these people? The Mamluks were a former slave class,

**[25:10]** hence the name Mamluk, which is owned. A former slave class. And they were the elite soldiers of the army. They were of a Turkic origin. So they tended to come from between modern-day Afghanistan to Azerbaijan. And they were the most skilled of the army.

**[25:29]** The Ayyubids used to invest heavily in their tarbiyah. And so they tended to be the huffaz of Quran, as well as the most skilled archers. So they were a class that was meant for war to be the elite soldiers of the Ayyubid dynasty. They were everything from the archers to the lead men.

**[25:46]** And eventually, through their military genius, and through their prowess, they actually started to become more powerful than the Ayyubids themselves. And so subhanAllah, there's a trend here. The Ayyubid dynasty was born out of the Zengid dynasty.

**[26:01]** Salahuddin overtakes Nuruddin's dynasty. Here the Mamluks are overtaking the Ayyubids by virtue of their power. And so once the truce expires in the year 1229, the crusaders understand

**[26:17]** that the Muslims will come back for Jerusalem at some point. And the Mamluks have essentially taken the power of the military of the Ayyubids, even though al-Kamil is still alive. And so they start to make decisions independent of the Ayyubid dynasty. They're still not a dynasty in and of themselves.

**[26:33]** They're still not sultans, but they are leading the way. And they backed another group of people, al-Khawarazmiyoun. And al-Khawarazmiyoun are basically a Persian Sunni dynasty. So they're a Persian Sunni dynasty from that area.

**[26:51]** They join with the Mamluks and they invade Jerusalem in the year 1244. And they expel the crusaders, this time permanently. Okay, so there is that period between Salahuddin and this return to Jerusalem

**[27:07]** in which Jerusalem was lost. The Muslims take it back in the year 1244. And as we said, this will be the last time the crusaders enter. SubhanAllah, you look at how history repeats itself. If you read of the Battle of La Forbie,

**[27:24]** the Battle of La Forbie was considered the final blow to the crusaders in Palestine. The final blow to the crusaders of Palestine, October 17th, 1244. La Forbie is modern day Asqalan right at the area of Gaza.

**[27:44]** Meaning Gaza was the place where the crusaders were sat and packing and they never came back. They never came back to Palestine from October 17th, 1244. And so we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that has that area when the Prophet (ﷺ)

**[27:59]** praised that area of Asqalan, that area that Allah Azza wa Jal continue to make that a place of resilience where the Ummah always finds life, even in our darkest and our lowest moments. Allahumma ameen. So it's 1244, the crusaders are gone.

**[28:16]** They launched another attack, Louis IX of France with a new crusade. And he plunges deep into the Muslim world. And now the son of Al-Kamil, who is Salih,

**[28:32]** who's now in charge, Salih, once again, fears that he's going to lose Egypt, that he's going to lose the power cluster of the Ayyubid dynasty. He starts to negotiate with the crusaders. Once again, SubhanAllah, a repeat of what Al-Kamil did.

**[28:48]** He starts to negotiate that perhaps certain cities could be given to the crusaders so that they could leave the power centers of the Ayyubid dynasty. As this negotiation is taking place, Sultan Al-Salih, so we're talking about the grand nephew of Salahuddin now,

**[29:04]** Sultan Al-Salih, the son of Al-Kamil, passes away. Now the Mamluks, they do something interesting. They hide his death from the crusaders. And they start to solidify the forts. And they engage in confrontation with the crusaders

**[29:21]** without letting them know that the Sultan has passed away. And eventually as the word spreads, the crusaders become emboldened. You have the battle of Mansura in 1250. The Mamluks defeat the crusaders. And then you have the battle of Farskur

**[29:37]** where they captured Louis IX himself. So they actually capture Louis IX himself. And he has to ransom himself from the Mamluks. And the crusaders are once again defeated. This time at the hands of a new dynasty,

**[29:53]** the Mamluks. And the Mamluks now supplant the Ayyubids and become the Sultans themselves. The dynasty officially takes shape. The first Sultan of the Mamluks is Sultan Izzuddin.

**[30:10]** And SubhanAllah, this becomes a force to reckon with. And look how Allah tests this Ummah. You've just been through fighting off these barbaric forces from Europe. That's why I tell people, you think it's the day of judgment. And every generation of Muslims thought

**[30:26]** the day of judgment was going to happen in their time. Don't be so sure. Because you just pushed off the crusaders who literally ate people and became cannibals. And then what were you tested with? Just five years later, the Mongols, the Tatar.

**[30:42]** Who were so brutal that the Muslims thought they might be who? Ya'juj and Ma'juj. Because these people ravaged the Muslim world. And so they start to attack from another front. The year 1258, the Mongols massacre

**[31:00]** 200,000 people in Baghdad. In the worst possible ways. Not only that, they murdered the Khalifa, al-Musta'sim of al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya. Al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya.

**[31:16]** And crushed the spirits of the Muslim world. They flooded the Tigris with the books of the Muslims. They destroyed the history, the intellectual history, much of the intellectual history of the Muslims. They acted with such gore.

**[31:33]** That in some ways, they made the crusaders look good. I mean, truly, subhanAllah, what these people wreaked on the Muslim world. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made it so that the Mamluks, who just fought off the crusaders, are now fighting off another brutal group of people.

**[31:50]** And the Mamluks are the last major Sunni power that exists in the world. So they move the Khalifa, which is very symbolic at this time, al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya. They move it from Iraq to Egypt. They're based out of Egypt. And they start to put up a fight against the Mongols.

**[32:08]** The Mongols take Iraq. The Mongols take Aleppo. The Mongols take Damascus. The Mamluks have their internal fights as well, but they put it all aside to face this brutal enemy

**[32:23]** of the Mongols, the Tatar and what they are doing to the Muslim world. And so I want you to imagine a scene now where you have a new brutal force and they rule everything from Mongolia to Egypt

**[32:39]** and they are moving in the direction of Al-Quds and Al-Haramayn. And there appears to be nothing that's going to stop them. So these people are about to destroy Palestine

**[32:54]** and they're about to destroy Mecca and Al-Madinah. And on the 27th night of Ramadan, on the 27th night of Ramadan, Ramadan is a month of victory. The year 1260. One of the most important battles

**[33:09]** in the history of Islam takes place, which is Ain Jalut. And so the Mamluks who defeated the Crusaders and removed them from Jerusalem and pushed them out of Ash-Sham were able to halt the force of the Mongols in an extremely unlikely victory.

**[33:25]** No one who was analyzing the situation would have given the Mamluks a chance against the Mongols at the time. Again, people who the Muslims thought were possibly Ya'juj and Ma'juj and this was truly the end of time. So they halted all of the westward expansion

**[33:41]** of the Mongol empire and they pushed them away as well. The Mamluks now, so I'm going to get back to Palestine, will protect Jerusalem and protect Palestine and develop it over the next 250 years.

**[33:57]** And so it is the Mamluks who bring in much of the system of Awqaf. They built some of the most important walls and columns and some of the mosaics of Al-Aqsa. They protected it from any further Crusader attacks. They took the lessons from what the Crusaders had done

**[34:14]** through their multiple attempts on Jerusalem to make sure that it couldn't happen again. They built madaris, they built hospitals, they built all sorts of markets and Al-Quds became truly a thriving city once again. A center of Islamic scholarship once again

**[34:32]** where scholars were rebuilding after the havoc of both the Crusaders and the Mongols. As I think about, you know, when you look at a place like Gaza and you say, how will they ever rebuild?

**[34:48]** How will they ever rebuild? And I just think like if you could visualize the Muslim world after the havoc of the Crusaders and then the havoc of the Mongols five years later and what remained of our masajid, what remained of our libraries, but guess what? It was rebuilt.

**[35:05]** And subhanAllah became a center once again by which the Muslims would thrive. And so the Mamluks have an important role and you can of course read about Sultan Sayfuddin Qutuz

**[35:21]** and Baybars and what they were able to do in order to preserve the legacy of Islam in that area. So the Mamluks hold it for 250 years. Then comes the Ottoman control, the Dawla al-Uthmaniyya of Jerusalem once again.

**[35:38]** So there is no intermission of a crusade or any other type of hostile takeover of Jerusalem between these two empires, between the Mamluks and al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya. As far as Quds is concerned, Sultan Salim al-Awwal from the Ottoman empire

**[35:55]** enters in the year 1516. 1516, we're moving closer. I'll keep you here until about 2026 so we can finish the history. Insha'Allah. But in all reality, you have a new glorious empire

**[36:12]** that will take Jerusalem, that will take Palestine. And SubhanAllah, the amount of development that the Ottoman empire would build and the systemizing of Islamic laws and legal norms and structures

**[36:28]** over the next 400 years is absolutely unparalleled. And this is where you have the legacy of Sultan Suleiman al-Qanuni, Suleiman the Magnificent. And you know, I was thinking about this. The claim that the Zionists make to Jerusalem

**[36:45]** on the basis of what? It's Solomon's temple. You could arguably say that no man built more after Suleiman (عليه السلام), right? Than Suleiman the Magnificent, Suleiman al-Qanuni in terms of the development of the city,

**[37:01]** most of the manabir, most of the pillars, most of the columns, most of what exists of the structures were either put there or renovated by Suleiman the Magnificent. Truly an incredible leader who built on what the Mamluks had put into place.

**[37:21]** And after funding the largest restoration of al-Aqsa since the Umayyads was able to establish laws and the protection of religious minorities in a way that Western writers would admire

**[37:36]** for generation after generation after generation. Under al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya, not only did al-Quds thrive for the Muslims, a Palestinian indigenous population is able to grow. And Muslims, Christians, Jews

**[37:55]** are able to worship in their places without being persecuted for 400 years. And you know, they say that your enemy relies on your ignorance of your history. So when they say, how would Muslims do this? As if we're a barbaric

**[38:11]** people that are incapable. And we say, subhanAllah, for 700 years, if you took the Mamluks and you took the al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya, for almost 7 centuries consecutively, law and order was preserved, and people's

**[38:27]** religious sites were maintained, and people were not persecuted as a religious minority in this regard. So Suleiman orders the massive construction of the walls around Jerusalem that you see today, around al-Aqsa that you see today. Multiple columns, multiple

**[38:43]** structures. And he maintains the al-Aqsa compound, and preserves and puts into place an infrastructure for the various quarters of the city, the Muslim city, the Christian quarter, the Jewish quarter, and beyond.

**[38:59]** And also puts in some of the most elaborate water systems in the world, agricultural systems in the world at the time, and enhances the place of al-Quds in the Muslim world, and once again, attracts people

**[39:15]** from all over the world to al-Quds, so that it can continue to be what it's meant to be in the history of Islam. So where did we go? Salahuddin until now. A thousand years in the making. And this is where

**[39:31]** I want to come to tonight insha'Allah ta'ala, before we go into the next lecture about the end of times. Where in the world did Zionism come from? How does Israel come into the picture here? How did we lose

**[39:47]** something so fortified, something so precious, something that was so monumental, and a model for the world? And how to thrive with your history while adjusting to your circumstances?

**[40:03]** Once again, you find the decline of Muslim unity. Once the Muslim ummah starts to fall apart from within, then our enemies will always find the fault lines, and take advantage of them. You know subhanAllah, I was thinking about a very early

**[40:19]** conversation. When you look at the wars between Ali (رضي الله عنه) and Mu'awiyah (رضي الله عنه). And the Roman emperor reaches out to Mu'awiyah and says, hey listen, I can deliver Ali's head to you. We can jump in on this battle, and we can fight Ali (رضي الله عنه)

**[40:35]** and Mu'awiyah together. And Mu'awiyah says, you stay out of this, I'll deliver your head to Ali (رضي الله عنه). This isn't your business. That yes, there are internal schisms, and sometimes those schisms can grow and can become deeply self-defeating for us as Muslims.

**[40:51]** But don't ever leave room for your enemy to exploit your weakness and to come in and to take you, when you are in the state. And so with al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya, the Ottoman Empire starts to weaken. Starts to fall apart, due to internal corruption.

**[41:07]** Undoubtedly, due to internal division. Due to external interference. The advent of European colonialism pillaging the Muslim world. Feasting on those exploitations.

**[41:23]** Western colonial powers, like Britain and France, slowly starting to stick their noses and stick their feet into Jerusalem. And what it may be, in the time that is coming. And a strategic, secular,

**[41:39]** atheist movement, known as Zionism, that starts working from the 1800s to retake Palestine, or to establish a secular, atheist, military state. No matter who would live

**[41:55]** or dwell within. Some of you might be surprised that I'm calling it a secular, atheist state, because Zionism is, and was, a secular, atheist, militant, atheist project.

**[42:11]** A nationalist project. An ethno-supremacist project. That actually, at its root, did not begin as a religious movement. Was merely one expression of a colonial movement towards the Muslim world, to divide and pillage, and take from the Muslim

**[42:27]** world that was looked at as an open playground. To the West, in this regard. And a lot of Muslims don't recognize that Zionism started off as an expressive, anti-religious movement. Because we see the images today of religious zealots

**[42:43]** marching into Al-Aqsa, and citing the Talmud, and citing the Torah, and calling us the children of darkness, and themselves the children of light, and using all sorts of twisted texts to carry out the most barbaric practices. And you

**[42:59]** have to go back and see, how did we lose this in the first place? How did this happen? And so we go back to the origins of Zionism. And it's always important to focus on the thinkers, and to focus on the figures, because those are the things that you will be able

**[43:15]** to remember, even as you lose sight of the dates, and as you lose sight of some of the broader political contexts. A man by the name of Theodor Herzl. Theodor Herzl was an Austro-Hungarian

**[43:31]** atheist Jewish journalist and political activist. He was a self-avowed secular, who is considered the founder of modern Zionism. And he's the one that starts

**[43:47]** to propose, or starts to cement and define this idea of a Jewish state, of a home for the Jewish people, especially in light of the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and in the West. And we should, as

**[44:03]** Muslims, absolutely claim our history and say that while Jewish communities thrived not only in Palestine, by the way there were Palestinian Jews, it's a historical fact, thrived not only in Palestine, but where

**[44:19]** would you find historic Jewish communities in the West that were able to survive the various political trends there, whereas you have historic Jewish communities in Yemen, in Morocco, in Iraq, and beyond, that had their rights protected. Yes,

**[44:35]** infringements happened, but that's something that as Muslims we look to and we say, that's our history. We have a history. Europe has its crimes. And as Europe carries out its multiple pogroms and crimes against the Jewish

**[44:51]** people, likewise you have Theodor Herzl, who seeks to reformulate Judaism, not as a religious covenant, but as a racialized identity. Hence, you can be secular, atheist, but still Jewish.

**[45:07]** It's a racialized identity. He seeks to formulate the idea as the founders of Zionism formulate the idea that the Jews are united by a racial identity, not by a religious covenant. That it's not by their abiding by the Torah, rather

**[45:23]** it is by lineage and political identity, and that is their distinctive trait, not their commitment to Judaism. What makes this so interesting is that the first people to rise up against such an idea were the rabbis of the time.

**[45:39]** Orthodox Jews, rabbis, found this to be a preposterous idea, that you formulate a Jewish identity that is racialized, separated from any type of religious commitment

**[45:55]** or covenant. And by the way, when I say it was expressive, Herzl said that he would be content with any political state where the Jews in the racialized sense could have

**[46:11]** self-determination. And so these ideas of a Zionist state were put forward. It could have been in Uganda, it could have been in Argentina, it could have been in Kenya, even Sinai, where they're trying to push us out to now. That was proposed as a location, and yes, of course, locations in the United States

**[46:27]** and other places were proposed as places where the Zionist project could take its hold. And amongst the places that were proposed were Palestine. Not because of a religious commitment, but because

**[46:43]** it would be politically convenient and ideal to tie the identity of the Jewish people to the historical place of Bani Israel and to form some sort of a link between a European ethno-state called Israel and Bani Israel

**[46:59]** that exists in the books. Somehow a racialized identity that privileges a people and allows them to expel the indigenous of that land and enjoy supremacy as Europe continues its crimes.

**[47:15]** And so Europe is not responsible for its reparations or for what it has done. You're not talking about the restoration of the rights of Jews in Germany. You're talking about the mass migration of Jews in the racialized sense to Palestine and the expulsion of the people of that land

**[47:31]** in the name of safeguarding the Jews. Which is an absolutely preposterous idea, and one that was rejected at the time and should be rejected by any moral voice

**[47:47]** even till today. So he envisions this as a political and national entity rather than a religious one. It's actually, you know, there's a saying that you don't believe in God, but you somehow believe that God promised you this land. And so it was common to find an atheist that still claimed the land

**[48:03]** on the basis of now a historical connection, a religious connection that God had supposedly forged between them. And they saw, the founders of the Zionist project, they saw religious voices as an obstacle,

**[48:19]** not as allies to the cause that they were putting forward. And so Palestine is chosen for political and colonial reasons, not for religious reasons. Most rabbis called it a rebellion against God. And you can read some of the words, Rabbi

**[48:35]** Shalom Bershneerson, who said, their plan to gather the Jewish people together with their own power will never be, and all their strength, their many strategies and efforts will not work or have any success against the will of God. Whoever twists the meaning of the Torah and finds proof

**[48:51]** to Zionism from the Torah, and especially from the hidden Torah, is like the one who places an idol in the temple. May God in His great mercy remove this accursed doctrine from among the Jewish people and inspire their hearts to repent to Him. In truth, Avraham Karlitz,

**[49:07]** a revered rabbi, wrote the only actual difference between the formation of the Zionist state is that before this, they were hoodlums without a military, and now the hoodlums have a military. Theodor Herzl himself, he wrote that

**[49:23]** we shall prevent any theocratic tendencies from coming to the fore on the part of our priesthood. We shall keep our priests within the confines of their temples. So what he envisioned of a state of Israel was supposed to be a secular one. The religious

**[49:39]** voices are rejecting it because you are rebelling against the decree of God because the scripture explicitly states that you can't have a mass migration before the messianic period. All of that is thrown out the window, and suddenly

**[49:55]** we have a situation where militants, secular atheists, are joining hands with European colonialists and slowly expelling the people from the lands of Al-Aqsa and from

**[50:11]** the lands of Palestine. By the way, David Ben-Gurion, who of course the airport is named after, the first prime minister of Israel, he himself used to take pride in being a pure secular. He was known to eat pork, to not abide by Yom Kippur,

**[50:27]** to never set foot in synagogues. His biographers would say he openly questioned the belief in God as a whole, somehow on the basis of religious supremacy. These are the people that are brought from Europe, and Muslims

**[50:43]** and Christians and indigenous people are expelled from their lands. And so how do we look at this from the European colonial power and what happened here? And I don't want to get too far into detail because we'll extend it into the last lecture. Herzl recognizes

**[50:59]** that Zionism cannot succeed without the support of what he calls a great power. And so he basically says that you have to pitch Zionism to a great power that can get behind it, so that it can form part of a defensive wall for Europe and Asia,

**[51:15]** an outpost of civilization against barbarism, against the barbarity of the Arab and Muslim world. So specifically he's proposing let's traffic in the way that the European colonists are framing the Muslim world as barbarians

**[51:31]** and as wicked and evil people, and pitch this to the European colonialists to take the project of Zionism on and say that this will form as an imperialist base for you in the Muslim world. And it starts to sound very familiar.

**[51:47]** At the start of World War I, the Zionists attempted to persuade the British government of the benefits of sponsoring the Jewish colony in Palestine, a Zionist state in Palestine. And so who did they lobby first?

**[52:03]** The Rothschild family. And so through lobbying efforts so familiar to Kamala, through lobbying efforts they're able to get the Rothschild family to buy into the establishment of the state in historic Palestine

**[52:19]** and hence you have the 1917 Balfour Declaration. 1919 In the U.S. there was a commission that was formed to explore the possibility of Zionism or what it was looking at in terms of the establishment

**[52:35]** of a state in historic Palestine. And the King Crane Commission wrote that the initial claim often submitted by Zionist representatives that they have a right to Palestine based on occupation of 2,000 years ago can barely be seriously considered.

**[52:51]** And so you would have to considerably modify or reduce your version of the Zionist program in order to put forth the idea that Palestine is the location of this Jewish national home. And they proposed that

**[53:07]** it could be a Jewish national home but not a Jewish state. And so the initial ideas were the emphasis of Jewish immigration to a protected Jewish national home in Palestine that then becomes a Jewish supremacist state

**[53:23]** named Israel imposed on the people of Palestine. And this is how you start to see the formulation of the supremacy of Zionism coming forth. Britain and France supporting Zionism to advance their own imperial interests and Britain

**[53:39]** helping Zionist militias to actively clear out the area and to make room for further European adventure in this part of the world. SubhanAllah, one of the great thinkers of our time at Hajj Malik al-Shabaaz, Malcolm X, rahimahullah ta'ala

**[53:55]** visits Gaza in 1964. And he wrote an essay that you can look up called Zionist Logic. And he views Zionism for what it is at the time and he says the number one weapon of 20th century imperialism

**[54:11]** is Zionist dollarism. And one of the main bases for this weapon is Zionist Israel. The ever scheming European imperialist wisely placed Israel where she could geographically divide the Arab world, infiltrate, and sow the seed of dissension among African leaders

**[54:27]** and also divide the Africans against the Asians. Zionist Israel's occupation of Arab Palestine has forced the Arab world to waste billions of precious dollars on armaments making it impossible for these newly independent Arab nations

**[54:43]** to concentrate on strengthening the economies of their people and elevating their living standards. And the continued low standard of living in the Arab world has been skillfully used by Zionist propagandists to make it appear to the Africans that the Arab leaders are not

**[54:59]** intellectually or technically qualified to lift the living standard of their people, thus indirectly inducing Africans to turn away from the Arabs and towards the Israelis for teachers and technical assistance. In other words, they cripple the bird's wing

**[55:15]** and then condemn it for not flying as fast as they. And he says that to American blacks and Muslims that both suffer due to Zionist colonialism and American dollarism and that fighting these two evils

**[55:31]** would serve both purposes. And so as you see the Polish terrorist whose fake name is Benjamin Netanyahu, a Polish terrorist standing next to a morally bankrupt realtor talking about

**[55:47]** the removal of a people and the purchase of a land and the expulsion because this would open up doors. Know that this is recycled rhetoric and it is exactly what Malcolm calls imperialism and dollarism meeting together. A marriage of evils

**[56:03]** where the people are looked at as less than and removed from their historic places. And Malcolm saw that the placement of Palestine between the Arab world and Africa made it specifically a strategic place for imperialists to have an

**[56:19]** imperial outpost in this part of the world to serve its colonial interests. And the word transfer was used in Zionist literature of the non-Jewish population which means ethnic cleansing is at the heart of Zionism and there was

**[56:35]** never any such thing as Zionism without ethnic cleansing. So if anyone tries to redeem a strain of Zionism and tell you that it's not inherently ethno-supremacist, show me one Zionist leader or pioneer that didn't advocate for the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian

**[56:51]** people. It doesn't exist. Every strain of it required the removal of the people for the placement of another people. Which is illegal by any moral standard. To end here, when does Zionism turn religious?

**[57:08]** So it's only after 1967 that Zionism starts to take on a more religious framework. That religious language starts to find itself within Zionism. And that you start to find more biblical references being used.

**[57:24]** And this of course allows for religious extremists, Jewish religious extremists, right? Functioning within their version of Zionism to find a marriage partner in Christian religious Zionists in the United States.

**[57:41]** Both of whom want to forge a messianic era, but for different purposes. Right? Religious Christian... I can't make this up. I was once on a panel with a rabbi and a pastor. And the pastor was an evangelical and he was talking about, you know, we see the development of Israel as the heart of Christianity and what we do.

**[58:04]** And the rabbi said, and I'm not making this up, he said, yeah, so you could kill us. It's a marriage of convenience that throws every moral standard out of the window and allows for the continued expulsion of the people.

**[58:19]** And it was again in the 1960s that religion starts to become infused more into the Zionist project. And Zionism, which was a secular atheistic movement, becomes more religious in its outpost. And that's where you start to see now these crazy right-wingers that are forcing themselves through the barricades of Masjid al-Aqsa.

**[58:40]** And putting forth this idea of the reconstruction of the third temple as the heart of their mission. And this is where we are today. Conspiracies, efforts, impacts.

**[58:56]** I've been asked in the last year about the Red Heifer conspiracy. The idea of a red cow. Sounds silly. But these extremists actually believe that al-Baqarah al-Hamra, that a red heifer, has to be born in order for there to be a ceremonial cleansing that would allow for the reconstruction of the third temple.

**[59:18]** And guess what they've been doing? Just like they genetically modified the illegal state of Israel, they're trying to genetically modify a red cow. Where from? Texas. And so there's an institute in Texas where you've had five red heifers that were sent to Israel in 2023.

**[59:40]** Because they're trying to breed the perfect red cow. These crazy religious zealots are trying to breed the perfect red cow. Which would supposedly open the doors for the next temple. On top of that, obviously, you have the idea of the Greater Israel Project.

**[59:57]** Where Zionism is inherently expansionist. And it shows that. That it's not just about Palestine, it's also about Syria, and Jordan, and Lebanon, and Iraq, and Egypt, and beyond. And it will not stop. Because it's an expansionist ideology that doesn't know when to stop itself.

**[1:00:13]** And now you can hear these extremists openly talking about the expense of these borders. And that has always been the case. In everything that has taken place. And so now you have this idea of the third temple. And the establishment of the third temple.

**[1:00:30]** Where Masjid Al-Aqsa is. I want to leave you with two thoughts here. Number one. If they find a red cow, it will not change anything of the decree of Allah.

**[1:00:45]** In what we know of what will come of the liberation of that place. May Allah allow it to happen in our lives. So it doesn't matter what trees they plant. It doesn't matter what cows they breed. It doesn't matter what temples they construct.

**[1:01:00]** It doesn't matter what scriptures they forge. It doesn't matter what political parties they put forth. It doesn't matter what they put forward. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will not allow this to succeed. Allah Azza wa Jal will not allow this project to succeed.

**[1:01:19]** But at the same time, I want you to heed the words of Malcolm. The end of his essay was called the Messiah in quotation marks. And he says, If the religious claim of the Zionists is true,

**[1:01:35]** that they were to be led to the Promised Land by their Messiah, and Israel's present occupation of Arab Palestine is the fulfillment of that prophecy, where is their Messiah upon whom their prophets said would get the credit for leading them there? It was Ralph Bunch, the UN mediator,

**[1:01:52]** who negotiated the Zionists into possession of occupied Palestine. Is Ralph Bunch the Messiah of Zionism? And if Ralph Bunch is not their Messiah, and their Messiah has not yet come, then what are they doing in Palestine ahead of their Messiah? Did the Zionists have the legal or moral right to invade Arab Palestine,

**[1:02:11]** uproot its citizens from their homes, and seize all Arab property for themselves, just based on the religious claim that their forefathers lived there thousands of years ago? Only a thousand years ago, the Moors lived in Spain. Would this give the Moors of today the legal and moral right to invade the Iberian Peninsula,

**[1:02:28]** drive out its Spanish citizens, and then set up a new Moroccan nation where Spain used to be, as the European Zionists have done to our Arab brothers and sisters in Palestine? In short, the Zionist argument to justify Israel's present occupation of Palestine

**[1:02:44]** has no intelligence or legal basis in history, not even in their own religion. Where is their Messiah? We have to equip ourselves to push back on these arguments, to debunk them on the basis of history,

**[1:03:00]** to debunk them on the basis of religion, to say that you have a claim based upon your religious text. What gives you the right to privilege your religious text over my religious text? Where else do we do that? Or do you want to make the claim that whoever ruled the longest should have it?

**[1:03:17]** Well, then the Ottomans should have it. Or do you want to make the claim that whoever was there first should have it? Well, then you'd have to go pre-Bani Israel, and they should have it. What basis do you have for the expulsion of the people of that land?

**[1:03:33]** And subhanAllah, we have a history of a millennium of how we treated people in that land. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to restore justice to that land. The justice that was found in Islam for the people of that land

**[1:03:50]** that doesn't tolerate oppression or the humiliation of people and the desecration of the sanctified sites. Allahumma ameen. You know, I was thinking about the Wailing Wall. That is where, if you think about the way that structures were preserved

**[1:04:06]** for different religious communities. That is where we believe that the Buraq was tied. Where is the spirit of Umar (رضي الله عنه) when he walked out of the church because he said this church belongs to the Christians, I don't want Muslims to claim it for them.

**[1:04:21]** Where is the spirit of the Muslims that didn't destroy anything or take things away from people? Where is the spirit of justice that we find in ourselves? And so it's important to say as well that Muslims never denied a Jewish connection but we do push back on Jewish supremacy in that land.

**[1:04:39]** On the basis of a biblical claim that allows for now indigenous Muslim and Christian Palestinians to be robbed of their historical homeland. The last scene I'll give you is this. I ended off Salahuddin with a scene of Henri Gouraud, the French colonialist

**[1:05:02]** who walks into Syria in the year 1920 and he kicks the grave of Salahuddin and says, get up, we're back. And there is almost, subhanAllah, a parallel scene of Edmond Allenby

**[1:05:21]** entering the British colonialists in the year 1917, entering the city of Jerusalem and claiming that the British had a mandate to take Jerusalem and to give it to another people. And they called it what? What is the whole, what was the model of Zionism?

**[1:05:39]** A land without a people for a people without a land. Meaning we are not a people. Talk about dehumanization. The hundreds of thousands of people that were driven out of their homes in the Nakba were not people. They never saw us as people. But when a British colonialist walks into Al-Quds and a French colonialist walks into Syria

**[1:05:58]** and they kick the grave of Salahuddin or they enter with their boots into Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, know that you can complain about the humiliation all you want. But until you rekindle in your heart and in your efforts what drove Salahuddin in the first place,

**[1:06:16]** we remain in a state of humiliation because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who controls the dynamics of power at all times. My great grandfather, Mufti Munib Hashim rahimahullah ta'ala, who was the last Ottoman appointed Mufti of Palestine in Nablus.

**[1:06:34]** The one line I read in his biography that made my heart fill with love and glory was that he wouldn't stand up for the British when they would enter. He remained seated. He wouldn't honor them by standing up for them. That somehow as time goes on we start to adopt norms of humiliation for ourselves

**[1:06:53]** and we start to adopt these things as mainstream and acceptable. Wallahi, even if they let us go pray in Masjid Al-Aqsa without the harassment, until it is free, the Muslim's heart should be shackled with pain. And every single one of us should be dedicated and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow us to be a part of its liberation.

**[1:07:11]** Allahumma ameen. Bi idhnillahi ta'ala, next week will be the final lecture in the series and we'll talk about Al-Aqsa in the end times. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to be with our brothers and sisters as they are suffering, as they are suffering and to grant them full victory.

**[1:07:27]** And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow us to see in this Ramadan the victory that has been promised. Allahumma ameen. BarakAllahu feekum. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

**[1:07:49]** Al-Fatiha.

## Other Episodes in "Al-Aqsa - Past, Present, and Promise"
- [When Will Palestine Be Free? Signs of the Day of Judgment | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/when-will-palestine-be-free-signs-of-day-of-judgment-al-aqsa.md)
- [Salahuddin: The Legend Who Liberated Jerusalem | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/salahuddin-the-legend-who-liberated-jerusalem-al-aqsa.md)
- [Roman Emperor Who Almost Became Muslim & Conquest of Jerusalem | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/roman-emperor-who-almost-became-muslim-and-conquest-of-jerusalem-alaqsa.md)
- [Isra and Miraj: The Greatest Journey Through the Heavens | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/isra-and-miraj-the-greatest-journey-through-the-heavens-al-aqsa.md)
- [Isra wal Miraj, Surah Rum, and the Year of Grief | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/isra-wal-miraj-surah-rum-and-year-of-grief-al-aqsa.md)
- [Syria, the Umayyad Mosque, and the Messiah’s Return | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/syria-umayyad-mosque-messiah-return-al-aqsa.md)
- [The Prophets, the Messiah, and the Promised Land | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/the-prophets-the-messiah-and-the-promised-land-al-aqsa.md)
- [The Switch of the Qiblah: Story of Masjid Qiblatayn | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/switch-of-the-qiblah-story-of-masjid-qiblatayn-al-aqsa.md)
- [The Blessed Land of Al-Sham: Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/the-blessed-land-of-al-sham-palestine-lebanon-syria-jordan-al-aqsa.md)
- [Why is Quds (Jerusalem) So Special? | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/why-is-quds-jerusalem-so-special-al-aqsa-series.md)