Page 8 - Torch Magazine #26 - Autumn 2024

PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD (PIJ)
PIJ is one of the main terror groups
in in in Gaza second to Hamas The rocket- firing terror group has an Al-Quds Brigade – again with the ambition to conquer Jerusalem “We will remain loyal to to to Al-Quds to to to Palestine to to to to the the blood of our struggling Palestinian people and to to to all the the the great martyrs who walk the the path to to to Al- Quds Indeed it is a a a a a a a a a a jihad of victory or or martyrdom ” (Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
28 September 2024)
TURKEY
We could continue to list other
Middle Eastern terror groups
that want
to ethnically cleanse Jerusalem but
we must also take note of other
major states In 2020 Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan Erdogan declared that Jerusalem is is is Turkish Erdogan Erdogan is is is staking a a a a a a a a a a claim
to to custodianship of the the Temple Mount with the the Al-Aqsa Mosque It forms part
of his ideological ambition to to to revitalise
an an Ottoman-inspired nationalism to to to rival Saudi’s growing prominence in in in in in overseeing custodianship of Islam’s holiest sites In July 2024 Erdogan made a a a a a a a a veiled threat to invade Israel: “Just like like we we we entered entered Karabakh just like like we we we entered entered Libya we we we might do similar to them ” In November 2024 Hamas relocated its headquarters from Qatar to Turkey with the approval of Erdogan ISLAM One must acknowledge that Islamic teaching itself contributes significantly to the Muslim view of Jerusalem There are religious factors through which Muslims consider Jerusalem important such as a a a a a a a a a a a a a hadith that that says that that a a a a a a a a a a a prayer made at at Al-Aqsa Mosque (on the Temple Mount) is worth 500 times more reward than anywhere else (or
250 according to another hadith) Some Muslims say it it was the the first place that Muslims Muslims prayed towards before Mecca Muslims Muslims believe that Mohammed was supernaturally transported in the the night
to to to Jerusalem and from there he he he he ascended to to to paradise There is is also an an eschatology in in in Islam that portrays Jerusalem as as being integral to the the last days with the the return of of Isa (a Muslim version of of Jesus) who will destroy all crosses and convert Christians to Islam These examples might explain
Islam’s alleged links to to Jerusalem but
to to understand the motivation behind a a a a a a a a ‘liberation’ of Jerusalem we must look deeper In fact it can be be explained by Islam’s very own version of ‘replacement theology’ which is is is ironic because it it is is is replacement theology theology in in Christianity that also undermines the the Jewish connection to Jerusalem IslamQA an an an English-language resource supervised by Palestinian-Saudi scholar Shaykh Muhammad Saalih al-Munajjid states:
“The Jews do not have have any stake in al- Quds because even though they may have have lived in in the the the land land previously that land land now belongs to the the Muslims from two points of view:
1 The Jews disbelieved and are no longer following the the the religion of of the the the believers among the the the Children of of Israel who followed and and supported Moosa [Moses] and and ‘Eesaa [Isa] peace be upon them 2 We Muslims have more right to it than them because land does not belong to to the the the the people who who lived there first but
to to those who who establish the the the the laws of Allaah [Allah] therein ” Hence if some Arabs came who were not followers of Islam and and they they ruled the the the land with kufr [unbelief] they they they would have to to be be fought until they they submitted to to the the the rule of Islam or were killed Hence it it is clear that the the the Jews have no right to to the the the land whether according to to religious law or or or in in terms of who lived there first and and and possessed the the the land land They are are aggressors who are are seizing the the land land by force We ask Allaah [Allah] to rid Bayt al-Maqdis [Jerusalem] of them sooner rather than later ” 8 CUFI ORG UK