Al Quds/ Jerusalem:-
This term was not in the Arabic language but was taken from the Hebrew (Kadesh).
The pre Islamic Arabs used the adjectives Mukarramah, Al Haram Al Sharif to describe the Ka'ba, NEVER Muqadassa.
The Muhammadan Arabs associated the Masjid al Aqsa with Jerusalem to give themselves religious legitimacy by associating themselves with Solomon and his Temple.
17: 1 Glory to (Allah) Who did take His Servant for Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque [Masjid al Aqsa] whose precincts We did Bless in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the one Who heareth and seeth (all things).
Jerusalem - in the time of Muhammad - was known to the Arabs as Ilya/Aelia.
This was the name given to it by the Romans after its occupation and destruction after
135 CE (Iliya from Aelia Capitolina).
In 135 CE the Emperor Hadrian declared a new city on the site of Jerusalem, called Colonia Aelia Capitolina. A new municipal plan was introduced which bore hardly any resemblance to the former city.
Indeed the Roman influence is felt to this day: the main streets of the Old City still follow the Roman grid. The Forum, established in the city center, consisted of public buildings including a temple of Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and love. TheRoman 10th Legion was camped in the western part of town near the Citadel. Jerusalem was no longer the country's capital nor its economic center. Its religious status also declined: Jews were not permitted to enter, while Christianity was still a forbidden religion.
Inspite of all the perverted assetions by Muhammadan Muslims and Arabs that they 'knew' Jerusalem as al Quds, the fact remains clear that this word does not appear anywhere in the whole of the Quran or in the Arabic language of the Quraysh until after Muhammad moved from Mecca to Madina in 622AD.
No where in the Quran is there mention of:
Jerusalem,
Al Quds,
Bait al Maqdis [from Hebrew Bait ha Miqdash/ Holy House (Temple of Solomon)].
or Ilya. These appear all of a sudden in the Ahadith.
Only in Hebrew and Jewish literature and theology has the name Jerusalem continued unchanged.
The adjective Holy (Kodesh) was always associated with the name of Jerusalem:
Holy MountainJerusalem
Jerusalem, the Holy city
Holy Mount at Jerusalem
Jerusalem your Holy Mountain.
These binary associations appears 11 times in Prophets.
Al-Muwatta Hadith
Hadith 5.17
The Special Time in the Day of Jumua
Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Abdullah ibn al-Had from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Harith at-Taymi from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf that Abu Hurayra said, "I went out to at-Tur (Mount Sinai) and met Kab al Ahbar and sat with him. He related to me things from the Tawrah and I related to him things from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Among the things I related to him was that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'The best of days on which the sun rises is the day of jumua. In it Adam was created, and in it he fell from the Garden. In it he was forgiven, and in it he died. In it the Hour occurs, and every moving thing listens from morning till sunset in apprehension of the Hour except jinn and men. In it is a time when Allah gives toa muslim slave standing in prayer whatever he asks for.' Kab said, 'That is one day in every year.' I said, 'No, in every jumua.' Then Kab recited the Tawrah and said, 'The Messenger of Allah has spoken the truth.' "
Abu Hurayra continued, "I met Basra ibn Abi Basra al-Ghiffari and he said, 'Where have you come from?' I said, 'From at-Tur.' He said, 'If I had seen you before you left, you would not have gone. I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "Only make a special journey to three mosques: the mosque of the Haram (Makka), this mosque (Madina), and the mosque of Ilya or the Bait al-Maqdis (two names of Jerusalem)." ' " (He was not sure which expression was used.) .......
Al-Muwatta Hadith
Hadith 20.26
Where People Should Enter Ihram.
Yahya related to me from Malik from a reliable source that Abdullah ibn Umar once entered ihram at Ilya (Jerusalem).
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 1.6 Narrated byAbdullah bin Abbas
Abu Sufyan bin Harb informed me that Heraclius had sent a messenger to him while he had been accompanying a caravan from Quraish. They were merchants doing business in Sham (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan), at the time when Allah's Apostle had truce with Abu Sufyan and Quraish infidels. So Abu Sufyan and his companions went to Heraclius at Ilya (Jerusalem). Heraclius called them in the court and he had all the senior Roman dignitaries around him. He called for his translator who, translating Heraclius's question said to them, "Who amongst you is closely related to that man who claims to be a Prophet?" Abu Sufyan replied, "I am the nearest relative to him (amongst the group)."
Heraclius said, "Bring him (Abu Sufyan) close to me and make his companions stand behind him." Abu Sufyan added, Heraclius told his translator to tell my companions that he wanted to put some questions to me regarding that man (The Prophet) and that if I told a lie they (my companions) should contradict me." Abu Sufyan added, "By Allah! Had I not been afraid of my companions labeling me a liar, I would not have spoken the truth about the Prophet. The first question he asked me about him was:
'What is his family status amongst you?' ..............
The sub narrator adds, "Ibn An-Natur was the Governor of Ilya' (Jerusalem) and Heraclius was the head of the Christians of Sham. Ibn An-Natur narrates that once while Heraclius was visiting Ilya'(Jerusalem), he got up in the morning with a sad mood. Some of his priests asked him why he was in that mood? Heraclius was a foreteller and an astrologer.......
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 4.191 Narrated byAbdullah bin Abbas
Allah's Apostle wrote to Caesar and invited him to Islam and sent him his letter with Dihya Al-Kalbi whom Allah's Apostle ordered to hand it over to the Governor of Busra who would forward it to Caesar. Caesar as a sign of gratitude to Allah, had walked from Hims to Ilya (i.e. Jerusalem) when Allah had granted Him victory over the Persian forces. So, when the letter of Allah's Apostle reached Caesar, he said after reading it, "Seek for me any one of his people (Arabs of Quraish tribe), if present here, in order to ask him about Allah's Apostle." At that time Abu Sufyan bin Harb was in Sham with some men from Quraish who had come (to Sham) as merchants during the truce that had been concluded between Allah's Apostle; and the infidels of Quraish.
Abu Sufyan said, "Caesar's messenger found us somewhere in Sham so he took me and my companions to Ilya (i.e. Jerusalem)and we were admitted into Ceasar's court to find him sitting in his royal court wearing a crown and surrounded by the senior dignitaries of the Byzantine. He said to his translator, 'Ask them who amongst them is a close relation to the man who claims to be a prophet.' " ....
It is CRYSTAL CLEAR from the above Ahadith that the name JERUSALEM was not used among the Arabs in the days of Muhammad, 622AD. It was called ILYA, the name given to it by the Romans in 135AD.
