This Wednesday, Donald Trump is likely going to announce the US government’s recognition of all of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a move of incredible symbolic importance to not just the Middle East but perhaps to most of the world. If this happens, the United States will be the first country to recognise the ancient city as Israel’s capital since the founding of the nation in 1948. I’m not going to discuss the merits of this move, and if it wasn’t so potentially dangerous for the stability of the region, I would probably support it, mainly due to the paramount importance of the city to the Jewish people for thousands of years.

But I don’t want to get political here, I want to write about why Jerusalem is such an important city to the three Abrahamic faiths – Christianity, Islam and Judaism – and why, as a result, it’s such a tricky issue with no solution that’s going to satisfy everyone.

I wouldn’t really hesitate to say that Jerusalem, by sheer numbers alone, is the single most holy city on the planet, being a focal point for almost four billion people. It’s quite incredible, almost miraculous, that a small town founded over three thousand years by a rather insignificant group of people became a worldwide center of religion, politics and conflict over the following millennia. Few other cities in the world can claim to have been destroyed multiple times, attacked and besieged on dozens of occasions and be captured and recaptured almost fifty times.

Contrary to popular belief, Jerusalem wasn’t actually founded originally by the Jews, but rather under King David, they conquered it roughly three thousand years ago from people known as the Jebusites. From then on it became the center of Jewish faith and culture, with the First Temple being built likely under King Solomon’s rule and supposedly housing the Ark of the Covenant. This temple was destroyed by the King Nebuchadnezzar during the siege in 587 BC, and the subsequent Babylonian exile led to the first major Jewish diaspora and establishment of Jewish communities not only in Babylon but across the Middle East. This marked the beginning of the Jewish people’s longing desire to return to Jerusalem, their spiritual and physical home, that would play a role in Jewish religion and culture for thousands of years.

After several decades and the conquering of the region by the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great, the Jewish people were allowed to return to Jerusalem even though it was utterly destroyed. From then, the Second Temple was constructed and the inhabitants of the city lived under successive empires and foreign powers over the next several hundred years, however, they were permitted to maintain the traditional practices of their faith. Eventually the Roman Empire took control, which is when we see the birth of Jesus and the rise of Christianity. In 70 AD, the city and the Second Temple were destroyed by the Romans after a Jewish rebellion, and from then on, a process of Jewish exile happened once again, seeing them spread across the Roman empire, culminating in the complete expulsion of Jews from Jerusalem in 135 AD, under Emperor Hadrian.

Over the following almost two thousand years, the Jewish people spread across the world forming various communities, suffering frequently from discrimination, massacres, and other forms of persecution. Yet within their collective mind, the concept of Jerusalem and the importance of sustaining their religious and cultural traditions remained. The longing for their homeland, the idea that one day they would be able to return allowed the people to survive and in many cases flourish despite their hardships. Yet before they could truly return (even though the process had begun in the late 19th century, and there was a small Jewish minority in the city for centuries), they had to go through their darkest hour, the Holocaust, where almost half of the world’s Jewish population were murdered. Three years after the Second World War, in 1948, Israel was established as a way of repentance of European nations for what they had done over such a long time, marking virtually the first time in well over two thousand years that the Jewish people were truly independent.

Hopefully, this brief gloss over history reveals the significance of Jerusalem to the Jews, even devoid of theological ideas, it’s hard to ignore.

So the next question is, why is it so significant to Muslims? People often forget how interconnected the three Abrahamic faiths are, and there are similarities for why they see it as so important. Setting aside the exclusively Islamic reasons for a moment, Muslims also consider such Biblical figures as David, Solomon, Abraham and Jesus as great prophets, all of whom are featured in the Qur’an and with which Jerusalem is heavily associated. It’s often forgotten that Islam ideally has a high degree of respect for the other Abrahamic faiths, seeing them as important steps before what they perceive as the Final Truth of God revealed by the Prophet Muhammad. So of course Jerusalem and the history of God (so to speak) is important to Muslims, similar to how events in the Old Testament are to Christians.

Perhaps most importantly though, is the role of Jerusalem in the life of Muhammad and the early ummah (Islamic community). Although today, Muslims across the world direct their prayers in the direction of Mecca, specifically the Ka’bah (that big black cube in the middle of the Grand Mosque), originally, the first direction of prayer was towards Jerusalem. Along with this, the most spiritually important aspect of Jerusalem for Muslims is known as the Night Journey, where over one night, the Prophet was said to have miraculously traveled to Jerusalem by a sacred steed. In the city, he was taken to heaven where he met with many major prophets throughout history including Abraham and Jesus, and then finally goes on to directly meet God. As a result, the city has a direct mention in the Qur’an as al-masjidil-aqsa “the place of prostration the farthest”, and Jerusalem eventually became the third holiest city in Islam after Mecca and Medina. Many of the companions of the prophet also eventually lived and died in Jerusalem, further compounding its significance.

But it’s not also just religiously important to Muslims, but also culturally and historically. It was the home for many Muslims for the most part of the last fourteen hundred years, since they conquered it in 637 AD, quite a long time ago. And during this period, they experienced the Crusades in the 11th century, temporarily losing the city to Christians, before retaking it almost a hundred years later under the great general Saladin. The Golden Horde of the Mongols also conquered it temporarily yet they eventually assimilated into Islam and in the end were ousted from power. In more modern times, the Islamic world fell under the domination of foreign European powers, whose rule and ways were often forced on them. And the imposition of a new country, Israel, carved out of colonial territories taken from Arabs and Muslims, to many, simply feels like an extension of colonisation that they’ve experienced for much of the past two hundred years.

So as a result, although Jerusalem may not be as central to Islam, as it is to Judaism, given the historical and religious experience of these peoples, their interests can’t just be so easily dismissed.

I’ll only briefly go over the importance of Jerusalem to Christianity, since it is well known amongst many of us in the West. Simply put, a part from it’s importance in the Old Testament, the city had a central role in Jesus’s story, being the witness of many key events of his life. It is the city where Jesus preached and healed, it is where he “cleansed” the temple. The most sacred events in all of Christendom happened here: The Last Supper, his trial, and crucifixion, as well as his resurrection. I think this enough to be said to prove the fundamental sacredness of Jerusalem to those of the Christian faith. The city has always captured the fascination and attention of Christians and the West in general as a result of this link.

So to conclude, I hope I’ve conveyed why the problem of Jerusalem today is such a difficult issue to solve given it’s fundamental importance to these religions. It is simply incredible, even quite beautiful how such a place, filled with so much history, can be so significant to so many people. Yet it is also so tragic that it has led to the suffering of so many people and such intractable conflicts amongst those who have been involved. I pray that one day it can be resolved without too much bloodshed, but I fear that this will not be the case.

As a final mention, I recommend a fascinating book about the symbolic power of Jerusalem throughout history. It’s called Jerusalem: The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore, and anyone should it who wants a far more in depth and interesting look at what I’ve just written about.

Images taken from:

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/views-of-jerusalem-2014-11

https://www.realmofhistory.com/2017/11/14/animation-reconstruction-second-temple-jerusalem

http://spirituality-and-religion.com/muhammads-night-journey-to-seven

https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zjbj6sg/revision/3