Journey to Jerusalem (Baitulmaqddis)

Jerusalem

Abu Hurairah (ra) relates that the Prophet (PBUH) said, "You should not undertake a special journey to visit any place other than the following three Masjids with the expectations of getting greater reward: The Sacred Masjid of Makkah (Ka'abah), this Masjid of mine (the Prophet's Masjid in Madinah) and Masjid Al-Aqsa (of Jerusalem)". In another narration, the words are, "For three Masjids a special journey may be undertaken: The Sacred Masjid (Ka'abah), my Masjid and Masjid of Jerusalem (Al-Aqsa). (Muslim, Bukhari, Abu Dawud).

Abu Drada (ra) relates that the Prophet (PBUH) said, "A prayer in Makkah (Ka'abah) is worth 100,000 times (reward), a prayer in my masjid (Madinah) is worth 1,000 times and a prayer in Al-Aqsa Sanctuary is worth 500 times more reward than anywhere else". (Tabarani, Bayhaqi, Suyuti)

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The three holiest mosques in Islam are Masjid Al-Haram (Makkah), Masjid Al-Nabawi (Madinah) and Masjid Al-Aqsa (Jerusalem or, Baitulmaqddis to Muslims), in that order. It is the dream of every Muslim to be able to pray in each of these mosques. While the first two are easily accessible in Saudi Arabia, the third is not so accessible since it is located in Israel.

Al-Aqsa is revered as it is the only site in the world that all prophets performed the Solat (prayer) at one time. It was Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) who led them in prayers before he ascended to the seven heavens and eventually met with Allah, accompanied by the angel Gabriel (Jibrail), in the event known to Muslims as Israq and Mi'raj. In a single night, the angel Gabriel transported the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) from the Kaabah in Makkah, on a steed (Buraq) to "the furthest mosque" - which is believed to be Masjid Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem. It was from Masjid Al-Aqsa that the Prophet ascended to the heavens.

Al-Aqsa was also the first Qiblah (direction towards which Muslims face when they pray) before it was changed to the Kaabah in Makkah.

On my recent Umrah trip, my wish to pray in Al-Aqsa was granted by Allah the Almighty.

We arrived in Amman, Jordon at around 5 am on a cold, wet, morning. Rain and snow greeted our arrival in Amman. The plan was to enter Israel from across the border in Jordan, at a place known as the King Hussein Border Crossing. The distance between Amman and our destination is around 45km. The reason for entering at the King Hussein Border Crossing was that one can enter without having their passport stamped by the Israeli authorities. Many do not want their passports stamped because it will disallow them from entering other Arab countries who do not recognise Israel. Malaysia too does not recognise Israel so we certainly do not want our passports stamped.

The plan was to spend one night in Jerusalem and before leaving Amman, we were instructed to carry only what we needed for an overnight trip. This is because the Israeli authorities routinely check entire luggages, no matter how long it may take. We left our luggages in a storage place in Amman.

On arrival at the Israeli border checkpoint (known as Allenby Terminal), we had to go through security screening. The scene at the border post was chaotic, with machine-gun toting soldiers (young men and women in their twenties) barking orders.

Allenby Terminal (Israeli Checkpoint)

When it was my turn, the sensor sounded (as I had expected) due to a metal implant that I have in my knee. I was asked to stand aside before being led to an examination room. There, a female security officer asked me if I (1) spoke English and (2) had a weapon with me. I answered in the affirmative to the first question and negative to the second. I further explained that I have a metal implant in my knee and offered to show her the scar - however, she said I have to go through a complete check.

I was asked to remove my coat, followed by my shoes, which were scanned. Then, I was asked to stand with my hands and legs apart (spreadeagled) and she ran the scan on my body, including in between my crotch. Next, I was asked to turn around and she repeated the scan, this time running the scanner between my butt. Finally, she scanned my knee and the sensor triggered. At this point, she asked me to lift my pants to show her the scar.

Next, we went through Immigration check. In our visa application form, we were asked to provide the names of our grandparents and when we got to the Immigration counter, we understood why. The Immigration Officer would ask us the names of our grandparents and if the names did not match the info that they had, the visitor would be asked to stand aside. This happened to several of my travel mates; they had provided the names of their paternal grandparents in the application and when questioned by the Immigration officer, they provided the names of their maternal grandparents, or vice-versa. In my case, I was again singled for scrutiny because my passport had a photo in which I did not have a headscarf; with hair dyed brown to boot! The officer stared at me and the photo for what seemed like an eternity and finally asked me to remove my spectacles and had me photographed.

While waiting to board another bus (the bus from Amman was not allowed to enter Israel), I went to the ladies restroom to adjust my headscarf. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a female security guard popped up and she observed what I was doing. Then, I went to the toilet cubicle and she stood outside the door until I was done. It was indeed unnerving to say the least!

Our Palestinian guide from Amman could not cross into Israel because Palestinians who had left Israel are no longer allowed to return so we picked up another guide in Israel. At the checkpoint, we also saw a Palestinian family of four with what seemed like their worldly possessions being turned back after waiting for 2 hours! This is a reflection of Israel's policy to rid Jerusalem of Muslims!

Our new guide told us that were lucky to have spent just over 2 hours at the checkpoint. He cited a case where a group of Pakistanis had to spend 12 hours at the checkpoint and in the end, three were denied entry!

We stopped for lunch at the town of Jericho, the oldest and lowest city in the world. After some souvenir shopping, we continued our journey to Jerusalem.

We arrived Jerusalem at around noon and by that time, it had started to rain lightly. To get to the Al-Aqsa mosque from where the bus dropped us required a long walk - it felt like more than a kilometer - through a maze of narrow, cobble-stoned, streets. We also had to negotiate steps that were quite slippery due to the rain.

Stairs to climb to get to the Al-Aqsa Mosque

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is part of a large complex of religious buildings in Jerusalem's old city known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Shariff (Noble Sanctuary) and to the Jews as Temple Mount. For the Jews, the Temple Mount is the place where, according to Jewish belief, redemption will take place when the promised Messiah arrives. There are also sacred Christian sites in Jerusalem including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - believed to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Church of John the Baptist and other sacred sites.

We arrived in time for Zohor/Asar prayers at the Dome of the Rock Mosque. After that, the guide took us to the rock from where the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) ascended to the heavens. This rock is in the Dome of the Rock mosque and a picture is seen below:

Dome of the Rock Mosque

The rock under the Dome of the Rock

A Cave-Like Area Under the Rock

After that, we went to a nearby building to pay zakat (tithes) as our contribution to the Palestinian cause. The zakat was received by the Imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

After checking into a hotel, we had a short rest before it was time to go the Al-Aqsa Mosque for Maghrib prayers. By this time, the weather had turned chilly with strong, cold winds and it was quite uncomfortable for some in the group who were not adequately clothed for such cold weather.

Inside Al-Aqsa Mosque

The next morning, after breakfast, we left for Amman with stops to visit the graves/mosques of Nabi Sulaiman (Solomon) and Nabi Musa (Moses). However, due to heavy rain, some of us did not make the trip to these places as we preferred to remain dry on the bus!

After an en-route stop at the Dead Sea Resort in Jordan, it was off to Amman to collect our luggage and continue our journey to Jeddah for the Umrah in Makkah and Madinah.