yeah....WOW.
Reader comment on item: The Muslim Claim to Jerusalem

Submitted by Aliyah (United States), May 2, 2006 at 19:14

Al-Quds means JERUSALEM. Muslim claims to Jerusalem are just as strong as Judaic and Christian claims are, as Masjid al-Aqsa (al-Aqsa Mosque) and the Dome of the Rock mark the third holiest place in Islam, Jerusalem. Prophet Muhammad did not just visit Jerusalem. That is where the Prophet descended to Heaven from, where he met all of the other Prophets like Moses, Jesus, Joseph, Elias, etc. that came before him!

During the time when the Prophet was alive and Islam emerged, Jerusalem was considered the holiest place for Muslims, and that is the direction they prayed towards. It is only after the death of the Prophet and the compilation of his writings into the Quran that Mecca and Medina were then considered the holiest sites.

Just another quick point I'd like to make is that just because something is older doesn't make it more "right" in the different views of religion. The fact is Islam is the youngest out of all three monotheistic religions, and Muslims have just as much say as to what is theirs as any other person. What is "rightfully" theirs is the land that they cultivated with their own hands that was taken away from them, leaving Arab Muslims and Christians displaced, and given to a growing number of Zionists in Europe who felt that they had more "religious" right to the land. And as for evangelical Christians who believed that the return of Jews to Palestine would mark the second coming of Jesus Christ..... when did that happen?!?!

As God once said to the Prophet Muhammad: "they change the words from their (right) places and forget a good part of the message that was sent them." If you don't get it, then look that up in the Quran.

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Daniel Pipes replies:

A fine specimen, if one is needed, of the Islamist line on Jerusalem.