Questioner: I would like to ask about Haikal-e-Sulaimani, whether, actually, Islam and Muslims have conquered that portion, but the Jews, they have some sympathies and some religious relation or attachment with that particular area. So, in my personal opinion, they must be allowed at least for worship or for whatever they want to that person. And there should be some settlement between, in my opinion, that they should not be forbidden to stop or to stop to…
Huzoor: Well, the Jews do not come into picture at all here because what the Muslims won, they won from the Christians, not from the Jews.
Questioner: Not actually, actually.
Huzoor: Yes. They don’t want it. So, why should we give that concession to them? They never demand it. What happened was, as I mentioned earlier, it was, this Damascus was entered upon by the Muslims in the latter part of Hazrat Umar’s Khilafah. And two great Muslim generals, Hazrat Abu Ubadah and Hazrat Khalid bin Walid, entered from two different sides. Hazrat Khalid bin Walid, as you would expect, he entered and also used some force. And Hazrat Abu Ubadah did not. He entered peacefully and came into an agreement with them, giving them some rights and concessions.
The first half that was conquered by Hazrat Khalid, that was supposed to be a sort of war spire, where they could convert it into anything. But the second half was left as such. And they did not change anything. The Christians were given complete freedom. The first time that the mosque was built on the site of Haikal was at the time of Walid bin Abdul Malik. Because half of it was occupied by the Christians and according to the agreement, they were, the Muslims were supposed not to change the status quo. So nobody did. But Walid bin Abdul Malik decided and sent to their elders a message that I want to build a mosque here, so permit me. They refused. And it was a place for rubble and refuse, all filth and things. And said that whoever does it, he will be cursed. Why so? Because just before Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, when this place was demolished, Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, is known to have forbidden his followers to build anything on this. And he said when the time would come, those who are destined to build a place of worship, they would do it. But whoever builds a place of worship who is not destined, which is to be later on, he would be destroyed and annihilated. So that tradition continued till that time. So the Christians said that if you build anything on this, you will destroy yourself. The fate will destroy you. And Abdul Malik said, “if that is the objection, then I’m ready to face anything.”
So he took the first. I mean, he was the first to start the actual building process. By removing some rubble or laying a brick, I don’t remember. But anyway, he was the first man who actually was employed as labor directly to start building a mosque. And that mosque is called Masjid-e-Aqsa of today.
Questioner: So that is outside the premises of Haqq al-Sulaimani?
Huzoor: No, no. That is on the remains of Haqq al-Sulaimani. On the same, it is a sort of hillock on which that Haqq al-Sulaimani was built. From time to time rebuilt and rebuilt and so on. Now, as I told you, it was, the rubbles and the remains of Haqq al-Sulaimani remain unattended for centuries. Many, many centuries.
Since the time of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, nothing was built on this. So all that the Muslims did was, despite that prophecy of curse, they faced the curse and said, well, if the curse was to befall, it was to befall on some others. We are the destined people who were to inherit this place. So we will not be cursed. And they were not cursed. So that shows that it was destined by Allah that when the Muslims inherit this place, they do not have to demolish a place of worship at all. They would occupy a place which was already in shackles and in rubbles. So if anybody has a remote claim at all, it is the Christians, not the Jews.
