Between Jerusalem and Mecca

This book sheds new light on Jerusalem's status in early Islam. The sanctity of the city is already discerned in the Qur an. The vision of redemption that the Qur an displays coincides with the messianic expectations that have swept throughout the entire region, especially among the Jews, due to the attempted renewal of Jewish liturgy in Jerusalem following the Persian victory over Byzantium in 614.On the other hand, the Qur an also portrays the holiness of Mecca and the Kaba. This book shows how it promotes their pre-Islamic holiness around the image of Abraham and Ishmael. The changing balance between the sanctity of Jerusalem and the sanctity of Mecca, in favor of the latter, is noticeable in the Qur an as one proceeds from the Meccan suras to the Medinan ones. The change occurs against the background of the twist in relations between Muhammad and the Jews. This book also points out the correlation between Muhammad's situation in Medina and events in Palestine involving the victory of the Byzantines over the Persians in 628, as alluded to in the opening passage of Surat al-Rum (30).Thie work illuminates the growing sanctity of Jerusalem following the arrival of the first Muslims to Palestine. As in the Qur an, Mecca continued to struggle to preserve its status as a holy city vis-à-vis that of Jerusalem. Key aspects of this struggle are reflected in traditions in which patterns of sanctity move from Jerusalem to Mecca, and which this book also scrutinizes.