ABSTRACT

This chapter analyzes classical Islamic sources regarding the Jewish attachment to the Temple Mount, nowadays the location of the Haram al-Sharif/Al-Aqsa Mosque. The sources cited in this section come from a variety of genres: Jerusalem and Holy Places praise literature (Fada’il al-Quds), early Islamic history books, Quran commentaries, geography books and folk traditions. These sources fully accept the affinity of the Jews and the Temple Mount. The narrative that arises from the sources is most similar to the Jewish and Christian narrative on this subject: the building of the First Temple by the kings David and Solomon on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Jews’ exile to Babylon, their return to the Land of Israel and the building of the Second Temple, and the Jewish exile again by the armies of Rome.