The record of history shows that Muhammad died in 632 AD, that Muslims conquered Jerusalem from the Byzantines (Christians) in 638 AD, that Amir Abd-ul-Malik built the Dome of the Rock between 688 and 691 AD, and the Ummayads built Masjid al-Aqsa in 715 AD.
When Surah 17:001 was 'sent-down' ~ 621 AD, Palestine contained not a single mosque, was captured 17 years later in 638 AD, 6 years after Muhammad's death, the Dome of the Rock was built 56-59 years after Muhammad's death, 67-70 years after 17:001 was 'sent-down', and Masjid al- Aqsa was built 83 years after Muhammad's death, 94 years after 17:001 was 'sent-down.'
Islam's mythical and militant claim on Jerusalem is entirely without historical support or foundation. Islam comes way too late in history to lay claim to Jerusalem "The Holy City," it is on the wrong side of history.
Historical mention of Jerusalem predates the city's appearance in Jewish history. Ancient texts such as the Egyptian execration texts (2000-1900 B.C.E.) refer to the city as Rushalimum. The word Jerusalem becomes more recognizable in a series of letters from around 1400 B.C.E. attributed to scribes acting on behalf of King Abdi-Hepa of Urusalim.
[2] The Jebusites inhabited the ancient site of Jerusalem, perhaps as early as 3200 B.C.E.,
[3] but there is reference to Yabusu, an old form of Jebus, on a contract tablet that dates from 2200 B.C.E.
[4]The first mention of the Jebusites in the Bible occurs as Genesis lists the descendents of Noah. Here, they are counted as direct descendents of a man named Canaan.
[5] Then in Exodus, as the Jews look to move to the land of Canaan that was promised to their patriarch Abraham, God promises to "drive out" the Jebusites and other tribes from the Promised Land.
[6] In Deuteronomy, God orders the Jews to destroy completely "the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than yourselves," and forbids intermarriage with them.
[7]The Christian narrative continues into the New Testament, initially treating the Jebusites under the more general rubric of the Canaanites. In Matthew 15:22, a Canaanite woman approaches Jesus because her daughter is possessed by a demon. Craig Blomberg, professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary, argues that Matthew picked the word "Canaanite" in order to conjure up images of past Canaanite evils.
[12] Jesus initially tells the woman that to assist her would be equivalent to helping a despised dog, but he eventually relents.
[13] The incident suggests a new disposition toward the Canaanites, including by extension the Jebusites.
A Myth CreatedThe claim to Jebusite heritage within the Palestinian community is a recent construct. For many Muslims, Jerusalem became important as a result of the Prophet Muhammad's night journey. Ghada Hashem Talhami, a former editor of Arab Studies Quarterly and, at present, a professor of politics at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois, explains, "The story of Muslim regard for Jerusalem begins with the Prophet Muhammad's nocturnal journey, as it is referred to in the Qur'an, and ascension to heaven."
[16] Even then, the Qur'an mentions neither the Jebusites nor, for that matter, the city of Jerusalem.
[17]While most Palestinian Christians are Eastern Orthodox and not evangelical in the U.S. sense, Genesis 12:3, which describes God's covenant to Abraham—"I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse"
[40]—remains relevant. The Old Testament identifies the Jebusites as the enemies of God to be annihilated. While the New Testament suggests that love toward enemies should supplant old animosities, Christians view both Israel and the Jebusites through a theological and political lens incorporating both the Old and New Testaments.
[41] In full...One comparison makes this point most clearly: Jerusalem appears in the Jewish Bible 669 times and Zion (which usually means Jerusalem, sometimes the Land of Israel) 154 times, or 823 times in all. The Christian Bible mentions Jerusalem 154 times and Zion 7 times. In contrast, the columnist Moshe Kohn notes, Jerusalem and Zion appear as frequently in the Qur'an "as they do in the Hindu Bhagavad-Gita, the Taoist Tao-Te Ching, the Buddhist Dhamapada and the Zoroastrian Zend Avesta"—which is to say, not once.
In full....
