Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Wasiti was the preacher (''khatib'') of

al-Aqsa Mosque The Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Qibli Mosque or Qibli Chapel is the main congregational mosque or Musalla, prayer hall in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. In some sources the building is also n ...

in 1019–1020 ( AH 410), the year he wrote a treatise entitled ''Concerning the (religious) status of Jerusalem'', better known as ''Fada'il Bayt al-Muqaddas'', also spelled ''Fada'il al-Bayt al-Maqdis'', literally "Merits/Virtues of Jerusalem".

Significance

Al-Wasiti and his cousin, Ibn al-Murajja, are both known as diarists belonging to the same prominent family from Jerusalem, Abd al-Rahman. Their writings are among the early examples of a classical Islamic literary genre praising the virtues of the holy cities, the ''Fada'il al-Mudun'' ("virtues of cities"), and specifically to the ''Fada'il Bayt al-Maqdis'', literally, the "Merits of the Holy House", ''Bayt al-Maqdis'' being an early Muslim name for Jerusalem. Al-Wasiti uses as his main source the earliest known book of this genre dedicated to Jerusalem, the now lost ''Fada'il Bayt al-Maqdis'' written by al-Walid ibn Hammad al-Ramli al-Zayyat (d. 912), himself also from Jerusalem. The fact that al-Wasiti lived before 1099, the year Jerusalem fell to the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

, makes him particularly interesting, as his religious praise of the city is not yet motivated by the purpose of fuelling Muslim fervour for its liberation. As a native scholar, Al-Wasiti records the religious merits of Jerusalem, which have two main aspects in Early Muslim tradition:

eschatological Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that negative world ...

and

prophetic In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divin ...

. In this context he writes about the construction of the

Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock () is an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. It is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, the List_of_the_ol ...

by Caliph

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam (; July/August 644 or June/July 647 – 9 October 705) was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from April 685 until his death in October 705. A member of the first generation of born Muslims, his early life in ...

, helping us understand how Mount Moriah became assimilated into the Muslim tradition, with a focus on three elements: Creation and the

Last Judgement The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

and

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

, and Prophet

Mohammed Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...

's Night Journey. The first two are of course influences of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

biblical and para-biblical narratives and traditions, constituting Isra'iliyat.

Significance

References

See also