Holy Land And Religion

Southwest Asia is home to a variety of cultures as well as religions. It has an significant past with three major religions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. It is quite remarkable that Southwest Asia has been a holy place for all three, and although it causes turmoil it is important to understand the three religions and their customs. Such information may help us not to judge so quickly or perhaps to grow in our knowledge about the world. Hopefully this will help everyone to have a wider view of the world than just the town they reside in or even the country they live in.

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all have similar origins, development, beliefs, and sacred texts. Contrary to popular belief all three of these religions share more common ground than one would think. The differences are present of course, but the similarities help one understand where all three were derived from and why. All of the religions share the common ground as to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the belief of monotheism, and “ethical standards required social justice for individuals and for the community” (144). Judaism is the oldest religion out of the three, then falls Christianity, and lastly Islam.

(a) Mecca, an oasis city located in western Arabia, is the birthplace to the Arab prophet Muhammad.

“There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.”

”This is important because it had a lasting effect on the holy land. Document 5 states that “relations between

What he says: “This is a very important matter. Every city, country, province, and kingdom,

How has the geography of religion evolved over the centuries? The region has evolved in many ways for example the birth of KRISHNA too place in 3,000 B.C, Hinduism started around 1,500 B.C. in India and grew then the birth of ABRAHAM around 1,500 B.C. Judaism began as the covenant between God and Abraham around 1812 B.C. shortly after where the Israelites conquer Levant, the birth of Buddhism began around the 6th century into present day in Lumbini, Nepal and it is one of the oldest religion today. The map displays the spread of certain religions that stayed mainly in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Islam started in 610 through the Arabian Peninsula. Christianity was developed out of Judaism in the 1st century and was founded on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and that Jesus was the son of God. Christianity and Islam expanded throughout the world becoming the two most dominant religions overtime. Christianity spread abroad and was the main religion throughout the world with Islam following. The map again displays that Christianity spread throughout with Islam and Judaism mostly in the middle east, Hinduism and Buddhism in India and Asia.

Jerusalem, in modern times, represents a religious space to Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Jerusalem is defined by its long history of change and development. Early primary sources details and justifies the religious significance of the city. Each of the major religions that revere Jerusalem has their own reasoning. Prior to the Christian and Islamic belief, the Jewish believers associate Jerusalem with Davidic rule and the First and Second Temple on the Temple Mount. Muslims regard Jerusalem as holy, because “the Prophetical nocturnal journey was to Jerusalem first, and that the ascension of the Prophet Muhammad to Heaven started from Jerusalem, from al-Sakhra known now as Qubbat al-Sakhra (the Dome of the Rock)” (El-Khatib 2001:34). The Dome of the Rock is still present and can be visited today on the Temple Mount within Jerusalem. Similar to the ascension of Prophet Muhammad, the Christians believe that Jerusalem is the location of Jesus’ resurrection from death. The Dome of the Rock bears great significance to the Islamic people, but the question remains: Why exactly was it built on top of the Temple Mount? There can be multiple interpretations of the answer to this question. Some “claim that the reason for building [the Dome of the Rock] in Jerusalem was that, since Ibn al-Zubayr was in possession of Mek-kah, ‘Abd al-Malik wanted to divert pilgrims from the Hijaz by establishing the Palestinian city as the religious center of Islam” (Grabar 1959:35). Abd al- Malik

For the Jewish people, Jerusalem has long been regarded as a special city, chosen by God as he chose the people of Israel. The importance of Jerusalem in the Jewish religious tradition can be traced back to the Hebrew Bible, in which narratives describe the events which make the city sacred. However, these events alone do not make Jerusalem a sacred place; the biblical texts also work together to portray the importance and holiness of Yahweh, the God of Israel. The concept of sacredness is also highlighted by Mircea Eliade, who theorized about how a sacred place comes into existence. The biblical texts support Eliade 's ideas of the sacred by narrating repeated hierophanies and promises, working together to reveal the importance of the divine to the people of ancient Israel.

The land of Israel has been the epicenter of Jewish-Muslims relations for hundreds of years. The Jewish claimed lands in Israel and established Jerusalem roughly five thousand years ago. Having survived through multiple of the world’s most powerful empires, the Jewish largely remained in the holy land of Israel. However, after angering Muhammad, the Muslim general Omar conquered Israel in 638 AD (Arlandson). The Muslims took complete control over Jerusalem and claimed the city to be the second holiest site in Islam. The intentions of Jerusalem were to allow Muslims to pray towards Jerusalem or Mecca and to allow Muslims to complete the Hajj if Mecca was ever forced to be shut off to foreigners (Pipes). In the mid 600s, the Umayyad dynasty

Moses: The Holy Land is important for my faith because it is where I was given the Ten Commandments from God. It is also significant to me because I lead many people from Egypt to the Holy Land.

Tonight, each of us can ask, “Where and what is my Galilee? Do I remember it? Have I forgotten it?” At key points in my life, I may need to seek it again and treasure it more profoundly. For often, it is there that the Lord is waiting.

"Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods (elohim). For in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them." (parenthetical insertion mine)

Before coming to Regis I had never opened a bible, when I tell people that they usually write me off as an atheist or a heathen. This surprises me because after briefly looking through the bible it talks about how we should treat everyone as equals and to not judge others. The bible also wants us to reflect upon our own lives, which I believe is a very important aspect that the Christian religion should focus more on. The bible dates back to 1400 BC in a time where it was forbidden to practice your own religion. It is a series of stories written by disciples of God and Jesus to tell people how they should live their lives. Even though I have just started to really decipher the

14:1-19:51), the Cities of Refuge (Joshua 20:1-9), the Cities of the Levites (Joshua 21:1-45), and the land East of the Jordan (Joshua 22:1-34). Joshua completes God’s work by informing the Israelites how to retain the Promised Land in two speeches (Joshua 23:1-24:28), which Joshua summed up this way,