A thousand women..!!

Yes, a thousand women..they were stationed in the premises of Al-Aqsa Mosque, worshipers, piety, scholars and educated people, repelling the most heinous barbaric attack targeting Al-Aqsa Mosque in its history!!

We do not talk about the Zionist General Ariel Sharon storming the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque in the year 1421 AH / 2000 AD, and therefore we do not talk about the struggles of the Almoravids and the Al-Mourabitat today about Al-Aqsa against the occupation, which are transmitted by satellite channels!!

We are talking about the bloody Crusader attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque nearly a thousand years ago;

As Imam al-Qadi Ibn al-Arabi al-Andalusi (d. 543 AH / 1148 AD) tells us, at Al-Aqsa at that time there was a “rabati organization” that consisted of about a thousand women who belonged to one feminist scientific leadership, and they turned, in that terrible moment of aggression, into fierce defenders of Al-Aqsa when the Crusaders stormed its courtyards. They were steadfast in their defense of him until they were all martyred while they were patient and steadfast!!

This glorious opening scene - and the old renewed struggle of the "Women of Al-Aqsa" movement today - is the best thing to begin with when we try to draw a pen portrait expressing the status of Al-Aqsa Mosque in the hearts of Arabs and Muslims.

The first thing that draws attention in the history of Al-Aqsa Mosque is the birth of the first project to develop its construction in Islamic history!

If the construction of the Grand Mosque in Makkah al-Mukarramah was connected to the direct divine order of the Prophet Ibrahim - peace be upon him - to build, and if the Prophet’s Mosque was raised by the honorable hand of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him;

The Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa Mosque was erected on the advice of the Caliph at the time from the Muslims, so its construction came with the participation of the Ummah and perhaps with a “unanimity” from them at the time.

The other remarkable thing in the history of Al-Aqsa is the association of its name with the concept of "rabat"!

And the ribat is originally those ascetic jihadist incubators that worshipers establish on the open borders with enemies, thus embodying “the monasticism of the night and the chivalry of the day.”

Of these Almoravids, three thousand scholars and righteous people were martyred in the massacre of the old Crusader colonialism, who were the adornment of the corridors of Al-Aqsa Mosque and its blessed shrines!!

At the forefront of these Almoravids was Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali (d. 505 AH / 1111 AD), and although he did not witness the Crusader Al-Aqsa massacre, he wrote - in a narration - with the vastness of his great book, which accompanied the mujahideen wherever they went, and chanted and raised thousands of warriors in the Zangi, Ayyubid and Mamluk states. ;

Those countries that presented the greatest projects of liberation and resistance in the nation's history.

At a time when the aggression against Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa continues in a Zionist mold that was made and empowered by Crusader forces;

The call of the stationed to defend the gaps of the sanctities is still echoing in the sky of Al-Aqsa, stressing that his story is still the central issue with the “unanimity” of the nation!!

This is what this article seeks to reveal its manifestations in its history.

A firm virtue


The Al-Aqsa Mosque is the second mosque built for people on earth after the Grand Mosque in Makkah;

Al-Bukhari (d. 256 AH / 870 AD) narrated on the authority of Abu Dhar Al-Ghafari (d. 32 AH / 654 AD) - may God be pleased with him - that he said: “I said, O Messenger of God, which mosque was placed on the ground first? He said: “The Sacred Mosque.” He said: I said: Then which? He said: Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Also, the Al-Aqsa Mosque is a verse in the Book of God Almighty: {Glory be to Him who took His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, who blessed him.}

And if the hadiths and legal effects have been repeated on the virtue of Al-Aqsa Mosque;

What concerns us in this article is an attempt to monitor the practical evidence of that virtue in the history of Muslims through the ages, and how its manifestations were manifested in their lives when they made it an incubator for worship, science and education and an outpost for stationing and jihad.

Perhaps the first thing that is mentioned about the practical status of Al-Aqsa Mosque in the hearts of Muslims is the nobility of what Muslim scholars composed about the virtue of Al-Aqsa Mosque;

The authorship on the virtues of Bayt al-Maqdis is a companion to the entire history of Islamic codification. The first book on this was compiled by Bishr ibn Ishaq al-Balkhi (d. 206 AH / 831 AD) entitled: “Futuh Bayt al-Maqdis”, which is older than the two books of Azraqi (d. 250 AH / 864 AD) and Al-Fakihi (d. 272 ​​AH). /885 AD) the two bloggers in the honorable Makkah News.

As for the first book that was classified under the name of “The Virtues of Bait Al-Maqdis” it is by Al-Walid bin Hammad Al-Ramli (d. about 300 AH / 912 AD), and it is contemporary with the authors of the Six Books, and Imam al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1347 AD) was translated to him in “Sir of the Nobles” and described him as “the preserver… And he was divine.”

Then the books on the merits and history of Bayt Al-Maqdis continued, reaching a number that is difficult to enumerate.

A unique precedent


was that of the moral, historical and intellectual care of Jerusalem; As for the practical aspect, the first thing that is mentioned in the status of Bayt Al-Maqdis in the hearts of Muslims is what was done in its construction, architecture and decoration. In the first moment in which Caliph Omar al-Faruq (d. 23 AH / 645 AD) received Jerusalem as the conquest of the year 16 AH / 638 AD; He walked to the place of the rock, "and found on the rock a lot of dung that the Romans had thrown out in anger to the Children of Israel, so Umar spread his robe and started to sweep that dung, and the Muslims were swept up with him." According to the historian Mujir al-Din al-Ulaymi (d. 928 AH / 1522 AD) in 'The Galilee People on the History of Jerusalem and Hebron'.

What is recorded here for Al-Aqsa Mosque is that the first development project to build it was built by a decision of the nation, and the authority was not alone in the honor of building it; Imam Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 654 AH / 1256 AD) - in 'Mirrat al-Zaman' - stated that "when Abd al-Malik (Ben Marwan d. 86 AH / 706 AD) decided to build it (= the Dome of the Rock), he wrote to the people of the cities who are in his obedience. .: As for what follows, the Commander of the Faithful had resolved to build a dome on the rock of Bait Al-Maqdis, which would be a shade and a shelter for Muslims.. And he hated to embark on that before consulting the people of opinion.. And the grace of his subjects; {[Al-Imran: 159] So let them write to him what they have of what he has resolved to do! So they wrote to him: that the Commander of the Faithful may complete what he has resolved to build the Holy House of God and decorate the Al-Aqsa Mosque, may God perform good deeds on his hands.”

Although historians saw that Abdul Malik’s intention to consult the nation stemmed from the weakness of his internal front due to the dispute over the succession with the great companion Abdullah bin Al-Zubayr (d. 73 AH / 693 AD);

This does not challenge the fact that Al-Aqsa Mosque was built by the exceptional collective will of the nation at the time of the forced king!

Abd al-Malik assigned two of his finest men: the modern jurist Rajaa bin Haywa (d. 112 AH / 731 AD) and Yazid bin Salam (Male of the Caliph, d. after 72 AH / 692 AD) to supervise the construction, but he was nevertheless concerned with the most accurate details of the construction before starting it.

Sobt Ibn al-Jawzi tells us that Abd al-Malik “gathered craftsmen and engineers from the horizons, and ordered them to paint the dome before it was built, so they photographed it for him in the courtyard of the mosque, and he liked it!”

This is similar to the idea of ​​what is known today - in the field of engineering building designs - as the "architectural model" (maquette) that is placed for construction before its implementation!!

Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi adds that Abd al-Malik "built for money (= the construction budget) a house to the east of the dome and charged it with money, and ordered Raja and Yazid to empty the money and not stop at anything [from the matter of architecture], so construction was completed on the dome that is standing today."

Al-Ulaimi informs us - in “The Galilee” - with an estimate of those expenses;

He says that Abd al-Malik "save a lot of money for architecture, it is said that it is the tax of Egypt for seven years!"

Nothing was returned from the money allocated for the construction of Al-Aqsa Mosque and its dome to the treasury. Rather, Abd al-Malik instructed his workers, in the thousands of dinars that remained after the completion of construction, to “empty it on the dome and the doors! !

That gold remained on the mosque for decades, then later became an asset for the renovation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque;

In the year 131 AH / 750 AD, an earthquake hit Bait al-Maqdis and severely destroyed the Al-Aqsa Mosque. I am rebuilding him today, but take off these plates on the dome and the doors, and rebuild him with them! So they did.”

According to the tribe of Ibn al-Jawzi.

Increasing care and


we find with Imam Ibn Kathir - in “The Beginning and the End” - a documentation of the date of the completion of the construction of the Dome of the Rock;

He says that “when the construction was completed, they wrote on the dome - from what follows the Qibli door from the al-Aqsa side - with the text after the basmalah: “This dome was built by Abdullah Abd al-Malik, the Commander of the Faithful, in the year seventy-two of the Prophet’s migration (72 AH / 692 AD).”

and since then; And the care of Al-Aqsa Mosque is growing and increasing, until Al-Ulaymi asserts that Al-Aqsa Mosque is superior to all the mosques of its time in terms of area and construction. He held a chapter entitled: “Remembering the description of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and what it is in our time,” and he said: “Know… that the Noble Al-Aqsa Mosque..has no equal under the sky, and no mosque is built in its attribute or capacity!!” This was confirmed a century and a half earlier by the traveler Ibn Battuta (d. 779 AH / 1377 AD), who visited Jerusalem and described Al-Aqsa as “there is no mosque on the face of the earth greater than it”!!

No wonder they asserted this. The area of ​​Al-Aqsa Mosque inside the old wall is 144,000 square meters, and until the fifties of the last century its area was several times the size of the Two Holy Mosques. According to Saudi official data; The area of ​​the Grand Mosque in Makkah before the year 1376 AH / 1956 AD was estimated at about 28 thousand square meters. As for the Prophet’s Mosque, its area before the year 1372 AH / 1952 AD was slightly more than 10 thousand square meters; Then the condition of the two mosques continued to expand, and Al-Aqsa remained under the Zionist occupation as it was until they exceeded it.

since its construction; Al-Aqsa Mosque was decorated with huge numbers of lamps suspended on gold and silver chains of various sizes and weights, and this remained the case until a relatively late period, the ninth century AH / 15th century AD; Shams al-Din al-Asyouti (d. 880 AH / 1475 AD) - in 'Ithaf al-Khassa with the virtues of al-Aqsa Mosque' - states that "of the chains for lamps there are four hundred chains except fifteen, of which two hundred chains and thirty chains are in the mosque, and the rest are in the Dome of the Rock, and the length of the chains is four thousand." An arm (the arm = approximately 53 cm), and its weight is forty-three thousand pounds in Shami (= about 1900 grams), and five thousand jellyfish are!!

These lanterns of gold and silver were not mere lighting or adornment, but were considered a wealth in themselves, the invaders did not neglect their value, so they plundered them in every occupation that plagues Al-Aqsa and Al-Quds Al-Sharif. Abu al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH / 1201 AD) mentions, for example - in 'Al Muntazim' - that when the Crusaders occupied Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa in 492 AH/1099 AD, "they took from the rock more than forty silver lamps, each lamp weighing three thousand six hundred dirhams (= its value today is 4500). about a dollar), and they took a silver tandoor weighing forty pounds in Shami, and they took more than twenty lanterns of gold!!

Private management of the


Dome of the Rock; Since the completion of its construction, it has been provided by the superior parish and the great services that befit it, including its perfume and evaporation in a ceremony of great beauty and wonder, at the hands of a team of employees dedicated to serving and caring for it; The imam historian Ibn Kathir (d. 774 AH / 1372 AD) tells us - in 'The Beginning and the End' - that when he built the Dome of the Rock, Abd al-Malik bin Marwan dedicated "a custodian and servants to it."

Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi - in the mirror of time - tells us that this management team had its own uniform, and its work was very precise and orderly; He says: “The gardeners used to dissolve musk, amber, rosemary and saffron every Monday and Thursday, and they used it expensively (= good) with rose water and fermented it at night. = perfume) So they take off their clothes, put on the clothes of the washi, and tie their waists with gold-encrusted areas.

And he adds - speaking about how they perfumed the Dome of the Rock - that they "create (= sweeten) the rock, then incense was placed in gold and silver incense burners, and in it [the lunar oud] covered with musk, and the linden loosened the covers, then the rocks were lifted, and the rocks were eroded. The curtains, and that smell comes out until it fills the whole city, then a caller calls out: The rock has opened, so whoever wants to visit, let him come!

The rock and its mosque were the focus of the sultans' attention later on, and care increased about it after its liberation from the Crusaders; Imad al-Din al-Isfahani (d. 597 AH / 1201 AD) reported - in 'Al-Fath al-Qusi' - that "the Sultan [Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi (d. 589 AH / 1193 AD)] arranged in the Dome of the Rock an imam of the best recited, decorated them with talwa, and called them by voice, and named them in the Religion has a reputation, and I know them with the seven readings, rather the ten.. He stood over him as a house, land and garden, and he showed him a house and a kindness.”

Al-Isfahani then spoke of what Salah al-Din had observed from the holdings and management of the architecture of the dome and the mosque; He said, "He was brought to it and to the mihrab of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, copies of Qur'an and seals, and quadrants (= copies of the Qur'an distributed in 30 parts) in ostentatious..., and he arranged for this dome in particular and for the Holy House in general a group (= employees) to include its interests, and the only arranged are those who know the devotion, and those who stand in worship; How delightful the night is when the crowds have come! And the candles have blossomed (= lit)! And reverence has been revealed! Submission is condemned! And tears have flowed from the righteous! Because of the heavy traffic and the turnout at the Dome of the Rock and the mosque, “the most people who realize that they pray two rak’ahs, and the least of them are four”; According to Al-Ulaymi in Anas Al-Jalil.

Eternal landmarks


As for the most important urban landmarks of Al-Aqsa;

If the Al-Aqsa Mosque is mentioned today, the first thing that comes to mind is the image of the honorable blue Dome of the Rock mosque with a golden dome, except for the common people of Jerusalem, who turn their minds to the “Qibli Mosque” with the lead dome.

The truth is to the contrary.

Al-Olaymi says that “it is common knowledge among the people that Al-Aqsa - from the direction of the qiblah - is the mosque built in the chest of the mosque, which contains the pulpit and the great mihrab.

This is what Al-Ulaimi said is the one that is adopted today by specialists, and it became known to many of the public because of the repeated awareness of it.

The following is an attempt to describe the most important features of the Al-Aqsa Mosque between yesterday and today, based on the wonderful detailed description deposited by Al-Alimi in his book “The Galilee”:

1- Al-Qibli Mosque: Al-Ulaymi said in his description: “The mosque that is in its chest (= the chest of Al-Aqsa Mosque) at the direction of the qiblah, in which Friday is held, and it is known to the people that it is Al-Aqsa Mosque, it includes a great building with a high dome decorated with colored lobes. Under the dome is the pulpit and the mihrab, and on the dome is “lead from its surface” as it looks until now, and this building is still the central mosque, and in it is the pulpit of Salah al-Din / Nur al-Din Zangi (d. 569 AH / 1173 AD) on which the preacher stands every Friday.

2- Dome of the Rock Mosque: It is the octagonal mosque with the famous golden dome. It was previously mentioned that Abdul Malik ordered hundreds of thousands of dinars to be poured on it, so it was really golden, not just gold-plated.

Although Friday is not held in the Dome of the Rock, it was in it that “the Eid and the rain were prayed” in the ancient era;

According to al-Ulaymi.

It is understood from the words of al-Ulaimi and others that the Dome of the Rock had an independent imam;

It has been translated for other than one as "the imam of the rock mosque".

but now;

No independent prayer is held in the Rock Mosque, but prayer in it is a follow-up to prayer in the Al-Qibli Mosque, and women usually pray there, especially in Fridays and seasons.

3- Dome of the Chain: There are many domes in Al-Aqsa Mosque except for the two famous domes, all of which are smaller than them.

The most famous of these is the Dome of the Chain, which al-Ulaymi described as “a very circumstantial dome on pillars of marble.” It was built to be a miniature model of the Dome of the Rock before its construction, and therefore it is “in the manner of the Dome of the Rock”;

According to Al-Olaymi.

4- The old Al-Aqsa and Al-Marwani Mosque: Both are located to the east of the “Al-Masjid Al-Qibli”, while the “old Al-Aqsa” is located under the Al-Qibli Mosque from the side of the mihrab, and next to it is the “Al-Masjid Al-Marwani”. Al-Ulaimi said: “And the bottom (= the bottom) of the mosque - from the direction of the qiblah - is a large knotted place (= built), and it has walls that support the roof.., and this lower place is called “last Aqsa of the old” .., and beside this place - also the bottom of the mosque under The side where the trees and the olives - a great knotted place." This place is known today as "Al-Marwani Mosque".

5- Al-Buraq Wall: It is the western wall of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, in which is located the “Mughrabi Gate” from which the Prophet, peace be upon him, is believed to have entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the night of the Night Journey, “so he descended there and prayed with the prophets as an imam, and linked Al-Buraq to the ring of the door of the mosque”;

According to the narration of Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 752 AH / 1351 AD) in 'Zad al-Ma'ad'.

And the western wall of the mosque [Al-Buraq Wall] is what the Zionists today call the Wailing Wall.

6- The doors: Al-Aqsa Mosque - except the Mughrabi Gate - has fifteen doors, some of which are open and the other closed.

The most famous of the open doors are: “Bab al-Silsilah” and “Bab al-Sakina,” about which al-Ulaimi says: “And from them he goes out to the greatest street.. They are the pillars of the mosque’s doors, and most of the people’s penetration (= entry) into the mosque is from them!”

These two gates are still of such importance, and people's dependence on them increased after the closure of the Mughrabi Gate since 1387 AH / 1967 AD.

7- The arches: As for the arches, they are one of the most important features of beauty in the courtyard of the Dome of the Rock. Al-Alimi described them by saying: “The courtyard is furnished with white tiles, and it can be accessed from several places in the courtyard of the mosque. Every place has a staircase made of stone, and at the top of the stair are arches (= arches) raised on pillars.

In some books, these arches are called "al-Bawa'iq", the plural of al-Bawa'iq, which is an exquisite architectural masterpiece.

8- The terraces: one of them is a terrace, which are places that are higher than the ground by less than a meter, to which there are stairs, and knowledge boards are usually held in them.

In the past, public meetings may have been organized;

Al-Ulaimi mentioned examples of this, one of which was his attendance at an important meeting of senior officials and scholars that was held “in the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the platform located at the door of the Al-Mughrabi Mosque,” ​​in Rabi’ Al-Awwal 879 AH / 1474 AD to discuss a problem that arose at the time regarding the “Jewish Church in Jerusalem.”

An educational incubator in addition


to the construction and service architecture of Al-Aqsa Mosque, with its various facilities and annexes;

We find another type of care that is more related to the sacred status of this honorable mosque, which can be called the devotional "ascetic architecture" that goes beyond the concern for the daily witnessing of the five daily prayers in it to linking it to some other pillars of Islam such as Hajj and fasting.

Many of the righteous would like to be deprived of the pilgrimage from Al-Aqsa Mosque;

The origin of this habit came in accordance with the hadeeth narrated by (T 275 AH / 888 AD) by the mother of believers Umm Salamah (d. 61 AH / 682 AD) she heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ says: «of the people under the pretext or Umrah from Al-Aqsa Mosque to the Grand Mosque will be forgiven his sins And what is delayed, or Paradise is obligatory for him.

Although the attribution of the hadith is not without an article;

Abu Dawud supported him with action and said: “May God have mercy on Wakee’ (Ben Al-Jarrah Al-Imam Al-Hafiz T. 197 AH / 813 AD), he was in Ihram from Bayt Al-Maqdis, meaning to Mecca.”

As Imam al-Baghawi (d. 516 AH / 1122 AD) said - in 'Sharh al-Sunnah' - that entering Ihram for Hajj from Al-Aqsa "was done by more than one of the Companions."

It seems that this custom has been rooted since the time of the noble Companions, and it remained common in the generations of Muslims until the occupation of Al-Aqsa Mosque by the Zionists.

Perhaps the most beautiful story of Ihram from Al-Aqsa Mosque was mentioned by historians, and it was the most informative statement of Al-Aqsa’s place in the hearts of Muslims.

It is the story of the Ihram of a group of Mujahideen who came to Jerusalem from various regions of the Levant, the Euphrates Island and Diyarbakir, located today in the southeast of Turkey, and participated in its liberation from the Crusaders in the year 583 AH / 1187 AD.

Al-Fath bin Ali Al-Isfahani (d. 643 AH / 1245 AD) - in 'Mukhtasar Sunna al-Barq al-Shami' - stated that "when the end of the conquest of Jerusalem came, the Hajj came..., and they said (= the Mujahideen): We are forbidden from the Al-Aqsa Mosque to the Sacred House, and we win with Realizing the virtue of [restoring] Jerusalem - this year - by performing the duty of jihad and Hajj, the two pillars of Islam.


An

ancient “sanctification”

As for the visit to Jerusalem at the end of the pilgrimage journey - which is called “the sanctification of Hajj” - it usually remained more widespread than the previous one.

Many Muslims used to perform pilgrimage and then go to the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina to visit and pray in it, then they did not see more perfect or more beautiful for their pilgrimage than to “sanctify” it by visiting Jerusalem and praying in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Researchers have mistakenly attributed this custom to the eras of the Ottoman Empire.

It is a custom rooted in the history of Muslims because it was originally based on the well-known hadith: “The journey is only to three mosques” (Bukhari and Muslim narrated it);

It is as if the hadith combined the mention of the three mosques in one context, Muslims liked to combine visiting them all on the pilgrimage journey.

Indeed, the "official campaign of pilgrimage" has been doing this "sanctification" since the first centuries;

Ibn al-Jawzi said - in al-Muntazim - within the events of the year 140 AH / 758 AD: “[Abbasid Caliph] Abu Jaafar al-Mansur went out for a pilgrimage and was deprived of al-Hira [southern Iraq], then returned after completing the pilgrimage to Medina [the Prophet], and from there he went to Bayt Al-Maqdis (early 141 AH / 759 AD) prayed in its mosque, then went to the Levant, leaving towards Iraq.

Then, in the later centuries, "sanctification" became an indispensable part of the pilgrimage.

The strange thing is that there were also scholars and worshipers who intended to fast Ramadan at Al-Aqsa in the same way that they intended to enter Ihram for Hajj.

Imam al-Qadi Ibn al-Arabi al-Andalusi al-Maliki (d. 543 AH / 1148 AD) records the presence in this sense of groups of devotees in Rehab al-Aqsa, and he says in 'Siraj al-Muridin': "And every year from the mountains of the Levant, a group of devotees (= worshipers) came to us in Beit al-Maqdis and fasted. In the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the month of Ramadan, then they return to their mountains and caves!!

The capacity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque allowed for more than one prayer to be held in it when it was created - as happened in the two holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah starting from the fifth AH / 11th century AD - the multiplicity of mihrabs according to the multiplicity of the four schools of jurisprudence;

However, the scholars as if they hated to hold two prayers for the congregation at the same time, so they made the prayers a fixed temporal arrangement according to the doctrines.

Al-Alimi - in “Al-Anas Al-Jaleel” - mentioned the details of the imams and the order of the prayers;

He said: As for the imams arranged in it, the first of them is the Imam of the Malikis. He prays in the mosque that is to the west of the mosque from the direction of the qiblah [the Maghareba Mosque].. Then the Imam of the Shafi’is prays in the Great Qibli Mosque, which is familiar to the people at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, then he prays after him in front of the Hanafis at the honorable Dome of the Rock. The imam of the Hanbalis will pray after him.” As for Friday prayer, it was held in the Qibli Mosque only.

Al-Alimi adds: "Al-Aqsa Mosque also has several imams inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the cave of the rock and at the doors of the mosque they pray Tarawih in Ramadan only and the rest of the days they do not pray anything, but the mayor is on the four imams ahead. Although Friday was not held in the Dome of the Rock mosque, he used to "pray in this" The place is Eid and rain.” According to Al-Ulaimi.

A scientific beacon and


not far from the ascetic architecture of Al-Aqsa Mosque;

One of the most prominent manifestations of the Muslims’ concern for Al-Aqsa was that they made it a scientific center with few parallels in the history of Muslims.

And that is under the official sponsorship of the successive countries responsible for Jerusalem, as Al-Alimi states that all “kings and notables .. endowed with endowments for the interests and service of Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

This indicates that the official sponsorship of scientific activity in Bayt Al-Maqdis began very early and was generous.

What Al-Dhahabi transmitted - in 'Sir Al-Alam Al-Nubala'- on the authority of "Imam example, Sheikh of Palestine" Ibrahim Ibn Abi Abla (d. 152 AH / 770 AD) that he was saying about the Umayyad Caliph Al-Waleed bin Abdul Malik (d. 96 AH / 716 AD): "May God have mercy on Al-Waleed." And where is the example of Al-Walid? He opened India and Andalusia, and built the Mosque of Damascus (= the Umayyad Mosque), and he used to give me pieces of silver, which I swore to the reciters (= scholars) of the Mosque of Bait Al-Maqdis!!

Of course, this official sponsorship of Al-Aqsa’s scientific status was reinforced by great efforts made by scholars of all sects and specializations, and it was supported by the devotion and wide turnout of students of knowledge from all countries of the Islamic world.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque began to be used as a school - since the first century AH / seventh century AD - to read the Qur’an first, then to narrate the Prophet’s hadith and teach all Islamic sciences.

And if the scientific activity witnessed its great prosperity in Jerusalem after its liberation from the Crusaders at the end of the sixth century AH / 12th century AD, with the revival of the “Al-Nasiriya School” (validity after the Crusader occupation);

The history books were not devoid of evidence that Al-Aqsa was a large scientific university - rivaling the most important Islamic schools - before the Crusader occupation and its liberation from it. Scholarly discussions flourished there, and pioneering literature was compiled, from which respectable doctrines spread, and embraced the first established schools in the Levant.

This imam Ibn al-Arabi al-Maliki - who tells us a lot in many of his books about his observations in al-Aqsa before the Crusader occupation of Jerusalem - shows his astonishment at the scientific architecture of al-Aqsa and the diversity of school activities in it, to the extent that when he visited Jerusalem in 488 AH/1095 AD, he was amazed at the great scientific vitality in its corridors and the high level for his knowledge!

This scientific vitality prompted him to postpone the pilgrimage for which he came, and to stay at Al-Aqsa to seek knowledge despite the prosperity of his market in neighboring countries and even in his Andalusian country;

In that, he says in his book “The Law of Interpretation”: “I said to my father, may God have mercy on him: If you have an intention to perform Hajj, go with your intention, for I am not prime (= leaving) this town until I know the knowledge of those in it and make that a constitution (= a guiding guide) for knowledge and a ladder to Marrakesh"!!


Knowledge vitality


and we find it describing aspects of that scientific life and the discussions taking place in its councils among those affiliated with the schools of jurisprudence; He says in a story that expresses a scientific comfort that has little counterpart later, and he narrated it in his book 'The Capitals of Al-Qawasim' saying: "I was once sitting in the Shafi'i School in the 'Bab of Reasons' in Al-Aqsa Mosque, and it was held by the sects - from the Shafi'is and the Hanafis - while they were in a council Looking (= jurisprudential debate), then if a questioner came to us, and the owner of the school addressed the Rashid judge Yahya bin Mufarrej Al-Maqdisi (died after 488 AH / 1095 AD), and he was the oldest of the companions of Nasr (Ben Ibrahim al-Maqdisi, d. 490 AH / 1097 AD), and he said to him: I swore to divorce three from My woman, should I not eat nuts and then ate them forgetting [so what should I do]? So he [the judge] looked at them and said: What are you saying? The Hanafi school of thought about her father said: He is perjured! The Shafi’is said differently about it, so the rational judge smiled and said to him: Go, you have nothing to do!!

The regularity of the study in Al-Aqsa was strong at all times, including those that were witnessing a security disturbance in its holy city;

In that also, Ibn al-Arabi says in his interpretation of “Ahkam al-Qur’an”: “And I saw in it (= Bayt al-Maqdis) the strangeness of time, and that is that a rebel revolted against his ruler and refrained from him with food, so [the governor] confined him and tried to fight him with a crossbow for a while, and the country - despite its smallness - continues. As it is.., there was no retreat from the Al-Aqsa Mosque, no debate was interrupted, and the teaching was invalid, but the military had split into two groups fighting!!

Ibn al-Jawzi also tells us - in al-Muntazim - about an important stage of the scientific and mystical life of Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 505 AH / 1111 AD) that he spent in the sanctuaries of Al-Aqsa;

He says that he left "Baghdad, heading to Bait Al-Maqdis, leaving the teaching of the regularities! Ascetic in the world..., then he returned to his country, and he compiled the book 'The Revival' during this period."

Rather, it was attributed to Al-Ghazali a place in Jerusalem where he practiced teaching and education. Al-Ulaimi said that he “moved to Jerusalem, diligently in worship and obedience, and visited the great sights and places, and took in the famous classifications in Jerusalem, so it is said: He compiled in Jerusalem [his book]: ‘The Revival of Religious Sciences’, and he resided in the corner at the Gate of Mercy known before It is called 'Nasiriyah', east of Jerusalem, so it was called al-Ghazaliyah after him.

And if Al-Alimi’s novel presents Al-Aqsa as the cradle of the birth of the most important and most influential books of Imam Al-Ghazali in the scientific and educational history of Muslims;

We find that Al-Aqsa was also the starting point for the dissemination of one of the most important remaining schools of jurisprudence, which is the Hanbali school of thought, which arrived from Iraq to the Levant - in the second half with the fifth / eleventh century AD - by means of Imam Abdul Wahed Al-Shirazi (d. 486 AH/1093 AD), who “committed Al-Sham, so he lived in Bait Al-Maqdis and spread the doctrine of Imam Ahmad around it, then he settled in Damascus and spread the doctrine and the companions graduated with it.”

According to Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (d. 795 AH / 1393 AD) in 'The Tail of Tabaqat al-Hanbali'.

Various Schools


Perhaps Al-Aqsa was also the first Shami incubator for the schools of jurisprudence in their institutional sense;

We also see it in the "Saliyah School", which was not a fact from the establishment of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, as evidenced by its mention in the advanced text of Ibn al-Arabi as the "Shafi'i School", a century before the era of Salah al-Din!

وفي أحد النصوص النادرة في رصدها لنشأة الوقف التعليمي الشخصي وخاصة في القدس؛ يفيدنا ابن العربي -في ‘سراج المريدين‘- بأن الإمام نصر بن إبراهيم المقدسي -المتقدم ذكْره- رصَد وقفاً بالقدس لهذه المدرسة؛ إذْ كانت له داران "فحبس إحدى داريه على الطلبة مع معظم ماله، وجعل النظر فيها إلى يحيى بن مفرج شيخ أصحابه، وشرط أن نصيبه منها كأنصبائهم".

أما ابن واصل الحموي (ت 696هـ/1297م) فيقول -في ‘مفرِّج الكروب‘- إن هذه "المدرسة كانت قبل الإسلام تعرف بـ”صند حنه” (= سانت حنة/القديسة حنة) يذكرون أن فيها قبر حنة أم مريم عليها السلام، ثم صارت في الإسلام ”دار علم” قبل أن يملك الفرنج القدس".

ثم تحدث الحموي عن التقلبات التاريخية التي مرت بها هذه المدرسة؛ فقال إنه "كان يدرس بها العَلَم الفقيه نصر بن إبراهيم المقدسي قُبيل أخذ الفرنج للقدس، ثم لما ملك الفرنج القدس سنة اثنين وتسعين وأربعمئة (492هـ/1099م) أعادوها كنيسة كما كانت قبل الإسلام، فلما فتح السلطان [صلاح الدين] القدس أعادها مدرسة [للشافعية] ووقف عليها وُقوفا (= أوقافاً) جليلة، وفوّض تدريسها ووقْفَها إلى القاضي بهاء الدين بن شداد الموصلي (ت 632هـ/1234م)، وتولاها [بعده] جماعة من الفقهاء".

ولم تلبث "المدرسة الصلاحيّة" أن تحوّلت منارةً علميّة على مستوى العالم الإسلاميّ، حين أصبحت أهم الروافع العلمية المقدسية للحياة العلمية بأروقة المسجد الأقصى. وفي عهد الدولة المملوكية كانت مشيختُها تُعيَّن بمرسومٍ من السلطان بالقاهرة، وبذلك أضحت "وظيفة مشيختها من الوظائف السَّنِية (= الرفيعة) بمملكة الإسلام"؛ حسب العُليمي.

تولى مشيخة "المدرسة الصلاحيّة" عبر الزمان قومٌ من أكابر الفقهاء والمحدثين ومشاهيرهم، وتفيد قصة أوردها ابن شاهين المَلَطيّ (ت 920هـ/1514م) -في ‘نيل الأمل‘ ضمن وقائع سنة 842هـ/1438م- أن العادة جرت بأن يستمرُّ شيخ "المدرسة الصلاحيّة" في منصبه حتى وفاته؛ كما هو العرف اليوم في منصب "مشيخة الأزهر" بمصر.
احتفاء رسمي
وبعد المدرسة الصلاحية في الأهمية العلمية والمكانة المحورية في رفْد الحياة العلمية بأروقة الأقصى؛ تأتي "المدرسة الأشرفية" التي بناها السلطان المملوكي الأشرف قايِتْباي (ت 901هـ/1495م) سنة 887هـ/1482م، وكانت آية في الجمال وحسن البناء "في المسجد الأقصى الشريف وهي آخر مدرسة بنيت فيه" حتى مطلع القرن العاشر الهجري/الـ16 الميلادي؛ طبقا للعليمي.

وقد أفاض العُليميّ في وصف بنائها ومحاسنها، ثم قال: "ومن أعظم محاسنها كونها في هذه البقعة الشريفة، ولو بُنيت في غير هذا المحل لم يكن عليها الرونق الموجود عليها ببنائها [فيه]، فإن الناس كانوا يقولون قديما: مسجد بيت المقدس به جوهرتان هما: قبة الجامع الأقصى وقبة الصخرة الشريفة؛ قلتُ (= العليمي): وهذه المدرسة صارت جوهرة ثالثة، فإنها من العجائب في حسن المنظر ولطف الهيئة"!! وكلمة العُليمي هذه بديعة جدًّا، مؤدّاها: إن كل جميل هو في القدس أجمل!

وكان أمر مشيخةُ "المدرسة الأشرفية" بيد السلطان الذي أسسها، فكان يرسل مبعوثين رسميين رفيعي المستوى لمطالعة حسن سيرها؛ إذْ يفيدنا المَلَطي بأنه في سنة 890هـ/1485م "قرّر في مشيخة مدرسة السلطان بالبيت المقدس العلاّمة الكمال ابن أبي شريف (ت 906هـ/1500م)، وعُيّن [قاضي القاهرة] أبو البقاء الجيعان (ت 930هـ/1524م)، و[الأمير] جان بلاط (ت 906هـ/1500م) للسفر إلى القدس لأجل تقرير أحوال المدرسة المذكورة وعمل مصالحها"!

يُعرِّف العُليمي -في ‘الأنس الجليل‘- بنحو أربعين مدرسة أقيمت في محيط المسجد الأقصى الملاصق له، سوى المدارس المقدسية الأخرى غير المجاورة له. ورغم أن المدرستين الكبرييْن السابقتين (الصلاحية والأشرفية) كانتا شافعيتيْ المذهب، انسجاما مع الانتماء المذهبي الرسمي لسلاطين الدولة الأيوبية ثم المملوكية؛ فإنه كان للمذاهب الأخرى حضورُها العلمي في أروقة المسجد الأقصى، وأنشئت مدارسُها المذهبية في أكنافه المقدسية.

فقد كان لأصحاب المذهب الحنفي "المدرسة المعظَّمية"، التي تُنسب إلى واقفها أحدِ السلاطين الأيوبيين كان من فئة العلماء الأمراء؛ وهو ملِك دمشق العالِم: المعظَّم عيسى ابن العادل (ت 624هـ/1227م) الذي فضّل ألا يأخذ النسخة المذهبية ذاتها التي كان ينتمي إليها أبناء بيته الأيوبي، وهي المذهب الشافعي؛ بل اختار أن يكون فقيها حنفيا متبحرا في مذهبه "حتى تأهَّل للفتيا" فيه رغم أعباء السلطة؛ طبقا للذهبي في ‘السِّيَر‘.

وقد حدد لنا العليمي المكان الذي كانت تقع فيه "المدرسة المعظمية" وتاريخ إنشائها؛ فقال إنها أقيمت "مقابل باب شرف الأنبياء المعروف بباب الدَّوَادارية (يسمَّى اليوم باب العتم وباب الملك فيصل)، [وكان] تاريخ وقفها في السابع والعشرين من جمادى الأولى سنة 606هـ‍ (= 1209م)".

ريادة مستحقة
وترجم العُليمي لأساتذتها وخاصة من تولى منهم مشيختها؛ فذكر فيهم قاضي القضاة خير الدين خليل بن عيسى البابَرْتي الحنفي (ت 801هـ/1398م)، الذي وصفه بأنه "الإمام العلامة، كان من أهل العلم والدين قدم من بلاده واختار الإقامة ببيت المقدس، وولي قضاء القدس من الملك الظاهر بَرْقُوق (ت 801هـ/1398م) في سنة 784هـ (= 1382م)، وهو أول من ولي قضاء الحنفية بالقدس الشريف بعد الفتح الصلاحي، ثم ولي تدريس المعظمية".

أما المالكية، فكانت لهم "المدرسة الأفضلية"، وقد عرّف بها العُليمي قائلا: "المدرسة الأفضلية: وتُعرف قديما بحارة المغاربة، [وهي من] وقْف الملك الأفضل نور الدين أبي الحسن علي ابن الملك صلاح الدين (الأيوبي ت 622هـ/1225م)، وقَفَها على فقهاء المالكية بالقدس الشريف (نحو سنة 590هـ/1194م)، ووقف أيضا حارة المغاربة على طائفة المغاربة على اختلاف أجناسهم ذكورهم وإناثهم".

ويبدو أن الملك الأفضل هذا كان أحد أفذاذ الأمراء العلماء المحبين لنشر العلم والدفاع عن المقدسات؛ ولذا جاء في ترجمته عند ابن واصل الحموي أنه "كان مستجمعا لفضائل ومناقب تفرقت في كثير من الملوك"! كما يذكر العُليمي أنه كان معروفا ببذله "أنواعا من البر والخير، ووضَع الأسلحة برسم المجاهدين في سبيل الله" للدفاع عن القدس والأقصى!!

وللحنابلة مدرستهم التي كانت تُعرف باسمهم وأنشئت سنة 781هـ/1379م، وقد ذكرها العُليمي مبينا موقعها فقال: "المدرسة الحنبلية بباب الحديد [غربي الأقصى]، واقفها الأمير بيدمر (الخوارزمي ت بعد 781هـ/1379م) نائب الشام".

ولعل من الطريف ذكرُ تقرير أن الشيخ الشافعيّ إبراهيم بن علي الإسْعَردي الصوفي الزاهد (ت 887هـ/1482م) تولَّى مشيخة هذه المدرسة الحنبلية رغم الاختلاف المذهبي؛ فقد ذكر العُليمي في ترجمته أنّه "قدم إلى بيت المقدس واستوطنه، وقرره الملك الظاهر جُقْمُق (ت 857هـ/1453م) في المدرسة الحنبلية بباب الحديد"!!

وبالنظر إلى هذا التاريخ العلمي الزاهر؛ لا نبالغ إن قلنا إن المكانة العلمية والروحية لمدارس المسجد الأقصى ومشيخاته، كانت تؤهلها لأن ترثها جامعةٌ حديثة عريقةٌ على غرار الأزهر والزيتونة والقرويين، لكن حال دون ذلك تسلّطُ المحتلين عليه منذ ثلاثينيات القرن الـ14 الهجري/بدايات القرن الـ20 الميلادي، وهي الفترة التي شهدت تأسيس الجامعات الحديثة في بلادنا.

معتكَف دائم
كان من مظاهر عُلوّ مكانة القدس في قلوب المسلمين أن كثيرًا منهم اختارها موطنًا تاركا أهله وبلاده، وأقام مستأنسًا بجوار المسجد الأقصى المبارك طالبا للعلم أو راغبا في التزكية أو ناشرا لكليهما أو مرابطا في ثغره للدفاع عنه؛ ولم يكن ذلك في الحقيقة إلا وجها آخر من أوجه الحياة العلمية فيه، فالعلم والتزكية صنوان متلازمان.

فهذا الإمام ابن العربي المالكي (ت 543هـ/1148م) يقول -في ‘سراج المريدين‘- واصفا هذه "العمارة الرباطية" لتلك الرحاب المباركة: "لقد عبدناه في المسجد الأقصى -طهره الله- ثلاثين شهرا في ثلاثة أحوال؛ مع أمم من العابدين والعاكفين والعالِمين، نحوا من ثلاثة آلاف معلومين، حصدتهم السيوفُ في غداة واحدة!! فأيُّ عيش بعدهم يطيب؟ أم أيُّ أمل يستأنف؟!".

ويذكر -في ‘العواصم من القواصم‘- أنه حين سقطت القدس في أيدي القوات الصليبية "محت كلمة الإسلام عن المسجد الأقصى، وقتل فيه -في غداة الجمعة لاثنيْ عشر بقيت لشعبان سنة اثنين وتسعين وأربعمئة- ثلاثة آلاف ما بين عابد وعالم، ذكر وأنثى، ومعتكف من مشهور الحالة ومذكور بالديانة، وفيها قتلت العالمة الشيرازية -بقبة السلسلة- في جملة النساء"!!

وإذا كانت هذه الثلاثة آلاف مجاور إنما هي ممن ينطبق عليهم وصف "مشهور الحالة ومذكور بالديانة"؛ فكم سيكون عدد غيرهم من المجهولين والمغمورين ممن استشهدوا أو بقوا سالمين؟! ولذلك لا يُحصى عدد مَنْ ترجم لهم المؤرخون -وخاصة العُليمي في ‘الأنس الجليل‘- ممن آثروا سكنى القدس على بلادهم، فمكثوا بها حتى توفوا ودفنوا في مقبرتها الشهيرة المسمّاة "ماملّا".

ويفيدنا ابن العربي أيضا بأبرز أماكن المرابطة في الأقصى التي كان هؤلاء العلماء والعباد يركنون إليها؛ فيقول: "وأما المسجد الأقصى فكان منهم (= المجاورين) مملوءا: كان بالسكينة (= باب السكينة)، وبمحراب زكرياء، وبباب التوبة والرحمة، وبمهد عيسى، وبقبة السلسلة، وبقبة النبي ﷺ، وبقبة جبريل عليه السلام، وبالصخرة المقدسة، وبمحراب داود، وبباب حطة، وبباب الأسباط؛ بكل واحد رجل عالم منقطع إلى الله، لم يخرج من المسجد منذ دخل إليه حتى استشهد به"!!

رباطية صامدة
وكان العلماء يذكرون المُقام في بيت المقدس والمجاورة بالمسجد الأقصى ضمن مناقب العلماء وفضائل العُبّاد؛ فمثلا حين ترجم الإمام السخاوي (ت 902هـ/1496م) -في ‘الضوء اللامع‘- للعلامة نصر المغربي المالكي (ت 826هـ/1423م) نعته بأنه "نزيل بيت المقدس"، ويقول إنه "قدِمه (= القدس) من بلاده فأقام به قريبا من عشرين سنة على قدم التجرد والاشتغال بالعلوم والعبادة، قانعًا باليسير إلى أن مات ودفن هناك"، وكان موصوفًا "بالعلم والفضل والزهد".

وقد يأتي أحدهم إلى القدس وهو شاب يطلب العلم فيستوطنها حتى يموت ويدفن فيها، ويكون له من المكانة والهيبة ما يجعلُ السلاطين والأمراء تزوره في بيته، ومن هؤلاء "الإمام القدوة الزاهد العابد.. أبو بكر بن علي.. الشيباني الموصلي.. الشافعي (ت 797هـ/1395م)..، قدم من الموصل وهو شاب وعلا ذكْرُه، وقد زاره السلطان برقوق في منزله بالأمينية بجوار سور المسجد الأقصى".

وكما رأينا في شهادة القاضي ابن العربي المالكي؛ فإن طلب الجوار بالأقصى لم يكن مقتصرا على الرجال، بل كان مقصدا شائعا في الصالحات من النساء؛ ويفيدنا هو بوجود مئات المرابطات اللاتي ينتظمن في شبه "تنظيم رباطي" يتألف من زهاء ألف امرأة ويتبعن فيه لقيادة علمية نسوية واحدة، وقد تحولن إلى مدافعات شرسات عن الأقصى حين اقتحم ساحاته الصليبيون حتى استشهدن جميعا وهن صابرات صامدات!!

يقول ابن العربي في ‘سراج المريدين‘: "لقد كان في بيت المقدس نسوة يُفْخَرُ بهنّ على الأزمنة؛ يَلْتَفِفْنَ على العالمة الشيرازية: فقيهة واعظة متعبدة متبتّلة؛ فلما دخل الروم بيت المقدس يوم الجمعة لاثنتيْ عشرة ليلة بقيت لشعبان من سنة ثنتين وتسعين وأربعمئة (492هـ/1099م) لجأت بهن أجمعين إلى المسجد الأقصى، وجلسن في قبة السلسلة..، فلما غشيتهن الروم قمن إليهم بالسب ورمي التراب في وجوههن، فحصدوهن بالسيوف وأنزلوا بهن الحتوف. قال لي من عاين ذلك وهو في سطح المسجد الأقصى: كن قريبا من ألف امرأة"!!

ولعل قائلًا يقول: لماذا يختارُ البلخيُّ أو المغربيّ أو المصريّ أو الشامي أو العراقي أن يأتي الواحد منهم من أقصى الأرض أو أدناها ليستقرّ في بيت المقدس بدلًا من المجاورة بمكة والمدينة، وهو سؤالٌ وجيه، يمكن أن نجد إجابته في عبارة ترد أحيانا في تراجم العلماء المجاورين، فتصف أحدهم بأنه جاور الأقصى "بنية الرّباط" للجهاد في أكنافه وصدّ الغزاة عنه.

محن كبرى
اشتهرت القُدس -مستمدةً ذلك من موقع المسجد الأقصى في قلبها- بمنزلتها الدينية والعلمية، ومع ذلك فلم يخلُ تاريخها من وضعيّة سياسية مميزة كادت تدفع الخليفة الأموي سليمان بن عبد الملك (ت 99هـ/719م) إلى اتخاذها عاصمةً للخلافة الإسلامية برمّتها!!

فمؤرخ الأقصى شمس الدين الأسيوطي يروي -في ‘إتحاف الأخِصّا‘- أن الخليفة سليمان "أتى بيت المقدس وأتته الوفود بالبيعة..، فكان يجلس في قبة في صحن مسجد بيت المقدس مما يلي الصخرة… ويبسط البُسُط (= الفُرُش) بين يدي قبّته عليها النمارق (= الوسائد) والكراسي، فيجلس ويأذن للناس فيجلسون عل الكراسي والوسائد، وإلى جانبه الأموال، وكُتاب الدواوين (= الوزراء)، وقد هَمَّ بالإقامة ببيت المقدس واتخاذها منزلا، وجمْع الأموال والناس به"!!

ولئن كان أمرُ اتخاذ بيت المقدس عاصمة لم يتمّ فعلاً؛ فإنّ المسلمين جعلوه عاصمة عزّتهم وكرامتهم، واعتبروا حاله مقياسًا يقيسون به عزّهم وشرفهم، حتى إنه في سنة 452هـ/1061م حدث أن "سقطت قبة الصخرة فتطيّر المسلمون من ذلك"! حسب أحمد بن يوسف القرماني (ت 1019هـ/1610م) في كتابه ‘أخبار الدول‘.

ولم يكن خوفهم ذاك بعيدًا من الواقع؛ إذْ احتَلّ الصليبيون القُدسَ بعدها بأقل من نصف قرن، وألحقوا بأهلها من التقتيل والتنكيل ما صدم حتى المؤرخين الصليبيين أنفسهم الذين سنكتفي هنا بعرض بعض شهاداتهم بشأن ممارسات بني جلدتهم بحق سكان القدس ومقدساتها، التي ما فتئت هدفا للاستهداف الأجنبي ونقطة صدام ديني دائم مع الحضارة الغربية.

ينقل مؤرخ الحضارات الأميركي وِيلْ ديورانت (ت 1402هـ/1981م) -في ‘قصة الحضارة‘- عن أحدهم: "يقول القس ريمند الإجيلي (ت بعد 492هـ/1099م) شاهد العيان: وشاهدنا أشياء عجيبة، إذ قُطعت رؤوس عدد كبير من المسلمين وقتل غيرهم رميا بالسهام، أو أرغِموا على أن يُلقوا أنفسهم من فوق الأبراج، وظل بعضهم الآخر يعذَّبون عدة أيام، ثم أحرِقوا في النار!! وكنتَ ترى في الشوارع أكوامَ الرؤوس والأيدي والأقدام! وكان الإنسان أينما سار فوق جواده يسير بين جثث الرجال والخيل"!!

ويضيف ديورانت: "ويروي غيره (= ريمند الإجيلي) من المعاصرين تفاصيل أدق من هذه وأوفى؛ [فـ]ـيقولون إن النساء كُنَّ يُقتلن طعنا بالسيوف والحراب، والأطفال الرُّضّع يختطفون بأرجلهم من أثداء أمهاتهم، ويقذف بهم من فوق الأسوار، أو تهشّم رؤوسهم بدقها بالعَمَد، وذُبح السبعون ألفا من المسلمين الذين بقوا في المدينة، أما اليهود الذين بقوا أحياء فقد سيقوا إلى كنيس لهم، وأشعلت فيهم النار وهم أحياء"!!

عنوان للمجد
وتصديقا لكلام هذا الشاهد الصليبي يجدر التذكير برواية ابن العربي المتقدمة عن قتل الصليبيين "العالمة الشيرازية" ونحو ألف من تلميذاتها المرابطات بالأقصى، وثلاثة آلاف من العلماء والصُّلَحاء كانوا زينة أروقته وأكنافه! وكذلك مقولة المؤرخ ابن الأثير (ت 630هـ/1233م) الذائعة: "قَتل الفرنجُ بالمسجد الأقصى ما يزيد على سبعين ألفا، منهم جماعة كثيرة من أئمة المسلمين وعلمائهم وعبّادهم وزهادهم، ممن فارق الأوطان وجاور بذلك الموضع الشريف"!!

وأما عن تدنيس الصليبيين للأقصى ومرفقاته؛ فحسبنا أن نمثّل له بما فعلوه في احتلالهم الثالث للقدس سنة 637هـ/1239م، على أنه كان أخف درجة مما فعلوه في احتلالهم الأول. وعندنا في ذلك شهادة موثقة للمؤرخ عاصر تلك الحقبة هو ابن واصل الحموي، الذي يقول -في ‘مفرِّج الكروب‘- عن زيارته القدس أيامها سنة 641هـ/1243م: "دخلتُ البيت المقدس ورأيتُ الرهبان والقُسوس على الصخرة المقدسة، وعليها قناني الخمر برَسْم (= لأجْل) القربان، ودخلت الجامع الأقصى وفيه جرَس معلَّق، وأُبطِل (= أوقِفَ) بالحرم الشريف الأذانُ والإقامة، وأُعلِن فيه بالكفر"!!

ومنذ وقتٍ قديم؛ عُدّ احتلال بيت المقدس عارًا في حقّ المسلمين –إذا سكتوا عليه- ولا سيّما حكامهم الذين أدى تقاتلهم وتخاذلهم إلى احتلاله ثلاث مرات؛ يقول المؤرخ ابن الأثير معلقا على إحداها وأثرها في نفوس المسلمين حينها: "وتسلّم الفرنج البيت المقدس، واستعظم المسلمون ذلك وأكبروه، ووجدوا له من الوهن والتألم ما لا يمكن وصفه؛ يسر الله فتحه وعوده إلى المسلمين"!

وقد ذكر المؤرخ الأديب الصفدي -في ‘الوافي بالوفيات‘- قصة بيتين شاع أمرهما بين الناس "لما خرب القدس"، وكأنهما قيلا على لسان هذه المدينة المقدسة:
إن يكن بالشآم قلَّ نصيري ** ثم خُرّبت واستمرّ هُلوكي
فلقد أثبتَ الغداةَ خرابي ** سِمَةَ العارِ في جِباهِ الملوكِ!!

ونجد هذه المعنى -الذي يقرن بين ضياع الأقصى وإلحاق العار بالمسلمين- أوضح وأجلى في القصيدة الشهيرة للشاعر العالِم أبي المظفَّر الأبِيوَردي (ت 507هـ/1113م) التي نظمها وهو شاب عند احتلال القدس، مستنهضًا المسلمين عربًا وعجمًا لتحريرها، فكان مما قاله فيها وفقا لابن الجوزي في ‘المنتظم‘:
وتلك حروبٌ من يَغِبْ عن غمارها ** ليسلمَ، يقرعْ بعدَها سِنَّ نادمِ!!
أرى أمتي لا يشرعون إلى العِدى ** رماحَهُمُ، والدينُ واهي الدعائمِ
ويجتنبون الثأر خوفًا من الردى ** ولا يحسبون العارَ ضربةَ لازمِ
وليتهم إن لم يذودوا حميّةً ** عن الدينِ ضنوا غيرةً بالمحارم
وإنْ زهدوا في الأجر إذ حمي الوغى ** فهلّا أَتَوْهُ رغبةً في المغانم!

رعاية متجددة
ولذا حفظ التاريخ أسماء السلاطين الذين تشرّفوا بتحرير الأقصى وعلى رأسهم السلطان الناصر صلاح الدين الأيوبي، الذي جعل من الأقصى نقطة ارتكاز لمشروع تحرير المنطقة كلها -وليس القدس وحدها- من الصليبيين، فصار له "بذلك الذكْر الجميل على تقضي الأعصار وممرّ الأيام"؛ وفقا لابن الأثير.

وقد ازدادت مكانة الأقصى رسوخا في قلوب المسلمين بعد تحريره، وظهر ذلك من أول لحظة حين جاء في "خطبة الفتح" التي ألقاها قاضي القضاة محيي الدين ابن الزكي الشافعي (ت 598هـ/1105م) بمحضر صلاح الدين في أول جمعة أقيمت بالمسجد الأقصى بعد التحريره، فوصفه فيها بأنه "أول القبلتين وثاني المسجدين وثالث الحرمين لا تشد الرحال بعد المسجدين إلا إليه"!! ومن ثمّ برع من بعده خلفاؤه من "ملوك بني أيوب في فعل الآثار الجميلة بالمسجد الأقصى"؛ حسب العليمي.

وذكر المؤرخون أيضا سعي السلاطين المماليك -الذين ورثوا الدولة الأيوبية- للعناية بإدارته ومرافقه، وربط شرعية حكمهم بخدمة أهله والدفاع عنه، وترسيخ ذلك في وعي الجماهير؛ حتى إن عادة قراءة المراسيم السلطانية بالمسجد الأقصى كانت متأصلة بحيث عُيِّن لها موظفٌ خاصّ بها، مثل الشيخ شمس الدين محمد بن محمد المقرئ المؤذّن الشافعي (ت 875هـ/1470م) الذي حكى العليمي أنه كان "يقرأ المراسيم الشريفة الواردة من السلطان على دكة المسجد الأقصى".

بل إنهم كانوا إذا أصدروا قرارات عادلة نقشوها في الرخام وألصقوها على جدرانه تأكيدا لأهميتها عندهم وقوة إلزامها لهم ولولاتهم وللرعية. ومن ذلك ما أورده العُليمي من أن السلطان المملوكي برقوق "أبطل المكوس (= الضرائب) والمظالم والرسوم التي أحدثها النواب قبله بالقدس الشريف، ونقش بذلك رُخامةً وألصقت على باب الصخرة من جهة الغرب".

وكذلك فعل ابنه وخليفته في الحكم الناصر فرَج (ت 815هـ/1412م) الذي حرص على فصل إدارة المقدسات بالأقصى عن اختصاصات والي السلطة بالقدس، فكان "من جملة ما رسَمَ (= أمَرَ) به بالقدس الشريف أنّ نائب القدس (= الوالي) لا يكون ‘ناظر الحرمين الشريفين‘ (= حرم الأقصى والحرم الإبراهيمي بالخليل)، ولا يتكلم على النظر بالجملة الكافية، ونُقش بذلك بلاطة وأُلصِقتْ بحائط باب السلسلة عن يمنة الداخل من الباب"!!

وفي العهد العثماني عاشت القدس والأقصى أحد أعزّ عصورها على الإطلاق؛ فبعد ضمّ السلطان العثماني سليم الأول (ت 926هـ/1520م) منطقة الشام إلى دولته زار القدس -وهو في طريقه إلى مصر- أواخر سنة 922هـ/1517م، وهناك استقبله "علماء المدينة وأتقياؤها وحكماؤها وشيوخ العربان فيها، وسلّموه مفاتيح المسجد الأقصى وقبة الصخرة المشرفة، فسجد لله حامدا وقال: “الحمد لله! فأنا اليوم حامي القبلة الأولى”!!…، وكان يبكي في المسجد الأقصى بكاء حارا"!! حسب د. أحمد حسين الجبوري في كتابه ‘القدس في العهد العثماني (1516-1640م)‘.

أما خليفته السلطان سليمان القانوني (ت 974هـ/1566م)؛ فيقول الجبوري إنه في ظل حكمه "نعمتْ القدسُ بأزهى أيامها في العهد العثماني…، [إذْ] نالت.. اهتماما فائقا وقام بأعمال تعمير ضخمة في القدس..؛ ومن الأعمال المهمة للسلطان سليمان القانوني تجديد بناء قبة الصخرة المشرفة سنة 949هـ/1552م".

ويضيف أن القانوني تقدَّم خطوة أخرى في منح القدس والأقصى مكانة متميزة، حين أشرك مؤسسة الفتوى بها في ترتيبات حمايتها؛ حيث أصدر "في سنة 944هـ/1537م فرماناً (= قراراً) بمنع الإنكشارية (= العساكر العثمانية) من الدخول إلى القدس، وأوكل مسألة الأمن وضبطه إلى مفرزة تم اختيارها من عناصر إنكشارية متميزة، وقد عهد إلى مفتي القدس بانتقائها"!!