Understanding the Quran‘s Stance on Palestine: Examining Al-Maidah:21
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has raged for over 70 years, with both sides making religious and historical claims to the land. Surah al-Maidah:21 of the Quran is frequently cited by those arguing that God granted the land of Palestine to the Jews:
"O my people, enter the Holy Land which Allah has assigned to you and do not turn back, or you will become losers." (5:21)
However, using scriptural verses to justify political Zionism requires deeper examination. This article will analyze the context around Al-Maidah:21 and explore what the Quran says regarding rights to the land.
Background of the Israel-Palestine Conflict
Following the Holocaust during WWII that saw the murder of 6 million European Jews, the Zionist movement calling for a Jewish homeland succeeded in its goal with the creation of Israel in 1948. This was realized through the displacement of the majority of Palestinians already living on the land for centuries.
Now after decades of war and conflict, invoking religious texts has become commonplace on both sides to argue historical entitlement. As Muslims, it‘s crucial we analyze scripture rigorously before reaching conclusions.
Global Jewish Populations
Currently, there are approximately 15 million Jewish people worldwide, with 6.6 million living in Israel as of 2020 (43% of worldwide total). The remaining 8.4 million live largely in the United States and Europe, concentrated in countries like France, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
This dispels the notion that establishing a Jewish homeland was necessary for protecting Jewish populations, when in fact the majority lived comfortably in Western countries before and after Israel‘s founding.
Furthermore, Jewish Voice for Peace found in a 2020 poll that over 40% of American Jews under 40 felt some sense of connection to the Palestinians‘ plight. Younger generations of Jews worldwide show declining support for Israel‘s unjust policies versus Palestinians.
Understanding Al-Maidah:21
References to the Children of Israel scattered throughout the Quran relate to the blessings and trials faced by the descendants of Prophet Ya‘qub (Jacob). God had promised them respite in the Holy Land after rescuing them from Egypt.
However, this promise was conditional upon them entering the land peacefully while adhering to His commandments. Al-Maidah:21 occurs after the Jews refused to fight the occupiers as ordered by God, resulting in 40 years of wandering the desert.
Thus, when analyzed in full context, this verse does not convey blanket rights or an unconditional claim to Palestine due to being the "Children of Israel." Their disobedience nullified any guarantee of lasting dominion over the land.
Obedience to God‘s Laws Necessary for Ownership
Other verses make clear that righteousness – not lineage alone – establishes lasting rights to land. Ownership claims defended purely using Al-Maidah:21 ignore this critical factor emphasized throughout the Quran:
"And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture, that indeed you would do mischief on the earth twice… So when the promise came for the first of the two, We sent against you servants of Ours possessing severe might, and they entered the very innermost parts of your homes. And it was a promise fulfilled." (17:4-5)
Here we‘re reminded that the Israelites were overrun and expelled for violating their covenant with God. Justice was delivered through foreign invaders sent by the Almighty. Losing their homeland was divine punishment.
Thus, using Al-Maidah:21 to argue that Allah granted the Promised Land solely to Jews contradicts the repeated message about retaining it through faith and pious acts. Ownership claims cannot disregard transgressions that led to their removal.
Why Were the Children of Israel Expelled?
Although originally saved and promised protection, the fractious Israelites tested God‘s patience through repeated ingratitude and affinity for lawlessness. They substituted idol-worship and other faithless acts for monotheism and justice.
The Torah and Quran detail how after granting them respite from oppression under Fir‘aun (Pharaoh), the ungrateful and unbelieving Israelites took to decadence and moral decay in direct violation of their covenant with the Almighty.
As retribution from God, the Babylonians and Romans were sent to vanquish Bani Israil‘s kingdoms, destroying their temple and forcefully exiling majority populations as further punishment for iniquity spanning generations.
Thus the Quran reminds us frequently of consequences for communities abandoning piety for wickedness after receiving divine relief and blessings. Israel provides one salient example that believers today forget at their own peril.
Palestinian Casualties from Conflict
Beyond issues of historical divine right, the modern Israel-Palestine conflict has also produced immense human suffering implicating moral values.
Over 100,000 Palestinians have lost their lives and hundreds of thousands rendered homeless refugees since 1948 based on data from human rights organizations. Children in particular face horrific struggles from poverty, lack of opportunity, harassment at checkpoints, and danger during flareups of bombing attacks on Gaza.
[insert data visualization charts showing conflict casualties over time, etc]From a humanistic perspective focused on alleviating such oppression for innocents, closely examining the theological premises underpinning such politics becomes even more crucial.
What do contemporary Jewish scholars argue? Does scripture truly bestow unconditional rights to land upon any tribe of people in perpetuity?
Analysis of Key Arguments
A thorough reading of biblical and Quranic sources reveals sophisticated hermeneutics beyond superficial verbatim interpretations. And Jewish theological schools parse such concepts with extensive rigor and erudition.
A superficial reading of biblical promises may seem to justify permanent Jewish dominion over the Holy Land as rightful inheritance. However, celebrated rabbinical intellects like Rabbi Elmer Berger dismiss such interpretations as corrupting Judaism‘s universalist teachings.
In his seminal work ‘The Jewish Dilemma‘, the distinguished American rabbi argues that political Zionism replaced Judaism‘s ethical monotheism focused on perfecting individual souls with reactionary nationalism obsessed with land, power and group superiority.
Such acute thinkers highlight Zionism‘s secular European roots. Its pioneers strategically tapped into religious yearnings about rebuilt temples merely as populist cover for their colonial plans. Proof lies in Israel‘s declaration of independence lacking any religious rationale.
For example, prominent early Zionist thinker Ahad Haʼam viewed Palestine purely as a means to a political end for Jewish nationalism rather than any spiritual fulfillment. Upon visiting in 1891, he commented in his essay ‘Truth from Eretz Yisrael‘:
"We abroad are used to believing that Eretz Israel is now almost totally desolate, an uncultivated desert, and that anyone wishing to buy land there can come and buy all he wants. But in truth this is not the case. Throughout the country, it is difficult to find fields that are not sowed."
Here even a core Zionist idealogue admits substantial inhabitation despite official pretences used later to justify displacement of Palestinians. Such candid admissions by senior architects undermine religious justifications publicized instead for mass consumption and mobilization.
Prominent Israeli historian Professor Yehoshua Porath of Hebrew University also debunks artificial ‘make the desert bloom‘ propaganda:
"As all the research by historian Fares Abdul Rahim and geographers of modern Palestine shows, the country was far from being empty and desolate when the Jews came back, and there had been no ‘neglect‘ or decline in population growth."
Nevertheless, the myth of ‘a land without people for a people without land‘ proved politically expedient despite its falsehood.
Differing Jewish Perspectives on Israel
Zionist arguments also require contending with conflicting Jewish views. Israel‘s founders violently uprooted existing inhabitants leading many devout Jews even today to consider it not a divine second gathering but sacrilege.
Such dissenters echo the stance of distinguished Torah scholars like Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, spokesman of Neturei Karta International. This Ulta-Orthodox group opposes Zionism precisely because the very tenets underpinning Israel contradict Judaism‘s teaches according to classical exegesis. They oppose forcibly ending exile before the coming of the Messiah which Zionism effectively does.
At the 2005 Tehran Holocaust Conference, Rabbi Weiss explained his opposition to Zionism on theological grounds from a strictly orthodox interpretive view:
"The Creator gave us the Holy Land thousands of years ago. Yet, when we sinned, He took it away and sent us into exile. Since that time our task is to wait for Him to send the Messiah. At that time, the Creator alone, without any human being doing anything, will bring us back to the Holy Land.”
For such learned sages, selectively appropriating scripture to suit Zionist political aims signals a breach of principles. Judaic ethics emphasizes patience pursuing moral conduct until the Lord decrees return in His wisdom, not based on secular whims or violence against defenceless natives.
On the concept of promised land, Rabbi Berger further clarified:
"Judaism‘s promise is not about a piece of geography but about aHOME: it depends not on the land but on the people."
Such nuanced voices highlight the errancy in literalist interpretations that improperly contextualize divine covenants meant partly as metaphorical life lessons. Removing sacred verses like Al-Maidah:21 from such sophisticated hermeneutics clearly risks misconstruing guidance focused on enriching monotheistic character, not bestowing worldly power or assets.
Conclusion – Proper Context Matters
Debates around scriptural promises require recognizing that no holy text discusses themes approachable solely via verbatim readings. Their layered meanings become obscured sans comprehending underlying language, historical paradigms or surrounding philosophical perspectives.
For example, without considering the tribulations and oppressions suffered for centuries that shaped socialist Zionist philosophies, their tenets remain unintelligible. Simplistic decontextualized interpretations then inevitably follow – especially when selectively co-opting isolated verses as theological ammunition.
The central Quranic message remains having faith and doing good regardless of labels. Similarly the Telmud and Torah at their core emphasize moral refinement and righteous conduct over procuring territory or self-aggrandizement. Muslims and Jews both must lead today by example focused inwardly on perfecting virtues, not insisting on external validation through force or violence against innocent populaces.
Reclaiming the Holy Land in God‘s eyes requires reclaiming moral purpose in one‘s individual soul – not under eschatological illusions but by living His ethics here and now, come what may.