A Critical Approach to Views of Muhammad Hamidullah regarding The location of Al-Aqsa Mosque


Altun İ.

CUMHURIYET ILAHIYAT DERGISI-CUMHURIYET THEOLOGY JOURNAL, cilt.22, sa.1, ss.293-316, 2018 (ESCI) identifier identifier

Özet

According to the consencus of Muslim world, al-Aqsa Mosque is located in the land of al-Quds (Jerusalem). In this matter, especially the old Sunnite sources are in agreement with each other. However, there are recently some different views regarding the location of al-Aqsa Mosque. It has been argued that al-Aqsa Mosque most likley was built in a location differnet from Jerusalem. One of the defenders of this opinion is Muhammad Hamidullah, who is a prominent scholar of Islamic studies and considered to be a reliable authority among contemporary Islamic historians. He claims that al-Aqsa Mosque, which was also mentioned in the Qur'an, cannot be the Mosque that is present in Jerusalem. Rather, it must be searched in heavens. If this claim is accepted, then numerous reports informing that the mosque is located in Jerusalem and many interpretations based on these reports, will become problematic and controversial. Therefore, it is necessary to examine those claims and the relevant evidence in detail. Following this pueporse, we aim to examine and evaluate those views with a critical approach in this study. In this regard, we will argue that the comments and approaches that have been argued so far, are not consistent. Rather, relevant claims do not rely on strong evidence but only unsatisfactory interpretations.