Holy Land

The expression The Holy Land (Hebrew ארץ הקודש: Standard Hebrew Éreẓ haQodeš, Tiberian Hebrew ʾÉreṣ haqQāḏēš; Latin Terra Sancta; Arabic الأرض المقدسة, al-Arḍ ul-Muqaddasah) generally refers to the Land of Israel. It concerns the areas that hold significant religious importance to any or all three monotheistic Abrahamic traditions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The Crusades were started on the pretext of recovering the Holy Land for the religion of the New Testament. More recently, the region is at the center of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Judaism

Main articles: Four Holy Cities, Jerusalem in Judaism, and Zion

The core reason why Jews view the land as holy is due to the special status that the Hebrew Bible gives it with regard to Jewish religious observance, the fact that Jerusalem was the site of the Temple, and most of all, the fact that the Hebrew Bible refers to it as a divine gift.

Jewish kingdoms and states existed intermittently in the region for over a millennium. Recent archeological evidence suggests that the kingdoms of King David and King Solomon may have existed.^{[citation needed]}

Under foreign conquests, Jewish presence in the province dwindled due to mass expulsions. In particular, the failure of the Bar Kochba Revolt against the Roman Empire resulted in widescale expulsion of Jews. During this time the Romans gave the name Syria Palaestina to the geographic area, in an attempt to erase Jewish ties to the land. The Mishnah and Jerusalem Talmud, two of Judaism's most important religious texts, were composed in the region during this period.

Judaism's holiest cities are Jerusalem, Hebron, Tzfat, and Tiberias. Jerusalem is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible over 700 times.

Christianity

The Holy Land is significant in Christianity, mainly because it is the place of birth, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Saviour or Messiah to Christianity.

Holy cities for Christians of all denominations:

• Jerusalem is believed to be the site of some of Jesus's teaching, the Last Supper, the subsequent institution of the Holy Eucharist as well as His entombment; Christians believe he was crucified on a nearby hill, Golgotha (sometimes called Calvary). It contains the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of All Nations; .
• Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus
• Nazareth is Jesus's hometown and the site of many of his acts and miracles

Islam

See also: Religious significance of Jerusalem in Islam.

Sharing similar religious beliefs with Jews and Christians, Muslims consider the land west of (but not limited to) the Jordan River to be Sacred as mentioned in the Qur'an, (5:20-21).

The Quran also says,

"And We rescued him and Lout (Lot) to the land which We have blessed for the 'Alamîn (mankind and jinns)."[21:71]

The "land which We have blessed", according to Abdullah Yusuf Ali refers to the land of Syria, which includes Palestine and the cities of Tyre and Sidon.^[1]

Early Islamic tradition by Az-Zujaj describes Holy Land as "Damascus, Palestine, and a bit of Jordan", and by Qatada as "the Levant (ash-Sham)" and by Maad ibn Jabal as "the area between al-Arish and the Euphrates", and by Ibn Abbas as "the land of Jericho".

Muslims also consider the depression below Mount Sinai, also known as the Tuwa, to be sacred as mentioned in the Qur'an (20:12). This place is usually referred to as the "Holy Valley" (الوادي المقدس).

In Arabic, the city of Jerusalem is commonly known as "al-Quds", meaning "the Holy".

The term "Holy Land" is also sometimes used by Muslims (although not in the Qur'an) in reference to the Hijaz, land of the holy cities Mecca and Medina.

See also

• History of Israel

Notes

1. ^ Ali (1991), p.934

References

• Ali, Abdullah Yusuf (1991). The Holy Quran. Medina: King Fahd Holy Qur-an Printing Complex. 
• Hanan Isachar, Ceremonies in the Holy Land, Melzer 2005da:Det hellige land

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