Islam and Peace
The Policy of Peace in Islam How to attain normalcy in Jerusalem
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idols, believers were able to accept the Ka’bah as the
direction for prayer.
2. Another such example is the above mentioned
heavenly journey (Isra or Mi’raj) undertaken by the
Prophet before the emigration in 622. At that
juncture, Jerusalem was ruled by Iranians, that is to
say, by non-Muslims. The Iranian ruler, Khusroe
Parvez, attacked Jerusalem in 614, wresting it from
the Romans, who had governed it since 63 B.C. This
political dominance of the Iranian empire ended
only when the Roman Emperor Heraclius defeated
the Iranians and restored Roman rule over
Jerusalem in 629.
This means that, before his emigration, the Prophet
Muhammad entered Jerusalem on his Mi’raj
journey to say his prayer at the Masjid al-Aqsa at a
time when the city was under the rule of a non-
Muslim king. From this we derive the very
important sunnah of the Prophet that worship and
politics practically belong to separate spheres, and,
as such, should not be confused with one another.
3. The third example took place after the Hijrah in
629. At that time, Mecca was entirely under the
