Questioner:

A fundamental point: what is the future and fate of occupied Jerusalem after entering into a peace agreement with the Jews?

Shaykh:

There is no peace. There is no peace except through Islam. The day you see Islam governing all of creation, then announce peace.

Questioner:

Allah willing.

Shaykh:

However, we are certain that the Jews have no permanent foothold in Palestine—this is as true as Allah Almighty said: “Then, by the Lord of the heaven and the earth, it is the truth (i.e. what has been promised to you), just as it is the truth that you can speak.” [Adh-Dhariyat:23]

This is because authentic prophetic traditions explicitly state that when the Dajjāl (Antichrist) emerges at the end of time, Jesus—peace and blessings be upon him—will be in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. He will go out to face the Dajjāl, who will be accompanied by seventy thousand Jews wearing shawl-like cloaks (ṭayālisah), having come with him from Isfahan. So, Jesus will be in Jerusalem, but where will the Jews be? They will have become a thing of the past.

However, this current era is an era governed by what Allah Almighty said: “And so are the days (good and not so good), We give to men by turns,…“ [Aal ‘Imran :140]

The Jews certainly have no permanent stay in Palestine, but who will expel them? They will be expelled by true, believing, monotheistic Muslims.

I have a saying that I used to repeat in Damascus, drawing from a tradition containing one of the greatest glad tidings. The essence of the narration is that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—gave glad tidings to the Muslims that they would conquer Constantinople and Rome. Constantinople refers to Istanbul, and Rumiyyah refers to Rome. The Prophet had delivered this monumental glad tiding, so a question arose: “Which of the two cities will we conquer first, Constantinople or Rome?” He replied: “No, rather Constantinople.”

As you know, Constantinople was conquered, so what remains for the Muslims is to conquer Rome. But here is the key point: I used to say in Damascus that Rome is the capital of the Christians and the center of the Pope—who will conquer it? The Muslims of today? Today, we have a village east of Damascus, 15 kilometers away, called Douma. I used to say: Muslims today cannot even liberate a village like Douma, let alone conquer a capital like Rome. The conquest of Rome requires serious effort; it requires believing youth whom neither trade nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and the establishment of prayer. And perhaps that will be soon.