# Is there archaeological evidence for David's kingdom, and how did Jerusalem become holy for Muslims? *The Jewish claim and our own narrations: David's kingdom, al-Aqsa, the first qibla and Umayyad Jerusalem* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/umku_ocftes/s/6/ - Date: 2021-05-15 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: The Palestinian Plight & Israeli Injustice | Mufti Abu Layth (20:57–24:49) - Status: latest answer on its topic; general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMKu_OCFTes&t=1257s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/umku_ocftes/ **Topics:** Palestine and Gaza; The ancient Near East and scripture; Isra and Mi'raj **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Archaeology has not found the kingdoms of David and Solomon, and Mufti Abu Layth says Muslims should apply the same scrutiny to their own narrations, where early scholars differed over al-Aqsa and the first qibla and the Umayyads under Abd al-Malik promoted Jerusalem with fabricated hadith to rival Ibn al-Zubayr. **Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says archaeology has not substantiated the kingdoms of David and Solomon, that early Muslim scholars differed over whether al-Masjid al-Aqsa was in Jerusalem or the heavens and whether the night journey was a vision, and that the Umayyads under Abd al-Malik fabricated hadith to promote Jerusalem against Ibn al-Zubayr in Makkah. **Evidence, his words at 23:50:** “the truth is it was abdul malik and it was the umayyad caliphate that did a huge amount of jerusalem propaganda to rival abdullah zubair in mecca and they fabricated a hell of a lot of hadith” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMKu_OCFTes&t=1430s) ## Longer summary Mufti Abu Layth says historians and archaeologists have dug extensively for the kingdoms of David and Solomon and found nothing to substantiate a united monarchy beyond one tiny inscription, so the Jewish claim that those kingdoms were there remains unfounded and science suggests they either were not there or did not enjoy the vast kingdom claimed. He says Muslims find it easy to accept that the Jewish people got this wrong but do not look at their own tradition with the same eye: in the Muslim narrations there is great difference over what was meant by al-Masjid al-Aqsa and by the first qibla, several early mufassirun held that the farthest point of the Prophet's prostration was in the heavens rather than Jerusalem, many Companions held the night journey to be a vision, and those who held it to be a physical visit did not know where the place was, which was only pointed out later by a Jewish person. He says it was the Umayyad caliphate under Abd al-Malik that carried out a huge amount of Jerusalem propaganda to rival Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr in Makkah, fabricating many hadith to create a holy ground for themselves in Sham, grooming and propaganda he says Muslims are still victims of today. He calls these bitter truths and a Pandora's box. ## Sources and names cited - David (Dawud) - Solomon (Sulayman) - al-Masjid al-Aqsa - qiblah - the night journey (al-Isra) - Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan - Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr ## Transcript (machine tier, 20:57–24:49) [20:40] itself look if we're going to briefly um and i'll i'll go into this on another occasion but if we're going to briefly recognize that look let's take a look at the jewish claim historians today and anthropologists have dug extensively extensively for the kingdom of david for the kingdom of solomon for any kind of archaeological find that could substantiate the united monarchy or the great [21:18] is you know kingdoms of israel to have existed and nothing has been found nothing there is really i mean i know that once tiny um kind of inscription but nothing really and you you you would have expected an abundance of material yet the jewish claim that the great kingdom of solomon and david were here remain unfounded and in fact science today shows us anthropology [21:55] archaeology history it seems to show us that they've got it wrong that it's not david and solomon either were not here or if they were they definitely did not enjoy this vast kingdom that the um that the jewish people claim they did now we as muslims can find that very reasonable to accept i mean we may think that the fact that the israelis got this wrong and the jewish people got this wrong is a very reasonable uh statement and we we wouldn't really struggle to [22:35] accept that we would think well yeah well the jewish people have got many things wrong now surprisingly we don't look at our own literature our own tradition with a similar narrative because when we look at our own narrations we also find there's a huge distinction on what was ever meant by masjid al-aqsa and what was ever meant by the first qibla now that is a and this is why many of the early mufasirin did feel that that you know there were several early scholars in islam did feel that at the farthest [23:12] point where the prophet did sued was they felt it was the heavens not in jerusalem being the father's point the other element was that this the way the prophet those who believed that the prophet went to jerusalem whether it was many companions believed it was a vision like the allah but those who believe that it was a physical uh visit that the prophet sallallahu alaihi went there nobody knows where that place was it was only shown to um by [23:50] a jewish person who was never there he he just told um oh this is where the prophet allegedly came did not transform that into something huge it was only in the umayyad caliphate now these are once again bitter truths which we don't want to really open up this pandora's box but the truth is it was abdul malik and it was the umayyad caliphate that did a huge amount of jerusalem propaganda to rival [24:28] abdullah zubair in mecca and they fabricated a hell of a lot of hadith and they did a lot of this just to um create a holy ground for them in sham and this is omega um just omega's grooming and propaganda that you know has still gone on today that we are still a victim of that said it it does not detract the slightest from the gaza crisis or the palestinian plight and it does not mean that ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment uMKu_OCFTes/s/6. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/umku_ocftes/s/6/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.