In Qur’an, Does Allah Promise Israel to Jews??

Initially, there is nothing in Surah Al-Israa or Bani Israel to justify that Palestine belongs to the Jews; and not anywhere in the Qur’an. In Surah Al-Israa, Allah is telling us at the beginning that Bani Israel will corrupt twice in the Earth. At the end of the chapter, it says that Allah will bring them forth from everywhere; we read what means:

{And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture: indeed you would do mischief in the land twice and you will become tyrants and extremely arrogant!} (17:4)

{And We said to the Children of Israel after him: “Dwell in the land, then, when the final and the last promise comes near [i.e. the Day of Resurrection or the descent of Christ [‘Îsa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary) on the earth], We shall bring you altogether as mixed crowd (gathered out of various nations). (Tafsir Al-Qurtubi,)} (17:104)

Scholars have concluded that the second mischief must be during our current time since the Jews did gather from everywhere as Allah told us above, in the state of Israel.

In summary, Allah asked the Jews who were in Egypt with Moses (peace be upon him) to enter Palestine but they refused until later generation when David (peace be upon him) did. At that time, the people who lived in it were ruthless invaders; They themselves were invaders of the land.

The point here is that Allah told the believers from Bani Israel (the word Jews was invented later) to enter Palestine and drive those invaders out and not the original inhabitants.

The prophets who ruled were David and Solomon both prophets of Islam since all prophets from Adam to Muhammad (peace be upon them all) preached Islam.

Allah mentions about this subject mainly in Surah Al-Baqarah, the second chapter in the Quran. For details, you need to read the articles referenced at the end.

At this point in time, Palestine belongs to Israelis. Before the second world war it belonged to Palestinians.

If you ask me as a Muslim, Palestine belongs to Muslims, Christians and Jews because there is history in this land for all these three religions.

However, currently there is oppression from the Israelis side because both Muslims and Christians are deprived from certain areas of the land; in addition to the expansion of Israeli settlements on the account of the original inhabitants.

There are no shortages of opinions on this matter. Human rights abuses occur all around us and some of these problems are easy to resolve. Unfortunately, some problems, like the topic of Palestine/Israel, are much more complicated now than they were when they began.

I don’t want to get into an in-depth history lesson here, so suffice it to say that for the greatest part of Islamic history, from Prophet Muhammad’s time to today, even before that actually, the name of that region was known to all as Palestine, and the vast majority of its inhabitants were Muslims.

Historically Palestine belongs to Muslims. In the past century, there was a struggle of control between Arabs and Zionists. Currently, there is a struggle for Palestinian survival and identity as most of their land has been occupied and taken away by “settlers”.

In the beliefs of some Jews and Christians this land was called Israel based on scriptures. However, their books, as we know, have been tailored with.

The only time that Palestine was under the control of Israel’s descendants, the 12 tribes of Prophet Jacob, peace be upon him, was during the time of Prophets David and Solomon, peace be upon them.

Since they were prophets of God and did no injustice to anyone, they are both, along with their followers considered to be Muslims in the religious sense, but Jews in ethnicity.

Most of the early history of the 12 tribes of Israel/Jacob, of which Moses, peace be upon him, was a member, was spent in the land of Egypt, not Palestine.

Since the time of David and Solomon, peace be upon them, there has been very minimal presence or power over the land by any Jewish government until the last 70 years or so.

If we believe that land belongs to those who are in control of it, lived there for a significantly long period of time (centuries?) then the best claim to Palestine is with people who have lived there for centuries. This includes Muslims, Christians, Jews, or any other person.

To say that this land belongs to Jews exclusively disregards the rights of inhabitants of other ethnic backgrounds or religious beliefs whose history on that land goes back hundreds of years.
Control of Palestine, except for about 100 years of Crusader occupations, was continuously and firmly under control of Muslim governments.

It is only in the last 100 years or so that outside influence, namely British/French/American/Zionist forces have struggled to take control of this land from its Palestinian inhabitants.

Prior to that, it was the Ottoman Caliphate that governed Palestine continuously for over 700 years. Christians and Jews were guaranteed their rights to their lands and property. Control of lands by Caliphates and Muslim governments over the centuries has primarily been characterized by respect to properties of non-Muslims.

That is why the earliest churches and Jewish temples still exist in Palestine, and why Christians and Jews with centuries of history in Palestine still live there.

The problems that exist today in Palestine are a result of Zionists trying to force Palestinian Christians and Muslims off of their ancestral lands in order to make way for non-Palestinian Jews.

Palestine has been the home of Christian, Muslim and Jewish families since the beginnings of each. To chase people off their ancestral land is unjust, especially when based merely on religious beliefs.

Further Reading:
Refuting the Jewish Claim of Their So-Called ‘Divine Right’ to Palestine

[Part-2] Refuting the Jewish Claim of Their So-Called ‘Divine Right’ to Palestine