Julian Barnett
Hidden Islamic Sects of Jerusalem, Part 2

Julian Barnett - Hidden Islamic Sects of Jerusalem, Part 2

- Thank you Lauren and good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you are. Welcome. The day before Passover, Pesach and in some ways a very suitable time for this particular second session on the Islamic groups and sects within Jerusalem. For those that were there last week, it was part one of two parts and part one last week I concentrated mainly on the physical side of Islamic Jerusalem. Looking at the Dome of The Rock, looking at Al-Aqsa. Looking at their relationship with other buildings in Jerusalem, and giving a brief history of some of those key dates in Islamic history. So what I wanted to do today is to hone in on a few of those sects, Islamic sects within Jerusalem. You will recall people that were at my lectures on the Jewish sect of Jerusalem, parts one and two. That in that second one I again honed in on just a few of the Hasidic sects, told us Aaron Hasidim and others. So I’m going to do similarly now to hone in on a few of the Islamic sects. Just to give you a taste of what makes up the wonderful mosaic that is Jerusalem. I have also referred in the past to the articles I had published in the “Jerusalem Report” during my years living in Jerusalem. And quite a lot of people in fact emailed me directly to get some of those articles. Articles about Hasidic groups and so on. For interest in some of the things I wrote about Muslim groups. By all means, just get in touch. If you don’t have my email address, Lockdown University has that for you to contact me directly. They were published when I wrote in the “Jerusalem Report”. And one of the things that I said in the “Jerusalem Report” is that when I was living in Jerusalem 2002 to 2006, I was able to list a hundred and six Christian sects in Jerusalem. 212 Jewish sects and 116 Islamic sects.

That is a remarkable thing when you think about how small Jerusalem is. So I’m just going to give you a taste of some of those Islamic sects. But within the physical Muslim Jerusalem that I talked about last week. Just to give you some statistics there. The Jewish population of Jerusalem is the last census, as I understand it, is round about 536,000 people. The Christian population is 16,000 and the Islamic population is 319,000. So the Muslims are by far and away the second largest religious group within Jerusalem. And just to add some other sort of statistical background to what I’m going to say today, Jerusalem fell to Islamic rule, and I mentioned this last week in 638 Ad. When Caliph Umar, the second of the rightly guided Caliphs after the death of Muhammad, took Jerusalem in 638 AD. Six years after the death of Muhammad. Now since Jerusalem fell to Islam in those very early years of Islam since 638, we’re talking about 1,384 years ago. Of those 1,384 years, Jerusalem has been Islamic for 1,241 of those years. So we’re talking about a city that is really in its character architecturally. In its consciousness in some ways very deeply Islamic. Put another way since 638 AD there have only been two occasions, both of them brief, when Jerusalem has not been Islamic. From 1099 to 1187. That 88 year of Crusader rule. And from 1967 to 2022, so far 55 years of Jewish rule. Other than those two periods, Jerusalem has been Muslim controlled since 638 AD. That’s maybe an obvious thing to state, but it’s a very important thing to state and something that is often overlooked. So there I am with something you’re going to be familiar with.

You are familiar with. I start off sitting in my home once again in my home, which was very, very close to Mea Shearim and to East Jerusalem. The closest gate to me was New Gate HaSha'ar HeHadash. The second closest gate to me was Damascus Gate Sha'ar Shkhem. Bab al-Amoud, the Gate of The Column. And I’m now going to take you straight up to the first picture there. And you can see there the Dome of The Rock in background, which I talked about at some length last week. And in front of it, Bab al-Silsilah. The Dome of The Chain. The Dome of The Chain is 11 sides. The Dome of The Rock is eight. Coming for total 19. There is one version that there were 19 satanic verses. So as with so many things in Jerusalem, numbers are everything. The situation of buildings are everything. I also briefly mentioned last week that that dome Bab al-Silsalah, which has no size to it. It’s a completely open structure. Nobody quite knows why it was built. It is the same age as The Dome of The Rock. Although the Dome of The Rock that you are looking at there is the second construction of it. The original Dome of The Rock was made out of wood and constructed in 691 AD. Nobody quite knows why the Dome of The Chain was built. Some say it was a treasury to keep the golden coins and silver coins to pay the workers who were building the Dome of The Rock. Others say it was an armoury for weapons. Others say it was a prototype for the Dome of The Rock, which is slightly enhanced . We don’t know. But it is after the Dome of The Rock on Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third largest structure on the Haram al-Sharif the Noble Sanctuary as Muslims call it. And the Temple Mount as Jews call it. Now why have I started off with this picture?

Because it is a lady leading prayer and I’m going to show you lots of other pictures today of ladies because Jerusalem, it is not widely known outside of the Muslim world. But Jerusalem is an incredibly important city for the ladies of Islam. And the reason for that is that during Mamluk period, they elevated the power of women to heights that they had never known in the Islamic world before. And indeed in parts of the Christian world before. Mamluks were a group of, it literally means, “Those who are enslaved.” And various dynasties of Muslims. Various Muslims brought Caucasian Turkic peoples from the east to act as their slaves, who then became the accountants and the artisans, and particularly the military administrators. So what happened was these Mamluks, these people that were brought into the Islamic world from the east, eventually in Jerusalem and Damascus and Cairo, they actually became the rulers of the Muslim world in the areas around them. And the Mamluks were very enlightened for their time. And it came to women. So those cities that the Mamluks controlled and the three great Mamluks cities as I said were Damascus, Cairo, and Jerusalem. Women were elevated. They were property owners, they were wage earners. They could set up schools, they donated money, they even led prayers in their time. Now look at some of these pictures I’m going to show you because the role of women in Jerusalem, as a result of that Mamluk established tradition is really very unusual in the Islamic world. Another woman leading prayer, the Quran to her left. Wonderful picture with Bab al- Silsalah, and then the Dome of The Rock behind her.

• [Lauren] Julian, sorry to interrupt, but you’re cutting out a bit so I’m going to take over screen sharing.

• Thank you. So there we have the next picture. Women, again, all in white. These women were here, they were about to go off on the Hajj to Mecca, ready to go praying before they left Jerusalem to go to Mecca via, I believe I remember talking to them via Jordan, Allenby Bridge and then over into Saudi Arabia from there. Oh, next picture please. And some more very young women walking in the streets of Jerusalem. These women were in fact from Kenya in Eastern Africa and they were here on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Ironically, many of the women that I met coming on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, did what most Muslims in Israel Palestine cannot do. And many Muslims in the world can’t do. They can go to Mecca and Medina and Jerusalem in that order, the three holiest cities in Islam. They can go to all three in a period of a few days if they get their visas right and have pilgrims visas to then come on to Israel to Jerusalem. And the next picture, please. Some of the women on prayer during one of the nights of Ramadan. I thought this a really atmospheric picture. You can get the idea again. These were women’s only prayer services of which there are many in Jerusalem in the mosques and the homes around the Haram al-Sharif, the Dome of The Rock and Al-Aqsa Compound. Next please. And again, women at prayer. I would always have to negotiate to take these pictures. Normally there wasn’t a problem. I would never have taken pictures without the permission of the women. And what was interesting was, unlike lots of other Islamic countries where I’ve travelled to, where one would have to seek permission from the husband to take a picture of the wife.

There were very few men around. Because as I’ve mentioned, many of the foundations that these women were part of, many of the establishments that they were members of and they were praying at and that they were studying at were women only organisations. Centuries old around Jerusalem. So there was no permission that needed to be sought from husbands. One just asked the women. It was a very refreshing thing and a very unusual thing to be able to do in places of the world that are strongly Islamic. Next picture please. This very elderly lady, one of the great teachers in Jerusalem. She has since died, but I met her in 2002, three and four. She was a teacher. She also taught singing. There was a great women’s singing tradition in Jerusalem and an academy established by Sultan Qaitbay, who set up an academy for women to sing the Quran and the Hadith and other holy works. You might recall that I showed you a picture of the tomb of Qaitbay, who was an early Mamluk ruler. He was buried in Cairo. And you might recall that his tomb was extremely similar in design to a sabil, a water fountain on the Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem. And he left an endowment in Jerusalem to set up an academy to teach women to sing the holy scripts. And that still continues to this day. This lady had the most incredible voice. Next picture please. And this very beautiful, elegant lady was one of the wives, one of the three wives of the Mufti of Jerusalem. Mufti Ekrima, who was the mufti at that time. And this was just prior to Iftar, the breaking of the fast meal during Ramadan period. Everyone was coming down from the Dome of The Rock and people were breaking their fast. Next picture please. Women at prayer again.

And you will see again these women are not in the background, which is so often the case where women can pray and can sit and can study in Islamic holy shrines. Women normally get a backseat in Islamic holy shrines around the world. These women have won whole side, right next to the Dome of The Rock, the Qubbat al-Ṣakhrah in Arabic, the Dome of The Rock. And they have prime position there as mentioned because of the honoured position that women have in the Islamic institutions of Jerusalem. And the next picture. I took this picture because it will relate to two future lectures. I’m going to be doing a two-part set of lectures next month and the month after about Christian sects of Jerusalem. Now this is the Church of The Holy Sepulchre. And this is right underneath The Great Rotunda under which is the traditional site for the Edicule. The burial place of Jesus. But what did I find one day? A whole group of Islamic ladies doing a tour of this holy site because of course Jesus has prophetic status in the Quran just as Moses does and many others. And these women, after going to their primary holy sights in Jerusalem, were then visiting the Christian sights. It was a lovely moment and we chatted for some lengthy period of time about what Jesus meant to them. They had very differing views about what Jesus meant to them. He was near irrelevant to some of them. To others, they saw him as a minor prophet. Others saw him as a major prophet, but they felt it was the right thing to do. They were visiting from Egypt and they felt it was the right thing to come to the tomb of Jesus because he is mentioned in the Quran. Mary, his mother is mentioned in the Quran and it was on their list of places to go on pilgrimage too.

More on that building of course next time. Next please. And again, women walking down one of those side streets going from the prayers. And the next picture. And I took this picture because, well it’s slightly out of date now. You will see a woman reading from the Hadith prayers or the scriptures beyond the Quran, but above her head is Beitar . being short for Yerushalayim. Beitar Yerushalayim. Now Beitar Yerushalayim is one of the football teams of Jerusalem. Renowned, infamous for its extremely strong anti-Arab feeling. There is further graffiti there and it says something about Aravim at the back perhaps, I’m not quite sure because her head is blocking it. But of course in recent months, or in the last year it has been bought, I believe someone will correct me if I’m wrong by an outside Arab buyer. So this most fiercely Jewish nationalistic of football clubs in Israel is now Arab owned. I’m not sure what that would do to the character of the club and what it’s almost exclusively Jewish fans would say about it. I took the picture because at the time Beitar Yerushalayim was being pretty much hauled over the coals for a lot of its racist chants that were occurring within the stance. Death to the Arabs and so on. So it was very, very controversial and infamous in its time. So that picture in a way encapsulated the pressures that Jerusalem is under. Everything’s just sizzling there under the surface. And the next picture, please? Now on a different continent. This is a pilgrims train. These pilgrims waving at the photographer, me. Were starting their journey to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It was a train in Hyderabad. One of the Muslim majority states within India. Remember India is a Hindu country. Pakistan is Muslim, Bangladesh is Muslim, but there are in fact more Muslims living in India than there are in Pakistan.

A massive Muslim minority within India. There they were, very excited about setting off from Hyderabad on the long journey of pilgrimage eventually to Jerusalem. Next picture please. And talking of pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Why I inserted this picture here would be the end part of their pilgrimage. This is a Mamluk period house of which there are hundreds in Jerusalem. You can tell them because they’re pretty worn and weathered because this is 13th century. The early Mamluk period. Mamluks were in power from 1217 onwards all the way through to 1417 or 1517. I’m sorry. To the beginning of the Ottoman period. And they’re often characterised by these little low benches made out of stone, to the immediate right and left of the door. Benches for anybody passing by to sit. And what was really interesting about this house was, well it’s not really graffiti, but was all the folk art, I suppose would be the modern term for it. All the artwork on the outside. Because what you have there are the signs of pilgrimage and of Hajj. What you have, look at the left hand side, the Dome of The Rock. Look beneath the Dome of The Rock, the cuboid structure, the Qavah. Something I talked about at some length last week. The most holiest sight in Islam. Built not by Muhammad, but built in Islamic tradition by Abraham, centuries and centuries before Muhammad or the thousands and a half years before Muhammad. But then rededicate to the use of one God by Muhammad. And to the left of that little cuboid structure of the Qavah is a little, little sort of pencil thin image of a minaret, which represents the minaret of the mosque of the prophet in Medina where Muhammad is buried. Then going up, look above the door, you have the crescent of Islam in red. You have again the Dome of The Rock figuring really highly above the door.

And to the left and the right of the Dome of The Rock, the cuboid black structure of the Qavah again. This is a family who has either been on pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina in Jerusalem, or their house is open to those that are on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. And they’re advertising that and ready to welcome people. Let me now show you inside that house. Next picture please. Simple structures, clean and simple. Spartan prayer rugs on the table and on the chairs. The Haram al-Sharif the noble sanctuary. The Temple Mount is surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of homes like this. Homes that will be absolutely ram packed with people during this month of the year, Ramadan. Because this is a key month. The month of fasting and a month where so many Muslims are coming into Jerusalem. That’s a high pressure time. Remember also it’s a rare confluence of Easter, Ramadan and Pesach at the moment. The Christian, Muslim and Jewish festivals all at the moment happening in Jerusalem. Although remember Orthodox Easter is a little bit after. But nevertheless a very unusual confluence and a time of high pressure within Jerusalem. When I’ve been reading reports recently about the pressure, the sort of pressure cooker that Jerusalem is at times such as this. If you read two accounts by Josephus who was around during the Roman period, nothing’s changed really. The Romans would quadruple the size of their garrison in Jerusalem to make sure that the times of Passover were peaceful and were not tumultuous and were not restive. And it’s exactly the same now in a sense. The Israeli presence in the city, the military presence, the police presence is raised. Jerusalem is unchanged. So looking at this on the inside, it’s a very quiet pilgrims home now. This would now be absolutely packed with pilgrims. Next picture please.

And there are some of those pilgrims. These are Kenyan Muslims who are in Jerusalem in the early 2000s. 2005 if I remember correctly. Coming on pilgrimage to Jerusalem with these particularly unusual head wear that the men wear. And a very characteristic coverings that the ladies wear all in white on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. And these very distinctive beards that they have. Hardly any moustache for the men, but quite lengthy beards below the chin. They stand out a mile away. They are a Shia subset of Islam. Remember, I mentioned the Shias last week. I’m going to return to them very shortly. They’re a Shia subset in the Shia’s number 12 to 15% of the Islamic population of the world. The other 88 to 85% are Sunni. Next picture please. These are some Sufi that came all the way from Pakistan to Jerusalem. Trance like the Sufi master is in Jerusalem sitting on or very close to the Al-Aqsa Mosque chanting and celebrating. And you can see the swaying going on because you could see when the picture was taken, there is movement to these men. They were deep in meditation. Uttering one word for hours on end. “Allah, Allah.” Next picture please. A slightly more gruesome picture. Firstly, look at the left hand side. You can see the green flag of Islam. Look at all the people sitting on the wall on the other side of the separation barrier. And now look at these Sufi who have gone into deep trance and are attaching and hanging things from their body. Such is the depth of their trance. No loss of blood. Notice. They’ve lowered their blood rate somehow. It’s an amazing thing to behold. All parts of the patchwork of Jerusalem. This was in fact during Ramadan 2003. Slightly more bloody pictures coming up soon. So if you’re squeamish, look away. Next picture please. So there they are in deep trance again. They’ve beaten their breast and there’s some blood coming there. But these are Sunni Muslims, not Shia Muslims.

But look at the intensity there. Who would’ve thought that was Jerusalem? But there it is. Look at the two men holding hands there. Bottom right hand corner. All of the men there are holding hands and they’re repeating the name of Allah. These are completely un-Jerusalem like. Un-Palestinian Muslims. They’re completely different sects. And I should add, they weren’t in any way, shape or form political. They were in Jerusalem for one reason and one reason only. And that was pilgrimage. The articles I’ve mentioned that I wrote in the “Jerusalem Report”, I talk about some Muslims that came from Iraq. Again, not political, didn’t really want to get involved in the Palestinian, Jewish, Christian disputes. They were in Jerusalem for one reason and one reason alone, pilgrimage to the third holiest sight of Islam. Next picture please. This ended up my talk last week, but it’s sort of two-thirds of the way through my talk this week. It was an irresistible picture. This was a whole group of Indonesian Muslims that were on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. And this was taken in Al-Aqsa Mosque. Gorgeous picture. And next. Some Dervish whirling in a small sub mosque very near the residence of Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari, who is pictured a little later. He is a Dervish. I’ll tell you more about the Dervish. In Turkey, they’re known as the Mevlana. They’re known worldwide as the Dervish. They are Sufi. Sufism in fact predates Islam. But for historical and social reasons, the vast, vast majority of the Sufi in the world are now Muslim. But there are tiny pockets of Sufi dotted around the world who if you ask them they’ll just say, “Well we’re Sufi.”

But I’ve only ever met one such group. Almost all Sufi in the world now have been enveloped by Islam as Islam swept across the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa. It moved east into Asia, it moved south into Sudan, it moved northeast into Central Asia. So the vast majority of Sufi are Muslim and the most famous Sufi in the world are the Mevlana. The Sufi of Turkey, The Dervish. And there they are whirling. Next picture please. And there are some of the Sufi in the most beautiful structure. Look at that gorgeous Mamluk period structure. There is the eastern wall, the Qibla of the mosque where prayers will be led. Look above the heads of the men. And you can see Kufic Arabic script. It’s so sophisticated, it’s square in design. Can you see that? The letters are sort of squarish. It’s very modernist, almost art deco in its design. Look inside the little niche. And you can see there’s these zigzag wave designs. Again, almost modernist deco design. But that is a very early Mamluk 13th century structure. It also, by the way, looks almost Norman or put another way when the Normans and other such group ended up going in the 11th century, 12th, 13th century fighting the crusades. They brought back ideas of Fatimid and Mamluk architecture and brought them and put them into the cathedrals of Europe. But this is a Sufi band in the Al-Hurriyah mosque playing music while the Sufi dance. Absolutely beautiful, playing the oud, one of the most wonderful instruments. Very evocative instrument. Next picture please. Now I’m taking you to Iraq. And this is the Mosque of Karbala. Karbala is where Imam Hussein is buried. Imam Hussein was the grandson of the Prophet. He was the son of the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. The son of Fatima. And Fatima’s husband was Ali. Ali was the son-in-law of Muhammad.

So Hussein was the grandson of Muhammad through Muhammad’s daughter, Fatima. This is where he is buried. Now his father Ali was martyred at the Battle of Karbala in 680. Just a little reminder, Muhammad dies in 632 AD and then there is a progression of what are called the rightly minded Caliphs of Islam. The first of whom is Abu Bkar, who led Islam only for two years, 632 to 634. Then he died. Then Umar, who is particularly important to Jerusalem. The second of the rightly guided Caliphs who ruled from 634 to 644. And it was in 638 that Umar took Jerusalem. I mentioned last week the Patriarch Sophronius surrendered the keys of the Holy Sepulchre to Umar. And you will recall the Umar didn’t destroy the tomb of the Holy Sepulchre. He showed for what in that period was a remarkable respect for the holy sight of another faith. But he built those two minarets, you’ll recall. Equidistance from the main Dome of The Holy Sepulchre to say, “Well we won’t ransack the Church of The Holy Sepulchre. We won’t destroy the tomb of Jesus. But you must remember that you are there under the sufferance of Islamic rule.” And so there’s two minarets, the minarets of Umar and the minarets of Hanukkah Mosque were built equidistant. Loads on that in the coming two lectures on Christian Jerusalem. The third rightly guided Caliph was Uthman. 644 to 656. And then we come to Ali, who ruled from 656 to 661. Once we get to 661, Islam splits. The Great Schism of Islam. Shia Islam, Sunni Islam. This is one of the great shrines of the Shia Muslim world. The Shia Muslim world of that 12 to 15% of the Muslims in the world who are Shia, about 90% of that 12 to 15% are based in Iran, Iraq. With a few dotted in other parts of the world.

But these are the centres of the Shia world. The citadels of the Shia world. And this is the magnificent mosque at Karbala. Now why do I talk about all this? If we can go to the next picture please. There has always been a Shia Islamic presence in Jerusalem for obvious reasons. Jerusalem is the third holiest sight in Islam. And this is one of the Shia enclaves in Jerusalem, deep into East Jerusalem. Quite an old enclave. And there are some quite graphic pictures coming shortly. Again, look away if you are not keen on graphic pictures. Next picture please. So that’s part of the Shia subsection. And the next picture, please. And a Shia family going to prayer in Jerusalem. And the next picture please. Graphic pictures start now. So this is the Festival of Ashura. This year, the Festival of Ashura falls, I think, I believe it’s the 5th and 6th of August worldwide. You might well have seen it on the news over the years, particularly from Iran. Where the Shia Muslims, the male, beat their breasts until they bleed. Sometimes with their hands, sometimes with chains. It occurs all over the world. Of course most colourfully and most bloodily in Iran and Iraq. But even in cities like London. There are Shia Muslims that gather in Hyde Park and walk up the Edgeware roads and they beat their breasts there. And this is it happening in Jerusalem. This commemorates the battle of Karbala, which was when Ali was martyred in 680.

By the way, Ashura comes from the Arabic word ashara meaning 10. The same as the Hebrew as eserah. It also commemorates the the traditional time when according to Islamic tradition, the Red Sea parted and Moses miraculously brought through the Israelites in their flight from Egypt. So it has resonances all the way back to Moses, one of the prophets of Islam. Graphic pictures coming up. Next picture please, in Jerusalem. So now you can see the blood is being shed. A small incision is being made with knives. You can see one of the men holding the knives on their foreheads and on their chests. It took me quite a long time to get permission to take these pictures. Although you can see some of the locals are taking pictures. I had to negotiate it and so on. But they were possible to take. And the next picture please. And the next picture. Sides to Jerusalem that are so often not seen marching down one of those streets in Jerusalem. But we’re talking about quite small groups. We’re talking about a few hundred people. Not about hundreds of thousands of people. In fact, millions of people in Najaf, in Karbala, in Samarah. These really massive Shia Islamic cities in Iraq. And the next picture, please. And crawling along the ground in order to show respect and mourning for the calamitous assassination of Ali in 680 AD. Jerusalem. Multifaceted Jerusalem. Worlds within worlds, things going on that people didn’t realise. And we all know, those that have been to Jerusalem, how relatively small the city is. So we’re talking about things that are happening within a few hundred metres of Christian Jerusalem, of Jewish Jerusalem, of Hasidic Jerusalem as the crow flies.

This is what is so remarkable about Jerusalem, that those that have not been can’t often appreciate how small Jerusalem is. When I say to people that the distance from the old city of Jerusalem to Ramallah is I believe less than the centre of London to Wimbledon in South London. That’s how small this world of Jerusalem and its close environs are. The pressure cooker of Jerusalem. It is in that sense little short of a miracle that Jerusalem holds itself together without religious killings. Which seldom occur in Jerusalem. This is a remarkable thing. More on that on a future lecture. Next please. And the women of Jerusalem, the Shia women of Jerusalem. There you can see the head of Ali, the martyred Ali beheaded in a large sort of poster that they’re holding up there. Next please. Now on to a completely different group. So now looking at some African Muslims that came up from Tanzania. And they had made the pilgrimage from Tanzania to if I recall correctly, Djibouti. Djibouti up the Red Sea. They then went into Egypt and then they crossed over in Jerusalem to, I think it was through Rafah and then into Israel that way. It was more or less a sea journey. In the old traditional pilgrim’s route. And the next picture. And a Muslim from West Africa. This is a Berber Muslim who’d come over from West Africa to Jerusalem. Again another group of Muslims coming to Jerusalem. They would go in, they would go out and most of the Christians and the Jews wouldn’t realise that they’d come to this third holiest site for them. Next, please.

There is Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari. He is now dead, sadly. He’s a Sufi and he lived in a house in the Christian quarter in Jerusalem. He was the leading Sufi sheikh Jerusalem. There he is at the Sufi meeting. He lived within a courtyard where all of his male ancestors were buried. Think of his name, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari. His ancestors were originally from the town of Bukhara in Central Asia and from Uzbekistan, which is a magical town by the way. Strongly recommended. His ancestors came to Jerusalem in the 13th century and there his family remains. When every male head of the family died, the male head was buried in the courtyard. He lived amongst the dead of his family in a very beautiful courtyard. Very close to the Alahmari School, which is one of the Stations of The Cross. I’ll be talking about the Stations of The Cross next time. Christian Jerusalem. And he lived in this gorgeous compound surrounded by those that had preceded him. But he didn’t live in the past. His home was open to all. He was a wonderful and charming, and peaceful personality. Next picture, please. And somebody from Afghanistan who had come to Jerusalem. And the next one please. And I took this picture because you can just see in the background, this man was standing in front of Damascus Gate as we in English would call it. Sha'ar Shkhem in Hebrew. Bab al-Amoud in Arabic. And high above his head is an Israeli soldier just sitting in the window above the gate.

It was a lovely juxtaposition of this pilgrim to Jerusalem and the Israeli soldier behind, high above. Next please. And this beautiful lady who came all the way up from South Africa. A Muslim from South Africa who had come to Jerusalem on pilgrimage as well. Next please. This man is one of the black African communities of Jerusalem, born and bred in Jerusalem. His family had been in Jerusalem for 200 years. And there he was pictured with the Dome of The Rock in the distance behind him, Mount Scopus and the Mount of Olives behind. Next please. This man is an Egyptian, come to Jerusalem on pilgrimage. Very few Egyptians come to Israel, although there is a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel made in 1977, Camp David. It’s a cold peace. Ask yourself if you are familiar with this, or how many Egyptians have I ever met in Israel? Well, no Egyptian backpackers, they just don’t come. It is not encouraged. The only large scale movement of Egyptians that I have come across in Jerusalem are Coptic Egyptians. The ancient Christians of Egypt. And I will talk about them in a future lecture. But this was a Muslim of Egypt on a rare example on pilgrimage. He came from upper Egypt in Southern Egypt, from Aswan, all the way from Nubia to come to Jerusalem. And the next picture shows another example of a very little known community. This is the Gypsy community of the Old City. The Gipsies came to Jerusalem in the 19th century from a mixture of places, but in the main, from the Balkans. From Serbia and from Montenegro. And they arrived on mass during the late Ottoman period. So we’re talking about the 1880s, 1890s.

They’ve been given protection by the British from 1917 onwards. And they have stayed in Jerusalem ever since. A lot of my talks, I’ve started off with that satellite view of Jerusalem and a view of the four quarters of Jerusalem. But in fact, each of those quarters subdivide and the Muslim quarters subdivide into many, many quarters. One of them is the Gypsy community of the Old City of Jerusalem. Where they live in a few buildings, have their own community centre, have their own mosque, have their own shops. And as you can see, the way she is dressed, they’ve dressed very distinctively. Next please. And the final few pictures are during Ramadan. This, I got up very early to take this picture. This was just prior to dawn. Going through the city, drumming and waking everybody up, drums and tambourines. “Awake, awake.” The call to prayer. “Prayers will be in half an hour.” There they were going round, waking up everybody in the Muslim quarter. Next please. And all the flashing lights, the garish flashing lights of Ramadan. Just like Christmas time really in London or any other Christian city. Next, please. Look at that. This is Sukatani. I showed you that last week in the physical side of Islamic Jerusalem that I shared. And that’s one of the key thoroughfares. Crusader period leading up from Alwad Street. Alwad, meaning valley, the street of the valley from Alwad Street up onto the Haram al-Sharif, the Dome of The Rock platform. Absolutely ram-packed, full of people buying, shopping. This is during the Iftar, straight after Ramadan. It’s dark. People have just broken their fast already. And now the streets are absolutely teaming with people shopping for the next day because of course the fast will start at dawn the next day and just celebrating becoming out. Many Muslims, by the way, put on weight during Ramadan.

They don’t actually lose it, although it is a month of fasting. They actually put on weight because they’re binge eating huge amounts of food in the afternoons and evenings. And if ever there was a place, I should say, if you want to experience a wonderful Ramadan feel, there’s two cities I would recommend. One is Jerusalem, one is Cairo. Each for different reasons. More on that another time, perhaps. Next please. And the more serious sight to prayer during Ramadan. Notice the way they’re facing. Their backs are to the Dome of The Rock, because they’re facing south towards Aqsa ‘cause the Dome of the Rock is there and they’re facing south towards Mecca. Next, please. And again look at the beautiful structure of the Dome of The Rock looming behind. I shared with you last week this tile from the Dome of The Rock of which I have two. And what I forgot to show you this time, I mentioned to you the Dome of The Chain, which has much older tiles. That’s one of the tiles from the Dome of The Chain. That is 11th century. It’s a really rare thing. The other tile I forgot to show you is from Karbala from the Mosque of Imam Ali. Karbala Mosque is entirely in green. This glorious green. Look at the shape of it. It’s slightly rounded. Very, very slightly rounded because this would’ve been one of the tiles that would have actually been on one of the minarets of the Karbala Mosque. Glorious tile. Has that deep lustre because of the use of quarts within the paint work and the firing that gives it that deep lustre. And the next picture after that little aside on tiles. Again, people at prayer during Ramadan. Next please. At prayer again. Next please. And the busy streets. And the next picture sort of encapsulates it all. Strong police presence during Ramadan time. Police extremely nervous and conscious about large scale movement of particularly young men. Fire branded young men during Ramadan. Always a time of trouble at that time of year. Next please.

And one of the nights of Ramadan. Just people sleeping away in the mosques. This is in Al-Aqsa. Remember the age of Al-Aqsa is a thousand years old. It’s the most fantastic atmosphere. Thousands of people around all night long. The Dome of The Rock compound is open. Tens of thousands of people sleeping, eating, celebrating. Fire eaters, jugglers. It’s the nearest thing I’ve ever come to, to a mediaeval fair. Every type of humanity there. It’s so relaxed, yet intense at the same time. It’s a wonderful atmosphere. Just look at that. Next please. And this picture ending up the last few pictures is a group of people talking. But notice the side curls. They look very Islamic, but they are in fact Jews. And the next please. And look at these three ladies. Are they the three Islamic veiled ladies of a Muslim husband? Or next picture, please. No they’re not. There are three Yemenite ladies. Three wives of a Yemenite man. And I just threw that in because I thought, “Well nothing in Jerusalem is as it seems to be.” You can’t quite always tell whether somebody is traditional Jewish or traditional Islamic. It’s not so simple. Next, please. The final two pictures, I believe, I think. This again says it all. Two men, one passing by the other. Both strong in their faith, yet worlds apart. They almost touch, but they are inches from each other, but worlds and worlds apart. Next please.

This is the final picture. A bit of fun. I believe I’ve shown it to you very briefly before. I watched this going on for about 15 minutes. This is a Saudi man. One of those ladies was his daughter. One was his sister and three were his wives. They all looked very similar to me, but of course not to him. They spent just under 15 minutes getting in the right position, changing the position, moving around, getting everything right. This one had to move there. This one had to move there for these happy snaps, which don’t really show very much to my mind. But they were all very precise. The women were giving orders, he was giving orders. It was just a wonderful Jerusalem moment of pilgrims coming to Israel. They were not political, they were just coming, they were saying their prayers. They were there during Ramadan and then they were having snaps of being at a holy sight. I thank you once again for listening. We have a good few minutes for questions. If I can remind you in case we cut off at the end, two lectures coming up, one on the 18th of May, one on the 16th of June. Those times on Christian Jerusalem. But lots about that next time. But I’m open for questions whenever you’re ready. And I think I’ll probably just scroll down as I have in the past. So I’m now going on to Q and A. And I shall put my glasses on.

Q&A and Comments:

Q: Thank you. So, “As Jews at Pesach say next year in Jerusalem, what’s effectively impeded the return of Jews Jerusalem for over a thousand years?”

A: Well, there was almost a constant presence of Jews, but I think what you’re correctly getting at is what effected impeded the return of Jews to ruling Jerusalem over a thousand years. And the answer to that would be that it was ruled by others. It was ruled by firstly the Romans of course. And then the Byzantine Romans from 326 AD. Remember 326 is an absolute key date in Christian history and in indeed in world history. One of the key dates in world history. And key in Jerusalem because 326 AD was when Constantine’s mother Helena arrives in Jerusalem, identifies the holy sight of Christendom. So you have the period of Christian rule of Jerusalem. Roman Christian rule, the Byzantine period 326, 638. And then of course the almost immediate switch over to Islamic rule in Jerusalem from 638 all the way through to 1099. Then we’re about to Christian rule, Crusader rule to 1187. Then Salah al-Din takes Jerusalem. It returns to Islamic rule all the way through to the Mamluk period and the Ottoman period through to when the British takeover in 1917. But even then, when the British takeover, although they’re in control, they allow it to be in effect a Islamic city. So I think the answer to that question is the Jews were in no position to be the decision makers in Jerusalem. It was Islamic and Christian. And I would add Islamic and Christian of different hues. Some were very intolerant. Some were tolerant for their time. Some were enlightened, some were not. So it’s all different.

Q: “Were the praying women on prayer mats? If so, these are not obvious.”

A: Yes, they were. They were on prayer mats. Yes.

Q: “For how many years were Jews in the majority and in control of Jerusalem before the Common Era?”

A: Oh, you’ve got me there on precise years. So before the Common Era. So we’re talking about the Second Temple period, but for a great sway of the Second Temple period. Jerusalem was under Roman rule and Roman control, but the Romans gave the Jews autonomy over the holy sight, over the temple sites. The key thing about the Romans, and I can’t recommend enough for example, Mary Beard, the Cambridge classicist, who has produced a fantastic series on Rome and on what Rome was all about. They’re all on YouTube and strongly recommended. So look her up if you haven’t watched them already. Three or four part series on the Roman Empire. What made the Romans as they were. And one of the key things about the Romans is that they allowed great autonomy to many of the religions that they found themselves ruling over. However, what the Romans absolutely insisted upon was loyalty to Roman political control. But Jews were allowed to continue many of the practises within the temple as long as they accepted that Caesar was king, and that the Romans had sovereignty over it. So even in that period of the second temple, I would say the Jews weren’t really in control of Jerusalem. So really the control of Jerusalem is the early years of the Second Temple and the years of the First Temple. Sorry to so rush that question. It’s more complex than that, but that is basically the answer there. I hope that satisfies you, Monty.

Q: David, “Comment on the masonry in this pilgrim house, please? Stonework looks almost like that on the west wall.”

A: Yes, it does. Absolutely, well spotted, David. And that’s because it is the stonework from the temple era. Remember, you know when people from olden times built things, if they could save time and energy and money, they would just use stones, secondary use of stones. So therefore, when the Mamluk structures were built in the 13th century, if they found massive boulders from the destruction of the temple, they would reuse them. So you are absolutely observant, quite right. It’s secondary use of Second Temple period stones. You see it all over Jerusalem. By the way, when you’re in Cairo, you see bits of pyramids in mosques. You see the limestone from the pyramids of the Three Pyramids of Giza. You see it cropping up all over mosques and homes in Cairo. It’s the same principle. And I did point this out last week. Do you remember when I talked about those very elegant arches on the tops of the 28 steps leading up to the Dome of The Rock? And I said that the columns were Roman periods. The capitals were Byzantine periods. So it’s what peoples do. They use secondary use stones. So, yes.

“Intrigued by the electrical kettle connection in the stone house.” Yes, the electrical wiring leaves much to be desired. But I’ve never known anybody to die from these things. But health and safety isn’t top of people’s lists there.

Q: “How did the Mamluks end up in Egypt up to the time of Napoleon?”

A: They ended up there through brute force. So you know, they simply ruled Egypt through brute force and through wealth. But of course they became victims of their own corruption. And when the Mamluks at their height, were the 13th, 14th, 15th century. The time we get to the 16th, they’re in serious decline. Bickering amongst each other and so on.

Q: “Given the relatively short period that Jerusalem has been under Jewish control over the last 2000 years, are you comfortable as to claim the right to remain in control of East Jerusalem?”

A: Massive question. Maybe we could have a session of discussion on Jerusalem for a future lecture. I’m going to leave that for now. Not because I wish to avoid it, but because I think that deserves a real discussion debate and a reflection maybe. So once we’ve finished the two Christian sessions, we might have a session on looking at the whole of Jerusalem after we’ve looked at Jewish and Islamic, and Christian, looking back and where do we see it in the future and how do we see it? I hope that satisfies you for now. My apologies for not answering it directly for now, but I’m not avoiding it. I promise.

Q: Ron. “Are these sects of all three face that are in such close proximity aware of each other?”

A: It depends how you define aware. They’re aware of each other in that they know, but they know very little about each other. And indeed sometimes they’re not aware. Very few Jews would know that there are Shias coming from Iraq. Very few Jews would know that there are Muslim pilgrims coming up from Tanzania and South Africa. Very few Muslims would know that there are Hasidic Jews coming from Williamsburg. So I think yes and no is the answer.

Q: “You have so many portraits of people from all different places. Did you just go to people and speak to them and ask them who they were, or how did you get such wide selection?”

A: Yep, I just went up to people. I just went up and asked. Yes. And as I think I’ve said at the beginning of these talks, I found that I was able to go anywhere at any time, day and night and I never had any problems.

Lauren, I’m going to scroll down myself if I may, just so I can keep track of these things. Thank you. Yes, thank you.

Q: “What type of camera did you use?”

A: Oh, nothing special actually. A telephone camera, that’s all.

Q: “How did you get the tiles?”

A: Long story. The Dome of The Rock tiles I got from, I think I did mention that to you last time. I got those from a dealer in the Old City. I didn’t know what I was buying and he didn’t know what he was selling. I subsequently found out later. The tile from the Qubbat al-Silsilah, the Dome of The Chain. I actually didn’t buy in Jerusalem. I bought it in a town called Erzurum in Turkey and then identified it afterwards. The tile from Karbala, I actually purchased in Iran in the town of Hamadan. Where by the way is the traditional site for the burial site of Esther and Mordecai, although it’s Iraqi based. Long stories about each of them, how I got them.

Q: “Have you ever been on Sa-el?”

A: Joan, can you clarify what you mean by that please? Then I can answer the question.

Q: Brenda, “Do you speak Arabic? And if so, where did you learn it?”

A: Ooh, I speak pigeon Arabic and the Arabic I speak more than anything else is Egyptian Arabic because that is the Islamic country I have the greatest amount of interest and experience of. And of course Egyptian Arabic is really quite different to Arabics in other parts of the world.

Q: “Is there a Wahhabi presence in Jerusalem?”

A: Yes, as you can imagine, it is extremely closely watched by the Israeli authorities. But there is a Wahhabi presence there and I’ve met some of them. Yes. They’re allowed to come to Jerusalem on extremely limited time visas. Something like, you know, four or five day visas. Pilgrim’s visas and they’re very strictly controlled. But there is, there is a Wahhabi presence in Jerusalem. Yes.

Q: Carol. “Please talk about Islam and men and beards? Thinking about the Taliban who make these obligatory.”

A: Correct. “Look at many men in your photos and elsewhere, who do not have beards at all or not full ways.” Yes, it’s the same as religious Jews and beards. It depends on the sect and on the tradition within the sect, and on the social morals within that sect. you get Hasidic beards, which are very long because the social pressures with it to grow them are very long. You get Jews who just keep very closely trimmed beards. More lip fish beards. So I would say it is the same. It depends on the tradition within each of the sects and how strong the social pressures are.

Q: Elliot, “To what degree are Torah narratives and personalities important in the Quran?”

A: Torah narratives. Well there is much confluence of stories. These, you know, where Abraham almost sacrifices his son Isaac or his son Ishmael. The floods. The story of Jesus. Well that’s not Torah of course. That’s New Testament. Many of the stories of Abraham. Many of the stories of Isaac and Jacob. So many, many Torah narratives and personalities are in the Quran. And many of the Jewish personalities within the Torah are prophets within Islam. And I of course mentioned a couple of them today. Noah being one such example. Ibraham being another. Miriam being another. The sister of Moses. Musa, Moses himself known as Musa in the Quran being very important as well.

Q: “Please repeat the name of the woman who wrote of the Roman Empire?”

A: I didn’t mention a woman who wrote of the Roman empire. Do you mean Helena, the mother of Constantine? Who came over in 326 AD thereabouts the Jerusalem. And who identified the Christian Holy sites? Is that the one you mean, Betty? Is that correct?

Q: Yoland. “I did not realise that Ethiopian Jews could be polygamous. Could there were more multiple husbands?”

A: Don’t know the answer to that. I should know the answer to that because I have travelled to Ethiopia there. But no, the Jews who were polygamous were not Ethiopian, but were the Yemenite Jews. That’s Yoland, just to correct. Just to clarify things there. So it’s Yemenite Jews.

Q: “Could the Christians after 49th Jew be conversos?”

A: Um, um, don’t know the answer to that. Could well be, could well be, Suzanne. Yes, I’d have to think about that. But my immediate response could be, could well be.

Q: Joan, “I think you were a volunteer for the IDF and you talked about your second generation status?”

A: No, I wasn’t volunteer for the IDF 'cause by the time I moved to Israel I was too old to volunteer for the IDF. I’m not quite sure what you’re getting at there. If you could clarify that would be great.

Sarah Moran, thank you. “Mary Beard TV series on Rome.” It is fantastic, Sarah. So that’s that.

Stephen. “Comment to host. Thank you for your reply.”

Okay, Arienne. “I think you meant Ms. Beard.” Yeah, Mary Beard, the professor. The classicist, just retired actually recently in Cambridge.

Betty. “I meant the YouTube station about the Roman Empire.” Ah, I understand right.

Q: “Could the Yemenite able to have three wives?”

A: Certainly when they came over to Israel. Yes, but since arriving in Israel, they cannot now marry subsequently. But they were able to keep the wives that they came over with.

Austin. “Beitar is President Iban Israeli who has unsuccessfully-” Ah, thank you. There’s the clarification. “Unsuccessfully, tried to sell it to the Abu Dhabi family has now appointed a lawyer as a trustee.” Thank you Austin for that clarification. So almost an Arab owner.

Q: Yoland. “Tell us more about polygamy the Yemenites, please?”

A: That might have to wait to another time. But I think I’ve just mentioned though they were polygamous, many of them were polygamous in Yemen, not all. And they were allowed to keep their multiple wives when they arrived on operation. Was it Magic Carpet or what? I think it was Operation Magic Carpet that brought them over in the fifties. They were allowed to keep their multiple wives, but weren’t allowed to marry further in Israel once they were under Israeli jurisdiction in the modern state of Israel.

Q: "What type of camera do you use?”

A: I’ve mentioned that. Oh no, I think I’ve just gone down then. I believe that is all the questions.

Are there any that I’ve missed? I believe not. So we’re now on 2035. You’re welcome to read any articles I’ve done. I’ll see you all again on the 18th of May for Christian Jerusalem. Again looking at the physical side of the Christian Jerusalem and then the sect of Christian Jerusalem. As with everything Jerusalem, I’ve managed to scratch the surface of the many, many Islamic sects. But a scratch of the surface is better than nothing to that magnificent Roman Mosaic of human life in Jerusalem. Thank you all. Wishing you Chag Sameach. Those that are Jewish and celebrating Pesach. Ramadan Kareem. Happy Easter and I look forward to seeing you again next month. Bye-bye.