Jerusalem and Mecca

Judaism, Spring, 1997 by Hava Lazarus-Yafeh

Jerusalem and Mecca are two of the most famous holy cities in the world. An enormous amount of literature and scholarly treatises has been written about each one of them. Nevertheless very little if anything has been done in way of comparative study. Most comparisons deal with the relationship of the sanctity of Jerusalem in Islam to that of Mecca in Islam or with the sanctity of Jerusalem in all three religions. What I shall try to do in this paper is to compare the sanctity of each city in its "natural," original surroundings with the other, and learn from this comparison something more general about each one of the two religions, Judaism and Islam.

Let me start with the similarities between the two holy cities. They are numerous, but I shall mention just three basic ones:

A. According to scholars of both traditions the sanctity of both cities is very ancient and seems to stem from pre-monotheistic times and from a specific part of the city: In Mecca it is the Ka'ba shrine and the small Black Stone in its eastern wall which were ancient sites of pre-Islamic pagan worship; in Jerusalem it is "Aravna's threshing floor" (2 Samuel 23:18ff.) which King David bought and where he erected an altar and burnt offerings to God. This was the place where the temple was erected later by King Solomon, and because of the huge rock in it, it may well have been an early pre-monotheistic place of worship.

B. Both the Temple mount and the Ka'ba infected, as it were, their respective cities with their sanctity. Although these are two very different shrines-at the Ka'ba no offerings are burnt and there is no priesthood in Islam (the sacrifice which ends the pilgrimage is a family feast) - the same process of sanctifying the city took place in both. The cities became holy because God dwelled in each one of them. Of course, the idea that God dwells in any specific place was long ago rejected by both religions. Nevertheless this ancient pre-monotheistic notion held on as a metaphor and the cities became holy because they surrounded the site that God-as the ancient kings did-chose to dwell in, His house or palace as it were. Slowly, but surely the distinction between Temple or Shrine and between city was blurred and the city itself became the holy site. Thus Jerusalem was termed "the city of God, the holiest dwelling place of God most high" (Psalm 45:5) and even the whole country was considered sacred because of the same reason. (In Al-Hidjaz as well a huge area of sacred territory surrounds Mecca with the Ka'ba.) A long process of discovering other holy sites in the cities and around them began and pilgrims usually added them to the first goal of their pilgrimage. The pilgrims to the cities and shrines became to be considered as visitors of God Himself and were urged to behave accordingly - everywhere in the city, not only at the Temple or in the Ka'ba Mosque.

C. The pilgrim's behavior in both cities was now regulated in detail, especially in Islam, where no one can enter Mecca and the surrounding holy territory without special purification. At specific points on the borders of the holy territory the Muslim male pilgrim has to wash his whole body, take off his everyday clothes, and put on the white garb of holiness (Ihram). While dressed in this garb the Muslim pilgrim to Mecca is considered to be in a state of holiness and many prohibitions are imposed upon him such as not to wash, shave, cut his hair and nails, or to have sexual relations. Arriving thus in Mecca he has to perform certain rituals at the Ka'ba and near the mosque surrounding it - before he can take off his Ihram garb. This holds true for the pilgrim who arrives in Mecca before the general Hajj pilgrimage starts (for which he will then once more put on the Ihram dress) as well as for the ordinary visitor to Mecca who can never enter the city as a casual visitor.

It is a small step from here to the discussion whether a pilgrim should stay for longer in the holy city-Mecca-a practice that was very common and considered to be a pious and recommendable act. But the more holy the city became in the eyes of the believers, the more some Doctors of Law and mystics hesitated to recommend this act of piety. Here are some of the great AlGhazzali's (d. 1111) deliberations on this issue:

The very cautious among the Sages did not like people to stay on in Mecca because of three reasons: First, because people may became bored and too familiar with the House [e.g., the Ka'ba] and this will extinguish the flame of reverence in their heart. . . . The second reason is that in order to raise the yearning to come back one has to leave. . . . Therefore someone said "To be in another place while your heart yearns for Mecca and is connected with this House - is better for you than to be in it - while you are bored and your heart is in another place." . . . The third reason is the fear to commit sins in Mecca, which is a very dangerous thing to do as it may bring the wrath of God [upon you ] because of the honored place. . . . People say that sins are multiplied in Mecca as are the good deeds [done there] . . . and some people who stayed in Mecca [for longer] never relieved themselves there but used to go every time outside the holy territory to do so; others, who stayed for months, never ever lay down there [to sleep]. . . .