"Whose surroundings we have blessed": The Islamic Movement in Israel Unites around the Al-Aqsa Mosque
Abstract
The current wave of violence did not spring up ex nihilo; it should be situated in a
broader context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general, and is related to the
tensions involving the sacred sites to Jews and Muslims, specifically the sites in
Jerusalem. The wave of stabbings appeared in early October but it was preceded by a
considerable worsening of tension and violent incidents on the Temple Mount / al-
Aqsa Mosque esplanade. The deterioration began with the Tisha B’Av incidents in the
same place, and the tension that triggered these events had continued and escalated
through the Jewish High Holiday period. One of the responses of Israeli authorities
was to outlaw the groups called Murabitun and Murabitat operating in Al-Aqsa
Mosque. (Ribat is to voluntarily defend Islam from external enemies. This Islamic
term goes back to the Muslim-Christian 8th century encounter in North-West Africa.
Its original meaning was a fortification post on the frontier with the infidels. Those
who volunteered to station those posts, combining holy war with a pious way of life,
were called Murabitun and for woman Murabitat. Today this term carries more
complex meanings, such as inner-spiritual struggle of the believer against mundane
challenges. Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa mosque are often described as places of Ribat,
and the current use of the term in al-Aqsa, describing groups of Muslims who stay at
the al-Aqsa compound, study Quran and confronts religious Jewish visitors at the site,
echoes back the original meaning of Ribat).
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