Stepping into Jerusalem

Stepping into Jerusalem

At exactly 7am, Tel Aviv time, the Royal Jordanian flight from Amman touches down at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. From the air, Tel Aviv looks well-developed with lots of green pastures. It is a beautiful day in late winter with outside temperature hovering around 8oC.

This is the first time I'm setting foot in Tel Aviv. You may be wondering "Why Israel?".

Well, the tour I am on is called Visit And Pray In Three Important Mosques - Al-Aqsa in Baitul Muqaddis (Jerusalem), Masjidil Nabawi in Madinah and Masjidil Haram in Makkah. To get there, we need to transit in Amman, Jordan. There are 20 of us.

The visit, which costs us RM12,000 each, is inclusive of four countries - Palestine, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. As we enter the airport terminal via an aerobridge, two Israeli airport safety officers are on standby to randomly stop and question passengers about the purpose of their visit.

The first signboard I see in the terminal building says "Keep To The Right" written in Hebrew, English and Arabic.

The airport is not that busy at this time. Then again, not many airlines land in Tel Aviv. Royal Jordanian, Egypt Air and Turkish Airways are the only airlines from Islamic countries that fly to Tel Aviv.

YOUR FATHER'S NAME At the immigration checkpoint I greet a female officer in Hebrew, "Shalom, boker tov" ("Hello, good morning"). She asks two common questions which apparently are often asked of visitors from Malaysia: "What is your father's name?" and "What is your grandfather's name?".

She then instructs me to go for additional screening at a special lounge in a corner of the terminal.

Apparently, not all passengers go through this process. From my observation, only a few, mainly male below 50 years old. From our group, five men and one woman are requested to do this.

However, once our tour leader explains to a high-ranked Israeli immigration officer in detail the purpose of our visit, we are allowed through. We meet our local tour guide, Hisham, a Palestinian from Jerusalem who brings us to the waiting bus.

He holds an Israeli identity card and speaks six different languages including Malay. "Welcome to our homeland!" exclaims an excited Hisham who seems very happy to meet us.

According to Hisham, Palestinians born in Jerusalem are given an Israeli ID.

Those who opt to be Israeli citizens are granted an Israeli passport and are free to travel in Israel and Palestinian authority controlled areas. A Palestinian Muslim with an Israeli passport can also have a Jordanian passport for travel to countries where Israelis can't go to, like Saudi Arabia.

GORGEOUS JERUSALEM

Our journey is comfortable, thanks to the good highway system.

The journey between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is dotted with beautiful mountains and lots of greenery. Israel is well-known for its agriculture products like the famous Jaffa oranges. Our first destination is Masjid Nabi Mousa, located close to the Dead Sea.

The mosque is located in the middle of nowhere and it is believed that the tomb of Moses is here.

Built inside the mosque, the maqam (tomb) has become part of Islamic heritage. The actual grave of Moses is still unknown but according to scholars, it is located somewhere between Jordan and Jerusalem.

Our next destination is Jericho, a small town not far from the Dead Sea, controlled by the Palestinian authority. Jericho is another fertile soil of Syam (the old name for the land in between Syria and southern Jordan on the east and Gaza on the west) and its economy is driven by agriculture.

For the uninformed, Jericho is famous for its Mount Of Temptation, a sacred place for Christians. It was believed that this was where the devil tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to tempt Jesus into committing sinful acts. Jesus responded by fasting for 40 days and 40 nights.

Due to time constraints, we could not proceed to the monastery on the Mount Of Temptation. Moreover, we are hungry. Our last meal comprising plain bun with butter and fruit, was served on the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Amman... more than eight hours ago.

Hisham takes us to a local restaurant, Ahava Temptation, in Jericho for lunch. After the meal, we board the bus to the hotel in Jerusalem.

At 1.15pm, we arrive at the National Hotel. The temperature outdoors is 12°C. The one-way street in front of the hotel is busy with high school children walking home from school and fashionably-dressed women. With not much time on our hands, we dash to our rooms to freshen up before we meet at the lobby again to go to Al-Aqsa mosque for zohor and asar prayers. I am excited!

DOME OF THE ROCK

Walking from the hotel to the mosque is a pleasant experience yet I am nervous as my dream is about to become reality. From the busy streets, we enter the old city area, passing narrow alleys with stone pavements sloping down the hill.

There are a number of entrances into Al Aqsa Mosque and these are patrolled by the Israeli police.

Although only Muslims are allowed inside the mosque, Palestinian men from outside of Jerusalem, aged between 18 and 55, are prohibited from entering or performing prayers there. A strange, disturbing thought.

At the door, Hisham explains to the Israeli police officers on duty, of the purpose of our visit before we are granted permission to enter.

It is 2.30pm. Inside, the stunning sight of the Dome Of The Rock or Qubah As Sakhrah, located in the middle of the mosque compound leaves me speechless. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to visit the mosque and to pray in it.

A few years ago, I had dreamt twice of walking in the old city of Jerusalem and entering Al Aqsa Mosque.

Finally, it has become reality. As I step inside, I cannot hold back my tears of happiness.

What I see is similar to that in my dreams: Olive trees, shops along the alley leading to the doors of the mosque, the stone pavements, the Israeli policemen with heavy guns and of course, the golden Dome Of The Rock.

We walk towards the dome where the prayer hall is. We perform our prayers below the dome inside the cave where Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. used to pray. After the prayers, I walk around the beautiful compound, taking pictures and enjoying the beautiful scenery overlooking Mount Olives or Jabal Zaytun at the east side of Jerusalem.

We meet an 11-year-old boy named Ishaq, a regular at Al Aqsa and very friendly towards Malaysian pilgrims. He takes our photos using all sorts of cameras - compact camera, mobile phone camera and even the high-end DSLR type of camera.

He surprises us when he counts "1, 2, 3" in Malay. Sa-tu, du-aa, ti-ga, he says, in a cute way. The main hall of Al Aqsa Mosque is about 200m from the Dome Of The Rock. Yes, it is huge. There are two levels, the ground level is the main prayer hall and the underground level is the old mosque.

The underground level is only open for major prayers such as Friday prayers and Eid prayers. It is closed at other times and restricted to visitors. Entering the main prayer hall is an unbelievable experience. The hall is beautiful. The interiors, the design on the ceiling, the wall, the stunning mehrab and the interior dome are all equally stunning. The arch and pillars are magnificent. Very fine decorations. The beautiful mimbar was a gift from Salahuddin Al Ayubi, the first Sultan of Egypt.

Unfortunately the original burnt down after an Australian Jew extremist entered the mosque and put it on fire. The current mimbar is a reproduction of the original. The prayer hall itself is well maintained and clean.

At the centre pillar of the main prayer hall, there is a small cabinet where Israeli ammo from a previous ambush during the last war, is kept. After the internal tour of Al Aqsa Mosque, we visit the famous Jewish holy site, the Western Wall (also known as Wailing Wall or Buraq Wall). In Judaism, the Western Wall is where the Jews say their prayer or wish and the written wish or prayer is placed in between concrete blocks of this wall. To enter the sacred area near the wall, one must be appropriately attired, with heads covered. Normally the Jews will come close to the wall and start reading verses of Torah.

It is now getting dark. We are walking back to Al-Aqsa Mosque for the Maghrib and Isyak prayers. The Maghrib prayer is attended by at least 300 people. After the prayer, I meet a few local Palestinians, one of whom has been to Malaysia for business. I also meet a young journalist, Yousef Natsheh from Hebron, Palestine. He is touched to see us. We exchange numbers and Facebook accounts.

Then we head back to the hotel, walking along the old city's stone pavement. The night is a little chilly and the temperature drops to 8°C. I managed to get a local mobile phone card with Internet using Orange 3G with only ILS 60 (Israeli Shekel equivalent to about RM54 and get connected to WhatsApp and Facebook. I can now update friends and relatives in cyberspace about my day. After the long journey on my first day in Israel and Palestine, I am ready for a hot dinner followed by a hot shower and some rest.

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