The Myth of Islamic Claims to the Land of Israel: A Theological and Historical Reappraisal

By Dr. Maxwell Shimba, Shimba Theological Institute

Introduction

The ongoing conflict over the Land of Israel remains one of the most contentious and misunderstood issues in contemporary religious, political, and academic discourse. Central to this debate is the persistent assertion from segments of the Muslim world regarding an alleged Islamic right to the Jewish homeland—a claim that, upon theological, historical, and textual scrutiny, proves to be both recent and ideologically motivated, rather than divinely or historically mandated.

This article critically examines the foundations of Islamic claims to the Holy Land, the nature of Arab hostility toward the Jewish people and Israel, and the manipulation of religious identity and scripture for political objectives. In doing so, it seeks not only to address the misconceptions propagated in the Muslim world but also to liberate sincere Muslims from ideological bondage imposed by pan-Arabist and Islamist agendas.

Historical Context: The Land of Israel and Its Ancient Ownership

Historically, the Land of Israel—known biblically as Canaan, then as Judea and Israel—has been universally recognized as the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. The Hebrew Bible, as well as subsequent Jewish, Christian, and even early Islamic traditions, affirm that God allocated this territory to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see Genesis 17:8; Exodus 6:4).

The notion that Israel was ever a fundamentally Muslim land before its allocation to the Jews is unsustainable. Prior to the seventh-century Arab conquests, neither the land nor its people were governed by Islamic law or identity. During the periods of Israelite, Judaean, Greek, Roman, and even Byzantine rule, the prevailing religions were Judaism and Christianity—not Islam. Indeed, Islam itself emerged in the Arabian Peninsula centuries after the establishment of Jewish sovereignty in the region.

The transformation of the land's name from "Judea" to "Palestina" by the Romans after the Bar Kokhba revolt (135 CE) was not a reflection of indigenous Arab or Islamic heritage but a calculated act of erasure aimed at diminishing Jewish national identity.

The Islamicization of the Israel-Palestine Conflict

The modern Islamic claim to the land is largely a product of twentieth-century political developments, rather than ancient religious entitlement. Prior to the 1948 establishment of the State of Israel, no independent Muslim state called "Palestine" ever existed; rather, the territory was administered variously by Ottoman Turks and then the British Mandate.

As documented in the foundational charters of Arab and Palestinian organizations, the struggle against Israel has often been framed in overtly religious and annihilatory terms. The Palestinian National Charter, for example, asserts that "Islam shall be the official religion in Palestine" and that "the principles of Islamic jurisprudence shall be the main source of legislation." The language of jihad and shariah is thus central to the ideology of contemporary Palestinian nationalism.

Moreover, leaders such as Zohir Mohsen (PLO Executive Committee Member) have openly admitted that Palestinian national identity is a tactical construct serving the broader pan-Arab objective of confronting Zionism. In a 1977 interview with the Dutch newspaper Trouw, Mohsen stated, “There are no differences between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese. We are all part of one people, the Arab nation. Just for political reasons we carefully underwrite our Palestinian identity. Because it is of national interest for the Arabs to advocate the existence of Palestinians to balance Zionism. Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity exists only for tactical reasons.”

This candid admission undermines the narrative of an indigenous, continuous Palestinian people dispossessed by Zionism. Instead, it exposes the political use of identity to perpetuate hostility toward Jewish sovereignty.

Islamic Theological Hostility Toward the Jews

Enmity toward the Jewish people, as expressed in certain Islamic texts and later theological developments, is not inherent to Islam’s original message but rather evolved within specific historical contexts. While the Qur'an recounts theological disputes between Muhammad and the Jewish tribes of Arabia (e.g., Quran 2:40-61), there is no Quranic mandate for perpetual warfare against the Jews or for the exclusive Islamic ownership of the Land of Israel. Interpretations that promote such hostilities are influenced by later jurisprudential and polemical traditions rather than the core scriptural message.

Notably, modern expressions of anti-Jewish hostility are often couched in language that fuses religious duty with Arab political ambitions. The rhetoric of organizations such as Hamas, Hizbollah, and others routinely frames the destruction of Israel as an Islamic imperative, thereby conflating Arab nationalism with universal Islamic obligations. This fusion is a relatively recent innovation and does not reflect the attitudes of earlier Islamic empires, many of which maintained diplomatic and even friendly relations with Jewish communities—including, notably, pre-revolutionary Iran.

The Weaponization of Religion and the Path Forward

The Islamic Revolution in Iran (1979) marked a turning point, with the Ayatollah Khomeini's regime imposing Islamist ideology and aligning Iran with pan-Islamic hostility toward Israel. Prior to this, Iran and Israel maintained cordial relations. The rise of jihadist organizations and the subsequent regionalization of the Israeli-Arab conflict are, therefore, not products of ancient hatreds but of modern political developments.

Charters of Arab organizations explicitly reveal their goals: the annihilation of Israel and the subjugation of its land and people under Islamic law, as articulated in foundational documents and the statements of founding leaders. The Palestinian Charter, for example, insists on the establishment of Jerusalem as the capital of "Palestine" and the implementation of shariah, while early PLO documents refrained from claiming sovereignty over territories controlled by other Arab states, focusing solely on the destruction of Israel.

Conclusion

The claim that there ever existed an independent Islamic nation known as "Palestine" is historically unfounded. The use of religious rhetoric to justify political violence against Israel serves to perpetuate enmity and obscures the true origins of the conflict: the refusal to accept Jewish sovereignty in the land historically and biblically allocated to them.

For sincere Muslims, it is imperative to distinguish between genuine Islamic faith and the instrumentalization of religion for Arabist and jihadist agendas. Liberation from the ideological bondage of Arab nationalism cloaked in Islamic rhetoric is essential not only for peace in the region but for the integrity of the Islamic faith itself.

Let us therefore seek truth over propaganda, peace over perpetual conflict, and faithfulness to the historical and theological record over the distortions of political expediency.

References

The Holy Bible, Genesis 12–17; Exodus 6
The Holy Qur'an, Surahs 2, 4, 5
Palestinian National Charter, 1964, 1968
Interview with Zohir Mohsen, Trouw, March 31, 1977
Ahmed Al-Shuqairy, A Mandate for Terror, 1969
Bernard Lewis, The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years, 1995
Martin Gilbert, Israel: A History, 1998

Thursday, July 10, 2025