This thesis is concerned with the strategic plan of the Prophet Muhammad for Islamicjerusalem and the preparations that led to the first Muslim <i>Fath</i> of Islamicjerusalem, which took place after the death of the Prophet Muhammad.  The relationship of the Prophet Muhammad with Islamicjerusalem has been generally limited to the study of the virtues of that region according to the <i>ahadith</i> (traditions) of the Prophet Muhammad.  This thesis concentrates on the actual role of the Prophet Muhammad in paving the way for the Muslims to take over that region after his death.  However, the thesis deals with the Prophet Muhammad, according to the Muslim sources, as a Prophet, and therefore, the relationship of the divinely revelation with these preparations and this plan is not neglected, especially that Prophethood was the main character of the Prophet Muhammad that has been neglected in studying his acts and movements in this context. The stages of the strategic plan for the <i>Fath</i> of Islamicjerusalem can be divided into three stages: first, the divinely preparation and mobilisation of the Prophet Muhammad and the Muslims for the <i>Fath</i> of Islamicjerusalem, which was through Qur'anic concentration on the importance of Islamicjerusalem, and manifest this relationship through praying towards Islamicjerusalem.  Second, the turning point that led the Prophet Muhammad to realise the centrality of Islamicjerusalem, and this was through the Night Journey.  Third, the practical steps taken by the Prophet Muhammad, supported by divine revelation, toward paving the way for the Muslims to initiate the campaigns that led to the <i>Fath</i> of Islamicjerusalem after his death, and this manifested in studying the Prophet Muhammad’s military movements on the route of Islamicjerusalem, in addition to key documents granted or sent by the Prophet Muhammad to numerous parties in or around Islamicjerusalem.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Aberdeen University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 1997. / Title from title page screen, viewed June 13, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi (chair), John B. Freed, Lawrence W. McBride, Anne M. Rosenthal. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 205-215) and abstract. Also available in print.

Jerusalem - the third holiest city in Islam - is home to some 300,000 Muslims. But due to Israel’s occupation, they live difficult and disrupted lives. What might it mean for Muslims to practice their faith - on the ground, day by day - in such a conflicted place? One way religion becomes a meaningful category in people’s lives is through ritual. Scholars of Muslim religious practice have been attuned to this insight and observed it in various contexts. But their analyses have often been predicated on an implicit and unquestioned assumption - that people who desire to perform rituals have the means to act on their intention in regular and routine ways. Scholars have also shown that when societies are in rapid transition - be they weakened or threatened - their rituals often evolve with them. In this project, therefore, I ask: what happens in Jerusalem when Muslims live under the existential threat of occupation and their ability to routinely perform religious rituals cannot be assumed? I argue that when rituals are disrupted, Muslims are forced to improvise. Religious rituals - like the performances of skilled jazz musicians - are spontaneous and dynamic but also practiced and deliberate. Rituals are spontaneous in that they respond to the occupation’s disruptions, making physical and discursive adjustments. They are practiced in that Muslims draw from an established repertoire of themes that includes Islam and sacred space, nationalism and resistance, local culture and geography. I term the coalescence of these dynamics the “improvisation thesis” and explore three case studies where specific improvisations have different levels of resonance. The Naqshbandi improvise rituals to make peace, but they are discordant with other established themes; Ramadan rituals have resonance that define specific moments; and the improvisations of the Murabitat are deeply resonant, influencing Muslim rituals throughout the city.