Let’s briefly explore the background of many contemporary Jews and Theodor Herzl’s identification of “The Land of Israel”

In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Some propagate the idea that they are the descendants of the first Israelites who lived in Palestine, and claim that they are the inheritors of those first Israelites who were in Palestine. They strive to disseminate the claim of the purity of this race that it is not mixed with other nations- a race that has maintained, in their claim, its purity. This claim portrays them, in the eyes of Christians, as the children of Yaqub [peace be upon him] and his descendants, and thus they are the ones intended for the promises found in the Old Testament to the children of Israel. So, through this, they win the sympathy, kindness, and support of many Christians, especially with knowledge of the fact that the Christians sanctify the Torah and believe that what is in it is a revelation from Allah [The Mighty and Majestic]. However, the reality belies their claim of the purity of their race, and that is because a general observation of their appearance and features shows the difference in their origins. Some of them have European features, some have Arab features, and some have African features. With this difference, it cannot be claimed that their origin is the same, as they must have mixed with other nations from whom they inherited this difference in physical characteristics.

Furthermore, the Jews mentioned in their books that many of them married foreign women and that their women folk were also taken by foreign men, to the point that they attributed this to Prophet Sulayman – peace be upon him – (i.e. that he married women outside his race). It has also been proven historically that a big nation, the people of the Khazar state, converted to Judaism in the eighth century CE. This nation had previously been pagans, a Turkic Aryan people who inhabited the Central Asian region, and their state, named after themselves as the Khazar state, was located in the region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. It occupies the northern Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Ukrainian regions and the entire South Asian region, up to the borders of Moscow, the capital of Russia. The Caspian Sea was called the Khazar Sea. It is stated in the Jewish Encyclopedia about the Khazars as follows: “The Khazars are a people of Turkish origin, whose life and history are mixed with the beginning of the history of the Jews of Russia. The nomadic tribes of the steppes, on the other hand, forced them to consolidate the foundations of the Khazar kingdom in most parts of southern Russia before the Franks established the Russian monarchy in 855 CE. At this time (855 CE), the Khazar Kingdom was at the height of its power, engaged in constant wars, and at the end of the eighth century, the Khazar king, his nobles, and a large number of his pagan people converted to the Judaism. The Jewish population was large throughout the Khazar province during the period between the 7th and 10th centuries CE, (and) it appears that around the 9th century, all the Khazars had become Jews and that they had converted to Judaism only a short time earlier. Then this country subsequently fell into the hands of the Russians, who occupied it and completely destroyed it, and seized all of its lands. It disappeared from the map of Europe in the thirteenth century CE, and its people were dispersed among the countries of Eastern and Western Europe, and their largest existence in Eastern Europe were Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Russia”. This clearly shows that the Jews who are called Ashkenazi, who are European, have no connection to Prophet Yaqub by lineage. [1] Today’s Jews are not Jews (i.e. similar to the descendants of Yaqub in origin). [2] Nevertheless, it cannot be asserted that there is not a single Jewish individual in the world who is not connected to Yaqub by ancestry. If such a connection is proven by any of them, it should not be refuted. However, it is important to note that one’s lineage holds no significance if they have disbelieved in Allah or His final Messenger. The Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be upon him] emphasised this by stating: “By the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, none from this nation of Jews and Christians hears of me, and then dies without having faith in my message, but that he will be an inhabitant of Hellfire”. [3]

As for the usage of the word “Israel” concerning the state, it differs from their usage of it when talking about the Sacred Land. They make it obligatory for every Jew to live in the “Chosen Land” because whoever lives in it will have their sins expiated and receive a reward. This is why they said in the Talmud, “Every Jew must live in the Land of Israel, and this obligation is above every other obligation. The Land of Israel is pure and the pious among the Children of Israel must be buried there, and if that is not possible, some of the soil from it should be placed with the shroud. He who walks four cubits on the Land of Israel will not doubt that he is one of the children of the afterlife”. It was written in some of their books, “The people residing therein will be removed from sin”.

Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, defines the desired Land of Israel, saying, “The distance from the Nile River to the Euphrates, and we want a period during which the situation changes from one state to another under our institutions, and a Jewish ruler during this period. After that, a relationship will be established similar to the one that exists now between Egypt and the Sultan, and once the Jewish population in a region becomes two-thirds of its total population, a Jewish administration becomes effective at the political level”. [4] This ambition of Theodor Herzl reminds us of a statement of Imaam Abdul Azeez Bin Baaz [may Allah have mercy upon him] as follows, “As for the Zionist ideological (or intellectual war), it is like (the Crusader ideological war), and they spare no effort to corrupt the Muslims in their morals and beliefs. They have ambitions in Muslim countries and elsewhere. They have plans, some of which have been fulfilled, and they are still working hard to achieve the rest. Even if they fight Muslims with force and weapons, and seize some of their lands, they also fight them with their thoughts and beliefs. This is why they spread – within the ranks of the Muslims – false principles, (innovated) religious paths, and sects, such as freemasonry, Qaadiyaaniyyah, Bahaa’iyyah, Tijaaniyyah and other than them, and they seek the help of Christians and others to achieve their goals and objectives”. [5]

And Allah knows best

[1] An Excerpt from “Diraasaat Al-Adyaan Al-Yahoodiyyah Wan Nasraaniyyah”. Pages 67-70. 6th Edition 1439AH (2018)

[2] By Benjamin Friedman p. 19

[3] Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 153

[4] An Excerpt from “As-Suhyooniyyah An-Nasraaniyyah Diraasah Fee Daw’i Al-Aqeedah Al-Islaamiyyah”. page 223-224. 1st Edition 1430AH – 2009.

[5] https://binbaz.org.sa/discussions/30/%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%AB-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AD%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%88-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%8A