Three faiths have claimed ownership over Jerusalem. Plain ancient history favors Jewish ownership over the holy city. Christians claimed control of it at various moments in history, but no sound theological or historical claim can or should be made for ownership. Yet many Muslims today claim Jerusalem as theirs. Islam's claim on Jerusalem can be questioned because of two dubious reasons and because these shaky reasons come too late in history.

In AD 630, Muhammad led an army of about 30,000 jihadists northward to fight the Byzantines. He stopped in Tabuk, in northern Saudi Arabia today, but in the seventh century it sat in a kind of no-man's land, where northern Arab tribes lived. He had heard a rumor that the Byzantines had assembled a massive army, but the rumor was false because they never showed up. Yet, the Prophet's northward march must have deeply impressed the northern tribes. He was able to extract agreements from them, saying, in effect, that they would be safe from aggression (read: aggression from Muhammad himself) if they paid a tax for the "privilege" of living under his "protection."

It is impossible to exaggerate the influence of the Tabuk Crusade as precedent. Muhammad showed his followers how to deal with peoples that Muslim armies confronted after his death (Sura 9:29).

1. The attacked region or city may fight and die;
2. they may become Muslims and pay a forced charity tax, the zakat; or
3. the Jews and Christians may keep their faith and pay a jizya tax. There was little hope for polytheists and their religious "freedom" under Islam.

Muhammad died of a fever in 632. Later Muslims learned well from the example of their founder. In 634, Muslim armies stormed out of the Arabian Peninsula and began the conquest of Palestine (and other regions). In 638, Muslims conquered Jerusalem. Fifty years later, in 688, they began the construction of the Dome of the Rock. In 692, they finished the building project.

Various armies have fought over Jerusalem, but surprisingly, it has been Muslim armies and self-proclaimed leaders of Islam who have battled each other over the city (and Palestine) more often than non-Muslims. For example, Moshe Gil in A History of Palestine: 634-1099 says that the Fatimids, a North African Shi'ite dynasty named after Muhammad's daughter because the rulers claimed descent from her, invaded Palestine in 970 and destroyed it after a century of unceasing war, especially devastating its Jewish population.

The Fatimid army