What does “The promised land” that exists in Jewish belief mean? To whom was this land promised and how?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The way of learning when, where, to whom and under what conditions the promised land was promised is to look at the book of the One that promised it.

The only book that is known to belong to Allah and that reached us without any letter or word being changed is the Quran. Both Jews and Christians accept that the Torah and the Gospel contained in the Bible were revealed by Allah but they were not preserved in their original form, that they were changed, that some parts of them were lost and that some words of the prophets and others were included in them. Therefore, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, “When the People of the Book bring you some information, do not approve or deny it; say, ‘we believe in what Allah sent and we do not believe in what He did not send.’” Accordingly, it is necessary to compare the information and news in the books that the People of the Book have with the Quran and the Sunnah, and to accept and confirm the ones that are in accordance with the Quran and the Sunnah and to regard those that are not in accordance with them as having the possibility of being both true and wrong equally unless they are contrary to the Quran and the Sunnah.    

Let us deal with the issue of “the promised land”, which the Zionists always keep on the agenda and exploit, based on the method explained above. The issue is mentioned in both the Quran and the Old Testament (the Torah) in the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy:   

“Remember Moses said to his people: ‘O my people! Call in remembrance the favor of Allah unto you, when He produced prophets among you, made you kings, and gave you what He had not given to any other among the peoples. O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin.’” (al-Maida: 5/20-21).

According to the two verses above, the promised land being recorded as homeland for Sons of Israel (this promise and determination of Allah) is not forever and it depends on some conditions. The evidence that it is not forever and that it is about the age when Hz. Musa (Moses) lives is the expression in verse 20:  Allah gave them a lot of boons; some of those boons had not been given to any individuals or communities in the world before; the holy land given to them as their homeland is among them. In the ages that followed, Allah gave other nations the boons that He did not give to Sons of Israel. 

Besides, this promise is based on a condition because for the realization of this promise, it was laid as a condition in verse 21 and in the verses following it that Sons of Israel would deserve it and that they would make sacrifices for it. Allah punished them and made them live in a narrow region for forty years by prohibiting them from entering that land because they did not fulfill that condition. Sons of Israel lived there afterwards as long as they deserved it in terms of having power and high ethics; when they did not deserve it, the same place became homeland for other communities.  

According to the information given in the book of Deuteronomy in the Torah, the promised land was not promised to Sons of Israel only; besides, it is not the land of today’s Palestine and Palestine in the past only. The promised land includes Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and part of Anatolia up to the basin of Euphrates. The communities that were promised this land were determined by the following sentences in Deuteronomy: “See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”

The last Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (pbuh) is a descendant of Hz. Ibrahim (Abraham) coming from his son, Ismail; thus, the Muslims, who are his ummah, have the right to own and settle in the holy land promised by Allah if they fulfill the conditions. This is a historical fact and this land was conquered by the Muslims during the caliphate of Hz. Umar and became part of the Islamic land.  

The Quran explains the ethical and legal conditions of having the right of owning and settling in a part of the earth, all of which belongs to Allah, as follows:

“(They are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right,- (for no cause) except that they say, "our Lord is Allah". Did not Allah check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of Allah is commemorated in abundant measure. Allah will certainly aid those who aid his (cause);- for verily Allah is full of Strength, Exalted in Might, (able to enforce His Will). (They are) those who, if We establish them in the land, establish regular prayer and give regular charity, enjoin the right and forbid wrong: with Allah rests the end (and decision) of (all) affairs.” (al-Hajj: 22/40-41).

Freedom of religion and conscience existed in the places where Muslims were dominant throughout history; churches and synagogues were open along with mosques; the name of Allah was mentioned and people conducted religious ceremonies and worshipped there. People were not oppressed because their religions, races, colors, hometowns and talents were different. People were given equal opportunities.  However, Zionists transformed racism into a religion. They regard themselves as special slaves of Allah and other people as cows to milk and slaves to use. They transgress and violate the material and spiritual values of the communities other than themselves and their existence by regarding all means as legitimate. They do not give others the right to live and worship in the promised land, where they settled through blood and tricks, and they turn a deaf ear to the agonies of the people that they expel. Allah will definitely not allow them to have the promised land as their homeland because the qualities of those who deserve to live there and to mention Allah are explained in both their books and the Quran, which is the criterion for the trueness of all books; Allah states the following in the Quran:

“Before this We wrote in the Psalms, after the Message (given to Moses): My servants the righteous, shall inherit the earth.” (al-Anbiya: 21/105).

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