Jerusalem between Politics and Mysticism

Religious memories of Jerusalem have repeatedly overflowed into and influenced the conduct of political affairs in mixed ways, reflecting the devotion as well as the hatred the city has engendered. This essay contextualises the claims of Islam and Christianity to Jerusalem between history, scriptures and mystical texts. The method of engaging with history opens a challenging interfaith debate that has implications for both faith and politics today. The essay aims to ask how the corporate celebration of Jerusalem, tied to both Biblical and Qurʾānic texts, functions critically in the concrete teachings and actions of the spiritual dimension of both Islam and some of the Church Fathers. It proposes a critical engagement between the Christian theological imagination and Islamic claims as a means of discovering the ‘sacramental’ value of Jerusalem beyond the tribalism of what Rowan Williams called “an ersatz universality”.