Islamic Ziyāra and Halal hospitality in Palestine”. Al...
Transcript of Islamic Ziyāra and Halal hospitality in Palestine”. Al...
"Islamic Ziyāra and Halal hospitality in Palestine”.
Al-Ḳuds “Jerusalem”, al-K̲h̲alīl “Hebron” and Bayt Laḥm “Bethlehem"
between the years 2011-2016
Dr. Omar Abed Rabo and Dr. Rami K. Isaac
Abstract
This chapter goes over the importance of Palestinian cities for the Islamic and Halal tourism
sector, and dissects the issues and problems that prevent this type of tourism from
flourishing in recent years, due to political and economic instability. In addition, this
chapter suggests new concepts in the Halal sector, such as Halal volunteer-tourism, which
could be a positive addition to the sector of tourism in Palestine. While Palestinian cities
have historically been central locations for Islamic pilgrimages because of the vastness and
wealth of holy sites in the area, when compared to other cities in the region that are
experiencing extreme growth in the tourism sector, Palestinian cities have so far been
unable to reach their potential as prime Islamic and Halal tourism locales.
Keywords: Al-Ḳuds al-K ̲h̲alīl, Bayt Laḥm, Islamic tourism and Ḥalāl tourism
Index
Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 4
The historical background of Islamic visit to al-Ḳuds, al-K̲h̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm .............. 7
Concept Notes ................................................................................................................... 13
Islamic and Ḥalāl tourism in al-Ḳuds, al-K̲h̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm ..................................... 15
Tourist arrival, hotels and accommodations ..................................................................... 21
Ḥalāl food.......................................................................................................................... 25
Islamic tourism phenomenon in Palestine ........................................................................ 27
Which places Muslims tourist can visit: al-Ḳuds, al-K̲h̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm.................... 32
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 34
References ......................................................................................................................... 36
INTRODUCTION
Over the past few decades, international tourism activity has shown substantial and
sustained growth in terms of both the number of tourists and tourism receipts. While the
world tourist arrivals and tourism receipts have been growing substantially over the years,
world tourism markets witnessed some important changes in the direction of tourism. This
has been clear in the increase observed in the relative share of the developing countries,
including the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) member countries, in the world
tourist arrivals and tourism receipts. As group, the OIC countries attracted 174.7 million
tourists in 2013, compared with 156.4 million in 2009. International tourism receipts in the
OIC countries also recorded a significant increase of about $20 billion during the period
2009-2013 and reached $144.1 billion as of 2013 (OIC, 2015).
Islam is one of the world’s major religions (Esposito 1999) and has an estimated one- and-
a-half billion adherents. These are concentrated in the 57 countries belonging to the
Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and there are sizeable Muslim populations
in other nations around the world (OIC, 2017).
Over the last two decades, Islamic life style market has been growing as shariah’h complaint
products and services (e.g. halal food, Islamic tourism and Islamic finance) have become an
important component of the global economy. With an increasing awareness and expanding
numbers of Muslim tourists around the world, many tourism industry players have started
to offer special products and services, developed and designed in accordance with the
Islamic principles, to cater to the needs and demand of these tourists. Nevertheless, despite
attracting significant interest across the globe, Islamic tourism is relatively a new concept in
both theory and practice. Islamic tourism activity remained highly concentrated in Muslim
majority countries of the OIC, which are currently both the major source markets for
Islamic tourism expenditures and popular destinations (OIC, 2015).
Nonetheless, several countries around the world and in the Mediterranean region paid
attention to this tourism growth, and this interest in the tourism sector attributed to the
growing numbers of Muslim tourists to various destinations across the globe. These
countries have built a service infrastructure equipped with facilities that provide services to
Muslim visitors (restaurants, resorts, accommodation, flights, etc.) in accordance with the
principles of the Islamic s̲h̲arīʿa law. Travel is one of the fastest growing tourism sectors in
the world, with an estimated growth rate of 4.8% against the 3.8% industry average (Dinar
Standard, 2012). In 2015, it was estimated that there were 117 million Muslim international
travelers. This is projected to grow to 168 million by 2020, where the travel expenditure
by Muslim travelers is expected to exceed 200 billion USD (Crescent Rating, 2015).
Recently, a new report compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organization
(UNWTO) has revealed the world’s fastest growing tourist destinations for 2017 – and the
results throw up a few surprises. One of the fastest growing destination is Palestine (Haines,
2017). Earlier this year the street artist, Banksy, opened a boutique hotel in Palestine’s West
Bank, which, in hindsight, appears to have been a sage move: tourism in Palestine is
booming. According to the UNWTO, the occupied territories of Palestine witnessed a
57.8 per cent rise in international arrivals so far this year. Overlooking the Israeli West
Bank Segregation Wall (Isaac and Ashworth, 2012), Banksy’s politically-charged Walled
Off Hotel has likely helped raise awareness of tourism in Palestine, which is on course to
welcome more than 630,000 holidaymakers by the end of the year.
The numbers of tourists in general and Muslims in particular do not match the religious
status of cities, which can receive more than one million Muslim tourists annually. This
chapter deals with Islamic and Ḥalāl tourism in three Palestinian cities: al-Ḳuds
“Jerusalem”, “al-K ̲h̲alīl” Hebron and BaytLaḥm "Bethlehem", but before we present the
status of Islamic and Ḥalāl tourism in the three Palestinian cities. This chapter will present
the tourism situation in these Palestinian cities and the religious value of visiting the three
cities for Muslims according to Islamic teaching [s̲h ̲arīʿa law] and Islamic cultural heritage.
In addition, this chapter will raise questions about the forces that affect the tourist situation
in these cities, which leads to an increase in the number of Muslim tourists or decrease in
numbers.
THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ISLAMIC VISIT TO AL-ḲUDS, AL-K̲H̲ALĪL
AND BAYT LAḤM
Those who dig into the Arab and Islamic history of Palestine will find great interest in the
three major tourism cities of the country, and will join hundreds of companions, some of
whom spent their lives in Jerusalem and died there, and the well-known ʿulamāʾ, or
intellectuals and religious scientists, referred to traditionally as the: faḳīh, muftīun,
muḥaddit̲h̲un, mutakallimun etc., who came to Jerusalem to pray in the holy sites and to
study in al-Aqsa Mosque (Abed Rabo, 2012 Pp. 147, 151, 154). From the beginning of the
8th century, Muslim visitors and pilgrims came to al-Ḳuds, al-K ̲h̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm to pray
in the holy places. The places visited in al-Ḳuds were concentrated mainly on the al-Aqsa
Mosque, and in al-K ̲h̲alīl the visit focused in al-Masjed al-Ibrahimi and in Bayt Laḥm, the
Church of Nativity. In Islam al-Ḳuds is the land where Allah took the Prophet Muhammad
on a night journey from al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca to al-Masjid al-Aqsa in al-Ḳuds,
which blessed its surroundings, and means the whole land of Palestine is blessed. Based on
the night of the Isrāʾ a special traditions were circulated and established special literature
"Literature in Praise of Jerusalem" "The Faḍāʾil literature" (Athaminah, 2013 p. 93-108), was
speared in the Umayyad period in an attempt to encourage pilgrimage to al-Ḳuds and to
pray there (Elad, 1995 p. 63).
In his book “Faḍāʾil al Bayt al-Muqaddas”, Abū Bakr al-Wāsiṭī (d. after 1019 A. D).
Presents an early tradition which dated to the first quarter of the 8th century. He wrote:
“He who comes to Bayt al-Muqaddas [Jerusalem] and prays to the right of the rock [on the
Haram] and to its north, and prays in the place of the Chain, and gives a little or much
charity, his prayers will be answered, and God will remove his sorrows and he will be freed
of his sins as on the day his mother gave birth to him…” (Al-Wāsiṭī. 1979 p.23).
During the beginning of the eighth century most of the Muslims who went to Mecca to
perform the Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ also came to Jerusalem before or after the Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲, either to do the iḥram
from al-Aqsa or to sanctify their pilgrimage. The most frequent Duʿāʾ(addressed to God)
among the Muslims is the sanctity your Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲, which is an indication of the phenomenon
of sanctifying the pilgrimage, and is preferred by Muslims to be done in Jerusalem. Those
who can perform the Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲, visit Jerusalem to sanctify their pilgrimage and if the pilgrim
does so, his pilgrimage has been completed. Some pilgrims came to Jerusalem before the
season of the Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ in order to prepare themselves for Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ or the ʿumra. This action
was called iḥram [is an “act of declaring (or making) sacred or forbidden”]. The opposite is
iḥlāl is an act [“of declaring permitted”]. The word iḥrām had become a technical term for
the state of temporary consecration of someone who is performing the ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ or the ʿumra ;
a person in this state is referred to as muḥrim. The entering into this holy state (also called
iḥlāl) is accomplished, for men and women, by the statement of intention, accompanied by
certain rites and in addition, for men, by the donning of the ritual garment. Famous
Muslim scholars like ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar b. al-K ̲h̲aṭṭāb (d. in 692-3), the sun of the
second caliph (r. 13/634-23/644) ʿUmar b. al-K ̲h̲aṭṭāb, came to Jerusalem to perform the
iḥram in al-Aqsa Mosque before the ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ (Elad, 1995, p.64). In the past, entering the state
of iḥram from al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and specifically from the Rock of Jerusalem
was the common tradition of the majority of Muslims who performed the Ḥad ̲j̲d̲j̲ or ʿumra
, for example: Ṣāliḥ b. Yūsuf Abū S̲h̲uʿayb (d. in Ramla in 895 A D.) preformed the Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲
seventy times, and each time he would perform the iḥram from the Rock of Jerusalem [min
Ṣak̲h̲rat Bayt al-Muqaddas] (Elad, 1995, p.65). In the second half of the tenth century the
Jerusalemite geographer al-Muqaddasī who describe the people of north Africa, said that
there were very few North Africans who did not visit Jerusalem. These huge numbers of
Muslims who were visiting Jerusalem in the past are linked to the holiness of Jerusalem and
stems from the combining of the pilgrimage to Mecca and al-Medina with the tradition of
praying in Jerusalem before and/or after the ʿumra or the Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲. The Ḥad̲j̲d ̲j̲ activities,
which Muslim do before or after performing the ʿumra or the Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ are based on a very
strong Ḥadīth that permits the Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ to the three mosques: Mecca, al- Madina, and
Jerusalem.
Many Islamic countries explain the verses of Quran about tourism and there are numerous
forms of travel. First one is Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ that includes pilgrimage and journey to Mecca once in
lifetime at least which is obligatory for each healthy adult Muslim except unable physically.
Muslims can make the Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ to al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and other Muslim sacred
sites in Palestine. Second is visit, in Arabic is Ziyara, which is related to visiting holy sites
and places. Third one is Trip, in Arabic Rihlah, which is trip to other motives for instance
learning and work, focusing on a meaningful movement as an element of the spiritual
journey in the service of God.
The Prophet said: "Do not set out on a journey except for three Mosques, Al-Masjid-AI-
Haram, the Mosque of Allah's Messenger and the Mosque of al-Aqsa, (Mosque of
Jerusalem). (Al-Bukhari, 1189). This Ḥadīth (statement) clearly indicates that to complete
the Muslim pilgrimage it is highly preferred to do so by visiting all three mosques, which
explains the visits of the famous Muslim companions and followers to Jerusalem through
Arab and Islamic history of the city, and also this Ḥadīth is agreed upon by all Muslims as a
strong Ḥadīth. The Muslims used to visit Jerusalem after the ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲, for example: People
from K ̲h̲urāsān came to Palestine with large groups of pilgrims and visitors in Jerusalem
after their pilgrimage in Mecca. For example, in 414 H/1024 AD, the pilgrimage convoy
passed through Ayla (Elath) and from Ayla to Ramla to the Shamat road to Baghdad. This
convoy was described by al-Musabbiһ̣ī and mentioned that it included 60 thousand gangs
and 200,000 people. In his writing, he declared that the people of Syria gained many
economic benefits and that the people of the convoy were happy when they visited
Jerusalem (Al-Musabbiһ̣ī, 1980 p 43). The phenomenon of visiting Jerusalem, either to
sanctify the pilgrimage or to do proselytize before the pilgrimage or to visit al-Aqsa and
pray there since the rule of the Muslims during the Ottoman rule over Palestine, was
limited during the British mandate to the people of Bilad al-Sham until 1948, and after the
occupation of Jerusalem in 1967 was confined to the people of Palestine, who are still
practicing the rite today. This phenomenon has been renewed after the call by Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas and the activity of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Holy Sites
in Palestine and groups of Islamic countries that are encouraging Arabs and Muslims to visit
Jerusalem and pray at al-Aqsa Mosque. Recently in the end of S̲h̲aʿbān in May 2017, a
number of Muslims from south east Asia came to Jerusalem and they visit al-Aqsa Mosque
to pray and to enter into a state of iḥram in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa before continuing to Mecca
(Ma’an, 2017).
For Muslims, al-K ̲h̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm are the places were prophet Muhammed prayed
during the night of the Isrāʾ on his way to al-Ḳuds. On this night the angel Jibril asked him
to come down and to pray two rak'ahs, saying to him, "Here is the tomb of your father
Abraham,” (Ibn al-Murajja, 1995 p. 331) and when Jibril passed by the Prophet
Muhammad over Bayt Laḥm, he said to him, "Come down and pray here two rak'ahs. Here
is the place where your brother Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him) was born." (Ibn al-
Murajja p.252). The Traditions in praise of al-K ̲h ̲alīl do not differ in their meaning and
structure from the traditions in Praise of al-Ḳuds, which also spread from the beginning of
the 8th century. These traditions deal with the praises of the tomb of Ibrahim, the rest of
the Patriarchs and their wives, as well as with al-K ̲h̲alīl itself. According to traditions, the
pilgrimage to Mecca, as is known, was combined with a visit to the Prophet’s Tomb. The
Muslims of that period combined a visit to Mecca with one to Jerusalem, as well as a visit to
the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed with one to the Tomb of Abraham in al-K ̲h̲alīl
(Hebron). The traditions say that all who visit both tombs in a single year are assured
acceptance into Paradise. Someone who cannot, or is prevented from, visiting the Tomb of
the Prophet, must visit the Tomb of Abraham, to pray and recite Muslim invocations. It is
said prayers at Abraham's tomb will be answered.
CONCEPT NOTES
Most of the scholars who studied this type of tourism as well as the tourism institutions in
different countries have used several concepts to define this phenomena; Some of them
used the concept: 1- “Ḥalāl tourism,” (Battour and Ismail, 2016). others used both terms 2-
“Islamic tourism” or "Ḥalāl tourism" in the same study, (Jaelani, 2017) both terms used
interchangeably. And some institutions used 3- “Ḥalāl friendly tourism,” to reflect the same
meaning for the previous two concepts. We believe that the definition of these concepts
should take into account some basic issues, which will affect the accuracy of the use of these
concepts, for example: the purpose of the visit, which may determine the destination of the
travel. The purpose of this visit leads us to wonder -- is it to perform, ([Ḥad̲j̲d̲j, the fifth of
the five “pillars” (arkān) of Islam, also called the Great Pilgrimage in contrast to the ʿumra
or Little Pilgrimage.]). So if the visit to perform religious obligation, such as Ḥad̲j̲d̲j and
ʿumra, the travel destination will be [Mecca, al-Madina, al-Ḳuds and al-K ̲h̲alīl], the four
Islamic cities that Muslims are obliged to visit according to Islamic law and Islamic legacy.
In this case, the Muslim cannot fulfill the obligatory duties without performing Ḥad̲j̲d̲j to
the cities of Mecca and al-Madina, but before traveling to Mecca, Muslims should prepare
themselves [Ihram] by praying at al-Aqsa Mosque in al-Ḳuds and in the Ibrahimi Mosque
in al-K ̲h̲alīl. These activities apply to the concept “Islamic tourism,” which also includes
visits to other religious sites such as shrines (Battour and Ismail, 2016). This kind of Islamic
religious tourism, of course, includes Ḥalāl activity, where a pilgrim obtains Ḥalāl services
in accordance with the Islamic Sh̲arīʿa and its principles and values. Therefore, "Islamic
Tourism" indeed encompasses what is now known as "Ḥalāl tourism,” with all its
requirements.
The concept "Islamic tourism" cannot be applied in all destinations, whether Arab or
Islamic countries because, performing Ḥad̲j̲d̲j can be done only in Mecca and the Ihram
preferred to be in al-Ḳuds, and praying in al-Aqsa Mosque, and visiting the Cave of the
Patriarchs in al-K ̲h̲alīl and praying there. While in terms of “Ḥalāl tourism”, it is the
concept that applies to the activity of Muslims in Arab or Islamic countries where there are
no religious places associated with Ḥad̲j̲d̲j and ʿumra. Therefore, the daily activities of
Muslim in these destinations and the services that the Muslims receive there are services
based on Islamic law. The third concept that is also used in the Islamic tourism market is:
“Ḥalāl friendly tourism” which has appeared in the tourism industry market through non-
Muslim countries in order to attracted Muslim visitors to visit non-Muslim destination.
“Ḥalāl friendly tourism” is another form of “Ḥalāl tourism”, but in non-Arab and non-
Muslim countries. It aims to Islamize the services provided to Muslim tourists in non-
Muslim countries. The common denominator between “Ḥalāl friendly tourism” and
“Ḥalāl tourism” is the term Ḥalāl, means that everything permitted in the Islamic Sh̲arīʿa is
Ḥalāl.
ISLAMIC AND ḤALĀL TOURISM IN AL-ḲUDS, AL-K̲H̲ALĪL AND BAYT LAḤM
The center of al-Ḳuds and/or East Jerusalem is the Old City, which is located within the
walls of the Ottoman city. While it is just a square kilometer, it was and remains a
destination for tourists who have come to the city to visit historical and religious places
within its walls and explore its rich legacy. Al-K ̲h̲alīl, located 32 kilometers south of
Jerusalem, is similar to al-Ḳuds in that it is a holy city for Palestinians and Muslims. It is the
place where Ibraham al-K ̲h̲alīl immigrated to dwell in, and it was destined to contain his
remains, and those of his family, Sara, Isaac, Rebkah, Jacob and Leah. The location of their
tombs was the reason al-K ̲h̲alīl became a holy place. Between the end of the 7th century
and the beginning of the 8th century the name of the village of Hebron was “Habra” or
“Hibra.” Muslim geographers of the 9th century called the place the Mosque of Abraham
“Masjid Ibrahim.” In the middle of the 10th century the Jerusalemite geographer al-
Muqaddasī (d. around 1000 A.D), used the names Habra and Masjid Ibrahim in his book
Aḥsan al-taqāsim fī maʿrifat al-aqālīm (The Best Divisions in the Knowledge of the
Regions) (Al-Muqaddasī, 1906 p. 172). The name “Ibrahim al-K ̲h̲alīl,” means Abrahm the
Friend (of God), was well known during the early Muslim period, and was used in all
traditions that related to the area. Only in the thirteenth century does “al-K ̲h̲alīl” emerge as
the actual name of the city (Elad, 1996 p 24). Bethlehem “Bayt Laḥm,” is a Palestinian city
located 9 kilometers south of Jerusalem, it began to be honored and visited by Christians
from the 4th century until today. It became equally venerated by Muslims as the birthplace
of “ʿĪsā ben. Maryam” (Bayt Laḥm).
Arabs and Muslims lost their access to visit al-Ḳuds and the West Bank after the Israeli
government declared occupation in 1967. Even after the signing of the Camp David
Accord between Egypt and Israel in 1978, the Egyptian people refused to visit Jerusalem
and the West Bank and considered visiting these cities normalization with the occupation.
Political and field events developed in Jerusalem and the West Bank when the first
Palestinian Intifada began in 1987, which ended with the signing of the 1993 Oslo
Agreement between the PLO and Israel. Other Arab countries such as Jordan signed the
Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement, but these agreements have not made an effect on the
prohibition of Arabs and Muslims from visiting al- al-Ḳuds and the West Bank under
occupation.
Tourism began to flourish after the Oslo Agreement. By 1999 the number of tourists to
Israel and al-Ḳuds has reached up to 2,923,200 tourists and in 2000 the number was still
climbing, reaching around 3,000,000 tourists. In 2001, the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada
led to a significant drop in the number of tourists who visited Jerusalem, plummeting from
3,000,000 to 639,300. The drop in tourism was due to the violence that erupted during the
Intifada (Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, 2012-2017). Eventually tourism began to
recover as a result of stability, and by 2004 the number of tourists began to increase. This
number is almost unassuming if we compare it with Christian and Jewish tourists arrivals to
Jerusalem, and it will be negligible compared to the huge number of Muslim tourist arrivals
in other cities in the OIC, which in 2011 reached about 58.7 million Muslim tourists.
Palestinian cities have received few Muslim tourists in comparison to other cities in the
region. For example, during 2016, Mecca received 6 million Pilgrims (This number is not
including the Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲), who performed the ʿumra (Al-Emarat alyoum, 2015). While
Jerusalem has received 2,568,300 tourists during 2015, only 440,900 of them stayed
overnight in al-Ḳuds hotels, 54,331 of whom were Muslims, which is about 2.5%. The
number of visitors from different nationalities and religious increased very slowly during
2016 to reach 2,665,600, only 481,100 of whom stayed overnight in al-Ḳuds (Jerusalem
Institute for Israel Studies, 2012-2017).
Up until 2011, very few Arab and Muslim tourists visited Palestine – their presence almost
nonexistent. However, since 2011 there has been a new phenomenon in the Palestinian
and regional tourism market, namely, Islamic tourism to al-Ḳuds, al-K ̲h̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm,
despite the controversy among Muslim scholars over the legality of visiting the cities, due
to the ongoing occupation.
Palestinians in general and the people of the three Palestinian cities, al-Ḳuds, al-K̲h̲alīl and
Bayt Laḥm live in a traditional conservative society, whose traditions are reflected in the
social context and in the preservation of traditional principles of socialization, which are
transferred from society to the individual. The conservative traditions stem from the Islamic
religion, as well as Arab customs and traditions, which are not separated in Palestinian
society. Because Palestinians have kept and preserved the importance of Palestine as a holy
land, tourists are able and encouraged to visit Palestine under the concept of Islamic/ Ḥalāl
tourism. They will pray at al-Aqsa mosque, which is one of the three holy mosques in
Islam, visit the Nativity “Mahd Isa” in Bayt Laḥm (the birthplace of Jesus, considered a
prophet in Islam) and pray at the Ibrahimi mosque in al-K ̲h̲alīl. Because Palestinians have
maintained a religious culture, Muslim tourists will receive Ḥalāl services at their hotel
accommodation and Ḥalāl food served in Palestinian restaurants. In addition, any tourist in
Palestine will find a mosque is never more than a few blocks away from their
accommodations. Muslims visiting al-Ḳuds, al-K ̲h ̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm will also find that
within hotels there are places designated for prayer, while those who wish to pray in local
mosques of these cities only need a few minutes to walk through the tradition markets to
reach a mosque. The advantage of these cites is the location, where hotels, restaurants and
the aswāḳ (market\ Sūḳ) traditional markets, and shopping centers are located close to
religious and historical sites, which is a strong feature to attract Muslim tourists to visit these
cities. During their stay, Muslim tourist will also discover the daily lives of Palestinians in
the cities and refugee camps nearby.
There are also some Muslim tourists who come individually from non-Islamic countries to
Palestine. These Muslim tourists often rent small apartments or rooms from Palestinian
families to live in. Some of them rent rooms in refugee camps in Bayt Laḥm and al-K ̲h̲alīl.
Palestinians in al-Ḳuds, al-K ̲h̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm especially, have created many initiatives
and organizations to encourage this type of tourism, such as, Jerusalem Tourism Cluster
(JTC), Visit Palestine, and Volunteer Palestine. Volunteer Palestine for example, is an
awareness-raising travel organization for international visitors, established by refugees from
Bayt Laḥm which runs volunteer placements within refugee camps in Palestine. As part of
the volunteering placement, they facilitate homestays, political tours and cultural activities
to ensure the visitors experience the best of Palestine. While the organization welcomes
volunteers and tourists from all over the world, it places a special importance on targeting
the Palestinian diaspora and Muslim international communities.
With the success of such programs in the volunteer-tourism sphere, one could imagine a
new concept of [Ḥalāl volunteer-tourism] flourishing in this market. With many Muslim
cultures maintaining a conservative lifestyle around the world, the option of volunteering
with an organization promising a Ḥalāl experience could open up options for youth from
conservative communities, particularly young women, to travel with the blessings of
conservative family members.
While Palestine offers a plethora of religious sites and institutions for volunteers and
tourists, the land also offers visitors an opportunity to go site-seeing at the natural sites and
villages of the country, where they will also find all the necessary requirements for Islamic
tourism and Ḥalāl services. Muslim tourists can enjoy The Masar Ibrahim al-K ̲h̲alīl
(Abraham's Path, see Isaac, 2017), a trail that runs through the West Bank from the
Mediterranean olive groves of the highlands of the north to the silence of the deserts in the
south, from the area west of Jenin to the area south of al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi in the city of
al-K ̲h̲alīl (Hebron).
In July 2017, the United Nations’ cultural arm declared the Old City of Hebron a
protected heritage site in a secret ballot, an issue that has triggered a new Israeli-Palestinian
spat at the international body. UNESCO voted 12 to three - with six abstentions - to give
heritage status to Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Hebron is home to more than 200,000 Palestinians and a few hundred Israeli settlers, who
live in a heavily fortified enclave near the site known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque
and to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs. The resolution, brought by the Palestinians and
which declares Hebron's Old City as an area of outstanding universal value, was fast-
tracked on the basis that the site was under threat, with the Palestinians accusing Israel of an
‘alarming’ number of violations, including vandalism and damage to properties. Hebron
claims to be one of the oldest cities in the world, dating from the chalcolithic period or
more than 3,000 years BC, the UNESCO resolution said (Aljazeera, 2017).
TOURIST ARRIVAL, HOTELS AND ACCOMMODATIONS
Despite the religious and historical importance of the city in Islam, the number of Muslims
who visit al-Ḳuds is small compared to the number of Christians and Jews that visited
Jerusalem (Table 1), or compared to Muslim tourists visiting other Muslim cities or non-
Muslim cities in the world.
Table 1: Tourist arrivals
Year Total Christians Jews Muslims No affiliation Others
2011 2,142,481 61.6 % 23.2% 1.4% 10.5% 3.2%
2012 2,168,820 63 % 19% 3% 11% 3%
2013 2,240,128 63% 19% 3% 11% 3%
2014 2,333,720 58.7% 24.5% 2.2% 12.4% 2.2%
2015 2,173,210 58.6% 24.9% 2.5% 11.8% 2.2%
Table 1 shows the percentage of Muslim tourists who visited Jerusalem during the period
2011-2015, compared to other tourists from other religions during the same period
(Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, 2012-2017).
We will present here the number of tourist arrivals in general, and Muslims in particular,
and the hotels and restaurants which operate in the three major Palestinian tourism cities. In
2011, 2,142,481 million tourists visited Jerusalem. Only 477,300 of those tourists stayed in
East Jerusalem hotels, 29,995 of which were Muslims, making up just 1.4% of the total
number of tourists who visited the city that year. The number of Muslim visitors to
Jerusalem doubled in 2012. With 3% of all visitors to Jerusalem being Muslim in during
that year, the number of Muslim tourists in the city increased to about 65,646 out of the
2,168,820 visitors documented. Of those in 2012, 448,200 tourists among them stays in
East Jerusalem. In 2013, the number of Muslim visitors continued to increase, reaching
67,204 Muslim tourists out of 2,240,128 visitors who came to the city. Among them, just
443,300 tourists stayed in East Jerusalem hotels. The number of Muslim tourists who
visited Jerusalem decreased slightly in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, 51,342 tourists visited
Jerusalem, representing 2.2% of the total 2,333,720 tourists who visited the city, among
them only 510,000 tourists stayed overnight in East Jerusalem hotels.
But a newspaper report published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in 2015 indicated that
the number of Muslim tourists significantly increased in 2015, official numbers dispute the
reported increase. While Haaretz reported 80,000 Muslim tourists to East Jerusalem in
2015: 26,700 of which were Indonesians, 23,000 Turkish, 17,700 Jordanians, 9,000
Malaysians and 3,300 Moroccans (Paltoday, 2015). These numbers differ from the official
numbers given by the JIIS center In 2015, which documented 54,330 Muslim tourists,
about 2.5% of the 2,173,210 total (Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, 2012-2017), which
indicates an increase of 3000 Muslims tourists between 2014 and 2015.
While the highly respected Travel and Leisure (T&L) magazine listed Jerusalem as one of
the top ten tourist destinations in the world in 2015 (Lieberman, 2015), Jerusalem still
experiences low rates of tourism when compared to other international tourism cities due
to the instability created by occupation. For example, Tourism Observers attribute the drop
in the number of tourists who visited Israel during 2014 and 2015 to the Israeli war on
Gaza (Al-Jazeera, 2015). Analyzing the statistics, it seems the war in Gaza caused a decrease
in the number of Muslim tourists in particular during that period (See table 1)
Between 2011 and 2015, the number of hotels operating in Jerusalem's Old City and
surrounding area, stood at 30 hotels. In 2016 the number rose to 31. The total number of
rooms offered in these hotels ranged between 1,905 in 2011 to 2,052 in 2016 (Jerusalem
Institute for Israel Studies, 2012-2017). During the period between 2011 and 2015, the
restaurants available in al-Ḳuds Hotels increased from 32 restaurants to 41, creating an
increase in potential capacity from more than 3,105 customers to a new capacity of 4,000
customers (Palestinian Central Bureau for Statitics, 2011-2016).
Regarding the number of Muslim tourists who visited Bayt Laḥm and al-K ̲h ̲alīl., we do
not have official statistics from the Ministry of Tourism or the Palestinian Central Bureau of
Statistics for its numbers. The statistics provided by the Ministry of Tourism through the
tourist and Antiquity police or those provided by the PCBS are statistics according to the
country or the regions that tourists came from. The figures and percentages presented in
this chapter about the numbers of Muslim tourists who visited East Jerusalem are supposed
to apply also to the Muslim tourists who visits the cities of al-K ̲h̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm
because these cities are part of the organized tour for Muslim tourists who visit these three
cities (Paltoday, 2015).
The number of tourists who visited the cities of al-K ̲h̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm and stayed
overnight between 2011 and 2015, according to the PCBS, ranged between 225,164 and
314,380 tourists, which is half of the total number of tourists visiting East Jerusalem, and
less than one percent of the total tourists who visited Jerusalem in general. The number of
hotels operating in al-K ̲h̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm is slightly higher than the hotels in al-Ḳuds. In
2011, there were 28 hotels operating in Bayt Laḥm and al-K ̲h̲alīl, while in 2015, the
number of hotels increased to 37, most of which were located in Bayt Laḥm. The number
of rooms in these hotels during the period between 2011 and 2015 ranged from 2,125
rooms to 3,194 rooms in 2015. The number of restaurants operating in these hotels during
this period range between 40 restaurants in 2011 with a capacity of 2125 customers. In
2015 it increased to 56 restaurants, reaching a capacity of 10,899 customers (PCBS, 2011-
2016). The number of restaurants mentioned above is are those located within hotels, but
there are dozens of special tourist restaurants located within the historical markets and in
the centers of these cities (Halaika et al., 2016).
ḤALĀL FOOD
All restaurants within hotels or private restaurants in Palestine serve Ḥalāl food to their
customers. The meat of poultry or sheep offered in these hotels and restaurants is meat
slaughtered in slaughterhouses in al-Ḳuds, al-K ̲h ̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm. In the process of
creating Ḥalāl meat, the name of God is mentioned during the slaughter, based on the rule
of the "good things" or “ṭayyibāt,” which outlines what is lawful for Muslims to eat, which
constitutes an important part of Ḥalāl food according to the Quran: “Eat then of that over
which the Name of Allah has been mentioned (when slaughtered), if you truly believe in
His verses”. (Quran). And Allah Said: “O you who believe, eat of the good things, that are
lawful, wherewith We have provided you, and give thanks to God, for what He has made
lawful for you, if it be Him that you worship”. The Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon
him) said: “O people, Allah is ṭayyib (pure and good) and He accepts only what is ṭayyib.
Verily, Allah has commanded the believers as He commanded His Messengers. Allah said:
O Messengers! Eat of the Tayyibat and do righteous deeds. Verily, I am well-acquainted
with what you do”.
Eating Ḥalāl food and living a Ḥalāl lifestyle is a prerequisite for Allah to respond to the
prayer of Muslims, and according to Islam, Allah does not respond to the person who live a
Ḥarām (the opposite of Halal) lifestyle and eat Ḥarām food.
In the Muslim Hadiths, The Prophet makes mention of travelers who travel for a long
period of time. In the writings, an example is given of a traveler with disheveled hair who is
covered in dust. The traveler lifts his hand towards the sky and thus makes the supplication:
'My Rubb! My Rubb!' But his food is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, his clothes are
unlawful and his nourishment is unlawful, how can, then his supplication be accepted?"
The vegetables and fruits offered in these restaurants and hotels produced in the Palestinian
land in Al-K ̲h̲alīl , Bayt Laḥm , Jericho or the northern Palestinian governorates, which
provide the Palestinian market with the freshest types of vegetables and fruits. The
Palestinian farmers in these governorates apply the rules of Ḥalāl agriculture and they are
also fighting and controlling their land despite the attacks of Israeli settlers on Palestinian
farmers in these provinces (Al-Haq, 2012).
ISLAMIC TOURISM PHENOMENON IN PALESTINE
The phenomenon of Islamic tourism has not been prevalent before 2011, the absence of
which may be related to the instability that followed the al-Aqsa Intifada in October 2000,
and the Fatwas issued by Muslim scholars forbidding visits to al-Ḳuds, and the West Bank
under Israeli occupation. But since 2011 this phenomenon has become remarkable and the
cities in the West Bank are witnessing an influx (see above: numbers of Muslim tourists
between 2011- 2015) of tourists from Muslim countries. In an interview conducted by
Ma'an News Agency in June 2013 the Palestinian Tourism Minister Rula Maa'yaa said:
"Islamic tourism to Palestine began late last year (2012), and was increased day after day,
especially with the President's calls and the ministry's contacts with Islamic countries, to
encourage its residents to visit the Palestinian cities Ma’an, 2013)." It seems that the speech
of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the international conference held in Doha,
Qatar, on 26-27 February 2012, in which he called upon Arabs, Muslims and Christians to
visit Jerusalem in order to preserve the Arab and Islamic character of the city, has resonated
in many Arab and Islamic countries such as Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco.
During the conference, Abbas discouraged countries from continuing a boycott of tourism
to the area, declaring the importance of: “encourage[ing] all who can, especially our
brothers from the Arab and Islamic countries, as well as our Arab, Muslim and Christian
brothers in Europe and the United States to visit al-Ḳuds. This move will have its political,
moral, economic and humanitarian repercussions. al-Ḳuds belongs to us and we all have no
one to prevent us from reaching it. The influx of crowds and the congestion of its streets
and holy sites will strengthen the steadfastness of its citizens and contribute to the
protection and consolidation of the identity, history and heritage of the city targeted by the
eradication. The occupiers will remember that the issue of al-Ḳuds is the cause of every
Arab, every Muslim and every Christian. We confirm here that the visit of the prisoner is a
support for him and does not in any way mean normalization with the prisoner.” (Abbas,
2012).
In April 18, 2012 Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, the King Abdullah II personal advisor and
head of the Royal āl al-Bayt Society, and the former Egyptian Mufti Ali Gum'a, visited
Jerusalem together (Al-Jazeera, 2012). It seems that the Call of the Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas to encourage Arabs, Muslims and friends to visit al-Ḳuds have led to a
debate among Muslim scholars on the issue of Muslims and Arabs visiting al-Ḳuds under
Israeli occupation control. In opposition to the Palestinian President's call to visit al-Ḳuds,
the chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), Dr. Yusuf Qaradawi,
has issued a fatwa prohibiting the visit of al-Ḳuds to non-Palestinians, in order to "not
legalize the Israeli occupation in the city (Donia al-Watan, 2012).
The Palestinian official position remained constant and called for intensifying visits by
Muslims to al-Ḳuds, al-K ̲h̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm , as well as the Jordanian position. Therefore,
the two sides held a series of activities: On Sunday March 31, 2013 King Abdullah II and
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed a "trusteeship and sovereignty" agreement,
which continued Jordan's right to "guardianship" and "defense of al-Ḳuds and holy sites" in
Palestine (Jordanzad, 2013).
Between April 28 and 30, 2014, an international conference concerning Jerusalem was held
in Amman, entitled "al-Tariq 'ila al-Ḳuds\ The Road to Jerusalem", under the patronage of
Jordan's King Abdullah II, the Jerusalem Committee for Jerusalem Affairs and the Arab
Parliament. The subject of the discussion was Israeli violations at al-Aqsa Mosque and ways
of assisting Palestinians living in Jerusalem. The conference was attended by Muslim and
Christian clerics: the former Egyptian Mufti, Ali Gum'a; Mufti al-Ḳuds, and the Palestinian
territories, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, Palestinian Minister of Religious Affairs
Mahmoud al-Habash; Jordanian Minister of Endowments, and others, as well as politicians
(Al-wakeel, 2014). At the end of the conference, the participants issued a fatwa permitting
Muslims to visit al-Aqsa, but, restricting it only to Palestinian visitors or to Muslim visitors
with citizenship from countries outside the Muslim world. The fatwa actually cancels the
earlier fatwa issued by al-Qaradhawi. Palestine and Jordan encouraged all Muslims to visit
al-Aqsa Mosque, but the fatwa that issued in the conference “The Road to Jerusalem” does
not permit visits to al-Ḳuds to all Muslims, it is includes "Palestinians...regardless of their
nationalities" and "Muslims with passports from countries outside the Muslim World" could
visit al-Ḳuds, as long as they didn't financially aid the "occupation." (Al-wakeel, 2014).
During the 22nd season of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA, 2015), which was
held in Kuwait between March 22 and 25, 2015, the IIFA issued a decree stating that
visiting al-Ḳuds is a permissible and recommended act and it is obligatory to help the city
and its people. In the same year the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) general
secretary selected al-Kuds as the Capital of Islamic tourism for 2015 at the eight conference
of Ministers of Tourism held in Banjul, Gambia, between December 4 and 6, 2013. The
Ministry of the Awḳaf and Religious Affairs, as well as the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism,
continued to coordinate with the Ministries of the Awḳaf in the Islamic countries and also
with the OIC to encourage Muslims to visit al-Ḳuds, al-K ̲h̲alīl and Bayt Laḥm . Between
June 14 and 15, 2015 The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities hosted the
United Nation's World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) International Conference on
Religious Tourism in Bayt Laḥm (Isaac, 2015). It was the first time that the UNWTO
organized a conference in an observer member state. The attendants of the conference
included international ministers, tourism professionals, and tourism academics. At the
conference, the Palestinian private sector presented the services it offered through an
exhibition alongside the meeting. The conference was very important for Palestine, the
audience was aware of the potential of tourist sector in Palestine, which is witnessing an
increase in the number of hotels and a remarkable development in the services provided,
which include traditional crafts, transportation and services of tourist offices, tourist police
services and qualified tourist guides from the Palestinian universities and colleges.
WHICH PLACES MUSLIMS TOURIST CAN VISIT: AL-ḲUDS, AL-K̲H̲ALĪL AND BAYT
LAḤM
There are many places Muslims can visit here in al-Ḳuds especially within the Aqsa mosque
area, e.g. : The Dome of the Rock, The Dome of the Prophet, The Dome of Ascension,
the Dome of the Chain, the Gate of Mercy, The gate the Tribes and the gate of the
prophet and also there were places outside the Aqsa mosque to visit such as the Mount of
olives. Muslims in al-K ̲h̲alīl can visit Masjid Ibrahim: The Cave of Patriarchs, Bir Haram
Ar-Rameh (Ramet Al-khalil\ Mamre), The Old city of al-K ̲h̲alīl, al-K ̲h̲alīl Refugee
Camps al Aroub Refugee Camp and Fawwar. And in Bayt Laḥm, Muslim can Visit the
church of the Nativity and Omar Mosque, the old city of Bayt Laḥm and the Refugee
camps within the city.
Despite the historical and religious status of the country, Palestine has one of the lowest
numbers of visitors in comparison to other countries in the region, which receive millions
of tourists every year. Therefore, its regional market has remained extremely low and very
weak even amid global increases in the number of tourists. During 2015, about 2,799,397
tourists visited Israel \Palestine (Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, 2012-2017) out of 53
million tourists who visited the Middle East region (UNWTO, 2016). Al-Kuds, al-K ̲h̲alīl
and Bayt Laḥm, are three major holy cities in Palestine. These cities have long been a
destination for travelers from all over the world, because of the religious-cultural status of
their holy sites. These cities also have the lowest number of both non-Muslim and Muslim
tourists in comparison with other cities in the region.
The main obstacles facing tourism in Palestine are the continued Israeli occupation of the
Palestinian territories, where Palestinians cannot exploit the abundant amount of tourist
resources in their cities, which are under Israeli control, such as Jerusalem and Hebron. For
example in 1997 the al-K ̲h̲alīl Protocol divided the city of al-K ̲h̲alīl into two parts. H1,
comprising around 80 percent of the city under full control of the Palestinian Authority,
and H2, comprising around 20 percent and including the Old City and the most affected
areas – under the control of Israel. The Palestinian Authority has control over civil affairs,
except in the settlement, and Israel controls the security affairs of both H1 and H2 (Clarke,
2000).
Israel continues to control the tourism sector in general by controlling the crossings and
borders and stringently controls the numbers of tourists coming to Palestinian cities. Efforts
must be intensified in order to make Palestinian cities independent tourist destinations,
which would have a positive impact on the development of these cities economically, due
to the likely increase in private sector investments in tourism.
The lack of Muslim and non-Muslim tourism in Palestinian cities has extreme negative
effects on the Gross Domestic Products of these cities, and severely impacts the operational
capacity, including employment opportunities, investments, development and so much
more.
CONCLUSION
This chapter deals with Islamic and Ḥalāl tourism in three Palestinian cities: al-Ḳuds
“Jerusalem”, “al-K̲h̲alīl” Hebron and BaytLaḥm "Bethlehem", This chapter presented the
tourism situation in these Palestinian cities and the religious value of visiting the three cities
for Muslims according to Islamic teaching [s̲h̲arīʿa law] and Islamic cultural heritage.
Islamic tourism is an activity, experience, occasion or purpose to visit historical places,
heritage, cultures, arts, business, health, education, Islamic history, sports, shopping or any
other human interests but on condition of shari’a compliance. Also, in Islamic tourism,
people travel for their vacation and recreation and to be satisfied with Allah. Thus, tourism
is a section of human life which is not contradict with the main theme of Islam. Islamic
Islamic and Halal tourism are indeed a promising market for the tourism industry in
Palestine. One of the main opportunities for the tourism sector in Palestine consist of the
need of the Muslims conducting the Hajj rites to visit the al-Aqsa mosque, in Jerusalem as a
complimentary part for their Hajj, which could open the potential for millions of visitors to
Palestine per year. Islamic tourism is a recent phenomenon in the theory and practice of
global tourism industry. Traditionally Islamic tourism was often associated with Hajj and
Umrah only. However, recently there has been an influx of products and services designed
specifically to cater the business and leisure related segments of Muslim tourists across the
globe Islamic tourism remained as an emerging niche market with 108 million Muslim
travellers, accounting for 10 to 12 % of the global tourism sector.
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