BAZ’s Sixth Position: Comparing the Candidates for Bayt al-Maqdis, Palestine or Kedah?

Series: The Incident of Quraysh Questioning the Prophet About Baitul Maqdis

This is the sixth and final position in the series “The Incident of Quraysh Questioning the Prophet About Bayt al-Maqdis”.

We only want to know one thing:

Is Bayt al-Maqdis in Palestine or in the Bujang Valley?

This answer will also confirm where al-Masjid al-Aqsa is located, whether according to the existing view or the alternative view.

Let us repeat this.

In the narration that we have analysed, the polytheist man asked about three things:

بِنَاؤُهُ

Binā’uhu

Its building.

هَيْئَتُهُ

Hay’atuhu

Its appearance or form.

قُرْبُهُ مِنَ الْجَبَلِ

Qurbuhu minal-jabal

Its proximity to that mountain.

I forgot to mention something.

If you have read and truly understood the meaning of mashriq, masyāriq and masyāriq al-arḍ, then I believe you already know how this will end.

However, I want to return to the objective of this series, which is to answer a question that keeps recurring and to make this series a template answer.

Understanding Mashriq by Country

Understanding Mashriq from the Quran

In this comparison, we will examine two candidates that you already know:

First, Bayt al-Maqdis in Palestine, which is the location generally accepted today in Jerusalem.

Second, Bayt al-Maqdis in Kedah, which is the candidate BAZ has studied in the Candi Lembah Bujang area.

Geographic Conditions Based on the Hadith

Based on the wording of the hadith, the most important geographic condition is the existence of الْجَبَلِ beside Bayt al-Maqdis.

The narration does not mention mountains in the plural. It also does not mention a mountainous region in general. Nor does it mention merely an elevated plateau.

What the narration mentions is:

قُرْبُهُ مِنَ الْجَبَلِ

“Its proximity to that mountain.”

Therefore, the strongest candidate must have several features:

1. It has one clear and prominent mountain.
2. The mountain is sufficiently close to be used as a point of measurement.
3. The mountain is sufficiently well known to serve as a reference.
4. The place can be understood as having a geographic relationship with the mountain, rather than merely being located in an elevated area.

If a candidate does not have a distinct singular mountain beside its structure, then that candidate fails to meet one of the important details in the hadith.

First Candidate: Bayt al-Maqdis in Palestine

The first candidate is the location generally accepted today, namely the Temple Mount or al-Haram al-Sharif area in Jerusalem.

General sources explain that the Temple Mount is a sacred site in Jerusalem. It consists of a raised platform that currently contains the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque.

If you consult Britannica, you will find the Temple Mount described as a “raised platform” that became the site of the Temple of Jerusalem and has housed Islamic structures since the seventh century.

From the perspective of landform, this location is not situated in a valley. It is located on a high hill spur or ridge.

The topographic sources I examined state that the Temple Mount forms the northern part of a narrow hill spur. It rises above the Kidron Valley to the east and the Tyropoeon Valley to the west. Its highest point reaches approximately 740 metres above sea level.

This means that the Palestinian candidate is located on an elevated plateau or hill platform, not in a valley.

Jerusalem itself is situated in the elevated area of the Judaean Mountains. The Old City is approximately 760 metres above sea level and is surrounded by valleys and wadis such as the Kidron, Hinnom and Tyropoeon.

From the perspective of mountains, the Jerusalem area contains several major topographic features around it.

There is the Mount of Olives to the east. There is Mount Scopus to the northeast. There are also hill and valley structures that form the wider Jerusalem area.

Therefore, the Palestinian candidate is not located beside one distinct singular mountain that serves as its main reference. It exists within a topographic system of hills, ridges, valleys and highlands around Jerusalem.

This creates a problem for the condition in the hadith.

The wording of the hadith mentions الْجَبَلِ. The use of “al-” carries the meaning of “that mountain” in the singular form and serves as the reference point for our test.

If the proposed location is situated on a hill or elevated platform and is surrounded by several hills and mountains around Jerusalem, then it does not provide a strong match for the description of “Bayt al-Maqdis that is close to that mountain”.

Within the context of this hadith, the Palestinian candidate is weak in three respects.

First, it is not a valley location. It is an elevated location approximately 740 metres above sea level.

Second, it does not have one distinct singular mountain beside its structure as its primary marker. Instead, it exists within the topographic network of Jerusalem, which consists of several hills, valleys and surrounding mountains.

Third, if the mountain in question is understood to be the Mount of Olives, the location still does not constitute “one singular mountain beside the structure” in the clearest sense because Jerusalem itself lies within a mountainous and elevated area.

Therefore, within the framework of the hadith qurbuhu minal-jabal, the Palestinian candidate does not strongly fulfil the geographic condition.

It may be strong from the perspective of tradition and the history accepted by many people. However, from the perspective of the hadith’s test concerning one prominent mountain beside Bayt al-Maqdis, this candidate is extremely weak.

Second Candidate: Bayt al-Maqdis in Kedah

The second candidate is the Candi Lembah Bujang area in Kedah.

Lembah Bujang is officially known as a major archaeological area in Merbok, Kedah.

The Department of National Heritage describes Lembah Bujang as a site covering approximately 224 square kilometres. It stretches between Mount Jerai to the north and the Muda River to the south. The area contains evidence of organised society dating back more than 2,000 years as well as more than 50 ancient candi.

From the perspective of its name and landform, this candidate is indeed located in a valley. It is not an elevated plateau like Jerusalem.

It is located in the Merbok Valley area, which has a direct connection with Mount Jerai.

Public topographic data for Lembah Bujang shows a minimum elevation of approximately 10 metres, an average of around 214 metres and a maximum of approximately 795 metres within the local map area.

This shows that the area extends from a low valley plain to slopes and elevated areas near the mountain.

Candi Bukit Batu Pahat has recorded coordinates of 5.73916, 100.4136. It is also described as one of the most well-known monuments in the Lembah Bujang Archaeological Park.

It is also described as the only ancient candi reconstructed on its original site.

The most important feature is Mount Jerai.

Mount Jerai has an elevation of approximately 1,217 metres and is known as Kedah Peak.

Hiking and geographic sources describe Mount Jerai as a highly prominent mountain with considerable prominence. It stands as the main peak in Kedah.

More importantly, Mount Jerai is not merely an ordinary mountain.

It has long been known as a navigational reference point.

The Kedah tourism source I examined describes Mount Jerai as Kedah’s highest peak at 1,217 metres. It is believed to have served as a guiding landmark for travellers and ancient traders for more than 1,800 years.

Other sources also describe Mount Jerai as a mountain that is clearly visible from the sea and was used by sailors and traders as a navigational marker.

Therefore, the Kedah candidate possesses three highly important features.

First, it is located in a valley.

Second, it has one distinct singular mountain beside it, namely Mount Jerai.

Third, that mountain does not merely exist. It is known as a landmark and directional reference point since the era of ancient seafaring.

This is very close to the feature described in the hadith, qurbuhu minal-jabal.

The polytheist man asked about the proximity of Bayt al-Maqdis to the mountain.

If the Kedah candidate is considered, the mountain serving as the reference is very clear. It is not merely a small hill. It is not an irregular chain of hills. It is not an elevated plateau.

It is one large mountain standing prominently beside the Lembah Bujang area.

A Direct Comparison of the Two Candidates

From the perspective of valleys, the Palestinian candidate is located on a hill spur or elevated platform at approximately 740 metres in Jerusalem. It is surrounded by valleys but the location itself is not a valley.

The Kedah candidate is situated in an area known as Lembah Bujang, an archaeological valley stretching between Mount Jerai and the Muda River.

From the perspective of elevation, the Palestinian candidate is located at a high elevation of approximately 740 metres above sea level.

The Kedah candidate is located in a valley area that extends from a low plain of approximately 10 metres to higher ground around the slopes of Mount Jerai.

This shows that the Kedah candidate is more suitable to be understood as a valley area with a mountain beside it, rather than an elevated platform within a mountainous region.

From the perspective of a singular mountain, the Palestinian candidate does not have one distinct singular mountain beside its structure as its primary reference.

It exists within the Jerusalem topographic system, which contains several hills and mountains around it.

The Kedah candidate has Mount Jerai as one large mountain that is highly prominent, well known and elevated. It also functions as an ancient landmark.

From the perspective of the mountain’s function as a measuring marker, the Palestinian candidate is weak because the mountain does not appear as one distinct marker in relation to the Temple Mount platform.

The Kedah candidate is strong because Mount Jerai stands as the dominant landscape marker in the Lembah Bujang area. It is also recorded as a guiding marker for ancient traders and sailors.

BAZ’s Decision Regarding the Palestinian Candidate

Based on the conditions of the hadith, the Palestinian candidate does not pass.

Its location is elevated and not situated in a valley.

It is located on a hill spur and elevated platform, not beside one singular mountain.

The mountains around Jerusalem do not appear as one distinct singular الْجَبَلِ that serves as the testing reference for the structure.

Therefore, within the framework of the series “The Incident of Quraysh Questioning the Prophet About Bayt al-Maqdis”, the Palestinian candidate may be considered disqualified from the perspective of the hadith’s geographic condition.

It may continue to be defended by others through history, tradition, politics, the jihad of the Muslim ummah, heritage maps or interpretations that have long been accepted.

However, if the criterion being used is the wording of the hadith, qurbuhu minal-jabal, this candidate does not fulfil the primary condition being tested.

BAZ’s Decision Regarding the Kedah Candidate

The Kedah candidate is stronger from the perspective of the hadith’s geography.

It is located in an area that is indeed described as a valley.

It contains candi or ancient structures in the Lembah Bujang area.

It exists within a landscape that has a clear connection with Mount Jerai.

Mount Jerai is not a small hill. It is not an elevated plateau and it is not an indistinct chain of hills.

It is one large mountain that is high, prominent, well known and functions as an ancient landmark.

Therefore, within the framework of the hadith qurbuhu minal-jabal, the Kedah candidate has a much stronger geographic match.

If the Bayt al-Maqdis tested by the polytheist man must have one distinct mountain beside it, then Lembah Bujang and Mount Jerai fulfil that feature more clearly than the Palestinian candidate.

BAZ’s Conclusion

In this series, BAZ does not want to elevate a candidate merely because it is popular.

BAZ also does not want to reject a candidate merely because it is unpopular.

Our measure is the hadith. Our scope is clear. Our conditions are clear.

The most valid location for Bayt al-Maqdis within the context of the hadith concerning “The Incident of Quraysh Questioning the Prophet About Bayt al-Maqdis” is a location that has a structure, an appearance and a close relationship with one distinct singular mountain.

If this mountain marker is absent, then the argument for that location collapses.

If this marker is clearly present, then that candidate must be elevated for more serious examination.

I hold to this principle together with many other tests:

Reject the candidate that does not fulfil the conditions of the hadith and elevate the candidate that does.

Bayt al-Maqdis is located within al-Masjid al-Aqsa, namely the Candi Complex of Lembah Bujang, Kedah, Malaysia.