| Bayt al-Maqdis or Bayt al-Muqaddas is an Arabic name for Jerusalem. It is a prime example of "nisbas" (names based on the origin of the person named)like the famous medieval geographer called both al-Maqdisi and al-Muqaddasi (born 946.) It is used in some Hadith (please see Sahih Muslim 234, 251). This name is derived from the Hebrew Beit Ha-Mikdash בית המקדש ("The Temple" literally "House of the Holiness") which denotes the Temple in Jerusalem not the city itself. "Al-Quds" is an abbreviation for this original name, which means that the Arabic name for Jerusalem makes no reference to Mohammed`s trip to Heaven, but rather refers to the Jewish Temple. Moreover, dear Mr. Al Qudsi, your own name traces itself to the Hebrew "Ir Ha Kodesh" (A Quds is the Arabization of Kodesh into Quds; Ir Ha Kodesh being one of the first Hebrew descriptors for, you got it, The Temple Mount. Sorry. Truth hurts sometimes. |
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