By: Wael Al-Zawahry

The Arab Peninsula is the cradle of Islam; it is the place where the light of Islam emitted all over the world, becoming, thus, the capital of the religiosity and spirituality. No wonder that this spot has special characteristics among the whole world.

This fact has been confirmed by what has been narrated in the right Hadith saying that Faith will return back to Madinah as it has originated there. Other narrations said that Faith will return to Hijaz as whole.

Many Hadith(s) have been narrated about the Prophet (may peace be upon him) denoting that the Arab Peninsula is the Peninsula of Islam; no religion except Islam has the right to stay there. Before showing the Hadith(s) related to the Arab Peninsula, it is better to define, firstly, the exact meaning of the geographical location of the Arab Peninsula and its borders.


Al-Khalil Ahmed said, � It (the Arab Peninsula) was named so because the Persian Sea (the Arab Gulf now), the Ethiopian Sea, and the two rivers of Euphrates and Degla all surround it. Al-Asmou�ay said, � The Arab Peninsula is located between Aden in the south and Iraq in the north, and from Jeddah in west to Sham. It was named so because the seas surround it, namely, the Indain Sea, the Kalzam Sea ( Red Sea now), Persian Sea (Arab Gulf now) and the Ethiopian Sea. (Fath Al-Bary 6/511, Al-Baby Al-Halby�s Edtion).

Sheikh of Islam Ibn Taimaya said, � the Arab Peninsula covers the space from the Kalzam Sea to the Basra Sea and from the far corner of Yemen to the borders of Sham, including Yemen within it and excluding Sham. The Arab habituated this land before and during the Prophetic mission. After the arrival of Islam and conquering the neighboring countries, the Arab spread all over the four neighboring corners, habituating the west and east even Sham and Armenia, the residence of the Persian, Roman and Berbers peoples.(By Dr. Bakr Abu Zaid in his book The Characteristics of the Arab Peninsula based upon Ibn Taimaya�s Iqteda Al-Serat Al-Mostaqeem, p. 166).


Hadith(s) about the Arab Peninsula

There are many Hadith(s) narrated on the Arab Peninsula, denoting the unique position of this geographical spot within Islam.

In Sahih of Muslim, Omar Ibn Al-Khatab (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (may peace be upon him) said, � I will expel the Christian and Jew out of the Arab Peninsula to the extent that no one will stay here but the Muslim�.

Mother Of the Believers, A�isha ( may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet ( may peace be upon him) said,� Two religions may not co-exist on the Arab Peninsula�.

Again, Mother Of the Believers, A�isha (may Allah be pleased with her) said, � The last commitment issued by Allah�s Messenger is to let the Arab Peninsula with just one religion (Islam)�.

Abdullah Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated that Allah�s Messenger said,� Two religions may not co-exist on the Arab Peninsula�(See the Series of the Right Hadith(s).

Regulations
From these Hadith(s) and the others sayings on the Arab Peninsula, Dr. Bakr Abu Zaid (a member of the Senior Scholars Authority and Head of the Islamic Jurisprudence Compound) concludes the following:

1) No atheist can enter the Arab Peninsula for settlement

2) An atheist can not transit or reside in the Arab Peninsula temporarily except for fixed days to fulfill something like getting a debt, selling, etc.

3) No atheist can take anything, a land for instance, from the Arab Peninsula for setting up a house. Considering that the settlement and residence are forbidden to the atheists, so any matter related to this prohibition is forbidden.

4) For that reason , if an atheist reclaims some lands of the Arab Peninsula, he is forbidden to own these reclaimed lands which should be confiscated by the Muslim rulers. Here, an atheist has not the right of preemption as the oppressor has no right at all.

5) No atheist�s corpse may be buried under the lands of the Arab Peninsula . If an atheist is dead there, the corpse should be transformed to another lands except in the necessity, like decaying, then the corpse is buried in the non-Muslim cemetery.

6) As a purification of this land for the sake of Islam, no atheist can build a church, a temple, a cell, a firehouse, or a statue on the Arab Peninsula. Thus, Imam neither has the right to give the permission to do so nor even keep these building safe, old or new.

7) No acknowledgement is made to an atheist to settle on the Arab Peninsula. He should choose between adopting Islam or the sword. So, no duty is collected from an atheist for settling on this land.

The moral of these sayings is not limited to the expelling of the atheist physically out of the Arab Peninsula.

Sheikh Bakr Abu Zaid clarifies this regulation saying that the reasoning of getting the atheists out of the Arab Peninsula is to free this land for Islam and the Muslims only; thus, the base of the Muslim people stay intact and the Muslim leader is protected against any attempt to make him Jew or Christian.

Thus, the meaning of this lesson is not confined to the expelling the atheists physically from the Arab Peninsula; it aims to the reasoning of the regulation itself.

In other words, this regulation involves expelling the atheists� culture, heritage, influence, calling and anti-Islamic trends. All their efforts to undermine the dignity and purity of this spot should be expelled. Accordingly, any Muslim ruler dominating this land by God�s will should forbid the atheists from settling here, purifying it from being acquired or identified by them.