Koran (file)
Koran (file)Flash 90

The My Yesha Shabbat pamphlet, sponsored by the Yesha Council, features an article this week calling Israel "the Land of the Jews" - by none other than a Muslim Sheikh. 

Sheikh Ahmad Adwan, a Muslim scholar living in Jordan, has published articles in the past dispelling the myth that the Koran designates the Land of Israel as a Muslim holy site. 

"There are classes in Islam which claim that the Koran seeks to abolish the Torah and Bible," the Sheikh wrote this week. "There is no truth to that. The direction of prayer of the Muslim people is to Mecca, and the direction of Jewish prayer is to Jerusalem - and this is meaningful, because this is expressly stated in the Koran."

"Allah chose to call this land 'Israel' and not 'Palestine.' The term 'Palestine' does not appear in the Koran either," he continued. "According to our faith, Allah promised Israel to the Jewish people, and they are the sole official inheritors of that land. Therefore, the war of Muslims and Arabs against the Jews must stop, and they must let the Jews live in peace on their land." 

Adwan has maintained on numerous occasions that the Muslim world "distorts the Koran" and that the Jews are a peaceful people who have the right to defend themselves.

He has also slammed the Palestinian Arab community before, calling them "the killers of children, the elderly and women" in using them as human shields in order to falsely accuse the Jews of targeting them. 

"This is their habit and custom, their viciousness, their having hearts of stones towards their children, and their lying to public opinion, in order to get its support," he added. 

Adwan is not the first authority on Muslim scriptures to note that the Koran has no reference to Israel as a homeland for Muslims. Middle Eastern affairs professor Nissim Dana recently told Arutz Sheva that Muslim scholars have maintained the Jews' right to the Jewish homeland before, using the Koran and other Muslim holy texts as proof.