Lexicon

An account of the words, deeds, or endorsements of the Prophet Muhammad. 

Hadiths hold great importance in Islam, as they provide additional context and details for understanding the Quran’s teachings. Each hadith generally includes two components: the isnad (the chain of narrators) and the matn (the actual content of the narration). 

The authenticity of hadiths is assessed and categorized into various degrees, such as sahih (sound), hasan (good), and da‘if (weak), based on the credibility of the narrators and the consistency of the content. Renowned collections of hadith, like Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, are highly respected and extensively studied in the Islamic tradition.

A Zionist paramilitary organization, set up by a Labor Zionist party in 1920, that actively established Jewish settlements in and supported illegal Jewish immigration to Palestine. (In Hebrew, Haganah means “defense.”) Its purpose was to fight Arab resistance to Jewish settlement in Palestine. It was outlawed by the British Mandate but remained active. Until the end of World War II, its activities could be described as moderate when compared to the activities of the Stern Gang and Irgun, which it regarded as terrorist. After the war, however, the British refused to allow immigration to Palestine, and the Haganah turned to terrorism. It bombed bridges, railroads, and ships used to deport illegal Jewish immigrants. After the UN voted to partition Palestine in 1947, the Haganah acted as the army of the Zionist movement and fought both Mandate forces and Palestinian militias. By the time the State of Israel was declared, the Haganah controlled not only the areas allocated to the Jewish state by the Partition Plan, but also Jaffa and Acre. On May 31, 1948, it was dissolved by order of the provisional government of Israel, its members becoming the core of the state army. Its name is incorporated into the official name of the Israeli army, Tzva Haganah le-Yisra’el (translated as Israel Defense Forces). Haganah commanders who had careers in Israeli politics include Yigal Allon, Moshe Dayan, and Yisrael Galili.

The annual greater Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims.

As one of the five pillars of Islam, hajj is one of the core beliefs and practices that every Muslim must adhere to. It commemorates the actions of the prophet Abraham (Ibrahim) and his family, embodying themes of faith, sacrifice, and submission to God.

Performing hajj at least once in a lifetime is mandatory for all adult Muslims who are physically and financially able to make the journey.

Hajj takes place during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijja, specifically from the 8th to the 12th day, and includes a series of specific rituals performed over several days. The conclusion of hajj marks the beginning of Eid al-Adha.

Hamas—the Arabic acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya (Movement of Islamic Resistance)—is a Palestinian political party and Islamist national movement, founded in 1987 in the Gaza Strip after the outbreak of the First Intifada. Ideologically and organizationally, it is modeled after the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt.

See al-Haram al-Sharif.

Literally translating to “[one who] trembles [from the word of God],” from the Hebrew, Haredi refers to a member of any one of a number of Orthodox Jewish branches characterized by strict adherence to Jewish law and tradition, rejecting modern or secular interpretations of scripture. 

The Haredim (plural) (also referred to as ultra-Orthodox) believe Jewish law and tradition remained unchanged since God revealed the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Saini, and thus consider themselves the most reliable adherents to this ancient code and Judaism as a whole. Thus, they revere the Torah, both the Oral and Written law, as the central and determining factor in all aspects of life and ascribe great status to those who study it. 

While the movement originated exclusively among Ashkenazi Jews in Europe in the 19th century, today Haredim primarily live in Israel, although Haredi communities do exist in parts of North America and Western Europe. 

A Haredi is often the most distinguishable adherent to Judaism on account of his or her garments: The men don wide-brimmed black hats and suits, and the women dress in modest long skirts, stockings, and head coverings. 

Haredi Jews typically live in communities with other Haredim, each community having its own synagogue. In Jerusalem, their main concentrations are in the neighborhoods of Bnei Brak and Mea Shearim. They follow the guidance of their rabbis on many decisions including where to live, whom to marry, and whom to vote for. They generally avoid contact with non-Haredim and non-Jews. In most Haredi families, the adult men devote themselves to studying the Torah, while adult women are the household’s sole earners. More recently, the Haredi in Israel have branched into upper-management business and the diamond industry. See also Hasid, Haredi, and Orthodox Jew.

Colloquialization of a common medieval Arabic term, hara (pl. harat, hawari), used for both street (or alley) and quarter (or section of a town). Not used on its own but rather together with the neighborhood name. See Haret al-Maghariba,Haret al-Sa‘diyya, Haret al-Sharaf. 

Haret al-Maghariba (“Moroccan neighborhood” in English) was a centuries-old neighborhood in the Old City of Jerusalem adjacent to the Western Wall that was home to approximately 650 people and 100 families. On June 10, 1967, days after Israel occupied Arab Jerusalem, it was entirely demolished by contractors hired by the Jerusalem municipality on the direct orders of Mayor Teddy Kollek.

Sources differ on the roots of the neighborhood’s name. Some sources indicate that the entire neighborhood was the Islamic waqf of King al-Afdal, one of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi’s 17 sons. Other sources say that the neighborhood was named after the Moroccan pilgrims who visited al-Aqsa Mosque, or that Moroccan religious students stayed in the neighborhood.

The neighborhood was located next to al-Buraq Wall, or what has become the Western Wall complex. The city rushed to demolish 135 homes and historic structures in the al-Maghariba neighborhood and turned it into an open square in the newly expanded Jewish Quarter. Today’s Jewish Quarter was built on the lands of the al-Maghariba and al-Sharaf neighborhoods.

A neighborhood (haret) located within Jerusalem’s Old City walls between Herod’s Gate/Bab al-Zahra and Damascus Gate/Bab al-Amud (see The Gates of the Old City). Haret al-Sa‘diyya (or “Sa‘diyya neighborhood” in English) was named after Bani Sa‘ad (“offspring of Sa‘ad”), i.e., the Sa‘adi family. This family was one of the tribes that came to Jerusalem with the Muslim conqueror Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi in the 12th century. According to a 2018 al-Quds newspaper interview with Abed al-Qader al-Bukhari (b. 1933), a resident of this neighborhood, the largely Kurdish neighborhood also had several other names. It was also called al-Mashariqa (“Orient”) neighborhood after the Eastern Christians who inhabited it during the Crusader era. The neighborhood is also abundant with antiquities, including the Red Minaret Mosque, Sheikh Rehan Mosque, Convent of the Sisters of Zion, Indian corner (zawiya), Salhiya school, Mawlawia corner, the mosque and tomb of Sheikh al-Shuyoukh Ali al-Khilouti, Sheikh Lulu Mosque, and the mosque and tomb of Sheikh Shaky Makki.  

An Old City north-to-south haret that used to lie adjacent and parallel to the now-demolished Haret al-Maghariba; named after the mausoleum of Sharaf al-Din Musa, a Jerusalem notable buried in the vicinity in the 14th century. The neighborhood formerly had Muslim and Jewish inhabitants. Today its location falls in the middle of the Jewish Quarter and it is known as Misgav Ladakh (Hebrew), or Sharaf or Maydan Street.

A follower of Hasidic Judaism, a movement that originated in mid-18th-century western Ukraine and encouraged the religious devotion of those who were not advanced Talmudic scholars or rabbis. Seen as a spiritual revival of sorts, this movement advocated for a direct experience of God through prayer and other rituals. 

The movement’s founder was Rabbi Israel Ben Eliezer (d. 1760), who was a schoolteacher and a laborer. He traveled widely and gained a large following, teaching his students to develop personal relationships with God that did not depend on rabbis as intermediaries. 

The Hasidism (Hebrew for “piety”) movement reached its height in the 19th century, with about half of Eastern European Jews adhering to its teachings and customs, including special dress and communication in Yiddish. 

As the movement evolved, it brought about a surge of Jewish mysticism that was more accessible to those who could not engage in lifelong study and offered an alternative to formal and scholastic approaches to Judaism. Hasidism favored Jewish ritual practice and personal prayer, often replete with magic and miracles, rather than formal Jewish study of the Torah. 

Today, Hasidism is considered a subset of Haredi Jewry and most Hasidic groups exist in Israel. The movement encompasses numerous subgroups, generally named after the town in which their rabbis worked, such as Gur, Chabad Lubavitch, Satmar, Bobov, Belz, Vishnitz, Bresnov, Chernobyl, and Sanz-Kluasenburg. In Jerusalem, the Hasidim are concentrated in the neighborhoods of Bnei Brak and Mea Shearim. Outside of Israel, they are largely concentrated in the New York/New Jersey area, Great Britain, Antwerp, and Montreal. 

Hasidim do not take kindly to the label “ultra-Orthodox Jew.” They prefer Hasid, Haredi, or just Jew. 

An agreement on arrangements for the Palestinian city of Hebron signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as part of the Oslo Accords. Also known as the Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron, the agreement stipulated Israel’s military redeployment from 80 percent of the city while maintaining a small Israeli settlement in the heart of the Palestinian urban area and religious center. Signed on January 17, 1997, the protocol gave the Israeli military 10 days to redeploy from H-1, while H-2, where several hundred Israeli settlers had occupied Palestinian homes, would remain under Israeli control. The Palestinian market and Shuhada Street near the settlement were to remain open. The rest of Shuhada Street remains closed and emptied of Palestinian residents.

The English name for one of the seven open gates in the wall of the Old City of Jerusalem. See also Bab al-Zahra. 

See The Gates of the Old City for more detailed information.

A term coined in 2000 during the Israeli–Palestinian negotiations (Camp David II) by Israeli negotiators who sought to differentiate the center of the city with its holy sites from the remainder of the city. Originating in a European need to define the “original” landscape described in the Bible  and growing out of earlier European, colonial, and particularly British planning traditions, the term “Holy Basin” refers to the Old City (with its holy sites) and the open environs around it, including Silwan to the south of the Old City and the Mount of Olives to its east.  

In 1974, the Israeli government established the Jerusalem Walls National Park around the Old City, covering an area of 1,100 sq km that became prohibited for building. The park was situated in a “special zone” of 10 km sq of territory in East Jerusalem only, abutting the Holy Basin and extending over Palestinian villages and neighborhoods including Sheikh Jarrah, Wadi al-Joz, al-Tur, Silwan, Abu Tor, and Ras al-Amud. 

Israel and several settler organizations, including Ateret Cohanim, have been displacing Palestinians from the Holy Basin and settling Jews in their place for decades under the pretext that the basin contains important Jewish historic and religious sites. 

Variously referred to as: Old City and environs, antiquity zone, archaeology zone, special zone, old City basin, Old City visual space, historic basin, religious basin, and heritage zone.