Lexicon

Terminology in the Jerusalem context can be complex and also controversial. Words and their meanings shape narratives. Our Lexicon goes beyond standard definitions and also offers, where applicable, nuanced shades of meanings that matter to Palestinian Jerusalemites.

Murabitat

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Murabitun

Coming Soon

Musha

Classification of land added under British Mandate law denoting lands under the control of the government by treaty, convention, agreement, or succession; lands acquired for public purpose; collectively held land, such as by a village

Muslim Brotherhood

Founded in 1928 in Egypt by Hassan al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood is the largest, oldest, and most influential Islamist society in the world. Its mission is to Islamize society. It advocates a return to the Quran and the Sunna as the basis for a healthy modern Islamic society. It works to this end through legal, social, and political means. It has Brotherhood affiliates in Jordan, Palestine, Kuwait, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, and Bahrain, and wields influence also in North Africa.

Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem

An Ottoman administrative demarcation, also known as the “sanjak” of Jerusalem, created in 1872 for the province of Jerusalem. The mutasarrifate included Jerusalem, Jaffa, Hebron, Beersheba, and Gaza, and, along with the sanjaks of Nablus and Acre to the north, formed the geographic region known as Palestine. Previously, the district had been part of the Damascus eyalet, a larger administrative division, but was separated and administered directly by Istanbul in 1841 before officially receiving its independent status in 1872. The mutasarrifate was dissolved upon Britain’s occupation of Palestine in December 1917.