THE EARLY A AND JERUSALEM*

by

OFER LIVNE-KAFRI

M ost of the Arabic texts on Jerusalem and the process of its

sancti cation in Islam re ect tendencies established during the
seventh and the eighth centuries. A major part of these texts belong
to the literary genre of Fa"il Bayt al-Maqdis (The Praises of Jerusalem).
These praises appear generally in a form of ad and they were wide-
spread already in the Umayyad period (661-750). 1 Information derived

* In its original form this article was published in Ma[allat al-Muallim 14-15 (1993),
pp. 130-136 (in Hebrew). This research was made possible through the generosity of
the Frances Gunther Memorial Fund for Research on Jerusalem.
1
According to M.J. Kister, A Comment on the Antiquity of Traditions Praising
Jerusalem, The Jerusalem Cathedra 1 (1981), pp. 185-186, such traditions emerged in the
end of the seventh century and they were put into writing in the rst half of the eighth
century. Traditions in praise of Jerusalem are scattered throughout the various genres
of the Arabic literature such as commentaries to the Qur"n, diVerent ad collections,
chronicles, geographical compositions and Merits of Towns, the adab, special mono-
graphs, etc. (cf., e.g., Hassons introduction to al-Wsis work [below], pp. 21-23) and
they were gathered into special collections at least from the rst half of the eleventh
century: Ab Bakr Muammad b. Amad al-Wsi, Fa"il al-Bayt al-Muqaddas, ed.
I. Hasson ( Jerusalem, 1979) and Ab al-Mal al-Muarraf b. al-Mura[[ b. Ibrhm al-
Maqdis, Fa"il Bayt al-Maqdis wa-l-Khall wa-Fa"il al-Shm, ed. O. Livne-Kafri (Shfaram,
1995). In my article Early Arabic Literary Works on Jerusalem, Cathedra 44 (1987), pp.
21-26 (in Hebrew), I raised the possibility that large collections of traditions on Jerusalem
existed already from the third century to the hi[ra (the ninth century). On later com-
pilations see I. Hasson, The Muslim View of JerusalemThe Qur"n and the adth,
in The History of Jerusalem: The Early Muslim Period 638-1099 , ed. J. Prawer and H. Ben-
Shammai ( Jerusalem, 1996), pp. 367-377. On this literary genre see Hasson, ibid., pp.
349-385; idem, Literature in Praise of Jerusalem in Islam (Fa"il Bayt al-Maqdis), in
Notes and Studies on the History of the Holy Land, ed. M. Sharon ( Jerusalem, 1976), pp. 43-
68 (in Hebrew); E. Sivan, The Beginnings of the Fa"il al-Quds Literature, Israel
Oriental Studies 1 (1971), pp. 263-271; A. Elad, The History and the Topography of
Jerusalem during the Early Islamic Period: The Historical Value of Fa"il al-Quds
Literature: A Reconsideration, Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 14 (1991), pp. 41-70.
On the literary genre of ad see J. Robson, adth, EI 2, vol. 3 (1971). pp. 23-28;
I. Goldziher, Muslim Studies, ed. and trans. S.M. Stern (London, 1971), vol. 2.

Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2001 Arabica, tome XLVIII

 early A 113

from these traditions about the actual history of Jerusalem is scant and
the picture accepted is generally connected to ideas, views, and trends
expressed by religious scholars. The main issues re ected in these tra-
ditions are Jerusalem and its Muslim holy sites, the controversy among
Muslim scholars over its religious status, the importance attached to it
in cosmology and eschatology, the Jewish and the Christian origins of
the traditions concerning Jerusalem, and the circles involved in the cre-
ation and spreading of the traditions in praise of Jerusalem.2 The atti-
tude of the early a towards Jerusalem did not appear in scholarship
as a subject in itself, although certain elements were raised in the frame-
work of the discussion on the sanctity of places in Islam in general3
and the sanctity of Jerusalem in particular.4 To discover this attitude
is not an easy task. To the best of my knowledge the list of composi-
tions in praise of Jerusalem does not include Shite works, and the rel-
evant material in the ad literature, commentaries to the Qur"n, and
other sources is not wide enough to convey a complete and detailed
picture. Historical evidence of the relation of the Shites and their
centre in Iraq to Jerusalem is very poor.5 It is important to check
whether the attitude of the early a towards Jerusalem was created
separately from the processes of the sancti cation of Jerusalem in Sunnite
circles or whether some connection and parallel characteristics can be
found. Is the Shite attitude towards Jerusalem homogeneous or are
there diVerent tendencies and approaches? Did the bitter antagonism
between the Shites and the Umayyads (who were concerned to ele-
vate the status of Jerusalem) in uence Shite attitudes in any way and
did Jerusalem become a focus of discussion in Shite thought? The
available texts, mainly belonging to the ad literature, enable us to
observe attitudes and ideas, but not to obtain a wide, detailed picture.

2
See, e.g., M.J. Kister, You Shall Only Set Out for Three Mosques, A Study of
an Early Tradition, Le Muson 82 (1969), pp. 173-196 (henceforth: Kister, The Three
Mosques); H. Busse, The Sanctity of Jerusalem in Islam, Judaism 17 (1968), pp. 441-
468; J.W. Hirschberg, The Sources of Muslim Traditions concerning Jerusalem, Rocznik
Orientalistycny 17 (1951-1952), pp. 314-350; O. Livne-Kafri, On Jerusalem in Early Islam,
Cathedra 51 (1989), pp. 35-66 (in Hebrew); idem, Jerusalem, the Navel of the World
in Islamic Tradition, Cathedra 69 (1993), pp. 79-105 (in Hebrew); idem, Jerusalem in
Muslim Traditions of the End of Days, Cathedra 86 (1998), pp. 23-56 (in Hebrew).
3
Kister, op. cit., pp. 189-191.
4
O. Livne-Kafri, A Note on Some Traditions o Fa"il al-Quds, Jerusalem Studies in
Arabic and Islam 14 (1991), pp. 76-77.
5
See Muammad b. Jarr al-abar, Ta"rkh al-Rusul wa-l-Mulk (Leiden, 1879-1901),
second series, vol. 2. p. 714.
114 ofer livne-kafri

This is partly due to absence of materials and not necessarily because

of a poor examination of the texts. Shite traditions on Jerusalem are
connected with the growth of al-Kfa in Iraq as a Shite sanctuary.
It could be said, following Kister, that the idea of the sanctity of al-
Kfa grew and developed within the framework of the long-standing
struggle over the sanctity of places, mainly within the framework of the
rivalry between Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. This is proved by the
attempt to place al-Kfa on equal footing with the Three Mosques
of these cities, by the use of literary models that characterized the strug-
gle for the sanctity of Jerusalem, and by the elements which were
selected to emphsize the sanctity of the mosque of al-Kfa.6 Such tra-
ditions show that at the time of their growth, traditions concerning
The Three Mosques were well known and widespread.
One tendency observed by Kister was to limit the importance of
Jerusalem and to put al-Kfa in a higher place, or even to replace the
mosque of Jerusalem by the mosque of al-Kfa.7 This tendency may
best be seen in an utterance attributed to Al b. Ab lib: You shall
set out for three mosques: the mosque of Mecca, the mosque of Medina,
and the mosque of al-Kfa.8 The literary stereotype of a recommen-
dation to give up a religious visit to Jerusalem and to prefer praying
else where (by this emphasizing its religious status),9 appears also con-
cerning al-Kfa. A Shite tradition tells that Al b. Ab lib ordered
a man who was about to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to stay in
al-Kfa and pray in its mosque because of the great value of the prayers
there. 10 Indeed al-Kfa became a religious centre for pilgrims.11 According
to Kister, the mosque of al-Kfa (like the mosques of Mecca and
Jerusalem) was the mosque of Adam, the place of prayer of the prophets,

6
Kister, op cit., pp. 188-191.
7
Ibid., p. 190.
8
Ibid., n. 83. Cf. al-Kshn, al-Maajja al-Bay" (Teheran, 1339 AH), vol. 2, pp.
156-157; Muammad Bqir al-Majlis, Bir al-Anwr (Iran, passim, 1301-1315 AH), vol.
21, pp. 55-89; vol. 22, p. 90. Cf. Al b. al-asan Ibn Askir, Ta"rkh Madnat Dimashq
(Damascus, 1951-1963), vol. 1, p. 285: Mecca is the aram of Ibrhm, and Medina is
the aram of the Messenger of God, and al-Kfa is my [Als] aram. Cf. al-Burq,
Ta"rkh al-Kfa (Najaf, 1969), p. 45.
9
Livne-Kafri, On Jerusalem in Early Islam, p. 58, n. 160 (including references to Kisters
article). Cf. ibid., nn. 163-164, on a similar motif in the Byzantine literature; idem, Early
Muslim Ascetics and the World of Christian Monasticism, Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and
Islam 20 (1996), pp. 124-125.
10
Kister, op. cit., p. 190.
11
See, e.g., Ibn al-Imd, Shadhart al-Dhahab f Akhbr Man Dhahab (Cairo, 1350-1351
AH), vol. 1, p. 83.
 early A 115

and the place where the Prophet Muammad prayed during his night
journey, the isr".12 Other parallels exist in the elements of sanctity of
al-Kfa and Jerusalem, and in the literary models, which re ect a con-
nection between these holy cities.13 The city of Qum in Iran was later
to receive similar treatment in the literature. 14 Another tradition that
aimed at elevating the status of al-Kfa and reduce the rank of Jerusalem
is connected with the isr", the night journey of Muammad from
Mecca to Jerusalem. When the Shite imm ]afar al-diq was asked
about meritorious mosques, he said that these were the mosques of
Mecca and Medina. He was asked then about al-Aq Mosque and he
answered that that one was located in heaven, whither Muammad
was carried in the night. The inquirer insisted: People say that this
[al-Aq] is located in Jerusalem. ]afar al-diq answered, The
Mosque of al-Kfa is better than that of Jerusalem.15 Although the
identi cation of al-Mas[id al-Aq in the Qur"n with a heavenly tem-
ple was not restricted to Shite scholars,16 the tendency in this tradi-
tion is clear.
One wonders whether such attitudes towards Jerusalem were not
connected to the antagonism between the Shites and the Umayyads,
their bitter enemies. After all, the Umayyads were interested in pro-
moting the status of Jerusalem and Umayyad caliphs were involved in
the creation of traditions in praise of Jerusalem.17 The Umayyads caliphs
Abd al-Malik b. Marwn (685-705) and his son al-Wald (705-715)
were the great builders who erected the Dome of the Rock and al-

12
Kister, op. cit., p. 189.
13
Al-Majlis, Bir al-Anwr, vol. 21, pp. 89-91; vol. 22, pp. 86-107; al-Burq, Ta"rkh
al-Kfa, pp. 36-53; al-Kshn, al-Maajja al-Bay", vol. 2, pp. 156-157; Yaqt, Mujam
al-Buldn (Beirut, 1955-1957), vol. 4, pp. 492 V.; al-Muttaq al-Hind, Kanz al-Umml
(Hyderabad, 1965), vol. 2, p. 278; Ibn al-Faqh, Mukhtaar Kitb al-Buldn (Leiden, 1885),
pp. 173-174; H. Busse, Der Islam und die biblischen Kultsttten, Der Islam 46 (1966),
pp. 129-130.
14
Al-Majlis, Bir al-Anwr, vol. 14, pp. 338-343; Ibn al-Faqh, Buldn, p. 264.
15
This tradition is quoted, with a full translation of the text, by Hasson, Muslim View,
p. 355 (from which our translation is taken) and by Kister, The Three Mosques, p. 190.
16
Hasson, op. cit., n. 24. In the framework of this article we will not discuss in detail
the role of the ascension in shiite strive for legitimacy, but even there we nd the Rock
of Jerusalem. See M.A. Amir-Moezzi, Limm dans le ciel. Ascension et Initiation, in
Le voyage initiatique en terre dIslam, ed. M.A. Amir-Moezzi, (Louvain-Paris, 1996), p. 101.
Cf. also, concerning the Ascension Cl. Gilliot, Coran 17, Isr" 1 dans la recherche occi-
dentale de la critique des traditions au coran comme texte, ibid., pp. 1-26; J. van Ess,
Le Mirg et la vision de Dieu dans les premires spculations thologiques en Islam,
pp. 27-56.
17
Hasson Muslim View, pp. 357, 364-365.
116 ofer livne-kafri

Aq Mosque.18 The controversy among modern scholars on the orig-

inal causes of the sancti cation of Jerusalem in Islam was connected
to the interpretation of a text by the ninth-century historian al-Yaqb.
In his account of the erection of the Dome of the Rock, the Umayyads
are accused of falsi cation through a religious authority in order to
achieve their political aims. D.S. Goitein believed that al-Yaqbs text
was spurious owing to his Shite inclination. Earlier accounts exist that
seem to re ect anti-Umayyad sentiments. A common Shite motif, the
martyrdom of the Alds, is re ected in a tradition on the authority of
Ibn ihb al-Zuhr, the same scholar hinted by al-Yaqb to be a tool
in the hands of the Umayyads.19 It says that on the day Al was mur-
dered not a stone was upturned in Jerusalem without fresh blood being
found under it.20 According to another tradition this also happened in
Jerusalem on the day when al-usayn b. Al, was killed.21 Muslim tra-
dition draws a parallel between the gure of al-usayn and that of
John the Baptist.22 According to one account, the Byzantine Emperor
Heraclius said that the dunghill on Temple Mount had been erected
by the Christians out of antagonism to the Jews . . .. Heraclius told
his men that those who piled up that dunghill should put to death on
that same dunghill, in the same manner the Children of Israel were
killed because of the blood of Yay b. Zakariyy".23 The murder of
Yay b. Zakariyy" is also mentioned in another tradition in praise
of Jerusalem, and it is connected to the story of Jerusalems conquest
by Nebuchadnezzar. The massacre following the conquest ceased only
when the boiling blood of Yay was removed from the city.24 Indeed,
as early as the Qur"n Yay b. Zakariyy" is identi ed as John the
Baptist, and the Muslim legend probably identi ed him here with

18
Elad, Medieval Jerusalem, pp. 24-26, 35 V.
19
On the controversy over al-Yaqbs text see, e.g., Elad, ibid., pp. 158 V.
20
Ibn al-Murajj, Fa"il, p. 170, no. 234. Cf. a similar discussion in Livne-Kafri, A
Note on Some Traditions of Fa"il al-Quds, pp. 75-77.
21
Ibn al-Murajj, op. cit., no. 235. Cf. Fa"il Bayt al-Maqdis. wa-l-Shm, Anon. MS
Cambridge Qq 91/2, f. 84b; al-Wsi, Fa"il, p. 55, no. 83.
22
See U. Rubin, The Prophet Muammad in the Early Literature of adth, Ph.D. Dissertation,
Tel Aviv University, 1976, p. 130 (in Hebrew); cf. al-Iakhr, Kitb Maslik al-Mamlik,
BGA (Leiden, 1929), p. 60; Ibn awql, Kitb urat al-Ar, BGA (Leiden, 1938), p. 175,
on the display of the heads of John the Baptist and al-usayn at the gate of Jayrn in
Damascus.
23
Ibn al-Murajj, op. cit., pp. 51-52, no. 38; cf. Amad b. Muammad b. Ibrhm
al-Maqdis, Kitb Muthr al-Gharm bi-Fa"il al-Quds wa-l-Shm, MS Paris 1667, V. 38a-39a.
24
Ibn al-Murajj, op. cit., pp. 28-29.
 early A 117

Zacharias, son of Barachias, who was slain between the Temple and
the altar (Matthew, 23:35; Luke 11:51), and with Zecharia son of
Jehoiada (Chronicles 2:24, 17-22) through association with the name
of John the Baptists fater.25 It seems that the boiling blood motif
was transferred here in connection with Shite martyrdom. The image
of Jerusalem, the Jewish City, reproached with murdering the Prophets,
an important element in the polemics of Christians against Jews,26 seems
to have been transferred to the Umayyad city, charged with killing the
saints of the a. The fear of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik b.
Marwn of the spread of the tradition on the fresh blood is expressed
in the tradition on the death of Al.27
Despite all this, other attitudes are re ected in medieval texts. Shite
commentaries to the Qur"n preserve much material found in the
Sunnite commentaries on Jerusalem, Palestine, and al-m (Syria), includ-
ing the identi cation of Jerusalem as the destiny of the isr".28
Another interesting aspect is found in the traditions on the abdl, the
substitute-saints, a very high rank in the Su hierarchy of saints. 29
According to A. Schimmel, the abdl assumed high spiritual meaning
only gradually and in a number of early Su texts they are mentioned
together with the ascetics.30 This is attested by a tradition evincing var-
ious ascetic practices (ibda) by a certain badl (ascetic), such as weep-
ing, roaming the mountain tops, beating the body, or sitting on dunghills.
This tradition is attributed to Amad b. aff, a mawl of the Shite

25
See in great detail Elad, Medieval Jerusalem; cf. H. Schwarzbaum, The Destruction
of the Temple in Islamic Tradition, The Adam-Noah Memorial Volume ( Jerusalem, 1969),
pp. 439-463, especially p. 441, n. 9 (in hebrew); O. Limor, Christian Traditions concerning
the Mount of Olives in the Byzantine and the Arabic Period, MA thesis, The Hebrew University,
1978, p. 118; The Hebrew Encyclopaedia, s.v. Zacharias; John the Baptist; G. Le Strange,
Palestine under the Moslems (London, 1890), p. 111.
26
J. Prawer, Jerusalem in Jewish and Christian Thought of the Early Middle Ages,
Cathedra 17 (1980), p. 54.
27
Our n. 20. Cf. al-kim al-Naysbr, al-Mustadrak (Hyderabad, 1334-1342), vol. 3,
p. 113; al-Wsi, Fa"il, p. 55, no. 83, editors n. 4.
28
Al-abars, Majma al-Bayn f Tafsr al-Qur"n (Beirut, 1954-1957), vol. 1, p. 260;
vol. 4, p. 174; vol. 6, p. 64; vol. 9, p. 8; vol. 11, p, 93; vol. 15, p. 11; vol. 17, p. 43;
vol. 26, p. 117; vol. 27. p. 26; vol. 30, p. 146; Al b. Ibrhm al-Qum, Tafsr al-Qum
(Najaf, 1386 AH), vol. 1, p. 87; vol. 2, pp. 3, 327; Ibn Babya al-Qum, Aml al-adq
(Najaf, 1970), pp. 401 V.; Al-Majlis, Bir al-Anwr, vol. 5, pp. 262-269; 348-354; vol.
14, pp. 335-336, cf. ibid., interpretations concerning al-Kfa; ibid., vol. 14, p. 336; vol.
22, p. 87; Al b. al-asan Ibn Askir, Ta"r Madnat Dimaq (Damascus, 1951-1963),
vol. 1, pp. 202-203.
29
Cf. Livne-Kafri, Ascetics, pp. 122-124.
30
A. Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill 1975), p. 202.
118 ofer livne-kafri

imm Al b. Ms al-Ri (d. 818), 31 and it includes, as a part of pious

acts, praying for the people of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem accord-
ing to the hierarchical order agreed by the orthodox scholars. Shite
circles were involved in the development of the idea of saints in Su sm,32
and it seems that in certain ascetic circles a tendency existed to mod-
erate Syrian-Iraqi antagonism, which was largely connected with the
Umayyad-Shite struggle. This might be one of the interpretations of
a well known tradition that ascribed to Al the prohibition of cursing
the inhabitants of al-m in the battle of iVn (657), since among them
were the abdl.33 There are, in fact, tendencies of reconciliation which
are re ected in traditions that append al-Kfa and its mosque as the
fourth place in the hierarchy of the holy places. Such traditions exist
in Shite compositions 34 and in Sunnite works, for example, a tradi-
tion on a precreation of Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, and al-Kfa out
of foam on the surface of the water.35 Note that in certain political-
eschatological traditions Jerusalem became the symbol of power and the
place in which the right path is victorious. Such traditions originated
already in the Umayyad period and they seem to have been very power-
ful, because this approach was adopted by the Abbsids, for example,
in the famous tradition that predicted their victory over the Umayyads
in 750. Such traditions speak of black banners that will come from
Khursn and will be raised in Jerusalem after a victory over their ene-
mies.36 A similar tradition ascribed to Al b. Ab lib says: the mahd
(the Messiah) will be born in Medina as a descendant of the Prophet
(min ahl bayt al-nab ) and his name is a name of a prophet and Jerusalem
will be the place of his emigration. He will carry the banner of the
Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him salvation . . . until
he alights in Jerusalem.37 This tradition, most probably based on the
model of the Abbsid tradition, might refer to Muammad b. Abdallh

31
Ibn al-Murajj, Fa"il, p. 266, no. 403.
32
Schimmel, op. cit., p. 199.
33
See, e.g., Ibn al-Murajj, op. cit., pp. 315-316, no. 518 and the editors references
there.
34
Cf. Kister, The Three Mosques, p. 190, n. 84 (Four are the palaces of of Paradise
in this world: the mosque of Mecca, the mosque of medina, the mosque of Jerusalem
and the mosque of al-Kfa).
35
Ibid., p. 191, n. 86. Cf. Ibn al-Mura[[, op. cit., p. 11, no. 3; al-Wsi, Fa"il,
p. 8, no. 7 and the references given by the editors.
36
See, e.g., Ibn al-Mura[[, op. cit., p. 227, nos. 334-335, and the discussion in
Livne-Kafri, Jerusalem in Muslim Traditions of the End of Days, p. 51.
37
Ibn al-Mura[[, op. cit., p. 222, no. 325.
 early A 119

al-Nafs al-Zakiyya (the Pure Soul), from the asanid branch of the Shite
family. He rebelled against the Abbsids in the ijz and was executed
by them in 762. 38 A positive attitude of Shites to Jerusalem is also
re ected in the preservation of the traditions of the Three Mosques
of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem, without the mention of al-Kfa,39
but this is a rare reference.
In conclusion, the Arabic texts on Jerusalem re ect various Shite
attitudes to Jerusalem, such as the struggle over the sanctity of places,
Shite martyrdom, Iraqi-Syrian antagonism, the relation to early Muslim
asceticism, and the role of Jerusalem in eschatology; but all these are
based on comparatively scant material. We can point out ideas, ten-
dencies, or controversies, but the picture is far from complete. It is still
possible to assume that Jerusalem was not a major theme in Shite
thinking. As far as I know, Jerusalem was not a focus of discussion for
Shite scholars,40 and generally the literary activity of Sunnite writers
on Jerusalem was much more proli c. There are many accounts of
Muslim pilgrimages to Jerusalem in the rst centuries to the hi[ra,41 but
the a does not seem to have made Jerusalem a focus for pilgrimage.
One reason was the rise of Shite centres for pilgrimage in Iraq and
Iran, and the struggle for their legitimacy in the framework of the gen-
eral debate, the focui of which were Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem.
The rivalry with the Umayyads, who had an interest in elevating the
status of Jerusalem, most probably added a certain dimension of antag-
onism, which is re ected in some of the traditions.
The desire to give the Shite sacred sites their own uniqueness was
not detached from the general discussion on the sanctity of places; this
is proved by the literary patterns, the tendentious plays in traditions,
and the motifs which were selected for the discussion. Kisters obser-
vation that the traditions which express the sanctity of al-Kfa grew

38
See the discussion in Livne-Kafri, op. cit., pp. 53-54. Cf. Fr. Buhl, Muammad
b. Abd Allh", EI 1, vol. 3 (1936), pp. 665-666. Al-Kfa is also mentioned in another
tradition in an eschatological-political battle in which the nal victory of the powers of
Good will take place in Jerusalem (one version of the tradition is found in Ibn al-
Murajj, op. cit., p. 223, no. 327), but this is beyond the scope of this article. Cf. Livne-
Kafri, op. cit., pp. 54-55.
39
Al-Majlis, Bir al-Anwr, vol. 14, p. 350.
40
Among the traditionalists who were connected with traditions in praise of Jerusalem
are also Shite scholars, but they are very few. Among them are also such that fought
against the Umayyads. See O. Livne-Kafri, The Sanctity of Jerusalem in Islam, Ph.D. dis-
sertation (The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1985 [in Hebrew]), p. 33.
41
Ibid., pp. 156 V.
120 ofer livne-kafri

up in the framework of the struggle connected with Mecca, Medina,

and Jerusalem is very important. The traditions re ect a debate among
the Sunna and the a over Jerusalem, but they also attest to inter-
ference, interrelations and mutual in uences, which is very important
for understanding of the entire issue.