, the most common Arabic name for Jerusalem. A. History 1. The Islamic history of Jerusalem clearly falls into three periods. During the first six hundred years, the possession of the city was contested between Islam and Christianity and between many Islamic princes and factions. After the bloodless and poorly-recorded delivery of the town into the hands of an inconspicuous tribal commander, the history of the period was solemnly inaugurated by the erection of the marvellous Dome of the Rock, the majestic testimony ¶ to the Islamic presence in the Holy City; it culminated in t…