Reading the Qur’ān: How hamas and the islamic jihad explain Sura al-Isra (17)

Sura 17, in particular verses 1-8. What is the meaning of verse 5 that says that the Jews corrupted the land-twice? Which land? Is it Medina or Jerusalem? Books about Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners and scholars revealed that this is form of prophecy. Fahmi ‘Aid Ramadhan al-Mashaira, a Hamas prisoner since 2002 said: ‘The Jews corrupted this land, the first time in Medina and al-Hijaz…the second time of their corruption is here in our land, in Palestine.' Another Islamic Jihad version is that the first time was also in Palestine and not in Medina. This political interpretation of the Quran justifies the saber (patience) principle of the Islamic stream in Palestinian society. It is already written in the Quran as Sheikh Ahmad Yassin remarked in 1998. The Muslim Palestinian movements are Allah’s servants who will fulfill this prophecy. Verse 104, in the same chapter, refers to another prophecy about the Children of Israel. ‘Dwell in the land, and when there comes the promise of the Hereafter, We will bring you forth in [one] gathering.' What promise? When? How do Muslim scholars deal with such contradictions between the verses? These are the aims of this paper.