Making Room at the Inn:

A Quranically based Blueprint for Sharing the Holy Land

Aisha Y. Musa
Assistant Professor of Religion
and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
Colgate University
ABSTRACT
This article builds on the ideas presented in the groundbreaking documentary Is There Room at the Inn? Muslims,
Jews, and the Holy Land (Red Lotus Films, 2015); that film posits religion an essential solution to rather than an
essential cause of the seemingly intractable conflict over the Holy Land. This article picks up where the film left off,
further developing key Quranic arguments that provide a blueprint for mutual recognition not only between Jews and
Muslims, but also including the third Abrahamic community, Christians. Mutual recognition is the starting point from
which the three communities can formulate plans for a negotiated peace and build a foundation on which to share the
Holy Land. The present article will engage a close reading the Quran, perhaps both the most discussed and yet
most misunderstood text of our time. Contrary to a popular conception that the Quran dictates an essentially hostile
relationship between Jews, Christians, and Muslims, a close reading and analysis of the text at word, sentence,
chapter, and discourse levels demonstrates that the Quran provides a clear basis for mutual recognition and respect,
as well as a means to move toward atonement, forgiveness, and reconciliation, providing a framework on which the
currently contending religious groups might build mutual respect and recognition and lay the groundwork for a
negotiated peace.