Caliph Umar had entered Jerusalem and (according…

Caliph Umar had entered Jerusalem and (according to Muslim historians) discovered the Temple Mount in utter decay and disrepair.

He had immediately set about repairing the site, and in 641 designates Jerusalem as the third holiest place in Islam, second only to Mecca and Medina.

Umar had agreed to a demand by the late Christian Patriarch Sophronius not to permit Jews to return to Jerusalem, but he soon allows seventy Tiberian families to settle in the city.

Thus, a small permanent Jewish population returns after a five hundred-year absence to Jerusalem.