A Stone's Throw From Jerusalem

We do not know exactly why Mūsā rejected the angel of death in the beginning. But Ibn Kathīr says that perhaps it was because Mūsā had a desire in his heart that had not yet been fulfilled, and Mūsā wanted that desire — that hope and aspiration — to be fulfilled. And that desire was one Mūsā had been living for and awaiting for a long time in his life: the promise of Allah (swt) to enter the Holy Land. Mūsā wanted to have the honour of leading his people into the Holy Land and establishing the Islamic nation. He wanted the honour of leading his people into Jerusalem.

But this was the will of Allah (swt), and when Mūsā realised that it had not been ordained for him, he said: then let me die. But he said: I have a request. He told the angel of death: I have one request, and that is that you take me as close as you can to Jerusalem. Take me as close as you can — the distance of throwing a stone — and let me die there. If I am not able to enter Jerusalem alive, at least take me as close as possible to Jerusalem, so that I can die next to it. I can die next to the walls of Jerusalem.

So Mūsā (peace be upon him) was living with the hope that one day he would enter the Holy Land. And the only reason he did not was — who? Banū Isrāʾīl. They were at the gates of Jerusalem; they were at the gates. Mūsā told them: let us go and fight. They said: go and fight with your Lord; we are going to stay right here. Then two men — two men who feared Allah (swt), on whom Allah had bestowed His blessing — came to Banū Isrāʾīl and told them: fa-idhā dakhaltumūhu fa-innakum ghālibūn — just walk through the gate, and if you do so, you will win. And they refused.

So Allah (swt) did not give Banū Isrāʾīl the honour of entering Jerusalem, because they did not deserve it; they were not ready yet. And because of that, Mūsā was not able to enter Jerusalem, and neither was his brother Hārūn. And Mūsā (peace be upon him) died in al-tīh; he died in the wilderness.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says, in the words of the hadith: when he came to him, he slapped him; so he returned to his Lord and said: You sent me to a servant who does not want to die. So Allah restored his eye to him and said: go back, and tell him to put his hand on the back of an ox, and for everything his hand covers, he will have a year for every hair. He said: O my Lord, then what? He said: then death. He said: then now. And he asked Allah to bring him near to the Holy Land, a stone's throw away. And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) spoke of the grave of Mūsā: had he been there, he would have shown them his grave.

And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says in the hadith of al-Isrāʾ that when he travelled to Jerusalem, he passed by the grave of Mūsā, and he saw him praying in his grave to Allah (swt).