Sheikh Ekrima Sabri: There Will Be No Submission Or Negotiations Regarding Al Aqsa

Sheikh Ekrima Sabri. (Source: WAFA)

JAKARTA - Senior cleric and longest-serving imam of the Al Aqsa Mosque, Shikh Ekrima Sabri, confirmed his opposition to Israel's claims at the Al Aqsa Mosque Complex in Jerusalem's Old City, Palestine.

Sheikh Sabri, who is also a former Jerusalem Mufti, has been banned by Israeli authorities from entering the Al Aqsa Mosque Complex in the Old City since last year. He was also subject to a travel ban earlier this year, after opposing the ban by conducting a lecture tour that included visits to Tunisia, Algeria, Turkey to Malaysia.

Sheikh Sabri juga harus meninggalkan rumah lamanya di Kota Tua awal tahun ini, setelah otoritas mengeluarkan perintah penggusuran lantaran bangunannya dinilai ilegal.

In an interview with The National at his new residence in an apartment in Beit Haneina, Sheikh Sabri expressed strong skepticism about Jewish claims to parts of the Al Aqsa Complex, strongly condemning the raid on the compound by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government official Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We as Muslims have the right to Al Aqsa given by God from the seventh heaven," Sheikh Sabri, who served as Jerusalem's Mufti between 1996 and 2006, told The National, as quoted August 26.

"There will be no surrender or negotiation of Al Aqsa. Any action taken by the Israeli occupation will not guarantee their rights there," he stressed.

In 52 years since Sheikh Sabri delivered his first sermon at Al Aqsa Mosque, he has been barred from entering the compound or barred from delivering sermons there at least 15 times.

He emphasized that the prohibition for Al Aqsa imams to deliver routine sermons was issued in response to what the authorities claimed was a incitement to their occupational authority or policies.

Recently, the mention of the Gaza war or the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave has led to a series of suspensions.

Earlier this month, Jerusalem's current Mufti, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, was banned by Israeli authorities from the Al Aqsa Complex for six months, after he mentioned the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in a sermon.

There have been so many suspensions of Imam Al Aqsa by Israeli authorities in recent months, that now at least five imams have been appointed to the mosque at a time, Sheikh Sabri, whose father also served as imam there, and one of his sons.

In the 1967 Middle East war, Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where the Old City and Al Aqsa complex are located. Since then, the complex has been the core of the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Israel's right-wing National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has stormed the site several times. Earlier this month, Waqf, the foundation that manages the complex, said Ben-Gvir and more than 1,200 others prayed and danced at the site.

Under the decades-old status quo arrangement between Israel and Muslim authorities, the Al Aqsa Complex is managed by a Jordanian religious foundation. Jews can visit but should not pray there.

Sheikh Sabri denounced what he said were security measures imposed by Israeli authorities since the Gaza war began on October 7, 2023.

He cited what he called Jerusalem's "shuffling" and a suspension of permits that allow Palestinians from the occupied West Bank to enter the city.

"There was a random arrest of young people without crime or justification. Then, the frequency of Jews storming Al Aqsa increased, and the police started randomly stopping people from entering the compound," explained Sheikh Sabri.

"Every priest who says Gaza will be detained and prohibited from entering Al Aqsa," continued the father of five children and grandfather of 18 grandchildren.

"To prevent anyone from entering their place of worship is a disciplinary measure that may not be found anywhere else in the world," he stressed.