PA religious leader: Western Wall belongs to Al-Aqsa Mosque and “non-Muslims have no right to it”
Official PA TV broadcast the Friday sermon from Arafat’s mausoleum in Ramallah. The sermon was delivered by Mahmoud Al-Habbash, the Supreme Shari’ah Judge and Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs:
“As far as we are concerned, the entire Al-Aqsa Mosque, whose area is 144,100 square meters, 144 dunams and 100 [square] meters, includes the covered Al-Aqsa Mosque, that is, the Southern Mosque, as well as the ancient underground Al-Aqsa Mosque beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Marwani Prayer Hall [Solomon’s Stables], the Dome of the Rock, the courtyards and porticoes, schools and walls – including the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall), which is called, and will always be called, the Al-Buraq Wall, whether they like it or not [– all this is the Al-Aqsa Mosque]. Even at the time of the British Mandate, the commission sent by the Mandatory authorities to discuss the issue of the Al-Buraq Wall confirmed that it was waqf (i.e., an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law) belonging to Muslims, and that non-Muslims had no right to it. Sooner or later, Jerusalem in its entirety will return [to us]. It is and will [always] remain the capital of Palestine.”
Note: Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall of the Temple Mount) – Islam's Prophet Muhammad is said to have rode during his Night Journey from Mecca to "al aqsa mosque", i.e., "the farthest mosque" (Quran, Sura 17), and there tied his miraculous flying steed named Al-Buraq to a "stone" or a "rock." (Jami` at-Tirmidhi, Book 47, Hadith 3424). In the 1920's, Arab Mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini decided to identify the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem as that "rock" or "stone," and for Muslims he renamed the Western Wall - the "Al-Buraq Wall." The PA now claims it is a Muslim holy site and says Jews, therefore, are prohibited from praying at the wall.
“As far as we are concerned, the entire Al-Aqsa Mosque, whose area is 144,100 square meters, 144 dunams and 100 [square] meters, includes the covered Al-Aqsa Mosque, that is, the Southern Mosque, as well as the ancient underground Al-Aqsa Mosque beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Marwani Prayer Hall [Solomon’s Stables], the Dome of the Rock, the courtyards and porticoes, schools and walls – including the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall), which is called, and will always be called, the Al-Buraq Wall, whether they like it or not [– all this is the Al-Aqsa Mosque]. Even at the time of the British Mandate, the commission sent by the Mandatory authorities to discuss the issue of the Al-Buraq Wall confirmed that it was waqf (i.e., an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law) belonging to Muslims, and that non-Muslims had no right to it. Sooner or later, Jerusalem in its entirety will return [to us]. It is and will [always] remain the capital of Palestine.”
Note: Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall of the Temple Mount) – Islam's Prophet Muhammad is said to have rode during his Night Journey from Mecca to "al aqsa mosque", i.e., "the farthest mosque" (Quran, Sura 17), and there tied his miraculous flying steed named Al-Buraq to a "stone" or a "rock." (Jami` at-Tirmidhi, Book 47, Hadith 3424). In the 1920's, Arab Mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini decided to identify the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem as that "rock" or "stone," and for Muslims he renamed the Western Wall - the "Al-Buraq Wall." The PA now claims it is a Muslim holy site and says Jews, therefore, are prohibited from praying at the wall.