PA Mufti echoes Hamas: Transferring land to "enemies" is "treason," a sin, and forbidden
PA Mufti:
"Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque are an Islamic waqf until Judgment Day; they cannot be sold, given away, or bequeathed, and no one has the right to relinquish them"
Hamas' charter:
"The land of Palestine is an Islamic waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up"
PA Mufti:
- "Granting ownership over Islamic territory or part of it to enemies is invalid and constitutes treason"
- "Whoever sells his land to his enemies or takes compensation for it sins, as in doing so he aids in the removal of Muslims from their homes"
The PA Mufti has announced that whoever transfers or sells Palestinian land to "the enemies" - i.e., Israelis - is a traitor and a sinner:
"Palestine, that includes within it Jerusalem, is waqf (i.e., an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law) land [and] it is forbidden by Shari'ah law to relinquish it or ease the transfer of ownership of it to enemies, because it is part of the Islamic public property. Granting ownership over Islamic territory or part of it to enemies is invalid and constitutes treason...
Whoever sells his land to his enemies or takes compensation for it sins, as in doing so he aids in the removal of Muslims from their homes."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 13, 2018]
Emphasizing that Jerusalem is an "Islamic waqf until Judgment Day" and that "no one has the right to relinquish it" or the Al-Aqsa Mosque, PA Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories and Supreme Fatwa Council Chairman Sheikh Muhammad Hussein closely echoed the charter of the terror organization Hamas:
PA Mufti: | Hamas Charter, Article Eleven: |
| "Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque are an Islamic waqf until Judgment Day; they cannot be sold, given away, or bequeathed, and no one has the right to relinquish them." [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 13, 2018] | "The Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas] believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up." |
The mufti added that "relinquishing Jerusalem or part of it, or part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, to the enemies is like relinquishing Mecca and the Holy Mosque, or Medina and the Prophet's Mosque." His remarks came in response to the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and the recent transfer of the US embassy to the city.
In what may have been a response to the mufti, Supreme Shari’ah Judge and Abbas’ Advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs, Mahmoud Al-Habbash said in his sermon a week after the mufti’s statements that “no one has sold Palestine”:
“Anyone who thinks that the nation has sold its Palestine or its Jerusalem is just imagining things. Anyone who thinks that a day will come when the nation will sell one inch or millimeter of the blessed and sanctified land of Palestine is just imagining things. The entire nation says what [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas said: ‘The Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, or Christian who will relinquish one inch of Jerusalem has not been born and will never be born.’”
[Official PA TV, April 20, 2018]
Palestinian Media Watch has exposed statements by Al-Habbash, which demonstrate that the PA's religious belief prohibiting the acceptance of Israel's existence is identical to that of Hamas.
Al-Habbash was quoted in 2014 as follows:
"Al-Habbash emphasized that according to Islamic Shari'ah law, the entire land of Palestine is waqf (i.e., an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law) and is blessed land, and that it is prohibited to sell, bestow ownership, or facilitate the occupation of even a millimeter of it."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 22, 2014]
Stressing the belief that only Muslims have the right to Jerusalem and "Palestine," Al-Habbash recently stated that Palestinians/Muslims "will awaken and uproot the evil from its land" and "regain rights to Jerusalem and Palestine":
Al-Habbash: "This nation - I repeat - will awaken together with its clergy, with the religion, with its Quran, with the tradition of its Prophet Muhammad. This nation will awaken and uproot the evil from its land, and it will regain its rights to Jerusalem and Palestine."
[Official PA TV, Jan. 5, 2018]
This statement by Abbas' advisor came in response to US President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital on Dec. 6, 2017, and his following threat to cancel aid to UNRWA, the PA, and countries voting in favor of UN condemnation of the American recognition.
The following is a longer excerpt of the article on the PA Mufti's recent prohibition of selling and transferring "Islamic land to the enemies":
Headline: "The mufti forbids easing the transfer of ownership of Jerusalem and the land of Palestine to enemies"
"[PA] Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories and Supreme Fatwa Council Chairman Sheikh Muhammad Hussein has forbidden easing the transfer of ownership of Jerusalem and the land of Palestine to enemies.
The mufti stated yesterday [April 12, 2018]: 'Palestine, that includes within it Jerusalem, is waqf (i.e., an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law) land [and] it is forbidden by Shari'ah law to relinquish it or ease the transfer of ownership of it to enemies, because it is part of the Islamic public property. Granting ownership over Islamic territory or part of it to enemies is invalid and constitutes treason.'
He added: 'Whoever sells his land to his enemies or takes compensation for it sins, as in doing so he aids in the removal of Muslims from their homes. Almighty Allah connected those who remove Muslims from their homes and those who aid in doing so to those who fight against Muslims because of their religion.' He [the Mufti] also emphasized that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Palestine, and that the American declaration regarding Jerusalem and considering it the occupation's capital is an invalid and illegitimate decision, as one who has no ownership cannot transfer something that belongs to someone else.
Hussein emphasized that 'Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque are an Islamic
waqf until Judgment Day; they cannot be sold, given away, or bequeathed, and no one has the right to relinquish them. Relinquishing Jerusalem or part of it, or part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, to the enemies is like relinquishing Mecca and the Holy Mosque, or Medina and the Prophet's Mosque.'
He emphasized that Israel stole Palestine, removed its residents from their homes, drove them away, looted their property, and committed the most horrific crimes in the places of worship, and all of this in cooperation with the colonialist states that aided and aid it in this criminal aggression, and that provided it with political and material support to establish an occupying state in this homeland."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 13, 2018]
US recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel
Headline: "Widespread Palestinian rage and condemnation of the transfer of the Paraguayan embassy to occupied Jerusalem"
"Supreme Shari'ah Judge of Palestine and [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas'] advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash emphasized that Jerusalem was and will remain the eternal capital of the State of Palestine, and that the Israeli occupation state's attempts to impose a false and imagined legitimacy on the city will fail.
Al-Habbash emphasized in a statement that every state that transfers its embassy to Jerusalem is committing a crime against international law and participating in aggression against the Palestinian, Islamic, and Christian rights in the holy city. He added that these states have disgraced themselves, and history will remember them as aggressive states that committed crimes against the Palestinian people.
He said that the leadership will take steps against the states that commit this crime, and will demand that the international community punish those who have violated the sanctity of the international decisions and strayed from the international consensus that has repeatedly emphasized that Jerusalem has been Arab Palestinian from time immemorial."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 22, 2018]
Paraguay transferred its embassy to Jerusalem on May 21, 2018, after the US and Guatemala did so on May 14 and May 16 respectively.