Abbas’ advisor calls on Muslims to carry out Ribat and Jihad, because Israel continues “to carry out its criminal plots to expel the Palestinians and Judaize [Jerusalem] by... carrying out the criminal plot to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and establish the alleged Temple”
Headline: "Al-Habbash: Visiting Jerusalem is obligatory Ribat and Jihad for all Muslims in order to defend it from the occupation"
"Supreme Shari'ah Judge of Palestine and [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas'] Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash said that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is part of the Islamic faith and the holy Quran, as it appears in the Al-Isra Sura (i.e., the story of Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey to Jerusalem; see note below). He added that visiting Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is obligatory Ribat (i.e., religious conflict/war over land claimed to be Islamic) and Jihad for all Muslims in order to defend them from the occupation.
Al-Habbash said this as part of the Friday sermon that he gave at the As-Syakirin Mosque in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur…
The supreme Shari'ah judge emphasized that the residents of Palestine that carry out Ribat in Jerusalem and its periphery are not only defending themselves and their country, but all Muslims, their religion, and their faith. Therefore, all Muslims need to stand by them in their Jihad against the occupation. He added that the Muslims' support for Palestine, its residents, Jerusalem, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is support for the religion and faith, and protecting the rights of the nation and its holy sites. This also serves to make all people aware that the Al-Aqsa Mosque has a nation that loves it, defends it, carries out Ribat there, carries out Jihad for it, and will not abandon it, whatever the cost may be… In addition, he noted that the occupation is benefiting from the Muslims not maintaining the tradition of making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to isolate the residents of Jerusalem, and to continue to carry out its criminal plots to expel the Palestinians and Judaize the holy city [of Jerusalem] by emptying it of its original residents and carrying out the criminal plot to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and establish the alleged Temple…
Al-Habbash demanded that the Muslims who are able to come to Jerusalem visit it and carry out Ribat at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, even for a few hours, as this is the most supreme Jihad, and said: 'The occupation of Jerusalem is an insult to all Muslims and an attack against the symbol of their honor, and the continuation of this occupation is a deepening of the disgrace of the nation of Islam.'"
Mahmoud Al-Habbash also holds the role of Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice.
Islam's Prophet Muhammad is said to have ridden during a Night Journey from Mecca to "al aqsa mosque", i.e., "the farthest mosque" (Quran, Sura 17). Five years after Muhammad's death in 632, Jerusalem was conquered by Islamic forces, and in the year 705, Muslim Umayyad leader Abd Al-Malik built a mosque in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. The mosque was subsequently named the Al-Aqsa Mosque, to identify it as the mosque mentioned in the Quran, thus giving significance to Jerusalem in Islam as a place visited once by Muhammad.