Why are Palestinians who sell land to Jews excommunicated?

Allah told “all of humanity” that “Palestine”
is “a pure right of its Muslim owners,”
- Shari’ah judge on PA TV

• “The land of Palestine is entrusted to all the Muslims, and Allah will demand an accounting from anyone who relinquishes a grain of soil from its pure and blessed land” - Head of the Supreme Muslim Council and head preacher of the Al-Aqsa Mosque

• After Jews purchased buildings in Silwan, Jerusalem, local Arabs called to punish the Arab sellers, citing the PA’s religious prohibition

• Fatah official: “Whoever sells real estate to the enemy… is considered a traitor to the religion, the homeland, and the people, and all those who commit this must be punished”

• PA Grand Mufti: “Whoever has abandoned his land, facilitated its transfer… has certainly left the Muslim community… [he] and the mediators will not be buried in the Muslims’ cemeteries, will not be prayed for, will not be purified, and will not be wrapped in shrouds”

• Official PA daily highlights calls to “excommunicate” and “put on trial” Arabs who sold property to Jews

Currently, Arab residents of the Silwan neighborhood in Jerusalem are calling to excommunicate and put fellow Arab citizens on trial because they sold property to “the enemy” – i.e., Israelis/Jews.

The PA does not recognize Israel's right to exist in any borders - as Palestinian Media Watch has documented – because they consider all of the land “Palestine,” while the PA religious leaders add that it is holy Islamic land.

Therefore, the PA has forbidden selling land to Jews by law. Anyone who tries to sell land to Jews will be sentenced to 5 years of hard labor, and someone who actually sells land to Jews will be sentenced to  life in prison  with hard labor. PA officials have even instructed PA police to “take the firmest steps against anyone who is proven to have secretly sold or transferred lands to the occupation, or to have collaborated in the matter.” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 19, 2020]

Significantly, it is not just an issue of disputed borders. The PA asserts a God-given “exclusivity [for Muslims] to this land”– including all of the State of Israel. Consequently,  the PA’s Grand Mufti announced that according to Shari’ah law it is forbidden to transfer or sell Palestinian land to "the enemies" - i.e., Israelis/Jews – and that whoever does so is a traitor and a sinner.

Additional recent statements by Palestinian religious officials reiterated the religious source of this decision and explain the outcry against the sale of land and property to non-Palestinians and non-Muslims. A Shari’ah judge stated that Allah in the Quran said that “Palestine” is “a pure right of its Muslim owners”:

Shari’ah Judge Nasser Al-Qirem: “[Allah] brought down a Sura called Al-Isra (i.e., “the Night Journey,” Quran: Sura 17). In it God Almighty emphasizes to all of humanity that this land is a pure right of its Muslim owners, the people of Palestine. This event (i.e., Islam’s Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey) and this Sura came to emphasize a fundamental truth regarding our birthright and our exclusivity to this land.”

[Official PA TV, March 19, 2021]

Likewise, Head of the Supreme Muslim Council and head preacher of the Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Ikrima Sabri said last month that “Palestine is entrusted to all the Muslims” and that anyone who “relinquishes a grain of soil” of it will have to answer to Allah:

“[Head of the Supreme Muslim Council and head] preacher of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Ikrima Sabri spoke from the Saladin Al-Ayyubi pulpit… and said: ‘The land of Palestine is entrusted to all the Muslims, and Allah will demand an accounting from anyone who relinquishes a grain of soil from its pure and blessed land.’”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 13, 2021]

This statement ties in with the current outrage over the sale by Arabs of property in Silwan to Jews and was echoed by a member of Fatah’s Central Committee and Fatah Commissioner of International Relations Rawhi Fattouh who called the land sellers “traitor[s] to the religion, the homeland, and the people”:

Fattouh: “Whoever sells real estate to the enemy in return for a handful of money is considered a traitor to the religion, the homeland, and the people, and all those who commit this must be punished, regardless of their title or political and social status.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 9, 2021]

The PA’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, similarly announced that those selling property to Jews have “certainly left the Muslim community” and will therefore not be treated as Muslims in the future:

PA Grand Mufti Muhammad Hussein: “Whoever has abandoned his land, facilitated its transfer, conspired against it, or conspired to hand it over has certainly left the Muslim community, and therefore it is ruled regarding him, regarding the collaborators, and regarding the mediators that they will not be buried in the Muslims’ cemeteries, will not be prayed for, will not be purified, and will not be wrapped in shrouds.”

[Official Fatah Facebook page, April 8, 2021]

The Arab residents of the Silwan neighborhood have adopted the religious rulings and want to “collectively excommunicate those [Arabs] selling real estate to the settlement associations” and sever all contacts with them:

“In the meeting that was held yesterday evening by families and tribes from the village of Silwan in southern occupied Jerusalem, the participants emphasized the need to collectively excommunicate those [Arabs] selling real estate to the settlement associations and not to interact with them, be present at their events, and invite them to the national familial events, in an absolute and full excommunication of them and their family. The participants emphasized the need to adhere to the fatwa (i.e., religious ruling) issued by the Palestinian Dar Al-Ifta (i.e., the official PA body for issuing religious rulings headed PA Grand Mufti Muhammad Hussein) regarding the ban on selling real estate to Jews in Jerusalem and throughout Palestine. These families also said that whoever sold the three structures and the land has left the religion of Islam and must be excommunicated, must not be interacted with, not be prayed for, and not be buried in the Muslims’ cemeteries.”

 [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 9, 2021]

The following are longer excerpts of the statements cited above:

Video and text posted on the official Fatah Facebook page

Posted text: “What [PA] Mufti Muhammad Hussein said about the sale of real estate to the colonialists”
PA Mufti Muhammad Hussein (in video): “Whoever has abandoned his land, facilitated its transfer, conspired against it, or conspired to hand it over has certainly left the Muslim community, and therefore it is ruled regarding him, regarding the collaborators, and regarding the mediators that they will not be buried in the Muslims’ cemeteries, will not be prayed for, will not be purified, and will not be wrapped in shrouds.”

[Official Fatah Facebook page, April 8, 2021]

Muhammad Hussein also serves as Deputy Secretary-General and acting Secretary-General of the PLO Popular National Conference of Jerusalem.

Headline: “Rawhi Fattouh: Selling real estate to the occupation is national treason”
“Fatah Movement Central Committee member [and Fatah Commissioner of International Relations] Rawhi Fattouh emphasized that thesale of real estate and lands to the Israeli occupation is considered national treason that necessitates putting its perpetrators on trial.

Fattouh emphasized this in a statement today, [April 9, 2021,] following the exposure of the sale of a number of Palestinian structures in the Silwan area (a predominantly Arab neighborhood near the Old City of Jerusalem, built above ruins of ancient Jerusalem -Ed.) in the occupied Jerusalem district.

Fattouh added: ‘Whoever sells real estate to the enemy in return for a handful of money is considered a traitor to the religion, the homeland, and the people, and all those who commit this must be punished, regardless of their title or political and social status.’”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 9, 2021]

Headline: “Silwan: Settlers took control of three structures and land, and [Palestinian] families of the village emphasized the need to excommunicate the sellers”

“Settlers took control of three residential structures and land yesterday, Thursday [April 8, 2021], in Silwan (a predominantly Arab neighborhood near the Old City of Jerusalem, built above ruins of ancient Jerusalem -Ed.) in occupied Jerusalem (refers to Israelis moving into properties that had legally been purchased by the Israeli-Jewish organization Ateret Cohanim -Ed.)…

In the meeting that was held yesterday evening by families and tribes from the village of Silwan in southern occupied Jerusalem, the participants emphasized the need to collectively excommunicate those [Palestinians] selling real estate to the settlement associations and not to interact with them, be present at their events, and invite them to the national familial events, in an absolute and full excommunication of them and their family.

The participants emphasized the need to adhere to the fatwa (i.e., religious ruling) issued by the Palestinian Dar Al-Ifta (i.e., the official PA body for issuing religious rulings headed PA Grand Mufti Muhammad Hussein) regarding the ban on selling real estate to Jews in Jerusalem and throughout Palestine.

These families also said that whoever sold the three structures and the land has left the religion of Islam and must be excommunicated, must not be interacted with, not be prayed for, and not be buried in the Muslims’ cemeteries.

The families welcomed the decision of their counterparts among all the Jerusalem families to renounce the blood [connection] of the real estate sellers in the Silwan neighborhood, and [said] that Palestinian society ejects anyone who gives themselves permission to sell any inch of Palestinian real estate and land to the settlers…

National figures in Jerusalem emphasized to the [official PA news agency] WAFA the importance of involving the Palestinian [PA] legal system in pursuing the sellers and putting them on trial, even in absentia, so that justice can be done and the law can be implemented against anyone who has left the religious, national, and moral framework in Jerusalem.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 9, 2021]