Occupation
Authorities Investigate Sheikh Ikrima Sabri over Al-Aqsa Closure Stance
Leaning on his cane and
accompanied by his lawyers Khaled Zbarqa and Hamza Qattina, the preacher of
Al-Aqsa Mosque, head of the Islamic Supreme Council in Jerusalem, and member of
the Board of Trustees of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Sheikh
Ikrima Sabri, left the interrogation section of Muskobiya Prison following a
summons over a religious statement in which he opposed the closure of Al-Aqsa
and the suspension of Friday prayers under the pretext of a state of emergency.
Al-Aqsa Closure
Sheikh Sabri appeared for
questioning on Friday for two hours before being released under conditions
including a 15-day ban from the Old City, a personal guarantee, and an
obligation to return if summoned again. Upon his release, the 87-year-old
cleric stated that the reason for his summons was his religious stance: “I said
that it is not permissible to close Al-Aqsa or suspend Friday prayers, and this
is my religious opinion.”
He noted that the Israeli Home
Front instructions, issued at the start of the war on Iran, included
prohibitions on gatherings and the closure of Al-Aqsa, which prevented the
holding of Friday prayers. He described the situation as worrying, highlighting
that hundreds of thousands of Muslims were deprived of prayer, particularly
during the holy month of Ramadan.
Sheikh Sabri emphasized that
closing Al-Aqsa is “unjustified and illegal,” rejecting all measures that limit
Muslims’ right to worship. He called on the Muslim community to remember the
importance of Al-Aqsa and to maintain prayers there: “It is not permissible to
suspend the ritual of prayer, which is a pillar of Islam.”
Summons of Sheikh Sabri
His lawyer, Khaled Zbarqa,
stated that the summons is objectionable and has no legal basis. It was issued
solely because of the Sheikh’s religious opinion regarding mosque closures and
is considered an objection to exploiting regional circumstances to impose
measures affecting Al-Aqsa.
(Source: Al Jazeera)
ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــ
* للاطلاع على الترجمة الكاملة للخبر باللغة
العربية، اضغط (هنا).
