40,000 worshippers perform Friday prayers at al-Aqsa Mosque
Tens of thousands of worshippers performed Friday prayers at al-Aqsa Mosque, despite Israeli forces closing entrances and streets in al-Quds, coinciding with a Judaization marathon and restricting worshippers' access to the mosque.
Al-Quds Islamic Endowments Department reported that 40,000 worshippers performed Friday prayers at al-Aqsa Mosque, which mourns the martyrs of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Safa News Agency reported that Israeli forces closed several streets in al-Quds this morning with iron barriers and red tape, during a Judaization bicycle marathon in al-Quds , coinciding with the influx of worshippers to the city.
The agency added that Israeli forces were deployed heavily in the streets and entrances to al-Quds to facilitate the Judaization marathon in the city, while restricting access to the residents of al-Quds.
The forces imposed restrictions on the young men's access to al-Aqsa Mosque, stopping them at iron barriers, checking their IDs, searching a number of them, and preventing them from reaching al-Aqsa Mosque.
For his part, the Mufti of al-Quds, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, said, "Isn't it time for the Muslim nation to hold a conference for God Almighty, emulating the Arafat Conference and the Hajj rituals, to consider providing relief to those in distress in the lands of Islam and Muslims, and here in the land of Isra' and Mi'raj, from Rafah in the south to Jenin in the north, where the insane war is reaping the lives of the Palestinian people?"
Hussein added, "The lives of innocent children, women, and the elderly are being reaped, and Muslims are denouncing, condemning, or condemning, failing to rise to the level of the Arafat Conference, the greatest Hajj conference in which the word of Islam and Muslims was exalted."
He continued: "To You, O Lord of Arafat and the Sacred House, we complain of our weakness, our helplessness, and our insignificance among people. So help us, O Helper of those who seek help, and extend to us Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful. Make us steadfast in truth and faith, as trustworthy guardians and keepers of Your blessed al-Aqsa Mosque."
In the second sermon, the Mufti of al-Quds said: "In these difficult and critical days, al-Quds and the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque are facing numerous attacks on its sacred premises by those arrogant extremists who dream of an 'alleged temple,' and the notion that this place was never theirs lurked in their devastated thoughts."
He added: "We say, in response to all the false and delusional claims and dreams, that this great House and this noble country, God made it blessed and sacred, and revealed therein a Qur'an that every Muslim recites: Glory be to Him who took His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, whose surroundings We have blessed."
He emphasized that "Al-Aqsa Mosque is for Muslims a faith, a law, and a matter of life. It is for Muslims a civilization, a history, and a source of pride, a pride that every believer takes pride in on the day his beloved Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was taken to its holy courtyard, and from its courtyard he ascended to the highest heavens, to be enjoined upon us the five daily prayers."
He explained that "Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third mosque to which no one travels, and traveling to it is a prophetic call that we must respond to and uphold, and be the first to respond and come to al-Aqsa Mosque, during these days and throughout the year."
He emphasized that "Al-Aqsa Mosque is our mosque and our qibla (direction of prayer), and it is the place of our Prophet's Night Journey (peace and blessings be upon him). There can be no compromise, no change, and no alteration of the firm faith in the Islamic character of this blessed mosque and the full right of Muslims to it, not others, no matter how much they attempt to encroach, transgress, or aggress."
The Mufti of al-Quds said: 'The House has a Lord who protects it, and al-Aqsa Mosque has God Almighty as its Lord, the divider of tyrants, the vanquisher of the arrogant, and the avenger of every stubborn tyrant. Its visitors and builders are the Muslims who have trodden its path, they are the believers who come with hearts yearning for it and eyes fixed on it. He bears witness, and His land bears witness, that they are the ones who prostrate, kneel, and frequent al-Aqsa Mosque. So every covetous person who covets this mosque will be disappointed, and truth and victory belong to every believer, because this mosque is ours and to all Muslims together.'
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