ABNA24 - Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the preacher of the Aqsa Mosque, has warned of a dangerous new Israeli attempt to restrict the Muslim call to prayer (adhan) in Occupied Jerusalem and areas within the 1948-occupied territories.
In a statement issued Monday, Sheikh Sabri, who heads the Supreme Islamic Council in Occupied Jerusalem, said that the issue of the adhan has resurfaced after repeated failed attempts to ban it or reduce its volume.
On Sunday, Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill proposed by the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The proposed legislation would prohibit the installation or operation of loudspeaker systems in mosques without a permit. Approval of such permits would depend on factors including the level of “noise” and the mosque’s proximity to residential areas.
The bill would also authorize police officers to order the immediate suspension of the call to prayer and confiscate loudspeakers. The proposal still requires approval by the Israeli Knesset before it can become law.
Sheikh Sabri warned that the current initiative represents a more serious development because it seeks to legally institutionalize restrictions on the adhan.
“From an international and political standpoint, the occupying authority has no right to alter the status quo in occupied territories,” he said.
He added that, from a religious perspective, the adhan is an Islamic ritual and act of worship, and that Israeli authorities have no right to interfere with it or prevent its recitation, as doing so violates freedom of worship.
Sheikh Sabri noted that the first person to call the adhan at Aqsa Mosque and across Occupied Jerusalem was Bilal ibn Rabah, the companion of the Prophet Muhammad and Islam’s first muezzin, following the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem under Caliph Umar ibn Al-Khattab in 636 CE.
He also emphasized that Islam respects and protects the religious practices of followers of other faiths and does not interfere in their worship.
Rejecting claims that the adhan constitutes noise pollution, Sheikh Sabri stated: “The real noise and disturbance come from the machinery of war, aircraft, tanks, bulldozers, and bombs, not from the call to prayer.”
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