AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, the Imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque, said the sound of Adhan (call to prayer) will continue to be heard in Palestine forever.
“The sound of Adhan has reverberated in the Palestinian sky since the time of Bilal al-Habashi, the Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) muezzin, and it will continue to be so until the Resurrection Day,” Sheikh Sabri said.
“Anyone who is bothered by the call to prayer can leave,” he added, Quds Press reported.
He made the remarks in reaction to the Israeli regime’s hawkish minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who has called for confiscation of loudspeakers from mosques in Arab towns within occupied territories.
Ben-Gvir, a controversial far-right politician, described the loudspeakers as a “source of disturbance” in a public statement on Saturday.
Sheikh Sabri said Adhan is an Islamic ritual that is connected to Salah (prayer), which is an obligatory act in Islam, and no one can prevent it.
He underlined that preventing the recitation or broadcast of Adhan is interference in religious affairs of Muslims and a violation of religious freedom and the rights guaranteed by international law.
Ben-Gvir’s remarks have drawn widespread condemnations. The Palestinian National Council, the highest decision-making body for Palestinians, issued a statement on Sunday condemning the move as a “crime” against places of worship.
The council described the action as “a blatant assault on holy sites and religious practices,” emphasizing that such rights are protected under international and humanitarian laws.
“These practices represent an act of bullying against the true owners of the land, whom the occupation government seeks to marginalize and treat as a minority after forcibly displacing the vast majority of them from their homes and lands,” it added.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas also condemned Ben-Gvir’s decision, calling it “a serious crime and an attack on freedom of worship”.
In a statement, the group urged Palestinians to oppose the decision and resist attempts to undermine their religious practices and sacred sites.
Hamas called on the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and global organizations to denounce the decision, pressure Israel to halt such actions, and hold its leaders accountable for violations of Palestinian rights and sacred sites.
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