Dr Abdul Hamid al-Atrash
Following the ban on Jews from abroad to make up a quorum, High Holyday services effectively cannot take place at the Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue in Alexandria. Now a cleric at Al Azhar university in Egypt has issued a ruling that Arabs may ban Jews from visiting their holy sites in Arab lands. The indefatigable Elder of Ziyon blogger exposes his hypocrisy:
Dr. Abdul Hamid al-Atrash, the head of the Fatwa Committee of Al Azhar in Egypt, has issued a ruling that Arabs may ban Jews from visiting their holy sites in Arab lands.
He was asked the question by the El Balad newspaper.
Al-Atrash says that as long as Muslims cannot travel to Jerusalem while it is in Jewish hands, then Muslims have the right to bar Jews from visiting their own holy places, under the Islamic concept of "reciprocity." Therefore, he says, Egyptian authorities have the right to ban Jews from going to the Alexandria synagogue on Rosh Hashanah.
He backed up his opinion with a Koranic verse, "Glory be to Allah, His Prophet and the believers, but the hypocrites know not." Also, he used a Hadith that says "Who allowed himself to be humiliated is not one of us," a saying that explains a lot. Apparently, Jews visiting Jewish holy sites is a humiliation for Muslims.
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Egypt permits Jews to hold Minyan-less services
Jewish life in Egypt ends after 2,000 years
why should we worry about an old fool?
ReplyDeleteMay his fatwa rebound on him
vidal sultana
Welcome back, Suzy! I hope all is well!
ReplyDeleteEr, but, Muslims aren't prohibited from visiting Jerusalem and recent reports speak to a loosening of security measures with respect to visitors from the WB rather than a tightening.
ReplyDeleteYes, the rest of the post makes that point.
ReplyDelete