OIC FIQH ACADEMY: VISITING AL QUDS IS ‘RECOMMENDED AND DESIRABLE’
Jeddah, 11 Jumadil Akhir 1436/31 March 2015 (MINA) – The International Islamic Fiqh Academy, an affiliate of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), has issued fatwa on visiting JerusalemAl Quds, asserting that the visit is “recommended and desirable”.
The decision came under the title “Visiting Jerusalem: The Objectives and Islamic Rulings” as part of the resolutions issued by the Fiqh Academy at its 22nd session, which concluded its works in Kuwait on Wednesday.
The Council of the Academy said, in a statement obtained by the International Islamic News Agency (IINA) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA), that the fatwa was issued after a lengthy debate, focused on weighing the benefits and evils of the visit.
The council stressed that it rests with the competent political leadership of each Muslim country to “estimate the benefits of the visit”.
The Academy drew attention to the need to remind all Muslims that the cause of Jerusalem is indeed the core issue of the entire Muslim Ummah, to which support should be extended, as well as to its residents and the Palestinian people as a whole. It noted that Jerusalem does not belong to the Palestinians alone but rather to all Muslims.
Noteworthy in this respect that OIC Secretary General Iyad Madani, in his statement at the opening ceremony of the Fiqh Academy’s 22nd session, stressed that Jerusalem faces a heinous attack from the Zionist entity, whose key objective is to obliterate the landmarks of the holy city and strip it of its Arab and Islamic identity.
He reiterated that such a visit to Jerusalem and engagement with the Jerusalemites, would confirm to the occupying power and the entire world the eternal right of Muslims to the holy site.
Early last January, the Secretary General had taken the lead in visiting Jerusalem, where he toured the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque and inspected its situation.
During the visit, Madani was briefed by the Al-Aqsa Mosque officials, about the successive attacks and stormings carried out by the radical Jewish settlers against the Mosque.
He was also briefed on the ongoing renovations of the Mosque, as well as the efforts by the Palestinians to defend Al-Aqsa and protect it from the Jewish extremists and their attempts to Judaise it through undermining its walls and the constant excavations and building synagogues in its surroundings.(T/R05/R03)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
