‘Sacrifices must be made to protect holy shrines’

Following is the final communiqué issued Monday of the ëRoad to Jerusalemí Conference held in Amman last week:

 1.     Exerting efforts to achieve the unity of the Arab and Muslim Ummah and at the very least agree together on the constants, the most important of which are the protection of the Ummah’s holy sites and religious antiquities in Jerusalem; and continuing to defend the rights of the Palestinians and the justness of their cause; for under division and fragmentation, none of the Ummah’s substantive goals can be achieved. 

2.      Reminding the Ummah that financial and personal sacrifices must be made to defend the Ummah’s religious holy sites and religious antiquities, its land and its people. 

3.      Supporting Jerusalemite institutions, be they educational, medical or social, in a manner that guarantees that they continue to be sustainable and steadfast.

4.      Supporting the projects of Jerusalemites related to housing, religious endowments (awqaf) and their upkeep; and supporting committees for zakat (required alms giving) and for social, medical and economic welfare.

5.      Supporting the projects of the Hashemite Fund for the Restoration and Maintenance of the Blessed Al Aqsa Mosque and the Noble Dome of the Rock.

6.      Supporting the efforts to care for Christian holy sites and protect them from Judaisation and confiscation.

7.      Calling on the scholars of the Muslim Ummah and its khutabaa’ (preachers) and its du’aat (those who invite to the faith) to discuss the Blessed Al Aqsa Mosque in their sermons, particularly their Friday sermons, and to supplicate for its freedom away from occupation and to ask the Almighty for the gift of praying in it for Muslims. 

 8.  The conference pays tribute to the struggle of the state of Palestine and its insistence on Jerusalem being the capital of the Palestinian state; and its insistence on Palestinian sovereignty over all the occupied territories of Palestine including Al Quds Al Sharif and the holy sites. 

9.  The participants pay tribute to His Majesty King Abdullah’s speech before the UNGA in which he clarified that the Blessed Al Aqsa Mosque is a sacred Islamic waqf as important as the Blessed Kaa’ba and that  any invasion or division of the site of Al Masjid Al Aqsa would be viewed, not only as a breach of Israel’s obligations, but as profound aggression against 1.7 billion Muslims, one quarter of the world’s population.

10.  The participants pay tribute to the role of Christian churches and the heads of Christian churches in Jerusalem for preserving the Pact of Omar and their holy sites and for rejecting the occupation. The conference urges the heads of churches in Jerusalem and around the world, through their influence and representation in the international forums and media, to defend the Pact of Omar and the historic relationship between their Jerusalem churches and Al Aqsa Mosque and the Islamic Waqf.  

11.  Thwarting the Jewish narrative that aims to Judaise Jerusalem, its holy sites and all of Palestine in international arenas including academic and educational forums, international organisations, media institutions and social networking channels. As an offshoot of the Road to Jerusalem Conference, a committee shall be established that will be dedicated to monitoring the Jewish narrative on all fronts and will prepare counter-studies that will refute it.

12. The conference calls on the universities and schools in the United States of America, the European Union countries, among others, to revise the exclusivist Judaisation narrative of the history of Jerusalem and Palestine in many school and university books. 

13.  The conference absolutely and categorically rejects the support of the occupation government and its implementation of the plans of Jewish extremists for spatial or temporal division of the Blessed Al Aqsa Mosque. The conference calls upon His Majesty King Abdullah, the custodian of the holy sites in Jerusalem, to defend the Blessed Al Aqsa Mosque in all Arab, Islamic and international arenas, forums and organisations. 

14.  Reiterating the religious importance of the Blessed Al Aqsa Mosque and the holy sites, particularly among the young; and repositioning the cause of occupied Palestine as a prominent topic in educational curricula in the schools and universities of the Arab and Muslim worlds.

15.  Studying the suggestion to make a percentage of the proceeds of Hajj committees and trusts in the Muslim world a religious endowment (waqf) that goes towards the financial support of the Blessed Al Aqsa Mosque and the people who are steadfast within it.

16.  Holding the United States of America responsible for the continuing arrogance that Israel has displayed; and for the aggressions committed by Jewish extremists against the Blessed Al Aqsa Mosque and Muslim and Christian holy sites and religious antiquities, actions which could lead to a religious war. The United States uses its veto power at the UN Security Council whenever it is invited to veto vote on decision that requires Israel to implement resolutions of international legitimacy.

17.  Forming a “Palestine Committee” in every Arab and Muslim parliament to monitor violations against holy sites and religious antiquities and finding ways to resist them.

18.  The conference praises the following fatwa issued by the scholars from all over the Muslim world who participated in the Road to Jerusalem Conference:

First: The scholars participating in the Road to Jerusalem Conference see that there is no difficulty in religion (la haraj) for the following segments to visit the Blessed Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem:

1.      Palestinians wherever they may be, in or out of Palestine and regardless of their nationalities.

2.      Muslims with passports from countries outside the Muslim world.

Second: In all cases, the following conditions must be observed:

1.      That it does not lead to normalisation with the occupation which may cause harm to the Palestinian cause.

2.      That the visit supports and assists Palestinians and not the occupiers; and here we affirm that any transactions including buying, selling, dealings, accommodations and transportation undertaken must benefit the Palestinians and the Jerusalemites and none other than them. 

3.      That visitors enter with Palestinian or Jordanian tourist groups and stay clear of programmes run by the occupier.

4.      It is preferred that trips to Al Aqsa be within the routes of umra and Hajj trips as much as possible and in an effective and collective manner that achieves the significant religious benefit of this; and in a manner that supports the Palestinian economy and particularly, the economy of Jerusalem; and politically with the aim of protecting Al Aqsa and the religious antiquities. 

Amman, 29th Jumada Al Akhira, 1435 AH / 29th April, 2014 AD