By Hany Ramadan – Doha
Muslims from around the world are coming together in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Sunday, October 12, to save Israel-occupied Al-Quds (Jerusalem), home to Islam’s third holiest shrine.
"Al-Quds is actually facing a real threat of judaization and obliteration of its Islamic identity," Faisal Mawlawi, leader of Lebanon’s Islamic Group, and co-founder of Al-Quds International Institution (QII), told IslamOnline.net.
"All Palestinian factions, especially Fatah and Hamas, have to do their utmost to unite the Palestinians, as well as the whole Arabs and Muslims for the Al-Quds cause."
The two-day QII conference brings together more than 300 Muslim dignitaries from 47 countries.
Leading among notables attending are Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, president of the International Union for Islamic Scholars, Iranian presidential adviser Ali Akbar Velayati and former Al-Quds Bishop Attallah Hanna.
"There is a real danger threatening the Al-Aqsa Mosque as well as the holy city of Al-Quds," said Yoonis Allie, South Africa’s executive member of the QII.
"Muslims all over the world must work together to save their sanctities in Palestine."
The AII is a non-profit organization established in Lebanon in 2001 with a permanent headquarters in Al-Quds.
The AII’s board of trustees features a cohort of Arab and Muslim figures, who seek to keep Al-Quds cause alive and pass it on from one generation to another.
Muslim leaders warned that the holy city is falling victim to a systematic Israeli judaization policy.
"Peoples of South East Asia and Indian sub-continent are very concerned about the dangers Al-Aqsa Mosque is facing now," said Abdul-Ghafar Aziz, deputy leader of Pakistan’s Islamic group Jamaat-e-Isalm.
Abdul-Rasheed Al-Turaby, the head of Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir, and board member of the QII, also sounded the alarm.
"Backed by the Americans, Israel wants to eliminate the Islamic existence in Al-Quds and the whole Palestinian state," he said.
"Al-Aqsa Mosque is facing a real collapse threat."
Israel captured Al-Quds in the 1967 six-day war and later annexed the city, in a move not recognized by the international community.
The city is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Muslims’ first Qiblah [direction Muslims take during prayers] and the third holiest shrine after Al Ka’bah in Makkah and Prophet Muhammad’s Mosque in Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
Its significance has been reinforced by the incident of Al Isra’a and Al Mi’raj — the night journey from Makkah to Al-Quds and the ascent to the Heavens by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
Al-Quds is also home to some of the holiest Christian worship places, including the Jerusalem Church and the Greek Orthodox Church.
Israel has been working hard over the past years to Judaize the holy city and change its Islamic identity.
It has been adopting a series of oppressive measures to force the Palestinians out, including systematic demolition of their homes.
"The cause of Muslims’ third holiest sanctity of Al-Aqsa is in the heart of the Indonesian people that believe it’s facing a devastating threat by the Israeli occupation," said Hidayat Nur Wahid, Indonesia’s Chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly (the higher parliament chamber).
(Originally published in IslamOnline.net)
