![Preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, in Jerusalem on December 17, 2023 [Saeed Qaq/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/AA-20231217-33207660-33207652-ALAQSA_MOSQUE_IMAM_SHEIKH_SABRI_RELEASED.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, yesterday said that “the call to prayer has echoed in the skies of Palestine since the time of the muezzin of the Messenger, peace be upon him, Bilal Bin Rabah, may God be pleased with him, and it will not stop. Those disturbed by it can leave.”
This came in response to the statements by the Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir calling for banning mosques from making the call to prayer. He issued orders to the occupation police’s leadership to “crack down on mosques calling to prayer on loudspeakers” in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The punitive measures include confiscating the loudspeakers used to raise the call to prayer in mosques, and in cases where the confiscation cannot be implemented, financial fines are to be imposed.
Sabri stressed that “the call to prayer is one of the rituals of Islam, is linked to prayers that are obligatory, and no one can prevent it. If the call to prayer is banned from the minarets, it will be raised from the roofs of houses.”
“The call to prayer has been raised in Palestine since the conquest of Jerusalem by Omar Bin Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, and it was raised by the muezzin of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, Bilal Bin Rabah,” he said.
“The call to prayer has echoed in Palestine since that day until today, and it will continue until the Day of Judgment, God willing,” he added.
Sabri noted that “preventing the call to prayer is an interference in religious affairs, and contradicts freedom of worship, as well as the rights guaranteed by international law.”
Ben-Gvir’s war on the call to prayer is not new. In late 2016, extremist Jewish representatives submitted a bill to ban the call to prayer in mosques in Jerusalem and the occupied territories. The bill was scheduled to be discussed in the Knesset, but the discussion was cancelled at the last minute.
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