Should Muslims Visit Al-Aqsa - Shaykh

Should Muslims Visit Al-Aqsa?

By Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi

Opening

So I want to begin by stating that this is a very sensitive topic, and I'm fully aware of its sensitivity.

Introduction: Two Dimensions of the Issue

And the issue of whether Muslims should visit Aqsa or not, there's two things to discuss. The first is a fiqhi or legal issue, and the second is the emotional issue. Now with regards to the first, the fiqhi issue, inshallah we can all discuss and I will discuss it.

With regards to the second, the emotional issue, I don't feel qualified to make any judgement, because that is a very subjective and a very personal position. It's not something you can argue with anybody if their emotions are in a particular inclination. They have the right to feel that way, and we really cannot say anything about this.

Understanding the Emotional Perspective

And I begin this because I know many of our brothers and sisters from that region are not pleased with the fact that some of us are going and visiting. And I myself have been very strongly rebuked by some of our Palestinian brothers and sisters, and others support it. And I do not wish to get involved in the emotional argument.

I can only pretend to understand, I can only say that I see where you're coming from. When somebody says to me that that is our land, we can't even go there, and what right do you have to go visit under occupation? Would you like it if somebody stole your house, and then people are going to see your house, and you cannot go see it? Somebody asked me this point blank, and I could not say anything in response, because this is an emotional issue, and it is an emotional argument. And you cannot argue with an emotional argument.

The person who feels this way, I want to be very clear, has every right to feel that way. And I have no right to diminish from that person's anger, and that person's frustration against me or against anybody who chooses to visit. Therefore, I do not even attempt to argue, because there is no argument.

Multiple Palestinian Perspectives

What I can argue is from the fiqh or legal issue, and then say from the emotional issue that my dear brother who feels this way, please understand that there are millions of other Palestinians who also live in that land, and who feel differently than you do. I as a non-Palestinian cannot get involved in the emotional issue. It's not my right, it's not my perspective to do that.

But to those people who feel very strongly against, at least acknowledge that amongst your own people who have the same attachment to the land, there are the opposite sentiment as well. That's all that I ask for the emotional. As for the fiqh issue, this is something that inshallah we can all discuss academically, we can argue, we can debate.

The Fiqhi Perspective: Two Scholarly Opinions

Understand my dear brothers and sisters that from a legal perspective, from a fiqh perspective, in our times, there are obviously, as you can expect, two opinions on the issue. There's hardly anything except that we hear there are two opinions on the issue. And there are many many ulama who have given fatawa on the issue of visiting Palestine.

One group of them say that it is legally speaking haram to visit. Forget the emotional, this is now legal. They say it is not allowed for Muslims to visit Palestine.

And another group says that it is allowed for Muslims to visit Palestine. Now what are the evidences of both sides?

The Scholarly Debate at AMJA

Very briefly, and again this is a very detailed discussion, just FYI by the way as well, I was at the American Muslim Jurist Association, AMJA, which is the largest group of ulama who come together annually in America. And in their last year's meeting, this issue was discussed.

And I don't want to tell you this, but it's the fact, shouting matches erupted amongst the ulama. Shouting matches, because one alim said it is allowed to visit, and another was very angry at this and stood up and thus began, in a gathering of knowledge which should not have taken place, it was a bit of an embarrassment. But the emotions were so much and understandably so.

Like literally these were all people, many of them PhDs, Azhar or Medina or what not, these were ulama, but I can only say I understand. It's not my right to say I understand, but I can only pretend to understand. That it touched such a raw nerve, that when one of the ulama said it is permitted to visit Aqsa with these conditions, and many agreed with him, in the gathering, somebody stood up and began shouting and screaming, and saying this is not allowed and this is helping Zionism and this and that. And it was a back and forth and the people had to be calmed down. This is in a gathering of ulama, what then do you think of people, who they are not supposed to have that ilmi background, still it's going to get even more emotional. Nonetheless, let me state that, let's try to keep emotions out of this and speak it from a legal perspective.

Arguments Against Visiting Al-Aqsa

Main Argument: Tacit Approval

The main issue that the fuqaha who say that it is haram to visit Al-Aqsa right now, they say Muslims visiting Al-Aqsa is a tacit approval of the occupation. This is the main argument that is given. In order for us to get to Al-Aqsa, even if our visa is not stamped, we are given a visa.

The issuing authority that gives us that visa, in the eyes of many people is an occupying authority. You understand what I'm saying here? What right do they have to give us a visa? The fact that we take the visa, even if it's not stamped in our passports, it is there, we have it. It's in our passports physically, even if it's not stamped.

This is, in Arabic, ikrar. It is a tacit approval that you have accepted status quo. You have acquiesced and agreed that the occupier has occupied and has now given you permission to visit.

Second Argument: False Perception

Then they say that you visiting as well will show the world that the perception they want to give is that we allow Muslims to pray there. The occupier wants to say this. But the reality is the majority of Muslims cannot pray there. And in fact the local Palestinian peoples themselves cannot pray there, except after meeting a long list of conditions, which is why the daily salawat are empty.

And sadly, at any given salah, there are probably just as many foreigners as there are local Palestinians. Can you imagine in any masjid in America, if the majority of people praying were not Americans, they were foreigners, something would be wrong. What is this? Is this an American masjid or what? In Palestine, in Masjid al-Aqsa, perhaps 50%, if not more or a little bit less, are foreigners.

Who Can Visit?

You go around, you have people from Malaysia, people from America, people from South Africa, people from England, from Canada. These are the Muslims coming and praying because they have the visas. Obviously, by the way, all of you should know this, the majority of Muslim countries do not allow their citizens to go and pray there.

Asla, they don't allow them. So if you're from Pakistan, if you're from any Arab country, Khalij or whatnot, aslan, you cannot go anyway. Your country is not gonna, there is no diplomatic relation.

So which Muslims can go? Small segments of the Muslim world, primarily from the Western world, which is like us. We are the Muslims, the American Muslims, the Canadian Muslims, the British Muslims, South African Muslims. Mauritius, we saw a group from Mauritius this year as well.

Where else do we see Muslims from? Portugal as well, Australia, we have Australia. So these are the types of Muslims that come. Now you do the math, what percentage of the ummah is that?

Third Argument: Economic Support

So the claim is, by you going there, it will become a Kodak moment for the occupying authorities. Look, we're free. Look, we allow people to come and pray. So you will be helping the occupiers in a spiritual sense, in a PR sense, is that clear? And then they say that you will be helping the occupier in a financial sense.

How so? Because you're gonna go there and do what? Spend money. And when you spend money, then the economy will be boosted. So these are the three main reasons that are given when they say that it is not allowed to visit Aqsa.

And there are many councils around the world and many famous ulama who have given this position. And they say that until Al-Aqsa is liberated, Muslims should not visit as principle. I respect that position from a legal perspective.

I'm not speaking about the emotional at all. From a legal perspective, it's a valid fatwa. With my utmost respect, I strongly vehemently disagree.

Arguments for Visiting Al-Aqsa

And I'm not the only one. Alhamdulillah, there are many ulama across the globe who have given the fatwa that it is allowed to visit with some conditions. And they have some very very strong evidences that clearly demonstrate that it is allowed.

First Evidence: Al-Aqsa's Intrinsic Holiness

The first evidence is that Al-Aqsa is not like any other land. It is intrinsically holy regardless of who controls it politically or not. You cannot make qiyas upon your house or my house that has been confiscated.

Because this is the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that has been made blessed regardless of who controls the keys to go in and out. This is a unique situation and scenario that Al-Aqsa remains blessed. And we all agree it remains blessed regardless of the political people or the entity in charge of Al-Aqsa. So it shall remain blessed. And if we as Muslims can get that barakah, and here we get to all the Quran and all the hadith about the praise of barakah. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala calls Al-Aqsa the Ardha Al-Muqaddas.

And Allah azza wa jalla says that this is

Like there are so many adjectives. We have blessed it, we have blessed around it.

It is the blessed land, it is the holy land. And our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم explicitly said that there are only three places you should visit and the third is Masjid Al-Aqsa. And he said this when Masjid Al-Aqsa was under Roman pagan control.

(Bukhari hadith 1189, Muslim hadith 1397)

It was under Roman control. And he said this at that point of time, it should be visited. It wasn't under Muslim control when the hadith was said.

So this is the first point. That Al-Aqsa is blessed regardless of who is in charge. And it is incorrect to make a qiyas or an analogy, if your house was stolen, then you're not allowed to go.

Would you like if your friend goes? It's not your house or my house, it is the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And regardless of who has political control, it shall remain blessed. And we will get barakah and blessings to go there, the first point.

Second Evidence: Precedent from the Seerah

The second point, from a fiqhi and seerah perspective, it is incorrect to say that visiting an occupied land is tacit support of the occupier. This is incorrect from the seerah. And we can prove this from multiple incidents.

The most significant is Hudaybiyyah and the next year Umratul Qadha. Hudaybiyyah and Umratul Qadha.

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah

Hudaybiyyah took place in which year? Seerah guys, everybody should know, come on. In this masjid, you guys studied the seerah. Which year? Sixth. Eighth is the conquest of Mecca.

Sixth year of hijrah, Hudaybiyyah took place. In the sixth year of the hijrah, who had the political control of Mecca? The Quraysh. What had the Quraysh done? What had they not done against the Muslims? The list of atrocities against the Muslims go on and on and on and on.

In fact, and here is a very very key point, Mecca, at that point in time, was a center of idolatry. The haram was the center of idolatry. We don't like to think about that.

How many idols were around the Ka'bah guys? 360. Now we don't like to think about that. We just wanna just gloss over and read.

But I really ask you now, to visualize in your mind, doing tawaf and seeing symbols of paganism everywhere.

You would have seen Al-Lat and Al-Uzza, at least their representatives, because the original Lat is elsewhere, but still they had their photocopy, they had their many icons as well.

Al-Uzza, Hubal was over there in front of the Ka'bah, was the main idol in front of the Ka'bah was Hubal. Al-Lat was of course in Ta'if and Al-Uzza was other, but the point is they had their 360 gods. And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did not say, oh, Makkah is under enemy control.

Oh, there are 360 false gods there. If we do tawaf, this is tacit approval, I would say, of those gods. At least in Al-Aqsa, in the Muslim part of it, Alhamdulillah, there's nothing but Islam.

There's no symbol of kufr over there, there's no cross, there's nothing there that is against our religion. Even if there were, by the way, it would be halal to go, based on this issue. Even if there were, why?

Because the Ka'bah is blessed regardless of what the Quraysh do or don't do.

The Ka'bah is sacred, independent of what the Meccans and the Quraysh do. If there's filth around the Ka'bah, the Ka'bah remains pure and tahir. The najas does not affect the tahara of the Ka'bah, and the sanctity and the blessedness of the Ka'bah.

So the same applies to Al-Aqsa as well. In fact, Al-Aqsa, there is no, as I said, icon of kufr within the Muslim complex. So the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam went to Makkah wanting to perform the Umrah.

Umratul Qadha

As you know, Hudaybiyyah took place, they told him to go back and come back the next year. He did come back the next year. And Umrah al-Qadha took place in the 7th year of the Hijrah.

And in the 7th year, the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam and the Muslims, 1,400 of them, they entered the haram, and they performed the tawaf and the sa'i, even as the idols were around, even as the Quraysh controlled Makkah. They had to negotiate a treaty. This was the equivalent of the visa.

This is exactly what a visa is. It's a license to enter. And the treaty of Hudaybiyyah was a visa. And the visa was valid from the next year. That's exactly what it is. So with my utmost respect to any alim who says that going to that land endorses that land.

No. The Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam did not endorse the legitimacy of the status quo of Makkah. But it is a practical reality.

You have to go to the haram to perform the tawaf and sa'i. What are you going to do if the Quraysh and the pagans are in charge? You have to go. Whoever is in charge does not affect the sanctity of the haram.

And if you have to negotiate your treaty or your visa to get in, so be it. You don't agree with the legitimacy. This is simply the formalities to enter the haram.

The Story of Thumama ibn Athal

And that's exactly what our Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam did. And in fact, in the seerah as well, we learn of another incident in which somebody can say, oh, but this is the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam. We say, firstly, the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam is a qudwa, is a role model for us in everything, unless an exception comes otherwise.

Secondly, he explicitly allowed and commanded another new convert to go perform when other Muslims were banned from doing so. Remember, the treaty prohibited the Muslims of Medina from coming except for that one interim in Umratul Qadha. Otherwise, they couldn't come.

Okay, look at the seerah. In the seventh year of the hijrah, one of the chieftains of Najd, and Najd was not under Muslim rule or Meccan rule, it was independent. Najd was independent.

One of the chieftains of the Najd

(Bukhari hadith 458, 462)

, he was captured in a raid. And he was a pagan, a mushrik, he did not believe in Islam. And he was an enemy of Allah and His Messenger at that time.

And I mentioned this story in a lot of detail in our seerah lectures, which of course all of you have memorized and taken good notes of. So, he was brought to the haram, not the haram, the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam masjid, he was brought to Medina, Thumama ibn Athal. And the story is very famous that the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam said, what do you think, O Thumama? What do you think we should do?

So, Thumama said that, Ya Muhammad, of course he's not a Muslim, that if you free, then you're going to free somebody who knows the meaning of generosity. And if you want money, then ask as you please and I will give you. And if you kill, then you kill somebody whose blood is heavy. I mean, he spoke like a leader. Spoke like a leader. And he was the leader of the tribe of the Najd. He was a very famous, very powerful leader. If you forgive, you forgive somebody who's going to be generous back to you. If you want money, I will give you what you want. And if you want to kill me, well, you go ahead and kill me.

But you're going to kill somebody whose blood is very heavy.

You're going to kill somebody, you're going to get into a lot of political issues. So, the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam said, keep him in the masjid for three days.

So, he was tied to the masjid, fed, taken care of. But he was basically, there was no prison. So, the masjid became a prison for him.

For three days, he observed the Muslims. I'm going into my seerah lecture here, but very briefly. For three days, he observed the Muslims.

And the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam, every day would ask the same question. Every day he would ask the same question. After Fajr or Dhuhr, he would call him, say, what do you think? And the same three.

Ya Muhammad, if you do this, this. If you do this, this. If you do this, this.

Then he put him back in. So, tie him to the, you know, things will be tied up gently, not any, there's no torture. He just kept from fleeing.

Then on the third day, the same thing he said. So, the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam said, let him go. Khalas, he's not gonna convert.

Subhanallah. He did not force him to convert. He did not threaten him. He did not ask for a ransom. He said, khalas, let him go. Right then and there, Thumama went, performed ghusl.

He had already learned how to do all of this because he's in the masjid three days. And he came back, and in front of everybody he said

from Muhammad, this which is to rasoolallah. وَاللَّهِ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنْ كُنْتَ أَبْغَضَ النَّاسِ you used to be the most despised person to me.

But now you are the most beloved person to me. And he goes on, the beautiful story I mentioned in the seerah. Then he said, ya rasoolallah, you caught me, and I was intending to do the umrah.

He has not entered ihram yet. Okay, ihram is gonna take place where? Habiyar Ali Miqat, right? Dhul Hulaifa. He's not in ihram right now.

He could have gone back. He said, ya rasoolallah, your people caught me, and I was intending to do umrah. Okay, what season is this? The boycott season.

Response to the Economic and PR Arguments

As for the third point, which is that, you going there will help the occupiers economically or PR-wise or whatnot. We say, and especially I say, to anybody who says this, and I say this without trying to be mean or nasty, you speak on ignorance and without knowledge. You have not visited like all of us have visited. You have not spoken to the people. Don't bring in emotions. Bring in hard and cold facts.

Testimony from Those Who Have Visited

And I have gone, brother Abdi and others have gone multiple times, speak to those that are going regularly. I swear to you, not a single Palestinian that we have met in those lands, and we have met hundreds and thousands, except that they were happy and pleased to see us. The Palestinians who don't want us to go, are those who themselves cannot go, and I understand.

That's all I can say. I have nothing more to say to them. I understand.

You have been exiled, and it's painful for you. I have no right to say anything to you. You have every right to feel that anger and rage, and some of it is directed towards me, because I get to go to the land that is yours, and you're not allowed to go.

I can only say that I understand. That's all I can do. It's not an argument.

But don't say that this is the unanimous position of all Palestinian people. On the contrary, those Palestinians that are under the occupied lands, in the occupied lands, those Palestinians that are living there, go speak to them. I swear to you, the first year that I went, I had not gone for many years, because I felt maybe it's gonna be difficult for me to go see the negatives, what not.

Palestinian Support for Visiting Muslims

The first year that I went, the Palestinians, when they hugged us, they cried, they gave us this, they said, and we had a guide with us. This year he was not in our group, but we had a guide. He lived in New York for 15 years or so.

He came back fluent English and what not, and he recorded a video, and I put it on my Facebook. He recorded a video, and he said, all Muslims of America, if you're going to abandon us, who's gonna then come and support us in this world? If you're not gonna come, and you have American citizenship, then who else is gonna come? If you're not gonna stay at our hotels, if you're not gonna go to our tourist agencies, pause here, realize, that land, it is worse in its sectarianism than the 1960s America was. Because sectarianism there is not based on skin color, it's based on religion.

And everything is depending on your religion. If you're Muslim, if you're this, if you're that, everything, where you stay, where you eat, who you associate with, all of it is based on your religion. That's why when you enter the Aqsa complex, they will look at you and make an assessment.

If you're brown skin bearded, you can go. If you don't look Arabesque or Islamesque or whatever, they will stop you, and they will ask you, are you Muslim? And they will quiz you. We had converts, they were quizzed.

If you're Muslim, recite Surah Fatiha. These are the Israeli guards. Recite Surah Fatiha, if you're Muslim or not.

And in one case, I know one person, he's like, recite a Surah from the Quran. So the guy recited Ikhlas. The Israeli guard, the idea said, everybody knows Ikhlas, recite another Surah.

So he recited Fatiha. He said, okay, you can go Fatiha, it's okay. What are you gonna do? Point is that everything is based on your religion there.

Economic Support for Palestinians

So, our Palestinian brothers and sisters who own establishments, restaurants, travel agencies, hotels, they do not get business from the majority of clientele from the people who visit. You understand what I mean here, okay? They do not get business. So the claim that we going there supports the occupiers, I'm sorry you're speaking out of ignorance.

You don't know the reality. And this is a theoretical issue that you feel you have not been there to see. We make it a point, and I have met dozens of groups from England, Canada, South Africa, Mauritius, they all come and they make it a point.

Everyone, I don't know of a single group of the Muslims, other than the ones, the MLA type of folks, whatever. Not the real people, the Muslims that go. By this I mean the practicing people that go.

I don't know of a single group of Muslims that goes that stays at the hotels of people other than the Palestinians. Every Muslim group that goes makes it a point. Now by the way, this means we have to sacrifice.

Because the best hotels are not owned by the Palestinians. You understand? The best companies are not owned by the Palestinians. Our hotel is a two and a half star hotel.

If even that. And I tell the people, look in Mecca we're in the five stars, in Medina we're in the five stars. Look, we are not going to stay in the five stars.

Because do you know what it means to stay in the five stars of Jerusalem? Do you know what it means? This would mean supporting for no reason. And there's no reason to do that. So, every Muslim group that goes, without exception, they make it a point that they're going to employ Palestinian travel agencies, people that need the economic boost that we can bring them.

The PR Argument Refuted

And as well, the PR that they're talking about, quite the contrary. This perception that we will benefit the PR of the occupiers, nothing could be further from the truth. Us abandoning Al-Aqsa is beneficial for the PR.

Why? We were told this by the locals. Ask anybody who went with our group the previous years as well. The local Palestinians said that one of the things that is now being said is that Muslims don't care about Al-Aqsa.

Because it's empty. Because it's abandoned. So many Muslims can come but they're not coming.

And you know that that piece of land is the most highly contested piece of land in human history. It is the most prime religious real estate in the world. The holiest religious sites of Christianity and Judaism and Islam are within stone's throw of each other.

So, if you go to the Jewish side, packed. Packed. You go to the Christian side, packed.

You go to the Muslim side, dead empty. When I said dead empty, I mean dead empty. Ask anybody here.

The Empty State of Al-Aqsa

The five daily salawat, Masjid Al-Aqsa, is a massive complex. Massive complex. It's not just one masjid. Within it are small masajids, at least 20 or 30. The largest of them is Masjid Al-Qibali and Masjid, the Dome of the Rock. So, Masjid Al-Aqsa, you should all know, is a big complex.

It's a large area. It's not just one mosque. It's a large area.

And perhaps up to half a million people can pray easily in the complex. The complex, not the masjid itself. So, don't get confused here.

The complex is a flat area of land. And within it, you have the Dome of the Rock, and you have the Masjid Al-Qibali, and you have other small masajids. It's a massive area of land.

The whole area is Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, technically. That whole area is Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa. And that area, if everybody were to be praying there as people used to once upon a time, you could get maybe half a million people.

It's like the Haram of Mecca, that big. Little bit smaller than that. But, in that area, you walk in, and I have a video on my Facebook, look it up from last week.

And I prayed Fajr, and I walked out, and it was absolutely dead empty. Three saf. We get three saf at MIC here in Memphis.

Do you think Masjid Al-Aqsa deserves three safoof for a fard salah? We had just come from Mecca and Medina, and our group, we do the three city tour. And Mecca and Medina were so packed, that if you leave a few minutes before the adhan, even then you will pray outside in the sahal, in the outside complex. You wouldn't be able to get inside.

Now, we're a bit irritated of so crowd, but at the same time, alhamdulillah, it's a sign of Islam that Mecca and Medina is packed. Alhamdulillah, Muslims from around the world are praying there. Now, the contrast, straight from that packed to capacity, then you go, and you go to the third holiest, and it is absolutely empty.

What does that show? So, the position that I respectfully follow from a fiqh perspective, is that it is fard kifaya for the Muslims of the west to visit Al-Aqsa. Fard kifaya. We have to demonstrate to the occupied authorities, that this is our land.

It is our masjid. It is our symbol. And it doesn't matter who controls it.

We are going to come and pray there. And we have to demonstrate that this place will not be abandoned. And Allah has blessed us, or tested us, with a nationality that allows us to do that.

For those nationalities that don't, we understand. You have that treaty that cannot do it, we understand. Nothing to do.

Conclusion on the Fiqhi Issue

So, from a fiqh perspective, any evidence that is raised to say that it is haram, with my utmost respect, is extremely weak. And I don't say this lightly. Wallahi, it is very weak from a fiqh perspective.

The emotional perspective I fully understand, and I'm quiet about. That's not I can debate. That's a valid perspective.

And I can only say to my Palestinian brothers who feel this way, that you need to get angry at the other Palestinians, not at me. I'm not gonna get involved between this issue. I understand to the best of my ability, but it's not my position to take a side for or against in this issue.

Stories of Conversion at Al-Aqsa

One final point, that I'll open the floor for some question and discussion. And inshallah, in my next khutbah, I will mention this in more detail, because it's some amazing stories. This was the first time, in my three-time visits, that I actually met Israeli converts to Islam.

And this was the most bizarre set of converts I have ever met in my life. And I have met Alhamdulillah many. I just could not believe their stories.

And I will share with you in more detail inshallah, in the next khutbah that I give at MRC. I will share with you some of them, because they are very, very emotional stories. Truly mind-boggling.

The Discovery Process

How groups of people living on the other side, and never interacting with Muslims, every one of these converts discovered Islam on his or her own. Because you don't give da'wah in that land. There's no pamphlets being distributed, that people are gonna come and do.

Every one of them discovered Islam on his or her own. And they had to go out of their way to find a Muslim. Many of them had to leave their physical places, their parents or their siblings or what not. Many of them went incognito. They had to cut off everything. And it's just a very interesting demographics.

And I was told that perhaps up to a thousand have actually converted. But the majority of them are underground. They're anonymous.

Because they are stuck between two sides. Both of whom don't want them. That was the most painful to me.

We understand why the original side does not want them. And as for the other side, they're always viewed as potential spies. And this was the issue that they faced.

That this was a very difficult issue. That conversion in that land is not just religion. You are changing sides. Like one of them said to me, when you convert, your family and friends think you have chosen the enemy over them. It's not just a different religion and different rituals and different qiblah. When you convert, you are a traitor.

So you're cut off from that. Then the other Muslim side is like, whoa, hold on a sec. We don't know what to make of you.

Are you this? Are you that? And so it is something that, you know, subhanAllah, it's something that's very, very painful.

Sister Aisha's Story

I have to mention, subhanAllah, I'm just getting a text message. One of the converts is actually listening online to me right now, live.

I will mention her story inshaAllah ta'ala later on. She just messaged me now. And I gave her the name Aisha.

Her name was something else. I cannot mention her name because it would not be, she did not want to be mentioned. She just texted me now that she's going to be watching.

I'll mention her story briefly inshaAllah. So this is a sister. She had emailed my account, my public account.

I don't check messages that often, but I just checked this one. And she had mentioned that she's an Israeli Jew interested in Islam. Now when somebody emails you like that, I don't answer most of my emails, you know what I mean? So I'm just telling you.

But when somebody emails you like that, you can't not go back and forth. So back and forth, back and forth. And so subhanAllah, it was many months ago.

I said, okay, I'm coming in January. Let's meet up and hear your story directly. She's from Western land.

Her Journey to Islam

She left that Western land to perform what is called Aliyah, which is Hijrah. Okay, so the Jews perform Aliyah, which is Hijrah. They leave the Western land and they go to settle religiously in Israel as an act of God.

And she stayed there for 15 years or so, until she became disillusioned with the faith of Judaism. And she became agnostic. But there's an emptiness in her life, religiously.

So she begins reading everything, Buddhism, Christianity. Obviously the last on the list is going to be what? As always, the last on the list, okay. And then she starts reading the Qur'an.

And she said that, I was taught that the Qur'an is a book of violence and hatred. I was taught that the Qur'an tells people to kill the Jews. And that was the only perspective that we had.

And when I read it, I began to see its peace. And I really started falling in love with the Qur'an. Then she logged online, started listening to lectures, and then she came across yours truly online.

Then she emailed me, that I listened to your lectures, mashallah, at this very place, mashallah. Listened to your lectures. And subhanallah, you know what lecture moved her the most, subhanallah? Khadija radiallahu anha.

Listening to the story of Khadija. Okay, so alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. She converted in Masjid al-Aqsa.

I gave the shahada to her in Masjid al-Aqsa, in front of the group you were there. We were all there at that time. So she actually converted and said the shahada in Masjid al-Aqsa.

And we gave her a ceremony, and we cannot mention her name or pictures or anything, because obviously it is something that, it would cause great difficulty for people to find out, or else it would be problematic. Now in her case, it might not be physically problematic, it could be emotionally. But in other converts that I met the next day, so I met with her and then I met with another group of converts as well.

Safe Houses for Converts

Subhanallah, some of them, they are worried for their safety. And they are living in, believe it or not, I mean wallahi, this is as if I went back to the time of the seerah. They're living in like Dar al-Arqam type of houses.

There are Palestinians there, they have with great danger to themselves, volunteered their houses to be safe houses. I mean wallahi, I literally felt as if I'm in the time of the seerah, the process now hearing their stories.

There are houses that are now taking in these Jewish converts. And there's no monetary gain, there's nothing, what are you gonna spy on these Bedouin Muslims or these, there's nothing, there's no spying going on here. These aren't like political entity, these are very low level. You know, you find a Muslim family, you live with them.

And we met some of these people and subhanallah, it was a very, for me it was some of the most amazing stories I have heard of conversion in my life. And I'll mention some of them inshallah in the next khutbah that I'll give, which is a little bit about this topic.

The Importance of Witnessing

So for me this is yet another reason as well, why it's so important for us as Muslims to go to Masjid al-Aqsa, and to see the reality of how our Palestinian brothers and sisters, and then also the other side as well, because the one who sees is not like the one who reads or hears.

The one who experiences is not like the one who just hears about it from second hand sources. So going there and seeing first hand, it makes all of us feel a connection, and we feel the importance, our iman goes higher, we see what is going on in that land, and then we become passionate advocates. We become advocates based on knowledge.

We come back and we can speak, I saw with my own eyes. I witnessed the disparity between this and that. I saw the oppression in this.

So it comes a whole different level of the one who goes there. And how many of my Christian brethren, how many of my Christian friends, they went there and they came back completely converted on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 180 degrees.

Some of the most passionate Christian advocates for the Palestinians, including the famous website www.ifamericansknew, I keep on telling you to log it out. She is a Christian lady, religious Christian, and she went there and then she converted over not to Islam, but over the Palestinian-Israeli issue. Once you see it with your own eyes.

Final Thoughts

So bottom line, Fiqh-wise there is no strong argument to be made. With my utmost respect to the other side, it's more emotional. As for the emotional argument, I shrug my shoulders and I say, May Allah forgive us for irritating those brothers, but that's not our intention.

Because it is, Wallahi, it is understandable. That's not our intention that they feel a type of betrayal. That's what they feel.

They feel a type of betrayal. That how come you guys are going and we cannot go. And we have to, those of us who decide to go, we have to accept that anger.

It's a legitimate anger. And we say, May Allah make it such that all of us can go. Insha'Allah ta'ala when situation changes.

Questions and Answers Section

With that, any questions or any comments or what not? Insha'Allah. Bismillah. Yes, go ahead.

Question About Legal Prohibitions

So the question is, do some of the legal verdicts that apply in Mecca and Medina apply in Quds? No. Quds, Masjidul Aqsa, is not a Haram. It is incorrect.

You know it's common to hear the word, Thalithul Harameen. Thalithul Harameen, the third of the two Harams, is an oxymoron. Because how many Harams are there? Harameen.

Two. Aqsa is not a Haram. Aqsa is Al-Ardul Muqaddas.

Aqsa is a blessed land. It is a holy land. It is not a Haram.

Therefore, the legal prohibitions that apply to Mecca and Medina, do not apply in Al-Aqsa. Okay. Other questions, issues, concerns, comments?

Food and Cultural Experiences

Yes, we ate Kunafa from, what is it, Ja'fa, Switzerland? Halwiyat Ja'far. Halwiyat Ja'far, yes. We ate Kunafa from Halwiyat Ja'far directly. Masha'Allah, Tabarak Allah.

And we had Shawarma as well from the other place. So yes, we went. Obviously, that's one of the things you go and you do.

All of the Palestinians. So, you know, Aqsa is divided into quarters. You have the Jewish quarter, the Muslim quarter, the Armenian quarter, the Christian quarter.

You have all these quarters there. And each of them is basically, completely, the ambiance is completely. So when you're in the Muslim quarter, you're in the Muslim quarter.

All Muslims, all Muslim shops. So obviously, when you're there, Masha'Allah, Tabarak Allah, the food, the people, everything, it's a very beautiful experience. Alhamdulillah.

Movement Restrictions

Yes, we definitely had Kunafa. Are you restricted to different areas or not? So the response is, it depends on the guards. When you as a Muslim want to go to the Jewish side, you will be stopped again.

You will be asked your identity, your visa, your passport. You will be interrogated. You will be patted down, go through the machine.

And seeing you as a Muslim, they will give you the special treatment. Then it's up to them, should they allow you or not. We had in our group, a sister who wore the niqab.

And she was a convert, white. Well, no, she wasn't a convert, she was Caucasian. And she looked Caucasian from her eyes and her passport, name, everything there.

And she was a niqabi. And she wanted to go to the Wailing Wall. And they stopped her, interrogated her, gave her the quiz and whatnot, kept her for, I don't know, 20 minutes or so.

And then in the end, they said, sorry, no. So she was not allowed to go. And the excuse they gave to her was, we cannot guarantee your safety.

There are some crazy people over there. This is what the Israeli guard said to her. We cannot guarantee your safety.

We have some religious fanatics there. I have been to the Wailing Wall. I confess, I know a lot of people will find that irritating.

This year I did not go. But I have been just to see what was going on there. And they gave me what's over. They asked you questions and whatnot. But in the end, it's up to them. They have the right to prevent you.

And they have the right to let you through. There were people who stared at me very harshly, intently. So when you get to the Wailing Wall, there are two zones.

There is the public zone that you can see the Wailing Wall from like 30-40 feet. That's one safety. You have to go through the security and whatnot.

Then to get to the actual wall, there is yet a much more intense security. And that's where the guards are standing completely lined up. To get to the outer rim, there is just four or five guards and a security post and interrogation.

So you stand in line, like 20 minutes line. And they interview you one by one. If you look like whatever, they let you go.

If you look like me or you, they'll stop you. So it's very legal there to do a judgment call. It's completely normal.

Airport Experiences

See, it's very different in America. If they did that, you're like, hey, why are you doing that to me? No. In that land, it is the norm.

If you look a certain way, you're gonna be treated differently. And if you look a different way, you're treated differently. So depending exactly on how you look, you will be assessed immediately on your looks.

If you look Arabic or Muslim or whatnot, khalas, you're gonna get pulled aside right then and there. Even in the Tel Aviv airport, we forgot to mention some of us that our group, essentially one third of it, even though we walked up to the windows all separately because there's many windows in the customs, right?

One third of our group pulled aside and taken to the special room for around 35 minutes. Okay, 35 minutes.

Abdi was there, right? MashaAllah, me and Abdi were always together. MashaAllah, okay. He went through, mashaAllah.

MashaAllah, elderly, khalas. MashaAllah. So we got for 35 minutes stopped.

But we were like, when they kept on sending people, the guards didn't know there was an 8o group coming. They kept on sending all the Muslims in, right? So, mashaAllah, 35 people in a small room, all of us from Dar Es Salaam group, from my group, all of us. So the guards looked at us, they know we're all one group together.

Palestinian Participants' Treatment

Then they only stopped the Palestinians. SubhanAllah. We had two sisters, both of them early 20s.

Both of them like third generation. You know what I mean? They haven't been ever. And I don't know how, but they figured out they're Palestinian.

And those two sisters, five and a half hours. Your names, every one of your grandparents, every one of your eight great-grandparents, they have to know the names of this by the way. They quiz you on everything.

Your qabilah, your tribe, where you were born, your grandfather born, this and that. Everything. They give you the what's over.

And we don't know whether they're gonna make it, they're not gonna make it. After five and a half hours, subhanAllah, they were allowed to go. But we were genuinely worried because that's really the one group that they are the most antagonistic towards, are obviously people from Palestine.

Harassment and Interrogation

Yeah, they give you excuses and whatnot. I mean, they ask sometimes the most stupid questions. Last time we went, I mean, one of the saddest things, subhanAllah, it's funny but it's sad.

Last year when we went, we had a Canadian convert. So he was the one Caucasian in the whole group.

This is last year's group, I had a smaller group.

This year I had 80, last year I had, was it 40 or so. So there was one, you know, complete blonde Caucasian with us and he's like with our group. And so the agents pulled him to the rooms, go, why are you with these guys? So he said, I'm a Muslim.

Like, why, your name is Christopher whatever. He goes, yeah, I converted to Islam. So this 19 year old girl, the idea is like, because you know over there, you have to go through the two years training.

Every single citizen has to go through two years of military training. So the people that are doing it are basically 19, 20, 21, that age group. So this girl is like interviewing him.

It's like, why did you convert to Islam? Like she's demanding to know why you converted to Islam. So our brother says, because I found peace in Islam. You know what the lady said to her? Why couldn't you find peace in Buddhism? Like this is the interrogation officer.

Why do you have to find peace in Islam? Couldn't you find it in Buddhism? So this is what you have to like, how do you answer that? Like, okay, I made the choice, you know. Another of our brothers last year, he was wearing a thobe when he went through this customs and he's American passport. He was pulled aside.

It's like, why are you wearing a thobe? Because it's comfortable. Yeah, but why a thobe? Because I want to wear a thobe. You were from New York, right? Do you wear a thobe in New York? No, not all the time.

Do you wear a thobe when you go to sleep? No, so why are you wearing it now? It's like, it's just harassment. That's all it is, you know. They just want to irritate you.

And if you lose your temper, khalas, it's gonna send you back. So we tell our group and every group. So it's like, look, you just have to keep your cool.

Just stay calm. And this is just a fraction of what happens to the actual people. This is what a fraction.

Witnessing Injustice

And subhanAllah, I have to say, we saw with our own eyes, a very sad case in front of us when one day we're walking back from dinner in Al-Aqsa. And we heard the screaming of a Palestinian lady, elderly lady, maybe 50, 60 years old. And she was surrounded by guards.

And she kept on saying, why are you harassing me? What are you doing? And, I mean, astaghfirullah, but they were holding on to her, carrying her, whatnot. And she's screaming out. One of our brothers wanted to intervene.

And I said, bro, if you go, this isn't America. If you walk towards those guards with submachine guns, this is not America. And I reminded him of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and Ammar ibn Yasir and Yasir and Sumayyah.

I said, we can't do anything here. The young brother with us, young meaning in college, he's boiling. How can I not help? I was like, what are you gonna do? You can walk there and khalas, we're not gonna come back with you.

End of story. Because they're surrounded and she was taken. Now later on the people said that she said something against the guards in her anger.

And the guards then started surrounding her. And that shouting match went higher and higher until finally she gets arrested and thrown away. So we see this with our own eyes.

And yes, it's very painful, very painful. And I can understand those that say, how can you see that and go there? And that's a valid point. It's a valid point.

But us not going there will not help the Palestinian lady as well. Us going there might help her relative that's running the shop, might help the Palestinians to see the Muslims come. Us boycotting it is not gonna help her from getting arrested.

It's all that I can say. It's a very difficult situation. We're trying to make the lesser of two evils.

And Allah knows best. Any final points? Anything from the sisters, by the way? Because the sisters always make sure they have their questions. Anything from the sisters? Going once, going twice.

Recognition of Group Leader

Memphian sisters don't really have... One final point. I want Ammar to stand up for a second. He should have been here.

Ammar was our leader. He helped us all along through our whole of the trip. Come on, Ammar, stand up. Alhamdulillah. MashaAllah. He really was a very, very big help.

Alhamdulillah. He went as a group leader this year. He was in charge of the bus.

Yes. Alhamdulillah. He made sure we were in the bus.

Alhamdulillah. Eventually, we hope one day he'll give the khatras as well. That's the goal, inshallah. Checking the list off is good, but eventually he needs to... He did a great job.

Safety Concerns for Westerners

In our groups, no. It has not happened. In other groups, yes, I know it has happened. Yeah, yeah. Any Westerner who goes, the worst they can do to you is keep you in the airport for 5-10 hours and send you back.

You're not gonna go to jail because you tried to enter Israel on a Western passport. That's not a crime.

They cannot arrest you for anything unless you're a Palestinian who has a track record back in the 60s or 70s.

That's not our business. You know what I'm saying? That's a separate group of people. But any Westerner who goes and wants to visit Israel, the land of Israel, the Palestine, it's up to them.

If they deny them, the max they can do. And I've had plenty of friends who were denied. And Allah knows best, perhaps maybe one year, may Allah protect me, I'll also be denied.

Group Travel Benefits

But that's just the reality. They'll literally judge you. And based on that interview, they'll make a decision right then and there.

Now, one thing we have found is that generally there's safety in numbers. So when you tell the guard, we are going in a group. And that's what we did every year.

We have this whole group. So they understand, okay, this is a group coming here. So it kind of makes it a little bit easier for them to understand.

Whereas if you're all by yourself, and especially if you're single or young, by single I don't mean not married, I mean coming singly, right? One person, generally speaking, who do they put aside in the room?

It's people that are single or young. Generally, elderly or with families and children will let go, generally speaking. So they want to just interrogate, hassle, inconvenience you, and just see your response.

Travel Route Comparisons

And this was the first time we went through the airport of Tel Aviv. Last year we have gone through the King Hussein Bridge out of Jordan. And there are pros and cons in each one, but I think overall landing in the airport was easier simply because the King Hussein Bridge, the dynamics of it are very different.

Those of you that have gone from the King Hussein Bridge, you have to pass three borders, then the facilities are much worse, the interrogation is much more negative. If you land in Tel Aviv, it's like JFK. It's literally like JFK, like an airport.

So they can't be that mean to you in public. Whereas in King Hussein Bridge, all Muslims and the Israeli guards. So it's a very different dynamics.

Whereas in Tel Aviv airport, you're the only Muslim and there's 50 non-Muslims. They can't be that rude to you publicly. Like it's a protocol that has to be followed.

And so we found, my experience is that landing at the airport seems to make it easier to get the group through. Less waiting time and less hassle. Even the interrogation was softer at the airport.

But this is all anecdotal. You never know one year they can flip it around, make it worse. In any case, I don't want to delay Isha too much.

Visiting Hours for Non-Muslims

Any final thing before we conclude? Aqsa complex, there's one hour. Is it 7.30 to 8.30? One hour, Israelis and non-Muslims can enter. And they're under guard.

So they come and there's protected by guards. You can see them, they don't interact with you. So there's one hour or two hours where they come in and they go around the complex but they're with the guards.

So they go in and out and they come out. Otherwise, no non-Muslim can enter the complex. Which is why the guards will ask you if they suspect, are you Muslim or not? And the guards are Israelis.

Security Structure

So there's two sets of guards. There's Israeli guards outside, Palestinian guards inside. So there's two sets of guards.

So when you walk into the complex, firstly the Palestinians, the Palestinians by the way don't have any weapons. The Israelis have the weapons. So the Israelis are going to assess you.

They're worried about, especially a Jewish fundamentalist doing something crazy. So they want to make sure that no person comes for their PR. And then the Palestinian is obviously worried about the exact same thing from a different perspective.

So the Palestinian is simply going to say As-salamu alaykum. You say wa alaykum as-salam. Automatically he'll know.

Unless there's something very off. So there's two sets of guards. It's the outer one that has the machines and the equipment if need be.

The Palestinians don't have guns. The Palestinians do not have guns. They're just sitting there in the booth.

They don't have any weapons with them. Okay. InshaAllah with that we conclude.

Closing Prayer

We pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blesses each and every one of us to do deeds that are closest to Him. We pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accepts our good deeds and forgives our evil deeds. We pray that Allah azza wa jalla blesses us to see the truth as truth and to act upon it and to see falsehood as falsehood and to abstain from it.

Wa jazakum Allah khairun. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.