Al-Aqsa is a Legitimate Issue, Not a Human Heritage
News:
Al-Ahram Gate reported on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, the confirmation of Dr. Nazir Ayad, Mufti of Egypt and Head of the General Secretariat of the Houses and Bodies of Fatwa in the World, during his speech at the extraordinary session of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in Astana, that religious sites are an integral part of human heritage that must be preserved for future generations, pointing out that wars, ignorance, and extremism are the most prominent threats to it, and the Mufti criticized Jewish violations in Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank and considered them a flagrant violation of international law and UN agreements, questioning the absence of the role of international institutions. He explained that protecting religious sites requires strengthening dialogue between religions, consolidating the values of peace and tolerance, and confronting extremism while activating international laws and involving religious institutions and communities, and he pointed out that the Egyptian experience under the leadership of Sisi has presented an inspiring model in protecting heritage and preserving religious sites through national restoration initiatives and participation in international efforts. He concluded by emphasizing that this meeting is a platform to enhance global cooperation in order to protect holy sites, as it is a shared religious and human responsibility.
Comment:
When looking at the Mufti's words on the surface, one imagines that they are a gracious call to protect holy sites, but the truth is that they are completely consistent with Western civilization and completely separate from Islam and what it has obligated Muslims to do in their fateful issues. It starts from the Western value system established by the United Nations, and from the reference of international law and human rights, ignoring that Muslims have a complete independent legal reference, which is the revelation from the Quran and Sunnah, and what they have guided to.
Muslims do not start in addressing their issues from the resolutions of the United Nations or from international law, because they are made by the colonial West, which formulated them to perpetuate its domination over the world. As for us, we are governed by His saying, may He be exalted: ﴿So judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations﴾. Al-Shafi'i, may God have mercy on him, said: "It is not permissible to judge except by the Book of God, the Sunnah of His Messenger, or the consensus of the Ummah." This is a decisive principle that recourse must be to Sharia alone, not to the covenants of nations or the laws of the West.
When the official discourse focuses on the fact that the violations of the Jewish entity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and Islamic holy sites are a violation of international law or a violation of human rights, this proposal distorts the issue from its legitimate path. The issue of Palestine is not a human rights issue or a conflict between civilizations, but rather an occupied Islamic land that must be liberated by jihad, God Almighty said: ﴿And what is [the matter] with you that you do not fight in the cause of Allah and [for] the oppressed among men, women, and children﴾. Scholars have agreed on the obligation to repel the occupier. Ibn Qudamah said: "If the enemy enters a country of Muslim countries, jihad becomes an individual duty on the people of that country and on those who are close to them." This legal ruling cuts off the path to any circumvention intended to neutralize the nation from its duty, whether by marketing the language of "coexistence" or by summoning international institutions.
The Mufti's talk about "eternal human values" and "the shared heritage of humanity" reflects his immersion in Western culture, which sanctifies the human will and considers it a source of values. While the doctrine of Islam stipulates that the source of values is revelation alone, and that legislation is for God Almighty, not for humans: ﴿Legislation is not but for Allah. He has commanded that you worship not except Him﴾, therefore, any discourse that makes "world peace" or "international law" the umbrella to which recourse must be made, contradicts the origin of the doctrine.
Al-Aqsa Mosque and all other Islamic holy sites are not human religious sites, but rather mosques for God Almighty, which have a legal ruling that requires protecting them by jihad, not by UN appeals. God Almighty said: ﴿And who is more unjust than one who prevents the masjids of Allah from having His name mentioned in them and strives toward their destruction﴾. And the wills of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs in wars, foremost of which is the will of Abu Bakr, may God be pleased with him, confirmed the prohibition of demolishing churches and places of worship, but this was not based on human rights, but on a legal ruling in dealing with non-Muslims. But if an occupying enemy such as the Jewish entity attacks, then the legal duty is to take up arms and deter him, not to complain to the Security Council!
The most dangerous thing about this discourse is misleading the nation about its fateful issue. Instead of directing the discourse to the Muslim armies on the obligation to move to liberate Palestine, it changes its combat doctrine and its fateful issue and immersing people in the language of international law and UN covenants. Thus, the compass is diverted from the legal duty that God has imposed on the nation.
The Islamic nation is commanded to move on the basis of Sharia, and to work to establish the Caliphate state that unites its energies and liberates its holy sites. As for waiting for solutions from the Security Council or initiatives for coexistence and peace, they are nothing but illusions and diluting the nation's first and fateful issue.
Al-Nawawi said: "If the disbelievers enter a town of Muslims, it becomes obligatory on every responsible person among its people to fight them, and on those who are close to them to help them," and Al-Mawardi said: "Jihad is a collective duty except when the enemy descends on a country, then it is an individual duty," which confirms that talking about "ignorance and extremism" as a danger to heritage, without mentioning the occupation that desecrates Al-Aqsa Mosque, is a reversal of facts and a concealment of the legal duty. The legal position is that the issue of Palestine is a purely Islamic issue, and its ruling is jihad to liberate it from the Jews. It is not permissible in any way to link it to international law or to the covenants of the United Nations, because they are colonial tools that have brought nothing but woes to the nation. God Almighty said: ﴿Fight them until there is no [more] fitnah and [until] worship is [acknowledged to be] for Allah [alone]﴾. This is the legal way to liberate Palestine and protect holy sites: fighting the occupiers until their power is removed, not begging their colonial institutions.
Today, the nation needs honest scholars who remind it of its legal duty, not voices that adorn international law for it and justify its submission to the Western system. Hope is pinned on the sincere members of its people, especially in its armies, to move to support their religion and liberate their land, in compliance with the saying of the Messenger of God ﷺ: «The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim, he does not wrong him or surrender him».
The duty of Muslim scholars is to urge the nation and its armies to liberate Palestine and remove everything that stands between the armies and this duty of the systems of treason and shame that protect the Jewish entity and guarantee its survival until it has become its real Iron Dome.
﴿And [mention, O Muhammad], when Allah took a covenant from those who were given the Scripture, [saying], "You must make it clear to the people and not conceal it." But they threw it away behind their backs and exchanged it for a small price. And wretched is that which they purchased﴾
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir Radio
Saeed Fadl
Member of the Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir in the Wilayah of Egypt
