Jerusalem Mufti says Temple Mount was never home to Jewish Temple

Jerusalem’s grand mufti, the Muslim cleric who is in charge of Jerusalem’s Islamic holy sites, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday said that the Temple Mount never held a Jewish Temple, Israel’s Channel 2 reported. He continued to say that the flashpoint site had been home to a mosque “since the creation of the world.”

 

The flashpoint compound, which is considered sacred to both Islam and Judaism, is located in the southeastern corner of the Old City in East Jerusalem. Muslims call it Al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) while Jews revere it as the Temple Mount which housed the First and Second Temples.

 

In an interview with Channel 2 Mufti Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussein said that the Temple Mount was a mosque “3,000 years ago, and 30,000 years ago” and has been “since the creation of the world.”

 

“This is the Al-Aqsa Mosque that Adam, peace be upon him, or during his time, the angels built,” said the mufti.

 

Hussein was appointed to the position of Grand mufti in 2006 by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.

 

He is known for adamant denial to Jewish claims that the site was home to the First and Second Temples, ignoring archaeological and textual evidence, coming from Muslim and non-Muslim sources alike.

 

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