Women guards hired at al-Aqsa Mosque for the first time in its history

Rasa – Shaykh Azzam al-Khatib, the director general of the Muslim Endowments (Awqaf) and al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs, has announced that his department has embarked on the process of hiring female guards at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque for the first time in the history of the mosque.

News ID: 1193

Date: 20 September 2014 - 19:30

RNA – Shaykh Azzam al-Khatib, the director general of the Muslim Endowments (Awqaf) and al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs, has announced that his department has embarked on the process of hiring female guards at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque for the first time in the history of the mosque. al-Aqsa Mosque is considered the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram (Sacred Mosque) in Makkah and Masjid an-Nabi (Prophet’s Mosque) in Madinah. Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad (S) was transported from the Sacred Mosque in Makkah to al-Aqsa during the Isra’ (Night Journey).

Shaykh al-Khatib said: “This is a step forward by the endowments department, due to the need for the presence of guards, especially in areas where there are a lot of women,” pointing out that this is “the first time in the history of the mosque” that female guards have been hired. “We are not talking about the guards at the gates of the mosque, but in the Dome of the Rock and in the libraries. This to due the presence of large groups of women participating in Quranic lessons,” he added.

He expressed his belief that “the presence of the female guards is for the best especially in areas where many women are present because women able to deal with each other in the prescribed Islamic manner, especially in this holy place.”

With the increasing pace of raids by the Zionist Occupation Forces and police on the holy sites of the Noble Sanctuary, Shaykh al-Khatib stated that a greater Islamic presence is necessary, especially in the mornings when classes are held after morning prayers. Also, the Israelis have placed restrictions on the entry of women into the mosques but due to a series of protests this past June which were organized by women to protest these actions as well as pressure from the Islamic Waqf, the Zionist police backed off.

According to al-Khatib, there are 170 guards present in the al-Aqsa Mosque, with most of them guarding its gates. However, when the Zionist police stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque, they clashed with Palestinian worshipers.

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