The preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, said that the call to prayer has been resounding in the skies of Palestine since the time of the muezzin of the Messenger, may the best prayers and peace be upon him; our master Bilal bin Rabah, may God be pleased with him, and it will not stop, and whoever is disturbed can leave.

Sheikh Akram Sabri's statement came in response to the statements of extremist Minister Ben Gvir calling for preventing the call to prayer from being broadcast in Palestinian mosques.

The extremist Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, issued orders to the occupation police leadership to tighten measures against the use of call to prayer loudspeakers in mosques inside the occupied territories.

Punitive measures and restrictions include confiscating loudspeakers used to broadcast the call to prayer in mosques, and in cases where confiscation cannot be implemented, financial fines are imposed as a punitive measure.

Sabry stressed that the call to prayer is one of the rituals of Islam, and is linked to prayers that are indispensable, and no one can prevent it, and if it is prevented from the minarets, it will be raised from the roofs of houses.

He pointed out that the call to prayer was 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, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, Bilal bin Rabah, so Bilal’s call to prayer resounded in the corners of Al-Aqsa and rose to the sky of Palestine.

He explained that the call to prayer has been heard in Palestine since that day until today, and will continue until the Day of Judgment, God willing.

Sabry denounced any ban on the call to prayer, even if it is banned from the minarets of mosques, as it will be raised on the roofs of houses.

Sabry considered that preventing the call to prayer is interference in religious affairs, and conflicts with freedom of worship, and the rights guaranteed by Sharia and law according to international law.

Itamar Ben-Gvir’s war on the call to prayer is not new in Israel. In late 2016, extremist Jewish MPs submitted a bill to ban the call to prayer in mosques in Jerusalem and the interior. The bill was scheduled to be discussed in the Knesset, but the discussion was cancelled at the last minute.

The Deputy Minister of Health at the time, Rabbi Yaakov Litzman of the United Torah Judaism party, filed an appeal against the Ministerial Legislation Committee’s approval of the proposed bill to ban the call to prayer, which was to be held in a special session to vote on it in the first reading, which led to the session being cancelled at the time.

The Jewish Shas movement decided to vote against the bill because it feared that passing it would lead to the shedding of Jewish blood, especially in light of warnings that such a move would drag the region into a religious war, which led to the bill’s failure at the time.