Talk:Jerusalem Waqf

Old talk

Why is there so little on this subject? Surely it can't be too hard to find information on the projects the Jerusalem Waqf has undertaken or how it functions as an organization? Where does it's funding come from? How is it spent? How does it operate? Ffejmopp (talk) 18:13, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Conceptions of holiness relating to the al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock and the plateau area

Re, discussion at: Talk:Temple Mount#Conceptions of holiness relating to the al-Aqsa_Mosque.2C the Dome of the Rock and the plateau area

Apparently some people regard holiness to be a significant issue and I was wondering, does anyone know how this works?

Clearly, on purely moral grounds the only justification for restricting access to any group of people, on the Temple mount site is that the land has long been in the possession of "Palestinians" and is part of Occupied territories.

Obviously there has been a lot of water under the bridge with regard to Jewish, Arab relations in Israel but, apart from that, is there any religious reason to say a person needs to pray with a mat rather than with a box on their heads? Is there any reason why believers of certain religions may be restricted from access while a shoeless non believer can saunter around at will?

Al-Aqsa is quoted as being the third most holy spot in Islam and I'm wondering about the extents of the mosque and whether it really includes the grounds (and thus the Dome) or not. As far as I've got so far is to find Majmoo’at al-Rasaa’il al-Kubra, 2/61: “Al-Masjid al-Aqsa is the name for the whole of the place of worship built by Sulaymaan..." I have yet to find the extent of his building efforts. Any thoughts on this??

Personally though I think that the world would be a safer and, arguably, saner place if the whole site were given over to another popular religion. Failing that I think it would be worth getting some clarity. The Jews seem to view just the southern building as being the mosque while the Muslims seem to think of the whole plateau as having third rank status.

Gregkaye (talk) 14:33, 3 September 2014 (UTC)

Will appreciate responses at: Talk:Temple Mount#Conceptions of holiness relating to the al-Aqsa_Mosque.2C the Dome of the Rock and the plateau area

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User Gregkaye, the restriction on Orthodox Jewish visitation to the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa complex is partly political and partly due to Jewish law. There is a ban on public or overt Jewish ritual on the Temple mount, due to the political tension involved in that act. However, religious Jews tend to believe that the Temple mount complex is and continues to be extremely sacrosanct. Jewish ritual purity is an important and complex subject better discussed elsewhere, but essentially most Orthodox folks believe that they are insufficiently "clean" to enter such a sacred location. Note that this is a very, very incomplete explanation.

166.20.224.10 (talk) 21:04, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

Notability

Due to being the recognized Islamic authority in the Temple Mount area, it's quite notable. There are many controversies involved, such as freedom of worship, what some consider the strange and dubious nature of its relationship with the Israel Antiquities Authority, etc... AnonMoos (talk) 04:18, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

Yes, obviously notable, though with a misleading title since there are several waqfs in Jerusalem. The title isn't worth changing without more content though. Zero^talk 09:27, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

Clarify: which waqf is what, does what

A waqf is founded on a document, so it should be easily definable. Should. The article is very confusing: is there a primary, Jerusalem-based waqf for Al-Aqsa, which is distinct from the Jordanian institutions? What are the Palestinian (AP) institutions all about? What about the Jordanian ones? There is no easy online way forward outside Wiki, either.

Who is directly administering the properties of Al-Aqsa/Haram esh-Sharif? Who is make decisions re. its functioning (religious gatherings, building restoration/extension, public access, guards, gardening,...)?

The 2015 brochure is listing as © holders:
Cooperation, Coordination & Copywrite (sic)
• The Hashemite Fund for Building and Maintenance of the Blessed Aqsa Mosque, Amman (www.al-aqsa-mosque.org)
• Department of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Jerusalem
• Palestenian (sic) Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, PASSIA, Jerusalem
Leaving PASSIA aside:

• Is the "Department of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Jerusalem" the chief waqf in charge, or is it "just" the PA institution?
  
• Through which institution is the king of Jordan primarily acting as legal authority for "the" waqf? One can create umpteen institutions, but the statutes offer authority based on one specific initial empowerment act. I guess "The Hashemite Fund for Building and Maintenance of the Blessed Aqsa Mosque", elsewhere "The Hashemite Fund for the Restoration of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock", is a Jordanian secondary trust of some kind. One must have a link to the royal treasury, or even the national Jordanian state budget administration, not to speak the ministry for religious/Islamic affairs. But that's probably not the holder of the waqf powers.
• An address, office, website for "the" Jerusalem-based, main Al-Aqsa Waqf is nowhere to be found online (in English). As if it didn't exist. Does it exist, physically? Is there an office for the general director, where one can knock on the door and talk to the secretary? Or is it a legal fantasy, or abstract notion? Who hires the lawyer during a conflict with the Israeli police? Ex oriente... chaos. Arminden (talk) 10:33, 8 April 2021 (UTC)

Sidna Omar Mosque: which waqf?

A concrete case where distinguishing between the Jerusalem waqfs would help. There seems to have been "Jordanian money" spent on the renovation, but that's not enough to clarify precise ownership. Arminden (talk) 11:19, 25 July 2022 (UTC)

I had thought the idea was that nobody "owned" a waqf but obviously there must be some type of custodial/administrative function. You have piqued my interest, I will take a look. Selfstudier (talk) 12:12, 25 July 2022 (UTC)

Hi Selfstudier. I read an article from a source which might not be paying close attention to details, but which mentions all the elements of the Jerusalem Waqf: Jordanian custody, Hashemite private money, and mentions the "Jerusalem Waqf" by name: {{Cite web|last=Yedid|first=Baruch|title=Jordan Reopening Mosque Adjacent to Hurva Synagogue in Heart of Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter|publisher=[[Jewish Press]]|url=https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/jerusalem/jordan-reopening-mosque-atop-hurva-synagogue-in-heart-of-jerusalems-jewish-quarter/2019/11/19/|access-date=2022-06-22}}. Yedid writes about competing interests with the foundation sponsored by the King of Morocco and the Erdogan-Muslim Brotherhood tandem. Elsewhere, can't remember where, there was some mention of Palestinian authorities also playing, or trying to play a part. Btw, this point, of how the three elements work together (Jordanian ministry, the King of Jordan, Palestinian authorities) still needs to be worked out, if at all possible: I know that sensitive political matters are intentionally kept "informal" in this part of the world, so trying to squeeze them into Western-style clearcut schemes and graphs is neither possible, nor helpful. But maybe there are clearcut relations by now, at least on paper? Arminden (talk) 13:29, 28 July 2022 (UTC)

Still struggling through reams of paper on this, haven't forgotten. Selfstudier (talk) 11:20, 29 July 2022 (UTC)

To keep things moving along, I did find this so telephones, faxes and a PO Box as of 2015, lol. There is some information in this (ignoring all the complaints). The Jerusalem Waqf Council has changed recently. Not much info to be found re Sidna Omar so far. There is a waqf registry, someone might have to go look. Selfstudier (talk) 13:19, 1 August 2022 (UTC)

Key players appear to be

Wasfi al-Kailani (ED of the Hashemite Fund) and member of the Islamic Waqf Council in Jerusalem.

Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, Director of the Islamic Waqf Department and member of the Islamic Waqf Council

Dr. Mohammed I. Nasser Eddin, Vice & Financial General Director, the Administration Department of Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs and member of the Islamic Waqf Council

Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, Al-Aqsa Mosque Imam, head of the Islamic Higher Committee, and member of the Islamic Waqf Council

Sheikh Jamil Hamami, Secretary General, the Islamic Higher Committee

The Palestinian Islamic religious bodies are here Selfstudier (talk) 17:12, 1 August 2022 (UTC)