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"Jews have no right to Temple Mount"
Following is a WorldNetDaily exclusive interview with Sheik Kamal Hatib.
Trimmed somewhat, as My stomach isn't as strong as it used to be.

WND: Who should have sovereignty over the Temple Mount – Jews, Christians, or Muslims. Or should it be shared?

HATIB: We absolutely believe that Al Aqsa, all its different parts, all its walls, all its courts, and everything down the mosque or up it, all these fully belong to the Muslims. Only to them. No one other than the Muslims has any right over Al Aqsa, or even over any grain of its sand. We, the Muslims, insist and emphasize that the only sovereignty over Al Aqsa must be for the Muslims. We will not accept or recognize any other sovereignty, including shared control.

WND: But what about the previous Jewish Temples? Do you believe they existed? Do Jews have any historic claims to the Temple Mount whatsoever?

HATIB: We the Muslims believe that Al Aqsa was built since the time of Adam – God bless him. It was built 40 years after the construction of the Al Haram Mosque in Mecca which was built thousands of years ago. Al Aqsa was built by the angels as it is mentioned in a verse of the Quran. The mosque is mentioned in the Quran, which speaks about the raising of the prophet. We believe that the Jewish Temples existed, but we deny they were built near Al Aqsa. When the First Temple was built by Solomon – God bless him – Al Aqsa was already built. We don't believe that a prophet like Solomon would have built the Temple at a place where a mosque existed.

WND: There is no serious scholar or archeologist in the world who argues Al Aqsa was built before the Jewish Temples. And if the Temples didn't exist on the Mount, what then do you say is the Western Wall?

HATIB: About the Kotel (the Western Wall), we deny any relation between the Temple and the Al Aqsa Mosque. We believe that the Western Wall is part of the mosque and not the Wall of Lamentation, as the Jews say. ... The Western wall is an inseparable part of the mosque.

WND: You were talking about Al Aqsa being mentioned in the Quran. But I understand it is never directly mentioned. And the city of Jerusalem is not mentioned once. Commentators later concluded a verse about Muhammad descending to the furthest mosque referred to Al Aqsa. Meanwhile, Jerusalem is mentioned thousands of times throughout the Torah. Half the Torah is about Temple worship. Explain why you feel the Mount is not holy to Jews?

HATIB: The fact that Jerusalem is mentioned in the Torah does not in any way mean that the city was populated or built by the Jews. Everyone knows that when the prophet Abraham came from Iraq in 1850 before Christ he was given by the Arab King Melchizedek the land where he and his wife lived in Hebron, and it was 600 years before Moses' message, which also proves that Abraham was not a Jew. And your saying that our faith is based on this interpretation of the verse [about Al Aqsa] is a totally wrong analysis. The Al Aqsa of the Quran is the same Al Aqsa of our days, not any other mosque. That is what our Sharia says. As for what you say that Jerusalem is mentioned thousands of times in the Torah; it is not a matter of numbers and quantity. There is a very clear historical event mentioned in the Quran concerning the mosque that was built by Adam and where all our prophets prayed.

WND: Speaking of praying, currently, Jews and Christians can only ascend the Mount at certain hours on certain days, and only with approval from the Wafq (the Mount's Muslim custodians). If they go up, it is to tour. Non-Muslims are not allowed to pray on the Mount. Why is it so offensive to you if Jews or Christians pray on the Temple Mount?

HATIB: We don't want even these scheduled visits, which are allowed to take place only because of the Israeli occupation. The visits are not the result of a free choice of the Muslims and the Wafq. If it was not for Israel, these visits could not take place at all. Speaking about the Christians, I say that every person who believes in God must act for peace and for love among human beings and not to help in creating hate and war. Unfortunately, the evangelical Christians believe in the necessity of a war of civilizations. Because of this belief, President Bush, supported by these groups, is leading this war against the Muslim world.
Posted by: Jackal 2005-10-23
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=132915