100,000 worshippers perform Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa after it was closed for 40 days

SadaNews - Tens of thousands of worshippers performed the first Friday prayers at the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, after it was closed and worship was prohibited by the Israeli occupation for 40 days under the pretext of the war with Iran.

The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem reported that 100,000 worshippers performed Friday prayers at the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Local sources indicated that the occupation forces spread throughout the streets of Jerusalem, erected iron barriers at the gates of the Old City and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, stopped young men, checked their identities, and detained some of them.

They pointed out that the occupation forces prevented those expelled from Al-Aqsa from performing Friday prayers in the vicinity of the mosque and on the Mujahideen Road at the Gate of the Tribes in the Old City of Jerusalem.

In his turn, the preacher of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Muhammad Salim, said during the second sermon: "Here you are back to Al-Aqsa after being absent for several weeks, and you rejoice in your return. Congratulations on this return."

He added: "Congratulations on this blessed return; you have rejoiced in this return, but when will we return to the Book of God and the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and when will we return to the values and morals of our religion?"

He addressed the worshippers by saying: "Your prayers at Al-Aqsa are a sign of uprightness, and your coming and going to it is also a sign of uprightness. So be steadfast in your righteousness wherever it leads, for it is the path of guidance, goodness, and righteousness."