Saudi Islamic Leader Plans Temple Mount Visit

By JTA January 2, 2015

The secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation plans to visit the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Iyad bin Amin Madani will be in Jerusalem on Monday, according to the OnIslam news site.

There have been clashes in recent months over Muslim and Jewish access to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, and the site of a mosque compound that is the third-holiest in Islam.

Madani has urged Muslims to visit Al Aqsa mosque to “confirm that this mosque is a part of their faith.”

Other Muslim leaders have issued fatwas against visiting the compound, saying that doing so validates Israel’s occupation.

The Saudi-based OIC is an umbrella group of 57 majority Muslim nations.

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