The Jerusalem Waqf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, also known as the Jerusalem Waqf, the Jordanian Waqf[1] or simply the Waqf, is the Jordanian-appointed organization responsible for controlling and managing the current Islamic edifices on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, which includes the Dome of the Rock.[2] [3] [4] The Jerusalem Waqf is guided by a council composed of 18 members and headed by a director, all appointed by Jordan.[5] The current director of the Waqf, since 2005, is Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib.
In Islamic law, a waqf (Arabic: وَقْف; pronounced as /ar/), plural awqaf, is an inalienable endowment – typically a building, plot of land or another property that has been dedicated for Muslim religious or charitable purposes.[6] In Ottoman Turkish law, and later under the British Mandate of Palestine, a waqf was defined as usufruct state land (or property) from which the state revenues were assured to religious foundations.[7] The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem has been administered as a waqf since the Muslim reconquest of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187. By metonymy, the foundation that administers the waqf of Jerusalem has itself come to be known as "the Waqf".
The current version of the Jerusalem Waqf administration was instituted by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan after its conquest and occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during the 1948 Palestine war.[8] The Jerusalem Waqf remained under Jordanian control after Israel occupied the Old City of Jerusalem during the Six-Day War of June 1967, though control over access to the site passed to Israel.
The Jerusalem Waqf is an organ of the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf Islamic Affairs and Holy Places,[9] which is charged with "implementing the Hashemite custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites and endowments and consolidating the historical and legal status quo."[10]
The staff members of the Jerusalem Waqf are Jordanian-government employees. It is headed by a director, also picked by the Jordanian government. The current director of the Jerusalem Waqf is Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, appointed in 2005.[11]
An agreement signed in 2013 between the State of Palestine (represented by Mahmoud Abbas) and Jordan's King Abdullah II recognized Jordan's role in managing the Jerusalem holy sites. This agreement replaced a decades-old verbal agreement.[12]
The Jerusalem Waqf is responsible for administrative matters in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Religious authority on the site, on the other hand, is the responsibility of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, appointed by the government of the State of Palestine.
When Israel recaptured the eastern half of Jerusalem in 1967, they made an agreement to allow the Jordanian (Muslim) religious authorities, called the Waqf, to retain control of the Temple Mount. And the Waqf considers Jewish prayers (or any non-Muslim prayers) to be an affront to Islam, so they forbid anyone but Muslims to recite prayers on the Temple Mount.
Jews and other non-Muslims are sometimes allowed to walk on the Temple Mount, in certain highly restricted portions of it.
Non-Israeli visitors are far more likely to be permitted access than Israelis. And anyone who is caught sneaking a prayer book onto the Temple Mount is subject to arrest.
Certain extreme sects forbid it altogether, saying that Jews are tu'mah and are not permitted back on the Temple Mount until the Messiah arrives, and the Third Temple can be built. The more mainstream view is that Jews are permitted to be on the Temple Mount, but must avoid a particular area of it, where the central chamber of the Temple (called “the Holy of Holies”) used to be located. And the more liberal streams of Judaism place no restrictions on Jews being on the Temple Mount.
In 2017, Jordan enlarged the Waqf’s council from 11 members to 18. For the first time, Palestinian officials and religious leaders were installed in the body, which had historically been made up of individuals close to the Jordanian monarchy.