Seth Udinski, FISM News

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On Thursday, the Magistrate’s Court in Jerusalem judged in favor of a Jewish man who was praying at the Temple Mount. This seems like a harmless action, but it infuriated Muslims officials who believe the Temple Mount, known in Islam as the Haram al-Sharif, belongs to them.

Aryeh Lippo, the man in question, was previously banished by police from praying there.

The Temple Mount, considered by many historians to be the location of Solomon’s temple at the height of the Jewish monarchy, is perhaps the most holy place in the Jewish faith. Solomon built the temple in an act of worship to God in early 10th century BC, and its splendor illustrated the prosperity of the people of Israel during their Golden Age. The Temple was razed by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC.

Meanwhile, Muslims consider it as one of their own most holy places as well. They claim it was where their prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, and in the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem in the 7th century AD, Muslims built their most revered building, the Dome of the Rock, to commemorate the spot.

Sources report that Lippo was saying his prayers silently, in a non-invasive way. Judge Bilhah Yahalom issued the ruling, determining that he should be allowed to return to site. She said,

The appellant stood in the corner with a friend or two, there was no crowd around him, his prayer was quiet, whispered. I have not found that the religious acts carried out by the appellant were externalized and visible.

Muslims in the region were infuriated, calling the act of prayer a “flagrant violation.” Al-Aqsa mosque director Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani said of the ruling,

This decision also has no legitimacy because we do not recognize Israeli law on al-Aqsa.

This Jewish man is rightly protected to continue to pray in this way at one of the most holy sites of his faith.

This development further captures the precarious relationship between Israelis and Muslims in the Holy Lands.