Shawki Allam, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, declared the city of Al-Quds (the Arabic name for Jerusalem –ed.) and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to be sacred Islamic heritage sites that must be protected in light of the fact that these two places are at the center of the Qur'an and Sunni Islam.
In a statement issued by the Supreme Council of Religious Rulings in Egypt, the Mufti said that Muhammad traveled from the mosque in Mecca to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and then ascended to heaven, and that is the link between the two holy sites that are in the heart of every Muslim who must worship Allah in order to earn a reward from him.
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