Jerusalemites commemorate the second anniversary of the opening of the Bab al-Rahma chapel, which was closed by the occupation between 2003 and 2019.
Since yesterday, the Israeli police stationed at the gates of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque have been checking the bags and belongings of incoming worshipers, and asking them whether they carry balloons in them for fear of using them to decorate the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall, as the second anniversary of its reopening in front of worshipers by force of public will.
On February 22, 2019, after the Friday prayers, the worshipers celebrated the reopening of this prayer hall, and organized massive celebratory demonstrations in the region, and chanted amplifications and chants in front of and inside it.
Thousands of worshipers in the Bab al-Rahma area on Friday, the prayer hall was opened in 2019 (Al-Jazeera)The ambitions of the occupation began in the building since the occupation of the Holy City in 1967, and culminated in the issuance of a military order in 2003 to close the building after banning the “Islamic Heritage Committee”, which had taken the prayer hall as its office.
Ahead of the anniversary of its reopening this year, calls were launched on social platforms urging worshipers to rebuild the Al-Aqsa Mosque in general and the Bab Al-Rahma prayer hall in particular, and to pray in it, coinciding with the escalation of occupation ambitions in the place.
Nameer Darwish stresses the importance of a permanent presence in the Bab al-Rahma chapel and its surroundings targeted by the occupation (Al-Jazeera)The source of peace and tranquility
The young Jerusalemite, Namir Darwish (20 years), has been heading daily to the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall since it was reopened to the worshipers, and on this occasion the girl wore her most beautiful clothes and went to the place she says has become her second home in which she spends most of her time.
She tells Al-Jazeera Net, “I got attached to this prayer hall very much and it has become a part of my daily life since it was opened two years ago. In it I memorize the Qur’an, study it, accomplish my university duties, and I meet in it with the best and best of people, and I feel mercy, reassurance and tranquility in it.”
The girl contemplates the architectural details of the prayer hall and wishes that she was an architect entrusted with the task of restoring it when permitted, and said, “The roof and walls of the prayer hall have exceptional details and sometimes I am imagining the shape of its windows and corners after the restoration, which I hope to participate in after liberating the prayer hall.”
The Gate of Mercy chapel from outside (Al Jazeera)Al-Maqdisiyah stresses the importance of a permanent presence in the Bab al-Rahma chapel and its surroundings, which are targeted by the occupation and extremist groups that seek to turn it into a synagogue.
The teacher at Al-Aqsa Mosque and the station, Hanadi Al-Halawani, was one of the first to call for the reconstruction of the Bab Al-Rahma chapel on the second anniversary of its opening, and she said that being in this place is very important in light of the occupation’s targeting of its visitors and its contents two years ago, so entering it after a 16-year closure was like a thunderbolt. .
She tells Al-Jazeera Net, “The reopening of the prayer hall of mercy scattered all the plans of the occupation against it, so he began to act with the place differently from the rest of the chapels, so he deliberately desecrated it with military shoes and confiscated the shoe cabinets and the wooden partitions that separate women and men during prayer, and abuse and arrest everyone who approaches the place.”
Hanadi Al-Halawani was one of the first to call for the reconstruction of the Bab al-Rahma chapel, on the second anniversary of its opening (Al-Jazeera)“The door of mercy to us” is a charge
The recent deportation that Al-Halawani was subjected to after being allowed to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque for only 6 days was for wearing a shirt that read “The Door of Mercy to Us” last December.
Recalling her memory of the day of the opening of the prayer hall in 2019, she said that she was banished at that time and went up to the Mount of Olives to witness the event from there. Tears”.
Since the iron locks were broken and the Muslims entered the prayer-place shouting and cheering, Israeli attempts to re-close the prayer-place continued, so that the police were chasing everyone who carries food and enters this prayer hall to eat it there.
The Gate of Mercy chapel after its opening on Friday, 2019 (Al-Jazeera)Sheikh Ikrimah Sabri, head of the Supreme Islamic Authority and preacher of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, describes the 16-year closure as unjust and inhuman for its incompatibility with freedom of worship.
He tells Al-Jazeera Net that the occupation did not like it to restore the prayer hall, so it resorted to the courts to issue a decision to re-close it, but it has not been able to implement it until now because the Muslims have not and will not allow this, and they are adhering to their legitimate right to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque and all its facilities, including the Bab Al-Rahma prayer hall. His saying.
Khatib Al-Aqsa adds, “The restriction on worshipers is programmed. The occupation is targeting the site and trying to restrict the Muslims to keep them away from it so that it can pounce on it again, and from here stems the importance of rebuilding it.”
It is noteworthy that the Bab al-Rahma building witnessed scientific activity in different Islamic periods, and the Nasrid school was opened in it, and Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali took it as a headquarters to write part of his book “The Revival of the Sciences of Religion” and was famous for the gathering of thousands in it in the Ottoman period, as it was a destination for the Mevlev Sufi order, as it was held in it Episodes of remembrance and prophetic praise. During the period of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the old building was fortified with huge stone arches to support it.
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