His Majesty King Abdullah announced today the construction of a fifth minaret for the holy Al Aqsa Mosque and interior restoration, preservation and maintenance of the mosque. At a meeting at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, King Abdullah also announced a competition for the design of a fifth minaret at Al Aqsa Mosque that reflects the Islamic significance and sanctity of the mosque. He told the Al Aqsa and Dome of the Rock Committee that the care of sacred Islamic places, especially Al Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock, will always remain a priority for the Hashemites. He added that preserving holy sites is a personal trust that he would continue to support in the footsteps of his ancestors.
The King said he would personally follow up on providing for the mosque's needs.
King Abdullah also announced the creation of a special waqf fund to support the holy places and ensure the continuity of maintenance and protection of Islamic shrines. He expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the committee's diligent oversight of the mosques' restoration and reiterated his support for the Awqaf ministry's activities and programs and underscored its important role in overseeing mosques and spreading the values and principles of Islam. To this end, the King emphasized the importance of the Zakat Fund in alleviating the suffering of the poor and strengthening social solidarity. He confirmed his support for this fund and asserted the importance of supporting the Zakat by everyone who is able to so that it is more capable of performing its duties in delivering aid to the underprivileged.
The Zakat Fund delivers monthly salaries to 990 families, totaling JD243,000 annually, while the Zakat committees deliver monthly salaries to 11,000 families, totaling JD1,350,000 annually, in addition to emergency support that benefits a large number of the poor throughout the country.
The Zakat Fund has also taken in 750 orphans in addition to 3,500 orphans taken in by the Zakat committees. The fund also implements vocational projects for families in need, including projects for cattle-raising, bee-raising, sewing, tricot and pickling. The fund hopes to develop and activate the Zakat Fund law issued in 1988, as well as restructure the fund under the name of Bayt Al Zakat of Jordan. It also plans to employ a qualified and skilled staff and to expand small-scale vocational training projects at the family level and medium-scale projects at the governorates.
During the meeting, a presentation addressing Hashemite efforts to care for Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock Mosque, as well as plans pertaining to the building a fifth minaret at Al Aqsa, the current conditions of the mosques and their projected needs. Most prominent of those needs are infrastructure projects, including lighting, telephone lines, a sound system, for the mosques, for the Marwani prayer room, and the plaza of the Haram Al Sharif. In addition to the need for mechanical works, including a fire sprinkler system, rainwater drainage system and new plumbing, the mosques' mosaics, which have not been maintained in 400 years, will also be restored. New furniture will also be provided. The total value of these projects is around JD5 million.
Attending the meeting with King Abdullah were His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi, His Majesty's personal envoy and special advisor, as well as Head of the Royal Court Salem Turk and Director of His Majesty's Office Bassem Awadallah.
There are currently four minarets in Al Aqsa Mosque (Bab al-Asbat, Al Fakhria, Al Ghawanmeh, and Bab Al Silsilah). The fifth minaret will be situated near the Golden Door and Bab al-Asbat.
The total area required for new carpeting of the Dome of the Rock is approximately 2,000m sq and is ready to be laid. It is expected that this project will be completed by the end of this month.
Hashemite custodianship of holy Islamic places in Jerusalem has been ongoing since 1924 when Sherif Hussein Ben Ali contributed 50,000 gold lira to the restoration of Al Aqsa and other mosques in Palestine. King Abdullah I initiated the call for the renovation the Mihrab Zakariyah and the restoration of the surrounding structures that were damaged during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. During the era of His Majesty the late King Hussein, the Jordanian government in 1952 undertook the first restoration of the Dome of the Rock and the second restoration from 1959-1964. In 1969, the government restored the Minbar Salaheddine (the pulpit of Salaheddine) of Al Aqsa after it was damaged in a fire.
In the late 1980s, King Hussein gave instructions that the Dome of the Rock's golden dome be recovered and that its ceiling and infrastructure be reinforced, with special attention to the renovation of Minbar Salaheddine. The late King Hussein spent more than JD8 million to renovate the mosque.
King Abdullah II placed the first ornament on a replica of the minbar on 27 Ramadan 2002 at the Balqa Applied Sciences University Islamic Arts College where staff and professors completed the replica.
Salaheddine used the minbar after the liberation of Jerusalem in 1187. It was a unique piece of art in terms of size and ornamentation. It was distinguished by carvings on both sides of the small wood pieces that constituted the minbar. On July 25, 2006, King Abdullah II unveiled at Balqa University the completed minbar, marking the beginning of the minbar's return to Al Aqsa Mosque.
The Al Aqsa Mosque Committee has, over the last six years and in spite of numerous challenges, completed the reconstruction of the Dome of the Rock's interior and the renovation of the dome itself, the minarets, the southern and eastern walls of the mosque and the Marwani Mosque.