Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussein has served as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories since 2006, following his tenure as the manager and imam of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. An outspoken critic of the Israeli occupation, he has frequently defended the Al-Aqsa compound from the military and settler movements, notably issuing a 2018 fatwa prohibiting Muslims from transferring land in Palestine to Jewish buyers. Amid escalating tensions, Israeli special security forces arrested Sheikh Hussein inside the Al-Aqsa complex on 10 July 2026 immediately after he concluded a Friday sermon. Following his brief detention and interrogation, the state formally issued a renewable, one-week security ban blocking him from entering Islam’s third-holiest site.