The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was a position created by the British Mandate authorities.[2] The new title was intended by the British to "enhance the status of the office".[4]
After Ja'abari's 1994 death, two rival muftis were appointed: the Palestinian Authority (PA) nominated Ekrima Sa'id Sabri, while Jordan named Abdul Qader Abdeen, head of the Religious Appeals Court.[9][10] This reflected a discrepancy between the Oslo I Accord, which envisaged a transfer of authority from Israel to the PA, and the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, which recognised Hashemite custodianship of Jerusalem holy sites.[10] Local Muslims endorsed the PLO's view that Jordan's action was an unwarranted interference; Ja'abari's popular mandate meant that Abdeen's claim "soon faded away altogether"[10] and he formally retired in 1998.[11]
Sabri was removed in 2006 by PA presidentMahmoud Abbas, who was concerned that Sabri was involved too heavily in political matters.[12]
Abbas appointed Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, who was perceived as a political moderate. Shortly after his appointment, Hussein made comments indicating that suicide bombing was an acceptable tactic for Palestinians to use against Israel.[12]
List
Kamil al-Husayni from the creation of the role in 1918 until his death in 1921
^The terminology was used as early as 1918. For example: Taysīr Jabārah (1985). Palestinian Leader Hajj Amin Al-Husayni: Mufti of Jerusalem. Kingston Press. ISBN978-0-940670-10-5. states that Storrs wrote on November 19, 1918 "the Muslim element requested the Grand Mufti to have the name of the Sharif of Mecca mentioned in the Friday prayers as Caliph"
^Blum, Yehuda Z. (1994). "From Camp David to Oslo". Israel Law Review. 28 (2–3): note 20. doi:10.1017/S0021223700011638. S2CID147907987. the Mufti of Jerusalem died in the summer of 1994 and the Government of Jordan appointed his successor (as it had done since 1948, including the period since 1967) [reprinted in Blum, Yehuda Zvi (2016). Will "justice" bring peace? : international law-selected articles and legal opinions. Leiden: Brill. pp. 243–265. doi:10.1163/9789004233959_016. ISBN9789004233959.]
^ abcWasserstein, Bernard (2008). "The battle of the muftis". Divided Jerusalem : the struggle for the holy city. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. pp. 338–341. ISBN978-0-300-13763-7 – via Internet Archive.
^An answer in the Commons to a question on notice, given by the Secretary of State for the Colonies: Mr. Hammersley asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why no appointment has yet been made to fill the posts of Mufti of Jerusalem and President of the Moslem Supreme Council? Colonel Stanley. An important distinction must be drawn between the two offices referred to by my hon. Friend. The post of Mufti of Jerusalem is a purely religious office with no powers or administrative functions, and was held by Haj Amin before he was given the secular appointment of President of the Supreme Moslem Council. In 1937 Haj Amin was deprived of his secular appointment and administrative functions, but no action was taken regarding the religious office of Mufti, as no legal machinery in fact exists for the formal deposition of the holder, nor is there any known precedent for such deposition. Haj Amin is thus technically still Mufti of Jerusalem, but the fact that there is no intention of allowing Haj Amin, who has openly joined the enemy, to return to Palestine in any circumstances clearly reduces the importance of the technical point.
^Zvi Elpeleg's "The Grand Mufti", page 48: "officially he now retained only the title of Mufti (following the Ottoman practice, this had been granted for life)"