Sheikh Taissir Tamimi
Encyclopedia
Sheikh Taissir Dayut Tamimi ( is the chief Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic judge of the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...

 (PA). He is a supporter of the PA and an opponent of Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

. His political views frequently bring him into conflict with Israel.

In May 2009, Tamimi sparked international controversy by launching into a denunciation of Israel during an interfaith dialogue attended by Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

 in Jerusalem.

Islamic judge

Prior to being appointed Inspector of the Sharia Courts by Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...

 in 1994, Tamimi had served as a judge of the Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...

 court in Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...

 and then Hebron in 1986. From 1997 to 1999, he served as the acting Qadi al-Quda ("Chief Islamic Judge") on behalf of Abu Sardane who relocated to Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

. In April 1998, Tamimi set up a committee to work towards establishing a personal status law that would be effective in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

 and Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...

 "as a basic step in establishing the [Palestinian] state." He was formally appointed by Arafat as Deputy Qadi al-Quda by a presidential decree in March 2000.

Tamimi came into open conflict with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is the Sunni Muslim cleric in charge of Jerusalem's Islamic holy places, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque.-Ottoman era:...

, Sheikh Ekrima Sa'id Sabri, during a November 2001 seminar. The sharpest conflict was about reforms in the Sharia system, particularly their positions on the age of marriage. Tamimi argued that it was an issue on which legal jurists disagreed and therefore interpretation should be permitted; he personally advocated the legal marriage age be raised to 18 and older while Sabri supported the position that minors could be married at puberty. Their views also contrasted on other issues, with Tamimi supporting women's rights, the establishment of political parties, and religious scholars for legal reform whereas Sabri preferred traditional Islamic law.

Tamimi held a vigil at Arafat's deathbed in November 2004 and witnessed his death. He refused to allow doctors to remove Arafat from life support as it conflicted with Muslim law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...

. Tamimi is a supporter of the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...

, and an opponent of Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

. In 2007, responding to a Hamas ban on public prayer rallies in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...

, Tamimi declared the ban was issued "by those who are not authorized to do so."

Political views

In October 2008, he issued a fatwa
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...

 that banned Arab residents of Jerusalem from participating in that year's municipal elections. In April 2009, he warned Palestinians of a preexisting fatwa which bans them from selling property to Jews under penalty of death. Countering Jewish historical and religious claims to Jerusalem, Tamimi asserted that "the Jews have no rights in Jerusalem." Claiming that there is no proof that "Jews had a history or presence in Jerusalem," Tamimi has denied the existence of the First and Second Jewish Temples in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...

, stating "they never existed, certainly not at the Haram Al-Sharif (Temple Mount
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...

)." In extension, he argues, "Jerusalem is an Arab and Islamic city and it always has been so."

Papal controversy

During an interfaith dialogue in Jerusalem on May 11, 2009 with Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

, Tamimi launched into a 10-minute long condemnation of Israel, urging Christians and Muslims to unite against Israel. As a result of Tamimi's words, Pope Benedict walked out of the meeting early. In response to Tamimi's unscheduled interruption, the press office of the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 issued a condemnatory statement: "In a meeting dedicated to dialogue this intervention was a direct negation of what a dialogue should be." Tamimi staged a similar verbal attack against Israel during Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

's visit to the country in 2000.
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