Tuesday, August 20^th, 2019

Al-Quds Foundation Malaysia has launched its first-of-its-kind online multilingual encyclopaedia specialized in al-Aqsa Mosque in an official ceremony attended by YB Dato’ Seri Haji Mukhriz Tun Mahathir, chief minister of the State of Kedah, chairman of the board of trustees of QFM.

The ceremony, which was held in Putra hotel in Kuala Lumpur, has been attended by officials, journalists guests from Southeast Asian countries as Indonesia, Thailand.

In parallel to a visual presentation of the site’s corners, Mukhriz has launched the interactive website dedicated to al-Aqsa Mosque history, status and information to face the fake Zionist propaganda.

In his speech during the celebration, Mukhriz said, “we are now in a great event, not only to Muslims but to every free person who believes in human rights, respects religions and rejects injustice. We are here for Palestine and the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque.”

He confirmed, “Malaysians, despite the distance, believe that Masjid al-Aqsa and Palestine belong to us the same way they belong to Palestinians. Therefore, it is also our responsibility to protect it and liberate it from occupation and desecration. The Cause of Palestine and al-Aqsa is also important for us as Malaysians because it has served as a unifying force for all Malaysians, regardless of their political affiliation or cultural background.”

Mukhriz said, “tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the burning of Masjid al-Aqsa which is a heartbreaking memory for every peace-loving human being. By committing this crime, humanity lost much, not only because the freedom of worship had been violated, or because of the criminals have gone unpunished for their crime, but also because of the loss of centuries-old art and architecture work of Masjid al-Aqsa.”

He added, “unfortunately, and despite this heinous crime, the attacks on Masjid al-Aqsa continue in many forms. The Zionist continue to dig tunnels and conduct excavations underneath it, stop restoration works, control the gates, interfere in the management of the affairs of Masjid al-Aqsa, disrespecting its sanctity for Muslims and prevent worshipers from entering the mosque.”

He expressed that “it is heart-wrenching to witness Masjid al-Aqsa being subjected to daily attacks and raids by Israeli soldiers who, even on the day of Eid al-Adha, stormed into the holy mosque without any regard to ethics, manners or laws.”

He expressed his pride in contributing to founding QFM; “we will continue to support by all possible means. Today, Al-Quds Foundation Malaysia is playing a significant role by raising awareness about the issue of al-Quds and masjid al-Aqsa through many educational and media products.”

In addition, he hailed the role of QFM in strengthening the resolve of the people in the holy city of al-Quds and the ties between the Palestinian and Malaysian nations. He said, “we are gathered here today to launch the first-of-its-kind multilingual online encyclopedia specifically for the holy mosque of al-Aqsa which will represent an accurate and reliable reference for everything related to Masjid al-Aqsa away from Zionist propaganda and myths.”

Mukhriz thanked the CEO of QFM, Dr. Sherif Abu Shammala, for his great efforts in launching this website alongside the staff and partner institutions from southeast Asian countries.

In his speech, Abu Shammala said, “the reason behind launching this great project was the serious lack of knowledge and information published about al-Aqsa Mosque on the Internet in foreign languages, especially in local languages of South and Southeast Asia. In terms of quality and quantity, we even found some Islamic sites in these countries adopt the distorted narrative from some Zionist sources.”

He promised, “the site is designed to disseminate and promote the correct narrative about Masjid al-Aqsa in the face of the Zionist narrative, that dominates the mainstream media and digital space; to become a reference for experts, researchers and the public on everything related to Masjid al-Aqsa, simultaneously, to be a platform through which they can serve al-Aqsa; to remind the Muslim Ummah of Masjid al-Aqsa status and our commitments to its liberation.” He indicated, “Aqsapedia is lunched in four languages: Malaysian, Indonesian, Arabic and English. Our ambition is that the site will be presented in eight languages soon, God willing (InShaAllah).”

Abu Sahmmala thanked project partners: Humanitarian Care Malaysia (MyCARE), Sadaqa Mulia, Indonesia, and Asia Pacific Community for Palestine (ASPAC).

“Aqsapedia.net includes multiple knowledge sections and libraries that contain books, videos, documents and photos about al-Aqsa, alongside with interactive apps to discover the features of al-Aqsa, a timeline to observe the suffering of al-Aqsa being under occupation and (Ask Us), which is a free space to receive questions from the public about al-Aqsa,” Abu Shammala said. He also mentioned signing an MOU, “furthermore, I would like to tell you that today morning we signed MOU with Council for Humanitarian Networking of Shaikhul Islam Office to immediately start preparing to release the Thai-version of Aqsapedia. Also, we started programming and preparing to release the Tamil-version in collaboration with some institutions in Sri Lanka.”

He continued, “under the guidance, instructions and care of Dato’ Seri Haji Mukhriz Tun Mahathir, QFM has accomplished many achievements in the field of spreading awareness and education about the issue of Jerusalem and Masjid al-Aqsa in our region in cooperation with local and partner organizations in neighbouring countries, especially Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka.” He expressed his organization’s readiness to cooperate with all organizations in order to serve the Palestinian cause and al-Aqsa Mosque, so there is still a long way to go and needs great efforts.

“I would love to deeply thank the Leader of the Renaissance of Malaysia and its Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad, who always and fully support the struggle of the Palestinian people in all international positions and forums. I sincerely thank the Malaysian people and all the free nations that always stands by the right,” he concluded his speech.

During the ceremony, a recorded address by Sheikh, Imam and preacher of Masjid al-Aqsa, Dr. Ikrima Sabri presented in which he expressed his appreciation to QFM for launching Aqsapedia, thanked the audience and reminded them by the importance of the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque and the necessity of concerted efforts to protect it against the Israeli occupation.

To visit aqsapedia; Presshere!