Jordan has arrested a sheikh who recently ruled that Jews should have a place of prayer on the Temple Mount before retracting his statement, popular blogger Elder of Ziyon reported on Wednesday.

Jordanian Sheik Yassin Al-‘Ajlouni was taken into custody on the orders of the Administrative Governor of the Irbid Governorate. The “General Mufti Department” Attorney General had filed a lawsuit against Sheikh Ajlouni demanding that the Ministry of Education take “appropriate administrative action” against the preacher “for issuing random fatwas that hurt the feelings of Muslims, and affected the Jordanian efforts to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque from Zionist attacks.”

Earlier in December Sheikh Al-‘Ajlouni, who is also a physics teacher, said Jews should be given a place of worship on the Temple Mount. He called on “the religious ruling authorities in Palestine and Jordan” to allow Jews to build a synagogue on the religious site in the spirit of Islamic religious tolerance. He also acknowledged the fact that such remarks are likely to face “severe criticism.”

“I call upon the Islamic world and upon the Hashemite sovereign to allocate for the peaceful among the Jewish Israelis a house of prayer within Beit Al-Maqdis,” Sheikh Al-‘Ajlouni said in a video released by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). “There should be a special place of worship for the Jews among the Israelis under Hashemite and Palestinian sovereignty and in agreement with the Israeli regime.”

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In response, the Jordanian Iftaa Department issued a fatwa against Al-‘Ajlouni calling him “ignorant” and having “no legitimacy,” Elder of Ziyon reported.

Shortly after receiving the criticism, Al-‘Ajlouni recanted his statement. He also posted a poem on Facebook calling on Jews to forgo any plan to destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque and telling them to convert to Islam. Al-‘Ajlouni said Islam will be victorious over the Jews and that there is still time to convert.

Watch Sheik Al-‘Ajlouni retract his earlier statement about allowing Jews to pray on the Temple Mount: