Career
Prior to becoming Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hussein was the manager and imam of the First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Aqsa Mosque. He was reportedly chosen for the position by Abbas because unlike his predecessor, he was expected to avoid controversy and self-aggrandizement. In October 2006, three months after his appointment as Grand Mufti, Hussein stated in an interview that suicide bombing by Palestinians against Israelis was "legitimate, of course, as long as it plays a role in the resistance".
The Jews will hide behind stones or trees.
The mufti"s comments were broadcast on Palestinian television the same day and then disseminated more widely on January 15 by Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli media watchdog group. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the mufti"s words as "morally heinous" and compared his behavior to the former grand mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who had allied himself with Adolf Hitler in the 1930s and 40s.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein instructed the police to open a criminal investigation into the matter. On 8 May 2013, the Grand Mufti was detained by Israeli authorities for questioning about his alleged connection to riots on the Temple Mount (also known as Haram al-Sharif, "the Noble Sanctuary", in Arabic).
In an interview with Israeli television"s Channel 2 on October 25, 2015, Muhammad Ahmad Hussein denied that the Temple Mount had ever housed any Jewish temple.
The site, considered the third holiest in Islam and the holiest to Jews, according to the Grand Mufti, was a mosque "3,000 years ago, and 30,000 years ago" and had been so "since the creation of the world." Regarding the First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Aqsa Mosque, which was founded by the caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab in the 7th century, the Mufti asserted that "this is the First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Aqsa Mosque that Adam, peace be upon him, or during his time, the angels built.".