Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Maher Taher Reda Al-Kharraz was born on March 1, 1951, to a Palestinian family from the city of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. He is married and has five sons and two daughters. He attended elementary school at Al-Ghazaliyya, Al-Ma'ari, Al-Kindi, and Al-Khalidiya schools, and middle school at King Talal and New Al-Ghazaliyya schools. He obtained his high school diploma in the Sharia (Islamic Studies) track from the Islamic High School in 1971. He enrolled in the Faculty of Sharia at the University of Jordan, but his difficult financial circumstances forced him to leave and return to Palestine, where he worked as a porter for a year. He then enrolled at Hebron University and obtained his bachelor's degree in Sharia with distinction in 1976. He was appointed imam of Al-Khadra Mosque in Nablus in 1967.
At the beginning of his life, Sheikh Al-Kharraz was influenced by the lessons of Sheikh Muhammad Radi Al-Hanbali, then by the lessons of Sheikh Hamed Al-Bitawi, which he held in the Al-Hanbali Mosque in Nablus and in his home, as well as the lessons of Sheikh Muhammad Eid Misk and Professor Muhammad Rashad Al-Sharif in Hebron.
Sheikh Al-Kharraz began his preaching activities by giving lessons and sermons at Al-Hussein Mosque in Hebron during his university studies. After graduating, he became involved in many preaching and awareness activities starting from Al-Khadra Mosque, where he regularly gave lessons and sermons. He formed a football team from the mosque's regulars, which he named "The Green Battalion" in 1978, and another basketball team. He also established a wall magazine and an audio recording library within the mosque, which contained a large number of cassettes of religious chants, sermons, and lessons. He also organized recreational trips, cultural gatherings, and social and volunteer activities. These activities included a number of young men who played a national role in later stages, including the martyr Zuhair Labada.
Sheikh al-Kharraz was summoned several times by Israeli intelligence and accused of organizing young people into the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood, but he denied the charges and continued his activities. He first participated in national marches in 1986, leading the funeral procession of a martyr from the al-Arandi family. He also played a role in inciting resistance during the First Intifada.
Sheikh al-Kharraz was first arrested by the Israeli occupation forces in 1989 and placed under administrative detention for six months. He was arrested again in 1992 and deported to Marj al-Zuhur in southern Lebanon for a year, where he served as one of the prayer leaders in the deportees' camp. He was arrested again in 1995 and placed under administrative detention for four months. During the Israeli invasion of Nablus in 2002, his home was targeted by a missile, and he was subsequently placed under administrative detention for six months. He was arrested again in 2005 for four months, and once more in 2007, spending 21 months in prison. He was arrested in 2014 and spent seven months in detention. He has also been arrested several times by the Palestinian security forces, each time for several days. The Israeli occupation has prevented Sheikh al-Kharraz from traveling since 1986. All of his sons have been arrested by the Israeli occupation, and some have been arrested by the Palestinian security forces.
Sheikh Al-Kharraz believes that the Palestinian cause is going through a very difficult phase, and the occupation is striving with all its might to change the reality on the ground by increasing the pace of settlement construction and repression, and by sowing discord and division among Palestinian factions. Therefore, Palestinians must rally around the option of resistance, as it is the only way to unite them and confront the occupation and its policies. The Oslo Accords must be abandoned; they are a bad agreement by all accounts, as they divided the West Bank into fragments and entrenched the occupation's control over all major aspects of life. Sheikh Al-Kharraz believes that younger generations are facing a fierce attack aimed at changing their values and goals and associating them with Westernization, especially in light of the division and fragmentation that Palestinians are experiencing. Therefore, a genuine political partnership must be achieved, one in which Hamas and Islamic Jihad join the Palestine Liberation Organization and all parties agree on a unified national program.
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