Two weeks ago, Israel365 News published an article about Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq, commonly known as Abdullah Hashem, an Egyptian-American and the founder of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL). Abdullah Hashem claims to be the “living successor of both Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ,” and his sermons bring “a divine message to the global Christian community.” He also claims to be  “the successor to Simon Peter, the successor to Jesus Christ, the true and legitimate Pope.” He claims to be the Mahdi, a Messianic figure and a redeemer of Islam who will come as an end-of-days ruler. 

After the article was published, Israel365 News was contacted by Arnaud al Almahdi, a spokesperson for the organization. He released a statement outlining a proposal by Abdullah Hashem for peace between the Palestinians and Israel based on the Arab world joining with Jews in the construction of the Third Temple in Jerusalem:

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Groundbreaking Solution Proposed for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Call for Unity and Peace [9/May/2025] – In a bold and defining development, Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace), identified as the Riser of the Family of Mohammed in the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light has presented a compelling vision for lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. This initiative calls for a joint effort between the Arabs and Jews to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. It also calls for the exodus of the Palestinians from Gaza and the creation of a new state headed by a descendant and heir to the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH and his family).  In a direct appeal, Aba Al-Sadiq calls upon Benjamin Netanyahu to grant freedom to the two million Palestinians, envisioning their secured future in a new, Divine Just State. He also calls for recognition from both sides that he, as the representative of Mohammed, be the negotiator between the two parties. Contact: [The Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light]

On Friday, AROPL posted a sermon by Abdullah Hashem to YouTube in which he outlined this vision:

“The Mahdi Aba Al-Sadiq, the inheritor of divine wisdom and authority, delivers a groundbreaking sermon directed at the Palestinians and Israelis — the children of Abraham. His message is clear: by harming each other, you are only hurting your shared father.

“This is not just another plea for peace — it is a wake-up call to the world. The ongoing conflict is not just political; it is spiritual. It wounds the legacy of the prophets and dishonors the covenant you were entrusted with.

“Aba Al-Sadiq calls on both sides to stop the cycle of destruction and meet at the table of truth. He is not a politician. He is the rightful inheritor of the Islamic nation, and in his hands are the divine solutions to this crisis — solutions rooted in justice, unity, and the will of God.

“This message is a turning point. For those willing to listen, it marks the beginning of the end of this conflict — and the start of real, lasting peace.”

The sermon contained several surprising elements:

“The treacherous Arab rulers have lied to you and are using religious blackmail and propaganda in order to force you to give up your lives defending their kingdoms,” Abdullah Hashem said. “They close the doors on you and want you to save Palestine. The truth, I tell you, is that there is no Palestine, there is no Iraq, there is no Egypt, there is no Sudan, there is no Libya, no Algeria, Morocco, no Tunisi, no Qatar, no Kuwait, no UAE, no Syria, no Arabia, no Aman, no Jordan. There are only the lands of the Muslims. The earth is for Allah, He leaves it as an inheritance to whom he wills.”

“They tell you this fight is to save Al Aqsa. They tell you it is a fight over the Temple Mount, over Jerusalem. They say the Muslims regard it as one of their holiest sites. They say you must fight and die to defend it against the Jews who want to build their temple, the temple of Solomon, the son of David. As for the temple being built, it will be built. Books written by both Shia and Sunni Muslim scholars have stated that there is a prophecy from the Prophet Muhammad narrated by his companions, that states, ‘A caliph from the descendants of the bani hasham (sons of God) will descend, and he will fill the earth with justice and fairness. He will rebuild the Bet Makdis (i.e. Beit HaMikdash/the Temple) with a construction like none before it, and there is no rebuilding of Jerusalem…unless it includes that which does not include the rebuilding of its crown jewel, the Temple of Solomon.

“Here we see in this vision of Jerusalem, a temple rebuilt, sacred to Jews and Arabs, to the Messiah and to the Mahdi. Perhaps at that time, the children of Ismael and Yischak are in peace and help their father Abraham in rebuilding a great temple. After all, the Jews and the Muslims agree that they worship the same God and they agree their prayers are acceptable in each other’s places of worship. “After all, their David is our David, their Solomon is our Solomon. We believe in the same prophets and messengers. Many of the Muslims don’t know, due to the non-working scholars, that the mosques on the Temple Mount were not built by the Prophet Muhammad nor by his family. The very first foundation was established by Muawiah, the son of Abu Sufyan, the enemy of Muhammad.”

“The current Al Aqsa mosque was built by an Umayad Caliph, Abd Malik Marwan, and then, after being destroyed by an earthquake, was rebuilt by the Abbasid caliph, al-Mansour. None of these individuals were prophets, none of them were holy, all of them were enemies of Muhammad. 

“The structures themselves on the site of the Temple Mount mean nothing to Muhammad and the family of Muhammad. Furthermore, the narrations cast doubt upon the actual location of AL Aqsa altogether.”

Abdullah Hashem then related the hadith describing Muhammad’s “miraculous night journey” in which he traveled to “Al Aqsa Mosque” (the further mosque). He then referred to the myth that the “Further Mosque” referred to in the Koran was in Jerusalem.

Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a senior lecturer in the Department of Arabic at Bar-Ilan University, frequently refers to the myth that the Aqsa Mosque described in the Koran is located in Jerusalem is “fake news” and insulting to Saudi Arabian Muslims since it would raise the mosque on the Temple Mount to a level of importance that could contest the centrality of Mecca in Islam.

“In early Islam, we see that assigning holiness to the Temple Mount was criticized as an attempt to introduce Jewish concepts into Islam,” Dr. Kedar said. “Today, this narrative describing Mohammad’s Night Journey as culminating in Jerusalem has been revived, advanced by the Muslim  Brotherhood, Turkey’s President Erdogan, Qatar, and other Islamist movements seeking to unite Muslims and/or Arabs under a caliphate who seek to take over Jerusalem and use it like a crown.”

In an article first published in 2016, Dr. Kedar advocated for a more precise and accurate understanding of Jerusalem’s significance for some Muslims by dispelling some clear lies perpetuated about the Temple Mount. Dr. Kedar explained that Al-Aqsa is mentioned once in the Koran, and Jerusalem is never named even once. 

“Since the Haj pilgrimage is one of the five basic Islamic commandments, the Umayads were forced to choose Jerusalem as their alternative for a pilgrimage site,” Dr. Kedar explained. “In order to justify choosing Jerusalem, the Umayyads rewrote the story told in the Koran, moving the al-Aqsa mosque to Jerusalem and adding, for good measure, the myth of the night-time journey of Mohammed to al-Aqsa. This is the reason the Sunnis now consider Jerusalem their third-holiest city.”

“Shia Islam, mercilessly persecuted by the Umayya Caliphate, did not accept the holy Jerusalem canard, which is the reason the second holiest city to Shiites is Najif in Iraq, the burial place of Shiite founder Ali bin Abi Talib. Many of the Shiite elders – Iranian and Hezbollah – only began to call Jerusalem holy after the Khomeni rebellion in 1979 so as to keep the Sunnis from accusing them of being soft on Zionism.”

Indeed, most Sunni maintain that the true location of the Al Aqsa Mosque described in the Koran is in Al Ju’ranah, near Mecca in Saudi Arabia, and not on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. 

It should also be noted that while claiming the Aqsa Mosque is “holy to Islam”, Palestinians identify the mosque as the gold dome, which is, in fact, the Dome of the Rock (Qubbat aṣ-Ṣaḵra). Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount has a dark gray dome and is located on the southern edge of the Temple Mount Compound. 

Abdullah Hashem continued his sermon:

“If the people asked Muhammad and the family of Muhammad about the Temple Mount instead of asking the non-working scholars about the Temple Mount, the matter would have been clear to them. They are being lied to. Their children are being slaughtered for a matter which the scholars themselves know to be a lie. The prophet Muhammad never traveled to that Jerusalem.”

He adds, “If a shared temple will bring lasting peace, then let us build it together in peace. Then afterwards, none have an excuse in front of this world to grant Muhammad and his nation a state, our holiest of holies is the Imam of the time.”

“Don’t harm any more people. Stop this war. See it that my message is carried to the Palestinian people. Allow me to convince them to leave with me. Then you can have the land if you want it and I can have my people and we will be happy to go anywhere in the world, any plot of land that has in it a ruler appointed by the Prophet of Allah. Any land with a divinely appointed ruler is a holy land.”

He made a plea to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow the Palestinians to leave Gaza, invoking Moses’ statement to Pharaoh, “Let my people go.”

The AROPL group has been persecuted by police and government authorities in Azerbaijan, Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, Sweden, Thailand,  and other countries.