'We shouldn't defend al-Aqsa,' says al-Azhar professor

A professor at Egypt's top Islamic institution has stirred up controversy after he made statements that many people have interpreted as a call for Muslims not to defend the al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site, from ongoing Israeli assaults.

Al-Azhar University's Saad al-Din al-Hilaly phoned into a local Egyptian TV station last week to say Palestinians defending the mosque from Israeli attacks should not do so because tensions would only escalate.

They want to drag us into a religious war. Wars between people cannot take place on behalf of religion - Saad al-Din al-Hilaly

"They want to drag us into a religious war. Wars between people cannot take place on behalf of religion. The claim that we are waging war for our religion is a catastrophe. Wage your war for your own religion and I'll wage war for mine," said the professor of comparative jurisprudence.

"When the Prophet Muhammad died, did the Muslims have al-Aqsa in their possession, or was it in the hands of the Christians? Do mosques belong to us or to God?"

He then said that if a war took place in occupied Palestine it must be for human rights and the rights of Palestinians - not for religious supremacy.

"The blood of humans is more important to God than buildings such as the Kaaba or al-Aqsa, which can be levelled to the ground and re-built ten times over," added the senior Islamic thinker.

Many social media users thought Hilaly's comments were out of line with his role as an Islamic intellectual and were against the Palestinian resistance movement.

"Whoever wants to understand the meaning of betrayal, failure and disgrace should watch this video. Even though it's only two minutes long, I couldn’t watch it all," tweeted Islamic scholar Fadel Soliman.

"I cannot sleep easy after seeing what has become of people speaking in the name of religion," Soliman added.

"This video should be put in a natural history museum as a perfect example of the baseness and depravity that has become of humanity," said Abdallah Malik on social media.

"What religion is Hilaly, who is attacking the beliefs of Muslims as if he's invented his own religion," said another user.

Hilaly has made controversial comments in the past, referring to Egyptian President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi as a "prophet" sent to Egypt by God - and that beer is halal, as long as you do not drink enough to get drunk.

The al-Aqsa mosque compound has been the scene of days of heated clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters.

As it stands only Muslims are legally allowed to pray inside the al-Aqsa mosque, but right-wing Jewish groups want that law changed so they too can pray at the site. Jews currently pray at the nearby Western Wall.