Muslims gather at mosques for first Friday prayers since Israel-Hamas war began

Shia Muslims leave a mosque after Friday prayers in Islamabad, Pakistan (AP)

In Muslim communities across the world, worshippers gathered at mosques for their first Friday prayers since Hamas militants attacked Israel, igniting the latest Israel-Palestinian war.

In Indonesia, mosques asked for God’s help to end the conflict quickly and held another prayer for the absent.

A cleric at one of Jakarta’s most conservative mosques called for mobilising efforts to help Palestinian Muslims.

Sri Lankans participate in a protest against Israeli air strikes on Gaza and to show solidarity with Palestinian people (AP)

In Malaysia, some 1,000 Muslims gathered in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, after Friday prayers to show solidarity with the Palestinians.

Chanting “Free Palestine” and “Crush the Zionists,” they burned two effigies draped with Israeli flags.

“This Israeli-Palestinian issue is more than a religious issue, it’s a humanitarian issue,” said Yasmin Hadi Abdul Halim, a student.

Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, 98, was among those attending the event.

“Seventy-five years ago, they took away Palestinian land to establish Israel. Not satisfied, they continued to take more land,” Mr Mahatjir said.

Muslims around the world showed solidarity with the Palestinian people and prayed for an end to war (AP)

“It’s not just about seizing land. The people of Palestine are subjected to torture, murder, imprisonment, and long detentions. Hamas did what they did due to decades of oppression (by Israel).”

Dozens more people attended a smaller rally outside the US Embassy that shut its doors to visitors as a security precaution. The rallies ended peacefully.

Islamic leaders in Indonesia appealed to all mosques in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation to pray for peace and safety for the Palestinian people.

The chairperson of the Indonesian Mosque Council had urged all mosques to perform the Qunut Nazilahto prayer, one made for protection, to ask for God’s help so that “the conflict in the Gaza Strip would end quickly”.

The appeal from the nation’s former vice president Jusuf Kalla is in line with most Indonesian Muslims, who stand with Palestinians. The prayer was held along with the Salat Al-Ghaib, or prayer for the absent.

A demonstration in Islamabad showed solidarity with the Palestinian people (AP)

In a sermon at Abu Bakar Al Shidiq, one of the most conservative mosques in Jakarta, a cleric called for mobilising “our power and efforts to help the Muslims in Palestine”.

“Prayer is a weapon for devout Muslims,” he added, “for those of us who have not been given the opportunity by God to take up arms to defend the honour and religion of our Muslim brothers, then we can take up our weapons by raising our hands asking God for His blessings.”

More than 200 people also rallied in front of the National Monument in Indonesia’s capital on Friday, waving banners expressing solidarity with the Palestinians.