Al-Aqsa Mosque – Jerusalem, Israel

Al-Aqsa Mosque or Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa (The Farthest Mosque), commonly refers to the southern congregational mosque located in Jerusalem, though according to Islamic law the entire complex known today as Al-Haram al-Qudsi al-Sharif (The Noble Sanctuary) to Muslims, including the Dome of the Rock, is considered part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is located in East Jerusalem.

The Mosque’s congregation building can accommodate about 5,000 people worshipping inside it, while the whole Al-Aqsa Mosque compound area may accommodate hundreds of thousands. Non-Muslims were barred from entering the site in 2000 but the restriction was lifted in 2003.

During times of increased security only Muslims of a certain age are permitted to access the mosque. The government of Israel has granted a Muslim Council, Waqf, full administration of the site.

Construction History

Background prior to construction (in brief)

The site of the Mosque originally contained the Chanuyot storehouse for the Temple in Jerusalem. The Chanuyot was destroyed along with the Temple by Roman Emperor (then General) Titus in 70 CE. Unlike the Temple, which was completely destroyed, a significant portion of the Chanuyot may have survived the destruction as the current mosque includes rows of ancient Corinthian columns that appear to predate the Islamic architecture, as visible in the photo to the right. Emperor Justinian built a Christian church on the site in the 530s and consecrated to the Virgin Mary by the name of Church of Our Lady. The church was later destroyed by the Persians in the early 7th century and left in ruins.

Construction

When Jerusalem came under the control of Muslims in 638, Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattāb (580-644) was given the key to the city by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius. He later asked the Patriarch to show him what Umar spelled out as “Masjid Dawud” (Mosque of David) and what was called “Mihrab Dawud” (David’s sanctuary or prayer niche) in the Qur’an (38:21). David chose the site on which Solomon built his temple. The Patriarch took him to the door of the sanctuary which was almost blocked due to the trash that was placed at the door. Umar looked left and right and said: “Allah is Great, I swear by the one who holds my soul in his hand that this is the Mosque of David which the prophet of Allah described to us after his night journey.”

Umar started cleaning up the place, using his clothes to remove the rubble and other Muslims imitated him in this. After cleaning up the place, Umar entered the building and started praying, reciting the Quranic sura Sad. Thereby Umar converted the building into a mosque, an Islamic place of prayer which did not infringe on nearby Christian and Jewish sites of worship.

Umar also asked Ka’ab al-Ahbar, a Jewish Rabbi who had converted to Islam and came with Umar from Medina, to guide him to the place of the Rock.

The building currently in existence is a result of different stages of construction and renovations. It is usually agreed upon that ‘Abd al-Malik (685-705), the Umayyad Caliph who was the patron of the Dome of the Rock, started to reconstruct the mosque at the southern end of the precinct. This work was continued by his son and successor al-Walid I (709-715), who renovated and expanded the building and at this time called it Al-Aqsa Mosque, which means “the farthest mosque”.

Further History

The building suffered from several major earthquakes and was renovated and reconstructed during the Abbasid period by Caliph al-Mahdi (775-785) and possibly by Caliph al-Mansur (754-775). A further reconstruction was executed during the Fatimid period in the 11th century.

Crusades

After Jerusalem was captured in 1099 as part of the First Crusade, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was established, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque was used as the royal palace of the Kings of Jerusalem. The Crusaders believed it to be built on top of the ruins of the King Solomon’s Temple, and referred to the building as the Templum Salomonis, while the Dome of the Rock was called Templum Domini (The Temple of the Lord).

Around 1119, King Baldwin II of Jerusalem also granted space in one wing to the a new order, which after this centre was called of the Knights Templar. The Templars used the building as their headquarters until Saladin conquered the city in 1187, at which point the Templars moved their headquarters to the northern coastal city of Acre, which they held for the next 100 years, and then the island of Cyprus after that.

After the crusades

Several major restorations took place during the 14th and 20th century.

Damage from earthquakes in 1927 and 1936 necessitated an almost complete rebuilding of the mosque, in the process of which ancient sections of the original mosque were brought to light.

It has been modified several times to protect it from earthquakes, which sometimes occur in the area, and to adapt to the changing needs of the local population. The form of the present structure has remained essentially the same since it was reconstructed by the Khalif Al-Dhahir in 1033 AD. It is said that he did not alter it from the previous architecture except to narrow it on each side

Modern history

The Al-Aqsa Intifada is named after the mosque (related to Ariel Sharon’s highly controversial visit to Judaism’s holiest site, the Temple Mount, in September 2000), as are the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a right wing group loosely aligned with the Palestinian Fatah faction.

Some Jewish groups such as the Temple Mount Faithful have also expressed a desire to rebuild the ancient Jewish Temple somewhere on the Temple Mount on which the Al Aqsa Mosque is standing. Israeli authorities have foiled the plans of the Gush Emunim Underground, a Militant group of Jews, to blow up the al-Aqsa Mosque.

In the morning of August 21, 1969, a fire at Masjid al-Aqsa gutted the southeastern wing of the mosque. The fire destroyed a priceless one-thousand-year-old wood and ivory pulpit (minbar) that had been sent from Aleppo by Saladin. The “twin” of this minbar (Saladin had them both made at the same time) is still extant in the mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

Michael Dennis Rohan, a tourist from Australia, was arrested for the arson attack on August 23, 1969. Rohan was a Protestant follower of an evangelical sect known as the Church of God. By his own admission, Rohan hoped to hasten the coming of the Messiah by burning down the al-Aqsa Mosque. Rohan told the court that he acted as “the Lord’s emissary” on divine instructions, in accordance with the Book of Zechariah, and that he had tried to destroy the al-Aqsa Mosque in order to rebuild the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount. He was hospitalized in a mental institution, found to be insane and was later deported from Israel.

There has recently been much potentially dangerous bulging of the southern supporting wall of the Temple Mount. Some have accused Israel of weakening the walls of the mosque during alleged archaeological excavations that began in 1967 (and long since discontinued). Others claim that the irresponsible excavations performed by the Waqf which are destroying Temple Relics and other historical artefacts are also causing the problems with the supporting walls. In response to concerns about the structure’s stability, renovations are being carried out by the Islamic Waqf Foundation.

The Muslim Waqf is in charge of the Al Aqsa mosque, along with most of the important Muslim shrines in Israel.

The mosque consists today of a seven bay hypostyle hall with several additional small halls to the west and east of the southern section of the building. Unlike most hypostyle-style mosques, the building does not have a clearly delineated courtyard unless one considers the whole Haram as its court. It was, until a few years ago, capped with a silver dome, but today is made of lead sheets, which together with the golden dome of the Dome of the Rock, formulate the icon of the Haram in Jerusalem.

Name

The name “Al-Aqsa Mosque” translates to “the farthest mosque” (“the remote mosque” according to some translations, such as that of Muhammad Asad), or ‘The End’ and is associated with the Isra and Mi’raj, a journey, Muslims believe was made around 621 by the Islamic prophet Muhammad(c. 570-632) on the winged steed Buraq, which was brought to him by the Archangel Gabriel. This is often referred to in English as Muhammad’s “night journey” . According to Qur’anic verse, Muhammad took the journey in a single night from “the sacred mosque” (in Mecca) to “the farthest mosque” (al-Masjid al-Aqsa). From a rock there, Muhammad ascended to heaven, accompanied by Gabriel, touring heaven and receiving the commandments, including the five daily prayers, before returning to Earth and back to Mecca to communicate them to the faithful.

The hadith narrator Imam Muslim reports that the companion of Muhammad Anas ibn Malik mentions that Muhammad said:

This story was to become the raison d’être for Islam’s two most important shrines in Jerusalem, al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock,

In this regard, the Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyah reports:

The muslims scholar al Tabari reports in Tarikh al-Tabari:

Regarding the name, other sources mention the following:

First qibla

The historical significance of Al-Aqsa Mosque is further emphasised by the fact that Muslims used to turn towards Al-Haram al-Sharif when they prayed.

As it was the place at which Muhammad performed the first commanded prayer after Isra and Mi’raj, it became the qibla (direction) that Muslims faced during prayer and continued to be so for sixteen or seventeen months, 6:60:13. After a revelation recorded in the Qur’an the qibla was then turned towards Mecca:

The Importance of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Islam

1. Masjid-al-Aqsa is one of the holiest sites in Islam because, it is where, according to Muslims, Abraham (the patriarch of the Abrahamic faiths) established his covenant with Allah and spread the teaching of monotheism. Muslims respect all the prophets revered by Judaism and Christianity and their venerated places are also central to the ethos of Islam. Solomon was a prophet and revered by Muslims.
2. Judaism belief in the Temple of Solomon (Haykal Sulaiman) as the Noble Sanctuary is coherent with the Islam believe in Masjid al-Aqsa because the literal meaning of masjid does not mean a building or any specific place. The word Masjid derived from the root word “Saa Jaa Daa” in arabic which means (to prostrate) (act of worship). In this case not only the Mosque of Umar is considered as Masjid al-Aqsa but the entire precinct too. Muslims belief that the Temple of Solomon meant by the Jews was a Masjid and not a temple because Islam believes that all prophets conveyed the same message and prostrated to Allah during prayers.
3. It was the site where Muhammad ascended to heaven during Isra and Mi’raj. (The main place, however, where Muhammad received most revelations, including the first, was in the cave of Hira where he meditated frequently during the first forty years of his life.)
4. The Mosque of Umar reminds all about the atrocity and devastation suffered by the inhabitant of Jerusalem during the Roman occupation. It also signifies freedom of religion achieved by Jews which was granted to them by the Muslims after a long time.
5. It was the first qibla, the second house (of worship) of Allah after Kaabah in Mecca, and the third holiest site in Islam.

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