Construction of Al-Aqsa Mosque

# Al-Masjid al-Aqsa: The Third Holy Mosque

The Name and Its Quranic Origin

Al-Masjid al-Aqsa — the Farthest Mosque — derives its name directly from the Quran. In Surah al-Isra (17:1), Allah the Exalted declares: "Glory be to the One who took His servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing."

This single verse established the sacred status of al-Masjid al-Aqsa in the Islamic conscience from the very moment of revelation. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was taken from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca — the most sacred place on earth — to this Farthest Mosque in Jerusalem. There, he led all the prophets in prayer, in an act that symbolized the continuity and culmination of the prophetic mission. From there, he ascended through the heavens on the Mi'raj. Jerusalem was not incidental to the Prophet's ﷺ night journey — it was the destination.

The name "al-Aqsa" — the Farthest — referred at the time of revelation to the distance from Mecca to Jerusalem, but it carries also a theological resonance: this mosque stands at the furthest reach of the sacred geography of Islam's origins, the place where the monotheistic tradition of the prophets culminated before the completion of the revelation in the Arabian Peninsula.

Jerusalem as the First Qibla

Before the change of the qibla in the second year after the Hijra, the Muslims prayed toward Jerusalem. From the earliest days of revelation in Mecca through approximately sixteen to seventeen months after the Prophet's ﷺ migration to Medina, every Muslim prayer was oriented toward al-Masjid al-Aqsa. This historical fact alone establishes Jerusalem's profound connection to the daily practice of Islam in its founding period.

The change of the qibla to the Ka'bah in Mecca (2 AH) is recorded in Surah al-Baqarah (2:144): "We see your face turning toward the sky. We will certainly make you face a direction that will please you. So turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Haram." But the years of praying toward Jerusalem left an indelible mark on the Islamic understanding of the Holy City's significance. Jerusalem was not abandoned when the qibla changed — it remained the site of the Isra, the Mi'raj, and the spiritual homeland of all the prophets.

Umar ibn al-Khattab and the First Prayer Structure

When Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) entered Jerusalem in 16 AH and received its surrender from Patriarch Sophronius, one of his first acts was to visit the site of the Temple Mount — the broad plaza known in Arabic as al-Haram al-Sharif. He found the area strewn with refuse. He began cleaning it with his own hands, and the Muslims with him did likewise.

Umar then established a simple prayer area (musalla) near the southern end of the platform. This was not a formal mosque — it was a cleared space with a basic structure or shelter where Muslims could pray. Its significance lay in the act itself: the Caliph of the Muslims was re-establishing formal worship in the city of the prophets, in the place that the Muslims had faced in prayer for the first years of Islam.

This initial prayer structure under Umar is considered the precursor to Al-Masjid al-Aqsa, and classical accounts record its simplicity. No elaborate architecture, no dome — just a cleared space oriented toward Mecca, where the Muslims could fulfill their obligation of prayer at the site blessed by Allah Himself.

The Umayyad Construction: Abd al-Malik and Al-Walid

The formal construction of Al-Masjid al-Aqsa as a proper mosque is attributed to the Umayyad period. Most classical sources credit the beginning of the construction to the Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (r. 65-86 AH / 685-705 CE), who was simultaneously responsible for building the Dome of the Rock over the Sacred Rock at the northern end of the platform. His son al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 86-96 AH / 705-715 CE) is credited with completing and elaborating the mosque.

The mosque was built at the southern end of the Haram al-Sharif, facing north toward the Dome of the Rock and, from there, toward the Sacred Rock of the Mi'raj. Its qibla wall faces south toward Mecca. The alignment creates a spiritual axis across the platform: worshippers at Al-Aqsa face Mecca, their backs to the site of the Mi'raj, praying in the blessed surroundings mentioned in the Quran.

The Umayyad structure was substantial — a multi-nave basilical mosque with columns drawn from Byzantine-era structures. Classical sources describe it as magnificent, though the original structure was damaged by earthquakes and rebuilt multiple times in subsequent centuries.

The Hadith on Its Virtue

The spiritual status of Al-Masjid al-Aqsa is established beyond doubt by one of the most well-known ahadith in the Islamic tradition. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Do not set out on a journey to visit any mosque except three: al-Masjid al-Haram, my mosque (al-Masjid al-Nabawi), and al-Masjid al-Aqsa" (Bukhari and Muslim). This hadith places Al-Masjid al-Aqsa as one of only three mosques in the entire world to which travel is specifically recommended for the purpose of prayer — the other two being the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's ﷺ Mosque in Medina.

The hadith establishes a hierarchy: al-Masjid al-Haram is the most sacred, al-Masjid al-Nabawi is the second, and al-Masjid al-Aqsa is the third. This hierarchy is reflected in the reward for prayer in these mosques: the Prophet ﷺ stated that prayer in al-Masjid al-Haram is worth 100,000 prayers, prayer in al-Masjid al-Nabawi is worth 1,000 prayers, and prayer in al-Masjid al-Aqsa is worth 500 prayers (narrated by Ahmad and others, with various transmissions).

The Prophet ﷺ also said that al-Masjid al-Aqsa was one of the first two mosques ever built — the other being al-Masjid al-Haram — when asked by Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) which mosque was laid down first. He said al-Masjid al-Haram was first, then al-Masjid al-Aqsa, with forty years between them (Bukhari and Muslim). This establishes that the site had been a place of worship since the age of Ibrahim or even earlier, long before any particular physical structure stood on it.

The Distinction: Al-Aqsa Mosque vs. Al-Haram al-Sharif

An important clarification is essential: "Al-Masjid al-Aqsa" refers specifically to the mosque building at the southern end of the platform, with its distinctive grey lead dome. This is distinct from Al-Haram al-Sharif — the entire walled compound encompassing the raised platform, approximately 35 hectares in area, which includes the Dome of the Rock, Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Marwani Mosque (beneath the southeastern corner), and the open plazas between them.

Some scholars hold that Al-Masjid al-Aqsa refers to the entire Haram al-Sharif compound, not just the mosque building — and this is the more expansive understanding present in classical Islamic literature. When the Quran says "al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed," the blessing encompasses the entire sacred plateau. The practical implication is that prayer anywhere within the Haram al-Sharif carries the reward associated with Al-Masjid al-Aqsa.

The Crusader Period: Loss and Liberation

The Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099 CE (492 AH) after a brutal assault that resulted in the massacre of much of the city's Muslim and Jewish population. They converted Al-Masjid al-Aqsa into the headquarters of the Knights Templar — a military-religious order whose very name (the Temple) reflected their identification of the mosque with the ancient Temple of Sulayman. They added a refectory, stables (in the Marwani Prayer Hall beneath the platform), and various outbuildings to the mosque complex.

The liberation came with Salahuddin al-Ayyubi (may Allah have mercy on him) in 583 AH / 1187 CE. After his decisive victory at the Battle of Hattin, he besieged Jerusalem and received its surrender on 27 Rajab 583 AH — the night of al-Isra wal-Mi'raj — a coincidence of dates that classical Muslim historians record with evident spiritual significance. His first act upon entering Al-Masjid al-Aqsa was to have it cleaned of Crusader modifications, the cross removed from its roof, and the mihrab and minbar restored. He brought a magnificent carved wooden minbar — the Minbar of Nur al-Din, which had been made in Aleppo with the intention of one day being placed in Al-Aqsa — and installed it, and the first Friday prayer in the liberated mosque was led by Salahuddin himself.

Ottoman Restoration and Later History

The Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent undertook major restorations of the Jerusalem sanctuary in the 10th century AH, though his primary contributions to the visual character of Jerusalem are associated with the Dome of the Rock's tilework and the rebuilding of the city walls (the current walls of the Old City date to Suleiman). Al-Aqsa Mosque has been damaged by earthquakes on multiple occasions — most severely in 130 AH and later in medieval times — and rebuilt and restored by successive Abbasid, Fatimid, and Crusader/Muslim rulers.

The 20th century saw Al-Aqsa at the center of the conflict over Jerusalem, with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and the Israeli capture of the Old City in 1967 creating a political situation whose resolution remains one of the most significant unresolved conflicts in the contemporary world. The care and protection of Al-Masjid al-Aqsa and Al-Haram al-Sharif remains, for Muslims worldwide, a matter of religious obligation.

The Eschatological Dimension

Al-Masjid al-Aqsa also occupies a significant place in Islamic eschatological tradition. Ahadith indicate that Isa ibn Maryam (Jesus, peace be upon him) will descend at the white minaret of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and will subsequently lead Muslims in prayer. Jerusalem and its environs feature in traditions about the final battles before the Day of Judgment. These traditions reinforce the sense that Jerusalem is not only a site of historical and current significance but a city whose destiny is woven into the final chapter of human history according to Islamic belief.

Sources:

• Al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari (hadith on the three mosques; hadith on the two first mosques)
• Muslim, Sahih Muslim (hadith on the three mosques)
• Al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wal-Muluk
• Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wan-Nihaya
• Al-Muqaddasi, Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Ma'rifat al-Aqalim
• Al-Baladhuri, Futuh al-Buldan
• Al-Suyuti, Ithaf al-Akhissa fi Fada'il al-Masjid al-Aqsa
• Ibn al-Firkah, Ba'ith al-Nufus ila Ziyarar al-Quds al-Mahrus
• The Quran, Surah al-Isra (17:1), Surah al-Baqarah (2:144)