Masjid al-Aqsa

Al-Masjid al-Aqsa (المسجد الأقصى) — the Farthest Mosque — is the third holiest site in Islam, after al-Masjid al-Haram in Makkah and al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Madinah. It is located in al-Quds (Jerusalem) on the raised platform known historically as al-Haram ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary). A critical point of clarity: al-Masjid al-Aqsa refers to the entire compound of the Noble Sanctuary, not only the building with the silver dome (al-Qibli Mosque) and not the Dome of the Rock, which is a separate structure within the compound.

Quranic Mention and the Night Journey

Al-Masjid al-Aqsa is the only mosque other than al-Masjid al-Haram to be mentioned by name in the Quran: "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 Hearing, the Seeing" (17:1). This verse describes the Isra (Night Journey), during which the Prophet was transported miraculously from Makkah to Jerusalem in a single night. At al-Masjid al-Aqsa, he led all the previous prophets — Ibrahim, Musa, Isa, and others — in prayer, in the most extraordinary congregation in human history. From there, he ascended through the seven heavens in the Mi'raj (Ascension), receiving the gift of five daily prayers.

Virtue of Prayer at Al-Aqsa

The Prophet attached special merit to prayer at al-Masjid al-Aqsa. He said: "A prayer in al-Masjid al-Haram is worth 100,000 prayers. A prayer in my mosque [Madinah] is worth 1,000 prayers. And a prayer in al-Masjid al-Aqsa is worth 500 prayers" (al-Bayhaqi, al-Tabarani — narrated by various routes with some scholarly discussion of the precise grading). He also recommended specifically traveling to pray at al-Masjid al-Aqsa and described it as one of only three mosques to which journeys for the purpose of prayer are permitted (Bukhari and Muslim — the other two being al-Masjid al-Haram and al-Masjid al-Nabawi).

The First Qiblah

For approximately sixteen months after the Hijrah to Madinah, the Prophet and the Muslim community prayed facing Jerusalem — al-Masjid al-Aqsa was the first qiblah of Islam. The change to facing the Ka'bah in Makkah came through a Quranic revelation (2:144) in the second year of Hijrah, and it is narrated that the Prophet was in the middle of leading a prayer when the revelation came and he turned mid-prayer, and the congregation turned with him. This episode demonstrates both the honor of al-Aqsa and the finality of the Ka'bah's status as qiblah.

Islamic History and Jerusalem

When Umar ibn al-Khattab accepted the surrender of Jerusalem in 637 CE, he personally came to the city, cleaned the site of al-Aqsa (which had been used as a garbage dump), and prayed there. He drafted a covenant guaranteeing the safety of all inhabitants — Christians, Jews, and others — their lives, property, and places of worship. This document, known as the Covenant of Umar, became a model of just governance. The Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan built the Dome of the Rock over the sacred rock from which the Prophet ascended in 691 CE. Salahuddin al-Ayyubi (Saladin) recaptured Jerusalem in 1187 CE with a generosity and mercy that contrasted sharply with the Crusader conquest of 1099, and he restored al-Aqsa to Muslim worship.

Al-Aqsa in Contemporary Times

Al-Masjid al-Aqsa remains an active mosque under the administration of the Islamic Waqf (endowment trust) of Jordan, with daily prayers and Friday congregations continuing uninterrupted. The status of al-Quds and al-Masjid al-Aqsa is a central issue of concern for the global Muslim community. Muslims everywhere maintain a spiritual connection to this blessed place through prayer, knowledge of its history, and supplication for its protection and liberation — a connection anchored in the Quran itself and in the prophetic Sunnah.