Editing Temple Mount (section)

==Terminology==
The name of the site is disputed, primarily between Muslims and Jews, in the context of the ongoing [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]. Some Arab-Muslim commentators and scholars [[Temple denial|attempt to deny Jewish connection with the Temple Mount]], while some Jewish commentators and scholars attempt to belittle the importance of the site in Islam.<ref name=":18">{{Cite book |last=Reiter |first=Yitzhak |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/960842983 |title=Contested Holy places in Israel/Palestine: Sharing and Conflict Resolution |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-138-24349-1 |pages=21–23 |oclc=960842983 |quote=The HS is also the third holiest site in Islam. Early Islam identified the location of the Holy Rock (known as the Foundation Stone among Jews) with the Temple of Solomon. The Dome of the Rock, built by the Caliph ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan at the end of the seventh century CE, was aimed to glorify the place with the understanding of Islam as a continuation of Judaism (and Christianity). Muslim writers related to the site with respect to its sacred continuity. For example, the fifteenth-century Arab historian of Jerusalem Mujir al-Din quotes an early tradition narrated by al-Wasti stating, "After David built many cities and the situation of the children of Israel was improved, he wanted to construct Bayt al-Maqdis [Jerusalem] and build a dome over the rock in the place that Allah sanctified in Aelia [the Roman Byzantine name of Jerusalem]". In another place, he writes, “Suleiman (Solomon) built Masjid Bayt al-Maqdis by the order of his father Da’ud (David).” However, during the twentieth century, against the backdrop of the struggle between the Zionist and the Palestinian-Arab national movements, a new Arab-Muslim trend of denying Jewish attachment to the Temple Mount arose. On the Jewish side, meanwhile, some nationalists and academics also belittled the importance to Muslims of the sacred site in particular and of Jerusalem in general, highlighting the fact that Jerusalem’s name never appears in the Qur’an and that the city never served as an Arab political center.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Omar |first=Abdallah Marouf |date=2017 |title=Al-Aqsa Mosque's Incident in July 2017: Affirming the Policy of Deterrence. |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/26300531 |journal=[[Insight Turkey]] |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=69–82 |doi=10.25253/99.2017193.05 |jstor=26300531 |quote=As shown before, Israel tried first to play with the definition of al-Aqsa as being only the Qibli Mosque building. This would give Israel an excuse to request a share in administrating the whole compound, claiming that not all of it is al-Aqsa Mosque. |ref=none |issn=1302-177X }}</ref> During a 2016 dispute over the name of the site, [[UNESCO]] Director-General [[Irina Bokova]] stated: "Different peoples worship the same places, sometimes under different names. The recognition, use of and respect for these names is paramount."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-10-14 |title=Israel freezes Unesco ties for 'denying Jewish holy sites' |language=en-GB |agency=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37653910 |access-date=2022-07-17}}</ref>

===Temple Mount===
The term ''Har haBayīt'' – commonly translated as "Temple Mount" in English – was first used in the books of [[Book of Micah|Micah]] (4:1) and [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]] (26:18), literally as "Mount of the House", a literary variation of the longer phrase "Mountain of the House of the Lord". The abbreviation was not used again in the later books of the [[Hebrew Bible]]{{sfn|Eliav|2008|p=50-51|ps=: "The pair of words ''Temple Mount'' also debuted in the works of the prophets. The ''copyright'' for this name is reserved to the prophet Micah, who incorporated it into his famous admonitory prophecy: ''Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest'' (Micah 3:12). It is quite doubtful, however, that the book of Micah preserved a concrete name that was actually used in the day-to-day lexicon of the prophet's generation. A close-reading of this passage shows that the phrase ''Mountain of the House'' is a literary variation of a longer term, the ''mountain of the House of the Lord'' (three words in Hebrew), which appears in verse 4:1. The author places the complete term in the middle and ''plays'' with its constituent parts (both pieces come out to two words in Hebrew) in the previous and subsequent verses (3:12; 4:2). In verse 4:1 the name Lord is deleted, leaving the term ''Mount of the House,'' or Temple Mount. This, then, is not a case of terms taken from the vocabulary of daily life but rather variations characteristic of the common literary diction used by the prophets. Furthermore, nearly one thousand years will pass from the alleged time of Micah until the specific term ''Temple Mount'' reappears in the Mishnah. In the interim, the term ''Temple Mount'' is not used in even one of the numerous existing sources, except in works quoting and using the entire phrase from Micah. This is conclusive evidence that the name ''Temple Mount'' was not used in earlier periods, even though the image of a mountain as a place for a temple was both known and probably, at least to some degree, widespread."}} or in the [[New Testament]].{{sfn|Eliav|2008|p=56|ps=: "Various passages of the New Testament use the images of the Temple and Jerusalem, whether to express the ''Heavenly Jerusalem'' or, on occasion, as a label for the actual community. And what of the Temple Mount? The word combination ''Temple'' and ''Mount'' is never to be found throughout the entire corpus of the New Testament."}} The term remained in use throughout the [[Second Temple period]], although the term “Mount Zion”, which today refers to the [[Mount Zion|eastern hill]] of ancient Jerusalem, was used more frequently. Both terms are in use in the [[Books of the Maccabees|Book of Maccabees]].<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal |last1=Patrich |first1=Joseph |last2=Edelcopp |first2=Marcos |date=2013 |title=Four stages in the evolution of the Temple Mount |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44092217 |journal=Revue Biblique (1946–) |volume=120 |issue=3 |pages=321–61 |issn=0035-0907 |jstor=44092217}}</ref> The term ''Har haBayīt'' is used throughout the [[Mishnah]] and later Talmudic texts.<ref name="Eliav 2003 pp. 49–113">{{cite journal |last=Eliav |first=Yaron Z. |year=2003 |title=The Temple Mount, the Rabbis, and the Poetics of Memory |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23509245 |journal=Hebrew Union College Annual |publisher=Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion |volume=74 |pages=49–113 |issn=0360-9049 |jstor=23509245 |access-date=2022-06-30}}</ref>{{sfn|Eliav|2008|p=59b}}

The exact moment when the concept of the Mount as a topographical feature separate from the Temple or the city itself first came into existence is a matter of debate among scholars.<ref name=":20" /> According to Eliav, it was during the first century CE, after the destruction of the Second Temple.{{sfn|Eliav|2008|p=64|ps=: "Surprisingly, it was only in the aftermath of the Second Temple's destruction, when Jerusalem lost its own role as a political and religious center, that the Temple Mount gained prominence."}} Shahar and Shatzman reached different conclusions.<ref>Shahar, Y. (2008) "The concept of the Temple Mount in the Second Tem period," ''New Studies on Jerusalem,'' pp. 14, 203–10 (Hebrew with an English abstract on p. 4).</ref><ref>Shatzman, I. (2009). Appendix H, in: Yosef Ben Matityahu ([Titus] Flavius Josephus), ''History of the Jewish War Against the Romans'' (tr. L. Ulman), Jerusalem, pp. 646–59 (Heb).</ref> In the [[Books of Chronicles]], edited at the end of the [[Yehud (Persian province)|Persian period]], the mountain is already referred to as a distinct entity. In 2 Chronicles, [[Solomon's Temple]] was constructed on Mount [[Moriah]] (3:1), and [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]]'s atonement for his sins is associated with the Mountain of the House of the Lord (33:15).<ref name=":15" /><ref>{{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|33:15|HE}}.</ref><ref name=":20" /> The conception of the Temple as being located on a holy mountain possessing special qualities is found repeatedly in Psalms, with the surrounding area being considered an integral part of the Temple itself.{{sfn|Eliav|2008|p=54|ps=: "The name ''Temple Mount'' appears but once throughout the multitude of available sources (in 1 Maccabees, which will be discussed below). Even there, it operates only as a literary construction, inspired by the biblical verse in Micah. This is a decisive finding, which proves that the term ''Temple Mount'' was not an integral part of the Second Temple period's lexicon...The most important question, however, is: how was this surrounding territory perceived by those living at the time, and how did it rank, if at all, in their world-view? It seems to me that throughout most of the period, the area did not possess any independent identity and was considered an integral part of the Temple itself. From a semantic standpoint, the various names given to the compound{{snd}} ''hatser ''(courtyard) in Hebrew, or the Greek ''peribolos'' and ''temenos''{{snd}}describe a space that surrounds another architectural element. The Temple, then, was perceived as an architectural complex containing different components. Just as the altar was part of the Temple structure, so were the surrounding elements{{snd}}courtyards and galleries. This is not to say that all these parts shared an equal status or degree of holiness. There was a definite, hierarchical system: the outer enclosure was not on a par with the inner court, and the inner court was not equivalent to the Holy of Holies. They were all grasped, however, as parts of a whole, which together formed the Temple. The sacredness of these territories is almost self-evident and is certainly no surprise. The expression "my holy courts" appears already in early, First Temple texts (for example, Isaiah 62:9), and it is only natural that the areas that form part of the Temple should possess some of its holiness. For example, the codes of purity were strictly enforced in these courts, in order to prevent the penetration of defilement into the inner sanctuary. The compounds surrounding the Temple, then, did not possess an independent character, and constituted an integral part of the Temple. People didn't refer to these areas as the "Temple Mount," and they were not even perceived in their consciousness as a mountain.}}

The governmental organization which administers the site, the [[Jerusalem Islamic Waqf]] (part of the Jordanian government), have stated that the name "The Temple Mount" is a "strange and alien name" and a "newly-created Judaization term".<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20201031114752/https://haramalaqsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/al-aqsa-definition-AR.pdf Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, The Administration Department of Awgaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs, Jerusalem: Al-Aqsa Mosque]}}: "They all reassure their rejection of the attempts to Judaize al-Aqsa Mosque or any of its components by the Israeli Occupation Authorities, its various organs and the Jewish organizations, which interfering with its extreme Jewish organizations, which attempt interfering with its administration, hampering its reconstruction, and forcing strange and alien names [such as "The Temple Mount"] among other newly-created Judaization terms."</ref> In 2014, the [[Palestine Liberation Organization|Palestinian Liberation Organization]] (PLO) issued a press release urging journalists not to use the term "Temple Mount" when referring to the site.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ynetnews |date=2014-11-06 |title=PLO urge journalists: Don't use term 'Temple Mount' |language=en |work=Ynetnews |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4588544,00.html |access-date=2022-06-30}}</ref> In 2017, it was reported that Waqf officials harassed archeologists such as [[Gabriel Barkay]] and tour guides who used the term at the site.<ref name=":19">{{Cite web |last=Zion |first=Ilan Ben |date=2022-03-07 |title=Islamic guards try to boot guide for saying 'Temple Mount' on Temple Mount |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/islamic-guards-try-to-boot-guide-for-saying-temple-mount-on-temple-mount/ |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=The Times of Israel |language=en-US}}</ref> According to Jan Turek and John Carman, in modern usage, the term Temple Mount can potentially imply support for Israeli control of the site.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carman |first1=John |last2=Turek |first2=Jan |year=2016 |title=Looking Back and Forward |journal=Archaeologies |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=231–39 |doi=10.1007/s11759-017-9304-z |issn=1555-8622 |quote=In part, the issue is one of the technical interpretations of [[World Archaeological Congress|WAC Statutes]] which require WAC to adhere to UN and UNESCO principles of Human Rights and official languages: whether the latter extends to adoption of UNESCO names for things and places is less clear. But it goes further than this: the names applied to places are also indications of claims of ownership and stakeholder status. Since WAC is also bound to defy the forcible occupation of territory and the oppression of peoples, to recognise ‘Temple Mount’ as a legitimate title is potentially to recognise Israeli claims and therefore implicitly offer support for Israeli occupation of Jerusalem in defiance of international condemnation. |ref=none |s2cid=157370997|doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Other Hebrew terms ===
[[Books of Chronicles|2 Chronicles]] 3:1<ref name=":15">{{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|3:1|HE}}.</ref> refers to the Temple Mount in the time before the construction of the temple as Mount Moriah ({{langx|he|הַר הַמֹּורִיָּה}}, {{transliteration|he|har ha-Môriyyāh}}).

Several passages in the [[Hebrew Bible]] indicate that during the time when they were written, the Temple Mount was identified as Mount Zion.<ref name="Pixner">{{cite book |author=Pixner |first=Bargil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bvhA6IE4VqgC&q=zion+canaanite&pg=PA321 |title=Paths of the Messiah |publisher=Ignatius Press |others=Translated by Keith Myrick and Miriam Randall |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-89870-865-3 |editor=[[Rainer Riesner]] |pages=320–322}}</ref> The [[Mount Zion]] mentioned in the later parts of the [[Book of Isaiah]] (Isaiah 60:14),<ref>{{Bibleverse|Isaiah|60:14|HE}}.</ref> in the [[Book of Psalms]], and the [[First Book of Maccabees]] ({{c.|2nd century BCE}}) seems to refer to the top of the hill, generally known as the Temple Mount.<ref name="Pixner" /> According to the [[Book of Samuel]], Mount Zion was the site of the Jebusite fortress called the "stronghold of Zion", but once the First Temple was erected, according to the Bible, at the top of the Eastern Hill ("Temple Mount"), the name "Mount Zion" migrated there too.<ref name="Pixner" /> The name later migrated for a last time, this time to Jerusalem's Western Hill.<ref name="Pixner" />

===Al-Aqsa Mosque===
[[File:Mesjid el-Aksa and Jami el-Aksa in the 1841 Aldrich and Symonds map of Jerusalem (cropped).jpg|thumb|Extract of an [[1840–41 Royal Engineers maps of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria|1841 British map]] showing both "Mesjid el-Aksa" and "Jami el-Aksa"]]
The English term "al-Aqsa Mosque" is a translation of either ''al-Masjid al-'Aqṣā'' ({{langx|ar|ٱلْمَسْجِد ٱلْأَقْصَىٰ}}) or ''al-Jâmi' al-Aqṣā'' ({{langx|ar|ٱلْـجَـامِـع الْأَقْـصّى}}).<ref name=Robinson>{{cite book | last1=Robinson | first1=E. | last2=Smith | first2=E. | title= Biblical Researches in Palestine |title-link= Biblical Researches in Palestine | publisher=John Murray | year=1841 | quote="The Jámi'a el-Aksa is the mosk alone; the Mesjid el-Aksa is the mosk with all the [[sacred enclosure]] and precincts, including the [[Dome of the Rock|Sükhrah]]. Thus the words Mesjid and Jāmi'a differ in usage somewhat like the Greek ίερόν and ναός."}}</ref><ref name=Palmer>{{cite journal | author-link= Edward Henry Palmer|last=Palmer | first=E.H. | title=History of the Haram Es Sherif: Compiled from the Arabic Historians | journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly | volume=3 | issue=3 | year=1871 | issn=0031-0328 | doi=10.1179/peq.1871.012 | pages=122–132|quote=Excursus in the Name Masjid el Aksa. In order to understand the native accounts of the sacred area at Jerusalem, it is essentially necessary to keep in mind the proper application of the various names by which it is spoken of. When the Masjid el Aksa is mentioned, that name is usually supposed to refer to the well-known mosque on the south side of the Haram, but such is not really the case. The latter building is called El Jámʻi el Aksa, or simply El Aksa, and the substructures are called El Aksa el Kadímeh (the ancient Aksa), while the title El Masjid el Aksa is applied to the whole sanctuary. The word Jámi is exactly equivalent in sense to the Greek συναγωγή, and is applied to the church or building in which the worshippers congregate. Masjid, on the other hand, is a much more general term; it is derived from the verb sejada “to adore," and is applied to any spot, the sacred character of which would especially incite the visitor to an act of devotion. Our word mosque is a corruption of masjid, but it is usually misapplied, as the building is never so designated, although the whole area on which it stands may be so spoken of. The Cubbet es Sakhrah, El Aksa, Jam'i el Magharibeh, &c., are each called a Jami, but the entire Haram is a masjid. This will explain how it is that 'Omar, after visiting the churches of the Anastasis, Sion, &c., was taken to the "Masjid" of Jerusalem, and will account for the statement of Ibn el 'Asa'kir and others, that the Masjid el Aksa measured over 600 cubits in length-that is, the length of the whole Haram area. The name Masjid el Aksa is borrowed from the passage in the Coran (xvii. 1), when allusion is made to the pretended ascent of Mohammed into heaven from ·the temple of Jerusalem; "Praise be unto Him who transported His servant by night from El Masjid el Haram (i.e., 'the Sacred place of Adoration' at Mecca) to El Masjid el Aksa (i.e., 'the Remote place of Adoration' at Jerusalem), the precincts of which we have blessed," &c. The title El Aksa, "the Remote," according to the Mohammedan doctors, is applied to the temple of Jerusalem "either because of its distance from Mecca, or because it is in the centre of the earth."}}</ref><ref name="PEF">[[PEF Survey of Palestine]], 1883, [[iarchive:surveyofwesternp00warruoft/page/119|volume III Jerusalem]], p. 119: "The Jamia el Aksa, or 'distant mosque' (that is, distant from Mecca), is on the south, reaching to the outer wall. The whole enclosure of the Haram is called by Moslem writers Masjid el Aksa, 'praying-place of the Aksa,' from this mosque."</ref> ''Al-Masjid al-'Aqṣā'' – "the farthest mosque" – is derived from the [[Quran]]'s ''[[Al-Isra|Surah 17]]'' ("The Night Journey") which writes that [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]] travelled from Mecca to the mosque, from where he subsequently ascended to [[Heaven]].<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem |publisher=Atlas Travel and Tourist Agency |url=http://www.atlastours.net/holyland/al_aqsa_mosque.html |access-date=29 June 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080726195105/http://www.atlastours.net/holyland/al_aqsa_mosque.html| archive-date= 26 July 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Lailat al Miraj |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC MMVIII |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/holydays/lailatalmiraj.shtml |access-date=29 June 2008 }}</ref> Arabic and Persian writers such as 10th-century geographer [[Al-Maqdisi]],<ref name=MukaddasiNasir>{{cite book | last=Le Strange | first=Guy | author-link= Guy Le Strange| title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Translated from the Works of the Medieval Arab Geographers | publisher=Houghton, Mifflin | year=1890 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxUyssIX-H4C&pg=RA1-PA94 | pages=96|quote=Great confusion is introduced into the Arab descriptions of the Noble Sanctuary by the indiscriminate use of the terms Al Masjid or Al Masjid al Akså, Jami' or Jami al Aksâ; and nothing but an intimate acquaintance with the locality described will prevent a translator, ever and again, misunderstanding the text he has before him-since the native authorities use the technical terms in an extraordinarily inexact manner, often confounding the whole, and its part, under the single denomination of "Masjid." Further, the usage of various writers differs considerably on these points : Mukaddasi invariably speaks of the whole Haram Area as Al Masjid, or as Al Masjid al Aksî, “the Akså Mosque,” or “the mosque," while the Main-building of the mosque, at the south end of the Haram Area, which we generally term the Aksa, he refers to as Al Mughattâ, “the Covered-part.” Thus he writes "the mosque is entered by thirteen gates," meaning the gates of the Haram Area. So also "on the right of the court,” means along the west wall of the Haram Area; "on the left side” means the east wall; and “at the back” denotes the northern boundary wall of the Haram Area. Nasir-i-Khusrau, who wrote in Persian, uses for the Main-building of the Aksâ Mosque the Persian word Pushish, that is, “Covered part,” which exactly translates the Arabic Al Mughatta. On some occasions, however, the Akså Mosque (as we call it) is spoken of by Näsir as the Maksurah, a term used especially to denote the railed-off oratory of the Sultan, facing the Mihrâb, and hence in an extended sense applied to the building which includes the same. The great Court of the Haram Area, Nâsir always speaks of as the Masjid, or the Masjid al Akså, or again as the Friday Mosque (Masjid-i-Jum'ah).}}</ref> 11th-century scholar [[Nasir Khusraw]],<ref name=MukaddasiNasir/> 12th-century geographer [[Muhammad al-Idrisi]]<ref>{{cite book | last1=Idrīsī | first1= Muhammad | author-link1=Muhammad al-Idrisi| last2=Jaubert | first2=Pierre Amédée  | author-link2=Pierre Amédée Jaubert  | title=Géographie d'Édrisi | publisher=à l'Imprimerie royale | year=1836 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRA7AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA343 | language=fr | pages=343–44|quote= Sous la domination musulmane il fut agrandi, et c'est (aujourd'hui) la grande mosquée connue par les Musulmans sous le nom de Mesdjid el-Acsa مسجد الأقصى. Il n'en existe pas au monde qui l'égale en grandeur, si l'on en excepte toutefois la grande mosquée de Cordoue en Andalousie; car, d'après ce qu'on rapporte, le toit de cette mosquée est plus grand que celui de la Mesdjid el-Acsa. Au surplus, l'aire de cette dernière forme un parallelogramme dont la hauteur est de deux cents brasses (ba'a), et le base de cents quatre-vingts. La moitié de cet espace, celle qui est voisin du Mihrab, est couverte d'un toit (ou plutôt d'un dôme) en pierres soutenu par plusieurs rangs de colonnes; l'autre est à ciel ouvert. Au centre de l'édifice est un grand dôme connu sous le nom de Dôme de la roche; il fut orné d'arabesques en or et d'autres beaux ouvrages, par les soins de divers califes musulmans. Le dôme est percé de quatre portes; en face de celle qui est à l'occident, on voit l'autel sur lequel les enfants d'Israël offraient leurs sacrifices; auprès de la porte orientale est l'église nommée le saint des saints, d'une construction élégante; au midi est une chapelle qui était à l'usage des Musulmans; mais les chrétiens s'en sont emparés de vive force et elle est restée en leur pouvoir jusqu'à l'époque de la composition du présent ouvrage. Ils ont converti cette chapelle en un couvent où résident des religieux de l'ordre des templiers, c'est-à-dire des serviteurs de la maison de Dieu.}} Also at {{cite book | last1=Williams | first1=G. | last2=Willis | first2=R. | title=The Holy City: Historical, Topographical, and Antiquarian Notices of Jerusalem | publisher=J.W. Parker | chapter= Account of Jerusalem during the Frank Occupation, extracted from the Universal Geography of Edrisi. Climate III. sect. 5. Translated by P. Amédée Jaubert. Tome 1. pp. 341–45. | issue=v. 1 | year=1849 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_sqAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA131 | ref=none}}</ref> and 15th-century Islamic scholar [[Mujir al-Din]],<ref name=MujiralDin>{{cite book | last=Williams | first=George | author-link=George Williams (priest) | title=The Holy City: Historical, Topographical and Antiquarian Notices of Jerusalem | publisher=Parker | year=1849 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fd07AAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PA151|pages=143–60|quote= The following detailed account of the Haram es-Sherif, with some interesting notices of the City, is extracted from an Arabic work entitled “ The Sublime Companion to the History of Jerusalem and Hebron, by [[Mujir al-Din|Kadi Mejir-ed-din, Ebil-yemen Abd-er-Rahman, El-Alemi]],” who died A.H. 927, (A.D. 1521)… “I have at the commencement called attention to the fact that the place now called by the name Aksa (i. e. the most distant), is the Mosk [Jamia] properly so called, at the southern extremity of the area, where is the Minbar and the great Mihrab. But in fact Aksa is the name of the whole area enclosed within the walls, the dimensions of which I have just given, for the Mosk proper [Jamia], the Dome of the Rock, the Cloisters, and other buildings, are all of late construction, and Mesjid el-Aksa is the correct name of the whole area.”}} and also {{cite book | last=von Hammer-Purgstall | first=J.F. | author-link=Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall|title=Fundgruben des Orients | publisher=Gedruckt bey A. Schmid| volume=2 | year=1811 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSowAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA240 | language=fr |page=93|chapter= Chapitre vingtième. Description de la mosquée Mesdjid-ol-aksa, telle qu'elle est de nos jours, (du temps de l'auteur, au dixième siècle de l'Hégire, au seizième après J.C.)|quote= Nous avons dès le commencement appelé l'attention sur que l'endroit, auquel les hommes donnent aujourd'hui le nom d'Aksa, c'est à-dire, la plus éloignée, est la mosquée proprement dite, bâtie à l'extrêmité méridionale de l'enceinte où se trouve la chaire et le grand autel. Mais en effet Aksa est le nom de l'enceinte entière, en tant qu'elle est enfermée de murs, dont nous venons de donner la longueur et la largeur, car la mosquée proprement dite, le dôme de la roche Sakhra, les portiques et les autres bâtimens, sont tous des constructions récentes, et Mesdjidol-aksa est le véritable nom de toute l'enceinte. (Le Mesdjid des arabes répond à l'ίερόν et le Djami au ναός des grecs.)}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Abu Sway |first=Mustafa |date=Fall 2000 |title=The Holy Land, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Islamic Sources |url=https://www.academia.edu/6338726 |journal=Journal of the Central Conference of American Rabbis |pages=60–68 |quote=Quoting [[Mujir al-Din]]: "Verily, ‘Al-Aqsa’ is a name for the whole mosque which is surrounded by the wall, the length and width of which are mentioned here, for the building that exists in the southern part of the Mosque, and the other ones such as the Dome of the Rock and the corridors and other [buildings] are novel."}}</ref> as well as 19th century American and British [[Orientalism|Orientalists]] [[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Edward Robinson]],<ref name=Robinson/> [[Guy Le Strange]] and [[Edward Henry Palmer]] explained that the term Masjid al-Aqsa refers to the entire esplanade plaza which is the subject of this article – the entire area including the [[Dome of the Rock]], the fountains, the [[Gates of the Temple Mount|gates]], and the [[Minarets of the Temple Mount|four minarets]] – because none of these buildings existed at the time the Quran was written.<ref name=Palmer/><ref>{{cite book | last=Le Strange | first=Guy | author-link= Guy Le Strange| title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Translated from the Works of the Medieval Arab Geographers | publisher=Houghton, Mifflin | year=1890 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxUyssIX-H4C&pg=RA1-PA89 | quote=The Askà Mosque. The great mosque of Jerusalem, Al Masjid al Aksà, the "Further Mosque," derives its name from the traditional Night Journey of Muhammad, to which allusion is made in the words of the Kuran (xvii. I)... the term "Mosque" being here taken to denote the whole area of the Noble Sanctuary, and not the Main-building of the Aksà only, which, in the Prophet's days, did not exist.}}</ref><ref name="Strange 1887 pp. 247–305">{{cite journal | last=Strange | first=Guy le | title=Description of the Noble Sanctuary at Jerusalem in 1470 A.D., by Kamâl (or Shams) ad Dîn as Suyûtî | journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland | publisher=Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland | volume=19 | issue=2 | year=1887 | issn=0035-869X | jstor=25208864 | pages=247–305 | doi=10.1017/S0035869X00019420 | s2cid=163050043 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/25208864 | quote=…the term Masjid (whence, through the Spanish Mezquita, our word Mosque) denotes the whole of the sacred edifice, comprising the main building and the court, with its lateral arcades and minor chapels. The earliest specimen of the Arab mosque consisted of an open courtyard, within which, round its four walls, run colonades or cloisters to give shelter to the worshippers. On the side of the court towards the Kiblah (in the direction of Mekka), and facing which the worshipper must stand, the colonade, instead of being single, is, for the convenience of the increased numbers of the congregation, widened out to form the Jami' or place of assembly… coming now to the Noble Sanctuary at Jerusalem, we must remember that the term 'Masjid’ belongs not only to the Aksa mosque (more properly the Jami’ or place of assembly for prayer), but to the whole enclosure with the Dome of the Rock in the middle, and all the other minor domes and chapels.}}</ref>

''Al-Jâmi' al-Aqṣá'' refers to the specific site of the silver-domed [[congregational mosque]] building,<ref name=Robinson/><ref name=Palmer/><ref name=PEF/> also referred to as [[Qibli Mosque]] or Qibli Chapel (''al-Jami' al-Aqsa'' or ''al-Qibli'', or ''Masjid al-Jumah'' or ''al-Mughata''), in reference to its location on the southern end of the compound as a result of the Islamic [[qibla]] being moved from Jerusalem to Mecca.<ref>* {{cite journal |last=Abu-Sway |first=Mustafa |date=2013-03-31 |title=Al-Aqsa Mosque: Do Not Intrude! |url=https://pij.org/articles/1644/alaqsa-mosque-do-not-intrude |journal=Palestine-Israel Journal |quote=Not only do the Israeli occupation authorities prevent freedom of movement and freedom of worship, they interfere in defining Al-Aqsa Mosque by restricting the meaning of Al-Aqsa Mosque to the southernmost building, Qibli Mosque, rather than all 144 dunums or 36 acres. |ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |last=Omar |first=Abdallah Marouf |date=2017 |title=Al-Aqsa Mosque's Incident in July 2017: Affirming the Policy of Deterrence. |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/26300531 |journal=[[Insight Turkey]] |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=69–82 |doi=10.25253/99.2017193.05 |jstor=26300531 |quote=As shown before, Israel tried first to play with the definition of al-Aqsa as being only the Qibli Mosque building. This would give Israel an excuse to request a share in administrating the whole compound, claiming that not all of it is al-Aqsa Mosque. |ref=none |issn=1302-177X }}
* {{cite web |author=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |date=2022-04-04 |title=39 COM 7A.27 – Decision |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/6243/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530124745/https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/6243/ |archive-date=30 May 2022 |access-date=2022-05-29 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |quote=…the historic Gates and windows of the Qibli Mosque inside Al-Aqsa Mosque/ Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which is a Muslim holy site of worship and an integral part of a World Heritage Site. |ref=none}}
* [https://ecf.org.il/media_items/1507 Jordan-PLO Agreement on the Jerusalem Holy Sites – English (2013)]: "Recalling the unique religious importance, to all Muslims, of al-Masjid al-Aqsa with its 144 Dunums, which include the Qibli Mosque of al-Aqsa, the Mosque of the Dome of the Rock and all its mosques, buildings, walls, courtyards, attached areas over and beneath the ground and the Waqf properties tied-up to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, to its environs or to its pilgrims (hereinafter referred to as "Al-Haram Al-Sharif")."
* Yehia Hassan Wazeri "The Farthest Mosque or the Alleged Temple an Analytic Study", ''Journal of Islamic Architecture'' Vol. 2 Iss. 3 June 2013, “The blessed Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, which is mentioned in the Ever Glorious Qur'an (in Sura Al-Isra'), is the blessed spot that is now called Al-Haram Al-Qudsi and is surrounded by the great wall along with the buildings and monuments that have been built on it, on top of which is Al-Masjid Al-Qibli (covered Masjid) and the Dome of the Rock.”
* {{cite journal |last=Kamil |first=Meryem |date=2020-09-01 |title=Postspatial, Postcolonial |journal=Social Text |publisher=Duke University Press |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=55–82 |doi=10.1215/01642472-8352247 |issn=0164-2472 |s2cid=234613673 |quote=The compound is an enclosed platform, with its western portion demarcated as the Jewish holy site of the Wailing Wall. Within the com- pound are two hallowed buildings: the Dome of the Rock and al-Qibli mosque.19 Muslims venerate the Dome of the Rock as the site where Muhammad ascended to heaven, and Jews honor the site where Abraham sacrificed Isaac. Al-Qibli mosque is noted by Muslims as the initial direction for prayer before Mecca. |ref=none}}
* Omran M. Hassan, A Graphical Vision of Aesthetics of Al-Quds Architecture through the Digital Technology, International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 7s, (2020), pp. 2819–38: “As shown, it is a part of the building of Al-Qibli mosque which is part of Al-Aqsa Mosque and one of its monuments with a roofed building topped by a dome covered by a layer of lead, located in the south side of Al-Aqsa Mosque towards Al-Qiblah in which the name Al-Qibli came from.”
* [[Mahdi Abdul Hadi]], [http://www.tika.gov.tr/upload/2016/INGILIZCE%20SITE%20ESERLER/TANITIM%20BROŞÜRLERİ/PDF/Haram-Ash-sharief-Final-En_2013.pdf Al-Aqsa Mosque] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216194529/https://www.tika.gov.tr/upload/2016/INGILIZCE%20SITE%20ESERLER/TANITIM%20BRO%c5%9e%c3%9cRLER%c4%b0/PDF/Haram-Ash-sharief-Final-En_2013.pdf|date=16 February 2020}}, [[Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs]]: "Al-Aqsa Mosque, also referred to as Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), comprises the entire area within the compound walls (a total area of 144,000 m2) – including all the mosques, prayer rooms, buildings, platforms and open courtyards located above or under the grounds – and exceeds 200 historical monuments pertaining to various Islamic eras. According to Islamic creed and jurisprudence, all these buildings and courtyards enjoy the same degree of sacredness since they are built on Al-Aqsa’s holy grounds. This sacredness is not exclusive to the physical structures allocated for prayer, like the Dome of the Rock or Al-Qibly Mosque (the mosque with the large silver dome).
* {{cite book |author=Tim Marshall |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ysYpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 |title=A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-5011-6833-8 |page=151 |ref=none}}: "Many people believe that the mosque depicted is called the Al-Aqsa; however, a visit to one of Palestine's most eminent intellectuals, Mahdi F. Abdul Hadi, clarified the issue. Hadi is chairman of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, based in East Jerusalem. His offices are a treasure trove of old photographs, documents, and symbols. He was kind enough to spend several hours with me. He spread out maps of Jerusalem's Old City on a huge desk and homed in on the Al-Aqsa compound, which sits above the Western Wall. "The mosque in the Al-Aqsa [Brigades] flag is the Dome of the Rock. Everyone takes it for granted that it is the Al-Aqsa mosque, but no, the whole compound is Al-Aqsa, and on it are two mosques, the Qibla mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and on the flags of both Al-Aqsa Brigades and the Qassam Brigades, it is the Dome of the Rock shown", he said."</ref> The two different Arabic terms, translated as "mosque" in English, parallel the two different Greek terms translated as "temple" in the [[New Testament]]: {{langx|el|ίερόν|translit=hieron}} (equivalent to Masjid) and {{langx|el|ναός|translit=naos}} (equivalent to Jami'a),<ref name=Robinson/><ref name=MujiralDin/><ref name="Carpenter Comfort 2000 p. 404">{{cite book | last1=Carpenter | first1=E.E. | last2=Comfort | first2=P.W. | title=Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words: 200 Greek and 200 Hebrew Words Defined and Explained | publisher=B&H Publishing Group | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-8054-9352-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K5ugZP7HQ6oC&pg=PA404 | access-date=2022-07-25 | page=404|quote=The New Testament writers used two different Greek words to describe the "temple": naos and hieron. Naos refers to the actual "sanctuary" of the temple, the place of God's dwelling. ''Hieron'' refers to the "temple precincts" as well as to the "sanctuary." Generally speaking, ''naos'' was used to designate the inner section of the temple known as the "holy place" and the "holy of holies," whereas ''hieron'' would designate the outer court and the temple proper.}}</ref> and use of the term "mosque" for the whole compound follows the usage of the same term for other early Islamic sites with large courtyards such as the [[Mosque of Ibn Tulun]] in Cairo, the [[Umayyad Mosque]] in Damascus and the [[Great Mosque of Kairouan]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Le Strange | first=Guy | author-link= Guy Le Strange| title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Translated from the Works of the Medieval Arab Geographers | publisher=Houghton, Mifflin | year=1890 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxUyssIX-H4C&pg=RA1-PA94 | pages=94–96|quote=The main characteristics of the primitive Arab mosque are well exemplified in the accompanying plan representing the Jâmi' of Ibn Talûn. This is the oldest mosque in Cairo… As here seen in its simplest form, the mosque primarily consisted of an open courtyard, within which, and round its four walls, ran colonnades or cloisters, to give shelter to the worshippers. On the side of the court towards the Kiblah (in the direction of Makkah), and facing which the worshipper must stand and kneel during prayers, the colonnade, instead of being single, is, for the convenience of the increased numbers of the congregation, widened out to form the Jâmi', or “place of assembly.” In the case of Ibn Talūn's Mosque, five rows of columns, with the boundary-wall, form the five transverse aisles (A to a). In the centre of the boundary-wall on the Makkah side is set the great Mihrab of the mosque (a), indicating the direction of the Kiblah. Now in all descriptions of a mosque it is taken for granted that the visitor is standing in the Court (as Sahn) of the mosque, and facing the Kiblah. Fronting him therefore is the Main-building, called the “covered-part” (al Mughattâ), or the “fore-part" (al Mukaddamah) of the mosque (A to a); while in his rear is the colonnade (B), single or double, against the wall of the courtyard, furthest from the Makkah-side, and this is called the “back" of the mosque (al Muakhkharah). The "right-hand side " of the mosque is in the neighbourhood of the colonnades (C), along the wall on the right of the Court when you face the Mihrab, and the "left-hand side" is on the opposite side (D). In the Court (as Sahn) thus enclosed, are often other buildings, such as tombs or minor chapels. In the Mosque of Ibn Tulan there is a domed building (E), originally intended to serve as the mausoleum of the founder, but which, as he died far away in Syria, was.subsequently fitted up with a water-tank to serve as a place for the ablution before prayer. Turning now to the Arab descriptions of the Haram Area at Jerusalem, the point it is of importance to remember is that the term Masjid (whence through the Egyptian pronunciation of Masgid, and the Spanish Mezquita, our word “mosque") applies to the whole of the Haram Area, not to the Aksâ alone. Masjid in Arabic means "a place of prostration (in prayer);" and therefore to revert once again to Ibn Tûlûn's Mosque, (1) the Mainbuilding, A; (2) the Court, and (3) the Colonnades at the back, B; with those (4) to the right, C; to the left, D; as also (5) the Dome E in the Court-one and all form essential parts of the mosque, and are all comprehended by the term “Al Masjid.' Bearing these points in mind, and coming to the Noble Sanctuary at Jerusalem, we find that the term “Masjid," as already stated, is commonly applied not only to the Aksâ Mosque (more properly the Jâmi', or “place of assembly," for prayer), but to the whole enclosure of the great Court, with the Dome of the Rock in the middle, and all the other minor domes, and chapels, and colonnades. The Dome of the Rock (misnamed by the Franks “the Mosque of 'Omar"), is not itself a mosque or place for public prayer, but merely the largest of the many cupolas in the Court of the Mosque, and in this instance was built to cover and do honour to the Holy Rock which lies beneath it.}}</ref> Other sources and maps have used the term ''al-Masjid al-'Aqṣā'' to refer to the congregational mosque itself.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yavuz |first=Yildirim |date=1996 |title=The Restoration Project of the Masjid Al-Aqsa by Mi̇mar Kemaletti̇n (1922–26) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1523257 |journal=Muqarnas |volume=13 |pages=149–164 |doi=10.2307/1523257 |jstor=1523257 |issn=0732-2992}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Salameh |first=Khader |date=2009 |title=A New Saljuq Inscription in the Masjid al-Aqsa, Jerusalem |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/175638009x427620 |journal=Levant |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=107–17 |doi=10.1179/175638009x427620 |s2cid=162230613 |issn=0075-8914}}</ref><ref>1936 [[Survey of Palestine]] map of the Old City of Jerusalem.</ref>
[[File:Solomon's_Stables_in_the_1936_Old_City_of_Jerusalem_map_by_Survey_of_Palestine_map_1-2,500_(cropped).jpg|thumb|Extract of a [[Survey of Palestine|1936 British map]] showing the entire site as "Moriah" or "Haram esh-Sharif"; the Al-Aqsa Mosque shown as "Mesjid el-Aksa"]]
The term "al-Aqsa" as a symbol and brand-name has become popular and prevalent in the region.<ref name=Reiter2>{{cite book | last=Reiter | first= Yitzhak |author-link= Yitzhak Reiter|title=Jerusalem and Its Role in Islamic Solidarity | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US | year=2008 | isbn=978-0-230-61271-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bZbFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 | pages=21–23|ref=none|quote=During the Middle Ages, when the issue of Jerusalem's status was a point of controversy, the supporters of Jerusalem's importance (apparently after its liberation from Crusader control) succeeded in attributing to al-Quds or to Bayt-al-Maqdis (the Arabic names for Jerusalem) the status of haram that had been accorded to the sacred compound. The site was thus called al-Haram al-Sharif, or al-Haram al-Qudsi al-Sharif. Haram, from an Arabic root meaning "prohibition," is a place characterized by a particularly high level of sanctity{{snd}}a protected place in which blood may not be shed, trees may not be felled, and animals may not be hunted. The status of haram was given in the past to the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and to the Mosque of the Prophet in al-Madina (and some also accorded this status to the Valley of Wajj in Ta'if on the Arabian Peninsula?). Thus, al-Masjid al-Aqsa became al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) in order to emphasize its exalted status alongside the two other Muslim sanctuaries. Although, as noted before, Ibn-Taymiyya refuted the haram status of the Jerusalem mosque, al-Aqsa's upgrading to haram status was successful and has prevailed. It became a commonly accepted idea and one referred to in international forums and documents. It was, therefore, surprising that during the 1980s the Palestinians gradually abandoned the name that had been given to the Haram/Temple Mount compound in apparent honor of Jerusalem's status as third in sanctity – al-Haram al-Sharif – in favor of its more traditional name-al-Aqsa. An examination of relevant religious texts clarifies the situation: since the name al-Aqsa appears in the Quran, all Muslims around the world should be familiar with it; thus it is easier to market the al-Aqsa brand-name. An additional factor leading to a return to the Qur'anic name is an Israeli demand to establish a Jewish prayer space inside the open court of the compound. The increased use of the name al-Aqsa is particularly striking against the background of what is written on the Web site of the Jerusalem Waqf, under the leadership of (former) Palestinian mufti Sheikh Ikrima Sabri. There it is asserted that "al Masjid al-Aqsa was erroneously called by the name al-Haram al-Qudsi al-Sharif," and that the site's correct name is al-Aqsa. This statement was written in the context of a fatwa in response to a question addressed to the Web site's scholars regarding the correct interpretation of the Isra' verse in the Quran (17:1), which tells of the Prophet Muhammad's miraculous Night Journey from the "Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque" – al-Aqsa. In proof of this, Sabri quotes Ibn-Taymiyya, who denied the existence of haram in Jerusalem, a claim that actually serves those seeking to undermine the city's sacred status. Sabri also states that Arab historians such as Mujir al-Din al-Hanbali, author of the famed fifteenth-century work on Jerusalem, do not make use of the term "haram" in connection with the al-Aqsa site. Both Ibn-Taymiyya and Mujir al-Din were affiliated with the Hanbali School of law-the relatively more puritan stream in Islam that prevailed in Saudi Arabia. The Hanbalies rejected innovations, such as the idea of a third haram. One cannot exclude the possibility that the Saudis, who during the 1980s and 1990s donated significant funds to Islamic institutions in Jerusalem, exerted pressure on Palestinian-Muslim figures to abandon the term "haram" in favor of "al-Aqsa". The "al-Aqsa" brand-name has thus become popular and prevalent. Al-Haram al-Sharif is still used by official bodies (the Organization of the Islamic Conference [OIC], the Arab League), in contrast to religious entities. The public currently uses the two names interchangeably. During the last generation, increasing use has been made of the term "al-Aqsa" as a symbol and as the name of various institutions and organizations. Thus, for example, the Jordanian military periodical that has been published since the early 1970s is called al-Aqsa; the Palestinian police unit established by the PA in Jericho is called the Al-Aqsa Division; the Fatah's armed organization is called the Al-Aqsa Brigades; the Palestinian Police camp in Jericho is called the Al-Aqsa Camp; the Web sites of the southern and northern branches of the Islamic movement in Israel and the associations that they have established are called al-Aqsa; the Intifada that broke out in September 2000 is called the al-Aqsa Intifada and the Arab summit that was held in the wake of the Intifada's outbreak was called the al-Aqsa Summit. These are only a few examples of a growing phenomenon.}}</ref> For example, the [[Al-Aqsa Intifada]] (the uprising of September 2000), the [[al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades]] (a coalition of Palestinian nationalist militias in the West Bank), [[al-Aqsa TV]] (the official Hamas-run television channel), [[al-Aqsa University]] (Palestinian university established in 1991 in the Gaza Strip), [[Jund al-Aqsa]] (a Salafist jihadist organization that was active during the Syrian Civil War), the Jordanian military periodical published since the early 1970s, and the associations of both the southern and northern branches of the [[Islamic Movement in Israel]] are all named Al-Aqsa after this site.<ref name=Reiter2/>

===Haram al-Sharif===
During the period of [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]]<ref>St Laurent, B., & Awwad, I. (2013). [https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=art_fac The Marwani Musalla in Jerusalem: New Findings]. ''Jerusalem Quarterly''.</ref> (1260–1517) and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule (1517–1917), the wider compound of the Temple Mount began to also be popularly known as the Haram al-Sharif, or ''al-Ḥaram ash-Sharīf'' ({{langx|ar|اَلْـحَـرَم الـشَّـرِيْـف|link=no}}), which translates as the "Noble Sanctuary". It mirrors the terminology of the [[Masjid al-Haram]] in [[Mecca]];<ref>{{cite book |first1=Sabri|last1=Jarrar|title=Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World|chapter=Suq al-Ma'rifa: An Ayyubid Hanbalite Shrine in Haram al-Sharif|editor-first=Gülru|editor-last=Necipoğlu|edition=Illustrated, annotated |publisher=Brill |year=1998 |isbn=978-90-04-11084-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FG6ZlkRjD2IC&pg=PA71|page=85|quote=
Al-Masjid al-Aqsa' was the standard designation for the whole sanctuary until the Ottoman period, when it was superseded by 'al-Haram al-Sharif'; 'al-Jami’ al-Aqsa' specifically referred to the Aqsa Mosque, the mughatta or the covered aisles, the site on which ‘Umar founded the first mosque amidst ancient ruins.}}
</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author-link=Oleg Grabar|last=Grabar|first=Oleg|title=The Haram al-Sharif: An Essay in Interpretation|url= http://archnet.org/system/publications/contents/5052/original/DPC1775.pdf?1384787486 |journal=Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies|series=Constructing the Study of Islamic Art|volume=2|issue=2|year=2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414045823/http://archnet.org/system/publications/contents/5052/original/DPC1775.pdf?1384787486 |archive-date=2016-04-14 |quote=It is only at a relatively late date that the Muslim holy space in Jerusalem came to be referred to as al-haram al-sharif (literally, the Noble Sacred Precinct or Restricted Enclosure, often translated as the Noble Sanctuary and usually simply referred to as the Haram). While the exact early history of this term is unclear, we know that it only became common in Ottoman times, when administrative order was established over all matters pertaining to the organization of the Muslim faith and the supervision of the holy places, for which the Ottomans took financial and architectural responsibility. Before the Ottomans, the space was usually called al-masjid al-aqsa (the Farthest Mosque), a term now reserved to the covered congregational space on the Haram, or masjid bayt al-maqdis (Mosque of the Holy City) or, even, like Mecca's sanctuary, al-masjid al-ḥarâm.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Schick |first=Robert |title=Geographical Dimensions of Islamic Jerusalem |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publisher |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4438-0834-7 |editor=Khalid El-Awaisi |pages=91–106 |language=en |chapter=Geographical Terminology in Mujir al-Din's History of Jerusalem |quote=Mujir al-Din defined al-Masjid al-Aqsā as the entire compound, acknowledging that in common usage it referred to the roofed building at the south end of the compound. As he put it (1999 v. 2, p. 45; 1973 v. 2, p. 11), the jami' that is in the core of al-Masjid al-Aqsa at the qiblah where the Friday service takes place is known among the people as "al-Masjid al-Aqsa", and (1999 v. 2, pp. 63–64; 1973 v. 2, p. 24) what is known among the people as "al-Aqsa" is the jami in the core of the masjid in the direction of the giblah, where the minbar and the large mihrab are. The truth of the matter is that the term "al-Aqsa" is for all of the masjid and what the enclosure walls surround. What is intended by "al-Masjid al-Aqsā" is everything that the enclosure walls surround. Mujir al-Din did not identify al-Masjid al-Aqsā by the alternative term "al-Haram al-Sharif". That term began to be used in the Mamluk period and came into more general use in the Ottoman period. He only used the term when giving the official title of the government-appointed inspector of the two noble harams of Jerusalem and Hebron (Nazir al-Haramavn al-Sharifayn). While Mujir al-Din did not explicitly discuss why the masjid of Bayt al-Magdis 'is not called the haram' (1999 v. 1, p. 70; 1973 v. 1, p. 7), he may well have adopted the same position as Ibn Taymiyah, his fellow Hanbali in the early 14th century (Ziyarat Bayt al-Maqdis Matthews 1936, p. 13; Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim Mukhalafat Ashab al-Jahim Memon 1976: 316) in rejecting the idea that al-Masjid al-Aqsa (or the tomb of Abraham in Hebron) can legitimately be called a haram, because there are only three harams (where God prohibited hunting): Makkah, Madinah, and perhaps Täif. However Mujir al-Din was not fully consistent and also used al-Masiid al-Aqsã to refer to the roofed building, as for example when he referred to al-Nasir Muhammad installing marble in al-Masjid al-Aqsà (1999 v. 2, p. 161; 1973 v. 2, p. 92); he used the term al-Jami al-Aqsa in the parallel passage (1999 v. 2, p. 396; 1973 v. 2, p. 271). |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=APMYBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA121}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Wazeri | first=Yehia Hassan | title=The Farthest Mosque or the Alleged Temple an Analytic Study | journal=Journal of Islamic Architecture | publisher=Maulana Malik Ibrahim State Islamic University | volume=2 | issue=3 | date=2014-02-20 | issn=2356-4644 | doi=10.18860/jia.v2i3.2462| s2cid=190588084 |url=https://www.academia.edu/7333141|quote=Many people think that Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa is only the mosque established south of the Dome of the Rock, where the obligatory five daily prayers are performed now. Actually, Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa is a term that applies to all parts of the Masjid, including the area encompassed within the wall, such as the gates, the spacious yards, the mosque itself, the Dome of the Rock, Al-Musalla Al-Marawani, the corridors, domes, terraces, free drinking water (springs), and other landmarks, like minarets on the walls. Furthermore, the whole mosque is unroofed with the exception of the building of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Musalla Al-Jami`, which is known by the public as Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa. The remaining area, however, is a yard of the mosque. This is agreed upon by scholars and historians, and accordingly, the doubled reward for performing prayer therein is attained if the prayer is performed in any part of the area encompassed by the wall. Indeed, Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, which is mentioned in Almighty Allah's Glorious Book in the first verse of Sura Al-Isra' is the blessed place that is now called the Noble Sanctuary (Al-Haram Al-Qudsi Ash-Sharif) which is enclosed within the great fence and what is built over it. Moreover, what applies to the mosque applies by corollary to the wall encircling it, since it is part of it. Such is the legal definition of Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa. Regarding the concept (definition) of Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, Shaykh `Abdul-Hamid Al-Sa'ih, former Minister of (Religious) Endowments and Islamic Sanctuaries in Jordan said: "The term Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, for the Muslim public, denotes all that is encircled by the wall of Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, including the gates". Therefore, (the legally defined) Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa and Al-Haram Al-Qudsi Ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) are two names for the same place, knowing that Al-Haram Ash-Sharif is a name that has only been coined recently.| doi-access=free }}</ref> This term elevated the compound to the status of [[Haram]], which had previously been reserved for the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and the [[Al-Masjid an-Nabawi]] in [[Medina]]. Other Islamic figures disputed the haram status of the site.<ref name="Reiter2" /> Usage of the name Haram al-Sharif by local Palestinians has waned in recent decades, in favor of the traditional name of Al-Aqsa Mosque.<ref name=Reiter2/>

===Jerusalem's sacred esplanade===
Some scholars have used the terms Sacred [[Esplanade]] or Holy Esplanade as a "strictly neutral term" for the site.<ref name="Kedar 20122"/><ref name="Weaver 2018 p. 7722"/> A notable example of this usage is the 2009 work ''[[Where Heaven and Earth Meet|Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade]]'', written as a joint undertaking by 21 Jewish, Muslim and Christian scholars.<ref name="Ole09">{{cite book |last1=Grabar |first1=Oleg |author-link1=Oleg Grabar |url=https://ixtheo.de/Record/604430256 |title=Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade |last2=Binyamin |first2=Kedar |author-link2=Benjamin Z. Kedar |date=2009 |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |isbn=978-0-292-72272-9 |location=Austin}}</ref><ref name=Day12>{{cite journal |first=John |last=Day |author-link=John Day (biblical scholar) |date=2012 |title=Review: Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's sacred esplanade |journal=Journal of Modern Jewish Studies |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=293–95 |doi=10.1080/14725886.2012.689206 |s2cid=144286697 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14725886.2012.689206?journalCode=cmjs20}}</ref>

===Jerusalem's Holy Esplanade===
In recent years, the term "Holy Esplanade" has been used by the [[United Nations]], by its [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|Secretary-General]] and by the UN's subsidiary organs.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2022/sgsm21238.doc.htm |title=Provocations on Jerusalem's Holy Esplanade Must Stop Now, Secretary-General Says, Stressing Need to Respect, Uphold Status Quo at Holy Sites |date=15 April 2022}}<br />{{bullet}}{{cite web |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/israel/middle-east-report-n-159-status-status-quo-jerusalem-s-holy-esplanade |title=Middle East Report N°159 – The Status of the Status Quo at Jerusalem's Holy Esplanade |date=15 April 2022}}<br />{{bullet}}{{cite web |url=https://unsco.unmissions.org/statement-un-special-coordinator-middle-east-peace-process-tor-wennesland-security-situation |title=Statement By UN Special Coordinator For The Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, On The Security Situation In Jerusalem |date=15 April 2022}}</ref>