Editing Temple Mount (section)

===Islam===
[[File:Dan Hadani collection (990040387040205171).jpg|thumb|{{circa}}300,000 Muslims praying at [[Ramadan]], 1996]]
[[File:Al-Aqsa05.JPG|thumb|Façade of al-Aqsa's main praying hall, the [[Qibli Mosque]], viewed from the north.]]
[[File:Interior view of Aqsa main dome.jpeg|thumb|Interior decoration of the Dome of the Rock]] 
[[File:Quds,jerusalem.jpeg|thumb|The [[Dome of the Rock]] as an Islamic shrine, as seen from the north]]
{{see also|Jerusalem in Islam}}
{{Main|Holiest sites in Islam}}
{{See also|Holiest sites in Sunni Islam|Holiest sites in Shia Islam}}

Among both [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] and [[Shia Islam|Shia]] Muslims,{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}} the entire plaza, known as the al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as Haram al-Sharif or "the Noble Sanctuary", is considered the [[Holiest sites in Sunni Islam|third holiest site in Islam]].<ref name=":22" /> According to Islamic tradition, the plaza is the location of [[Muhammad]]'s [[Isra and Mi'raj|ascension to heaven from Jerusalem]], and served as the first "''[[qibla]]''", the direction Muslims turn towards when praying. As in Judaism, Muslims also associate the site with [[Abraham]], and other prophets who are also venerated in Islam.<ref name="Quran 2:4, 34:13-14" /> Muslims view the site as being one of the earliest and most noteworthy places of worship of [[Islamic concept of God|God]]. They preferred to use the esplanade as the heart for the Muslim quarter, since it had been abandoned by Christians, to avoid disturbing the Christian quarters of Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Avni |first=Gideon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLucAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA136 |title=The Byzantine-Islamic Transition in Palestine: An Archaeological Approach |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-968433-5 |page=136 |language=en}}</ref> Umayyad Caliphs commissioned the construction of al-Aqsa Mosque on the site, including the shrine known as the "[[Dome of the Rock]]".<ref name="Nicolle, David 19942"/> The Dome was completed in 692 CE, making it one of the oldest extant Islamic structures in the world. The [[Qibli Mosque|Al-Aqsa Mosque]], sometimes known as the Qibli Mosque, rest on the far southern side of the Mount, facing [[Mecca]].

==== In early Islam ====
Early Islam regarded the Foundation Stone as the location of Solomon's Temple, and the first architectural initiatives on the Temple Mount sought to glorify Jerusalem by presenting Islam as a continuation of Judaism and Christianity.<ref name=":18" /> Almost immediately after the [[Muslim conquest of Syria#Capturing Jerusalem|Muslim conquest of Jerusalem]] in 638 CE, [[Umar|Caliph 'Omar ibn al Khatab]], reportedly disgusted by the filth covering the site, had it thoroughly cleaned,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coogan |first=Michael D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gM-tZeEO4wgC&pg=PA443 |title=The Oxford History of the Biblical World |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-988148-2 |page=443 |language=en}}</ref> and granted Jews access to the site.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frank |first=Daniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MzqwUksGUrkC&pg=PA209 |title=Search Scripture Well: Karaite Exegetes and the Origins of the Jewish Bible Commentary in the Islamic East |date=2004 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-13902-2 |page=209 |language=en}}</ref> According to early Quranic interpreters and what is generally accepted as Islamic tradition, in 638 CE Umar, upon entering a conquered Jerusalem, consulted with [[Ka'ab al-Ahbar]] – a Jewish convert to Islam who came with him from [[Medina]] – as to where the best spot would be to build a mosque. Al-Ahbar suggested to him that it should be behind the Rock "...&nbsp;so that all of Jerusalem would be before you." Umar replied, "You correspond to Judaism!" Immediately after this conversation, Umar began to clean up the site – which was filled with trash and debris – with his cloak, and other Muslim followers imitated him until the site was clean. Umar then prayed at the spot where it was believed that Muhammad had prayed before his night journey, reciting the Quranic ''sura'' ''[[Sad (sura)|Sad]]''.<ref name="Mosaad">Mosaad, Mohamed. [http://www.godsholymountain.org/papers/bayt.pdf Bayt al-Maqdis: An Islamic Perspective] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910050432/http://www.godsholymountain.org/papers/bayt.pdf|date=10 September 2008}} pp. 3–8</ref> Thus, according to this tradition, Umar thereby reconsecrated the site as a mosque.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Al-Aqsa Mosque: Chapter one – The History of Palestine |url=https://www.mustaqim.co.uk/ipb-archive/alaqsa/chapone.htm |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=www.mustaqim.co.uk}}</ref>

Muslim interpretations of the Quran agree that the Mount is the site of the Temple originally built by [[Solomon]], [[Solomon in Islam|considered a prophet in Islam]], that was later destroyed.<ref>"The Farthest Mosque must refer to the site of the [[Solomon's Temple]] in Jerusalem on the hill of [[Moriah]], at or near which stands the [[Dome of the Rock]]... it was a sacred place to both Jews and Christians... The chief dates in connection with the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] are: It was finished by [[Solomon]] about 1004 BCE; destroyed by the [[Babylonians]] under [[Nebuchadnezzar]] about 586 BCE; rebuilt under [[Ezra]] and [[Nehemiah]] about 515 BCE; turned into a heathen idol temple by one of [[Alexander the Great]]'s successors, [[Antiochus Epiphanes]], 167 BCE; restored by [[Herod the Great|Herod]], 17 BCE to 29; and completely razed to the ground by the Emperor [[Titus]] in 70. These ups and downs are among the greater signs in religious history." ([[Abdullah Yusuf Ali|Yusuf Ali]], ''Commentary on the Koran'', p. 2168.)</ref><ref name=":9">Khalek, N. (2011). "Jerusalem in Medieval Islamic Tradition". ''Religion Compass'', 5(10), pp. 624–30, {{doi|10.1111/j.1749-8171.2011.00305.x}}. "One of the most pressing issues in both medieval and contemporary scholarship related to Jerusalem is whether the city is explicitly referenced in the text of the Qur'an. Sura 17, verse 1, which reads [...] has been variously interpreted as referring to the miraculous Night Journey and Ascension of Muhammad, events recorded in medieval sources and known as the isra and miraj. As we will see, this association is a rather late and even a contested one. [...] The earliest Muslim work on the Religious Merits of Jerusalem was the Fada'il Bayt al-Maqdis by al-Walid ibn Hammad al-Ramli (d. 912 CE), a text which is recoverable from later works. [...] He relates the significance of Jerusalem vis-a-vis the Jewish Temple, conflating 'a collage of biblical narratives' and comments pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a practice which was controversial in later Muslim periods."</ref> After the construction, Muslims believe, the temple was used for the worship of the one God by many prophets of Islam, including Jesus.<ref>"The city of Jerusalem was chosen at the command of Allah by Prophet David in the tenth century BCE. After him his son, the Prophet Solomon built a mosque in Jerusalem according to the revelation that he received from Allah. For several centuries this mosque was used for the worship of Allah by many Prophets and Messengers of Allah. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in the year 586 BCE., but it was soon rebuilt and was rededicated to the worship of Allah in 516 BCE. It continued afterwards for several centuries until the time of Prophet Jesus. After he departed this world, it was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 CE." (Siddiqi, Dr. Muzammil. [http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503544626 Status of Al-Aqsa Mosque] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211205231/http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar%2FFatwaE%2FFatwaE&cid=1119503544626|date=2011-02-11}}, [[IslamOnline]], May 21, 2007. Retrieved July 12, 2007.)</ref><ref>"Early Muslims regarded the building and destruction of the Temple of Solomon as a major historical and religious event, and accounts of the Temple are offered by many of the early Muslim historians and geographers (including Ibn Qutayba, Ibn al-Faqih, Mas'udi, Muhallabi, and Biruni).

Fantastic tales of Solomon's construction of the Temple also appear in the Qisas al-anbiya', the medieval compendia of Muslim legends about the pre-Islamic prophets." (Kramer, Martin. [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/The+Temples+of+Jerusalem+in+Islam.htm The Temples of Jerusalem in Islam], Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, September 18, 2000. Retrieved November 21, 2007.)

* "While there is no scientific evidence that Solomon's Temple existed, all believers in any of the Abrahamic faiths perforce must accept that it did." (Khalidi, Rashid. ''Transforming the Face of the Holy City: Political Messages in the Built Topography of Jerusalem'', [[Bir Zeit University]], November 12, 1998.)</ref><ref>''A Brief Guide to al-Haram al-Sharif'', a [http://www.templeinstitute.org/1925-wakf-temple-mount-guide.pdf booklet published in 1925] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105172459/http://www.templeinstitute.org/1925-wakf-temple-mount-guide.pdf|date=2009-01-05}} (and earlier) by the "Supreme Moslem Council", a body established by the British government to administer [[waqf]]s and headed by Hajj [[Amin al-Husayni]] during the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate]] period, states on page 4: "The site is one of the oldest in the world. Its sanctity dates from the earliest (perhaps from pre-historic) times. Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which 'David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.'(''2 Samuel 24:25'')"</ref> Other Muslim scholars have used the Torah (called {{transliteration|ar|[[Tawrat]]}} in Arabic) to expand on the details of the temple.<ref>"The Rock was in the time of Solomon the son of David 12 cubits high and there was a dome over it... It is written in the Tawrat [Bible]: 'Be happy Jerusalem,' which is Bayt al-Maqdis and the Rock which is called Haykal." al-Wasati, ''Fada'il al Bayt al-Muqaddas'', ed. Izhak Hasson (Jerusalem, 1979) pp. 72ff.</ref> The term ''Bayt al-Maqdis'' (or ''Bayt al-Muqaddas''), which frequently appears as a name of Jerusalem in early Islamic sources, is a cognate of the Hebrew term ''bēt ha-miqdāsh'' (בית המקדש), the Temple in Jerusalem.<ref>Di Cesare, M. (2017). "A Lost Inscription from the Dome of the Rock?: the Western Attitude Towards Islamic Epigraphy in 17th-Century Jerusalem", pp. 77–86.</ref><ref>Jacobson, D.M. The Enigma of the Name Īliyā (= Aelia) for Jerusalem in Early Islam. ''Dio'', ''69'', 1.</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yZvTLDOgc1EC&pg=PA117 |title=Jerusalem, Jerusalem: How the Ancient City Ignited Our Modern World |date=2011 |publisher=HMH |isbn=978-0-547-54905-7 |language=en}}</ref> [[Mujir al-Din]], a 15th-century Jerusalemite chronicler, mentions an earlier tradition related by al-Wasti, according which "after David built many cities and the situation of the [[Israelites|children of Israel]] was improved, he wanted to construct Bayt al-Maqdis and build a dome over the rock in the place that [[God in Islam|Allah]] sanctified in Aelia."<ref name=":18" />

==== Isra and Mi'raj ====
According to the [[Quran|Qur'an]], [[Muhammad]] was transported to a site named Al-Aqsa Mosque – "the furthest place of prayer" (''al-Masjid al-'Aqṣā'') during his [[Isra and Mi'raj|Night Journey]] (''[[Al-Isra|Isra]] and Mi'raj'').<ref name="17th2">{{Cite book |last=Buchanan |first=Allen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bntCSupRlO4C&pg=PA192 |title=States, Nations, and Borders: The Ethics of Making Boundaries |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-52575-6 |author-link=Allen Buchanan}}</ref> The Qur'an describes how Muhammad was taken by the miraculous steed [[Buraq]] from the [[Great Mosque of Mecca]] to al-Aqsa Mosque where he prayed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vuckovic |first=Brooke Olson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AB6lPcjgSzwC |title=Heavenly Journeys, Earthly Concerns: The Legacy of the Mi'raj in the Formation of Islam |date=2003 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-203-48747-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="17th2" /><ref name="enc">{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World |date=2003 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|Macmillan Reference USA]] |isbn=978-0-02-865603-8 |editor1=Martin |editor-first=Richard C. |page=482 |editor2=Arjom |editor-first2=Said Amir |editor3=Hermansen |editor-first3=Marcia |editor4=Tayob |editor-first4=Abdulkader |editor5=Davis |editor-first5=Rochelle |editor6=Voll |editor-first6=John Obert}}</ref> After Muhammad finished his prayers, the angel [[Jibril]] ([[Gabriel]]) traveled with him to heaven, where he met several other [[Prophets in Islam|prophets]] and led them in prayer:<ref>Religion and the Arts, Volume 12. 2008. pp. 329–42.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Vuckovic |first=Brooke Olson |title=Heavenly Journeys, Earthly Concerns: The Legacy of the Mi'raj in the Formation of Islam (Religion in History, Society and Culture) |year=2004 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-96785-3}}</ref><ref>{{Href|bukhari|7517|b=yl}}.</ref>

{{blockquote|Glory be to the One Who took His servant ˹Muḥammad˺ by night from the [[Masjid al-Haram|Sacred Mosque]] to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He alone is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.|{{Qref|17|1|c=y}}}}

The Qur'an does not mention the exact location of "the furthest place of prayer", and the city of Jerusalem is not mentioned by any of [[Names of Jerusalem|its names]] in the Qur'an.<ref name="Khatib">{{cite journal |last=el-Khatib |first=Abdallah |date=1 May 2001 |title=Jerusalem in the Qur'ān |url=http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=1353-0194&volume=28&issue=1&spage=25 |url-status=dead |journal=British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=25–53 |doi=10.1080/13530190120034549 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209133352/http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=1353-0194&volume=28&issue=1&spage=25 |archive-date=9 December 2012 |access-date=17 November 2006 |s2cid=159680405}}</ref><ref name=":9" /> According to the [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]], the phrase was originally understood as a reference to a site in the heavens.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam |publisher=Brill |year=2006 |edition=New  |volume=7 |pages=97–105 |chapter=Miʿrād̲j̲ |quote=For this verse, tradition gives three interpretations: The oldest one, which disappears from the more recent commentaries, detects an allusion to Muhammad's Ascension to Heaven. This explanation interprets the expression al-masjid al-aksa, "the further place of worship" in the sense of "Heaven" and, in fact, in the older tradition isra is often used as synonymous with miradj (see Isl., vi, 14). The second explanation, the only one given in all the more modern commentaries, interprets masjid al-aksa as "Jerusalem" and this for no very apparent reason. It seems to have been an Umayyad device intended to further the glorification of Jerusalem as against that of the holy territory (cf. Goldziher, Muh. Stud., ii, 55–56; Isl, vi, 13 ff), then ruled by Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr. Al-Tabarl seems to reject it. He does not mention it in his History and seems rather to adopt the first explanation.}}</ref> A group of Islamic scholars understood the story of Muhammad's ascension from al-Aqsa Mosque as relating to the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Jewish Temple in Jerusalem]]. Another group disagreed with this identification and preferred the meaning of the term as referring to heaven.<ref name="Colby2008">{{cite book |author=Colby |first=Frederick S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sasZCjcTisIC&pg=PA15 |title=Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Discourse |year=2008 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-7788-5 |page=15 |quote=If Muslims interpret the qur'anic phrase "the sacred place of prayer" in diverse ways, one encounters even more debate over the destination of the night journey, the "furthest place of prayer". From the earliest extant Muslim texts, it becomes clear that a group of Muslims from the beginning interpreted "furthest place of prayer" with the city of Jerusalem in general and its Herodian/Solomonic Temple in particular. It is equally clear that other early Muslims disputed this connection, identifying the "furthest place of prayer" instead as a reference to a site in the heavens. Eventually a general consensus formed around the idea that Muhammad's journey did indeed take him to Jerusalem. Even if the night journey verse were thought to refer first and foremost to the terrestrial portion of Muhammad's journey, nevertheless for centuries scholars and storytellers also continued to connect this verse with the idea of an ascent through the levels of the heavens. |access-date=14 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715080148/https://books.google.com/books?id=sasZCjcTisIC&pg=PA15 |archive-date=15 July 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Muhammad al-Bukhari|Al-Bukhari]] and [[Al-Tabari]], for example, are believed to have rejected the identification with Jerusalem.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10" /> Eventually, a consensus emerged around the identification of the "furthest place of prayer" with Jerusalem, and by implication the Temple Mount.<ref name="Colby2008" /><ref>Busse, H. (1968). The sanctity of Jerusalem in Islam. ''Judaism'', ''17''(4), 441. "Tradition varies as to the location of the Ascension; Syrian local tradition was able to prevail, by maintaining that the Ascension started in Jerusalem rather than in Mecca, directly following the Night Journey".</ref> Later ''[[hadith]]s'' referred to Jerusalem as the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque:<ref>''Historic Cities of the Islamic World,'' edited by Clifford Edmund Bosworth, p. 226.</ref>

{{blockquote|Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah:<br>
That he heard Allah's Messenger saying, "When the people of Quraish did not believe me (i.e. the story of my Night Journey), I stood up in Al-Hijr and Allah displayed Jerusalem in front of me, and I began describing it to them while I was looking at it."|{{Href|bukhari|3886|b=yl}}}}[[File:Miraj_by_Sultan_Muhammad.jpg|thumb|A depiction of Muhammad's ascent to heaven by [[Sultan Mohammed]]]]
Some scholars point to the political motives of the [[Umayyad dynasty]] which led to the sanctification of Jerusalem in Islam. According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the Night Journey was associated with Jerusalem by the Umayyads as a political means to advance the glory of Jerusalem to compete with the glory of the sanctuary in Mecca then controlled by [[Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr]].<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Silverman |first=Jonathan |date=6 May 2005 |title=The opposite of holiness |newspaper=Ynetnews |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3095122,00.html |url-status=live |access-date=17 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060912145223/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3095122,00.html |archive-date=12 September 2006 |quote=<!--After the prophet died in June 632 a series of successors, or caliphs, assumed authority as Islam's leaders. Between 661 and 750 the Umayyad Dynasty held the Caliphate and ruled from Damascus. ''During the time they ruled, on account of various internal and external pressures, the Umayyads exerted enormous effort to elevate Jerusalem's status'', perhaps even to the level of Mecca ... the Palestinian historian A.L. Tibawi writes, that building an actual Al Aqsa Mosque "gave reality to the figurative name used in the Koran ..." As Pipes points out, moreover, "it had the hugely important effect of giving Jerusalem a place in the Koran post hoc which naturally imbued the city with a higher status in Islam." Which is another way of saying, before the Umayyads built Dome of the Rock and Al Aksa, Jerusalem had no status at all in Islam. Israeli scholar Izhak Hasson says: "construction of the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque, the rituals instituted by the Umayyads on the Noble Sanctuary and the dissemination of Islamic-oriented Traditions regarding sanctity of the site, ''all point to the political motives which underlay the glorification of Jerusalem among the Muslims''." In other words the sanctification of Jerusalem in Islam is based on the Umayyad building program.-->}}</ref> The construction of the Dome of the Rock was interpreted by [[Ya'qubi]], a 9th-century [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] historian, as an Umayyad attempt to redirect the [[Hajj]] from Mecca to Jerusalem by creating a rival to the [[Kaaba|Ka'aba]].<ref>Nuha N. N. Khoury, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1523172 ''The Dome of the Rock, the Kaʿba, and Ghumdan: Arab Myths and Umayyad Monuments,''] in ''Muqarnas, Vol. 10, Essays in Honor of Oleg Grabar,'' Brill (1993), pp. 57–65. "The Abbasid historian al Ya'qubi (d. 874) accused Abd al-Malik of attempting to divert the pilgrimage from Mecca to Jerusalem, thus characterizing the Umayyad Dome of the Rock as a rival to the Kaaba"</ref>

Other academics attribute the holiness of Jerusalem to the rise and expansion of a certain type of literary genre, known as ''al-Fadhail'' or history of cities. The Fadhail of Jerusalem inspired Muslims, especially during the Umayyad period, to embellish the sanctity of the city beyond its status in the holy texts.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Talhami |first=Ghada Hashem |date=February 2000 |title=The Modern History of Islamic Jerusalem: Academic Myths and Propaganda |url=http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol7/0002_talhami.asp |journal=Middle East Policy Journal |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |volume=VII |issue=14 |issn=1061-1924 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061116144218/http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol7/0002_talhami.asp |archive-date=16 November 2006 |access-date=17 November 2006 |quote=<!--The holiness of Jerusalem was related to the rise and expansion of a certain type of literary genre, known as al-Fadhail or history of cities. The Fadhail of Jerusalem preserved the traditions of the Prophet regarding Jerusalem, the statements of various holy personages, and the city's popular lore. All of these inspired Muslims to ''embellish the sanctity of the city beyond its status in the holy texts''. The greatest source of information for al-Fadhail was the hadith, the Prophet's traditions, which were beginning to be quoted extensively in the last third of the first Muslim century (the seventh century of the Christian era). The traditions were used to enumerate the values of visiting the city and al-Aqsa Mosque. Circulating widely during the Umayyad period, these traditions were often a reflection of the ''Umayyad policy of enhancing the religious status of Jerusalem''.-->}}
</ref> Based on the writings of the eighth century historians [[Al-Waqidi]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wāqidī |first=Muḥammad ibn ʻUmar, or 748–823 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/539086931 |title=The life of Muḥammad : al-Wāqidī's Kitāb al-maghāzī |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |others=Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail, Abdulkader Tayob, Andrew Rippin |isbn=978-0-415-57434-1 |location=Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon |pages=469 |oclc=539086931 |quote=When he desired to turn back to Medina, he set out from al-Jirrana on Wednesday night, twelve nights remaining in Dhul-Qada. He donned his ihram at the furthest mosque (al-masjid al-Aqsa), which was below the wadi on a remote slope. It was the place of prayer of the Messenger of God when he was in al-Jiranna. As for the closest mosque, a man from the Quraysh built it and he marked that place with it. |access-date=2 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530124719/https://www.worldcat.org/title/life-of-muhammad-al-waqidis-kitab-al-maghazi/oclc/539086931 |archive-date=30 May 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[al-Azraqi]], some scholars have suggested that al-Aqsa Mosque mentioned in the Qur'an is not in Jerusalem but in the village of [[Al-Juʽranah|al-Ju'ranah]], 18 miles northeast of Mecca.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Grabar |first=Oleg |date=1959 |title=The Umayyad Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4629098 |journal=Ars Orientalis |volume=3 |pages=33–62 |jstor=4629098 |issn=0571-1371 |quote=Bevan has shown that among early traditionists there are many who do not accept the identification of the masjid al-aqsd, and among them are to be found such great names as al-Bukhari and Tabarl. Both Ibn Ishaq an al-Ya'qubi precede their accounts with expressions which indicate that these are stories which are not necessarily accepted as dogma. It was suggested by J. Horovitz that in the early period of Islam there is little justification for assuming that the Koranic expression in any way referred to Jerusalem. But while Horovitz thought that it referred to a place in heaven, A. Guillaume's careful analysis of the earliest texts (al-Waqidi and al-Azraqi, both in the later second century A.H.) has convincingly shown that the Koranic reference to the masjid al-aqsa applies specifically to al-Ji'ranah, near Mekkah, where there were two sanctuaries (masjid al-adnai and masjid al-aqsa), and where Muhammad so-journed in dha al-qa'dah of the eighth year after the Hijrah.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Israel applauds Egyptian writer's remarks on Jerusalem |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/27/israel-applauds-egyptian-writers-remarks-on-jerusalem |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202170026/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/27/israel-applauds-egyptian-writers-remarks-on-jerusalem |archive-date=2 February 2022 |access-date=2022-02-02 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kasraoui |first=Safaa |title=Saudi Lawyer Claims Al Aqsa Mosque Is In Saudi Arabia, Not Jerusalem |url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/11/326128/saudi-lawyer-claims-al-aqsa-mosque-is-in-saudi-arabia-not-jerusalem |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117142238/https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/11/326128/saudi-lawyer-claims-al-aqsa-mosque-is-in-saudi-arabia-not-jerusalem/ |archive-date=17 November 2020 |access-date=2022-02-02 |website=www.moroccoworldnews.com/ |date=16 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

Later medieval scripts, as well as modern-day political tracts, tend to classify al-Aqsa Mosque as the third holiest site in Islam.<ref name="Webster">{{cite book |last=Doninger |first=Wendy |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/70 |title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions |date=1 September 1999 |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]] |isbn=978-0-87779-044-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/70 70] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

====First qibla====
[[File:Al-aqsa mosque 06.jpg|thumb|Al-Aqsa Mosque in 2019]]
The historical significance of al-Aqsa Mosque in Islam is further emphasized by the fact that Muslims turned towards al-Aqsa when they prayed for a period of 16 or 17 months after [[Hijra (Islam)|migration]] to [[Medina]] in 624; it thus became the ''[[qibla]]'' ("direction") that Muslims faced for prayer.<ref name="17th">{{Cite book|last=Buchanan|first=Allen |author-link=Allen Buchanan |year=2004 |title=States, Nations, and Borders: The Ethics of Making Boundaries |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52575-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bntCSupRlO4C&pg=PA192}}</ref> Muhammad later prayed towards the [[Kaaba]] in [[Mecca]] after receiving a revelation during a prayer session<ref>{{Qref|2|142-151}}.</ref><ref>Shah, 2008, p. 39.</ref> in the [[Masjid al-Qiblatayn]].<ref>Raby, 2004, p. 298.</ref><ref>Patel, 2006, p. 13.</ref> The ''qibla'' was relocated to the Kaaba where Muslims have been directed to pray ever since.<ref>Asali, 1990, p. 105.</ref>

==== Religious status ====
The [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation]] refers to al-Aqsa Mosque as the third holiest site in Islam (and calls for Arab sovereignty over it).<ref>{{cite web |date=24 February 1974 |title=Resolution No. 2/2-IS |url=http://www.oic-oci.org/english/conf/is/2/2nd-is-sum.htm#2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061014111124/http://www.oic-oci.org/english/conf/is/2/2nd-is-sum.htm |archive-date=14 October 2006 |access-date=17 November 2006 |work=Second Islamic Summit Conference |publisher=Organisation of the Islamic Conference}}</ref>