Al-Aqsaa
Mosque also known
as Al-Aqsaa and Bayt ul-Muqaddas, is the third holiest site in
Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem. The site on which this
silver-domed mosque sits, along with the “Dome of the Rock”, is referred to as al-Haram
ash-Sharif ("the Noble Sanctuary").
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, refers to the al-Aqsaa
Mosque as the third holiest site in Islam (and calls for Arab sovereignty over
it).
The Glorious Qur’an clarifies that Prophet Muhammad (ph&hp) was transported from
the Sacred Mosque in Makkah to al-Aqsaa Mosque (in Al-Quds)
during the well-known miraculous “Night Journey”:
Absolute Pure is the One Who took His devoted worshipper
[Prophet Muhammad] for a Divine Excursion from Masjid-al-Haram to
Masjid-al-Aqsaa, the neighborhood of which We have blessed, in
order to show him Our Signs of Power.
Indeed Allah is the Seeing Hearer.
Surah Isra (17), Ayah 1
In Islam,
the term "al-Aqsaa Mosque" refers to the entire Noble
Sanctuary. This mosque is the second house of prayer constructed after the Masjid
al-Haraam in Makkah.
The
historical significance of the al-Aqsa Mosque in Islam is further emphasized by
the fact that it was the first Qiblah of Muslims. They faced al-Aqsaa Mosque during their prayers
until Prophet Muhammad (ph&hp) received revelation by
Allah to turn
towards Ka’ba (in Makkah) instead of Masjid
ul-Aqsaa in Al-Quds (Ayah 144, Surah Al-Baqarah (2)).