It covers about 144 dunams and includes everything within its walls: prayer halls, domes, courtyards, terraces, porticoes, gates and minarets.
It is the first of the two qiblas, the second mosque ever established on earth, and the third of the mosques to which journeys of worship are made. It is the destination of Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ Night Journey and the place from which he ascended to the heavens. Among its best-known landmarks are the Dome of the Rock at its heart and Al-Qibli Prayer Hall to the south, in the direction of the qibla.
Location relative to the Old City
It lies in the southeastern corner of the Old City and occupies about one sixth of its area. Its eastern and southern walls form part of the Old City wall.
Reason for the name
It is called “Al-Aqsa” (the farthest) because of its great distance from Al-Masjid Al-Haram in Makkah. It is mentioned by this name in the Holy Qur’an, at the opening of Surat Al-Isra’: “Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from Al-Masjid Al-Haram to Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed” [Al-Isra’: 1].
It is also known as “Bayt Al-Maqdis”. The name “Al-Haram Al-Qudsi Al-Sharif” is a later and inaccurate one, since there are only two harams (sanctuaries) in Islam: Al-Masjid Al-Haram in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. The correct name is therefore “the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque”.
History
According to an authentic hadith, Al-Aqsa Mosque was the second mosque established on earth after Al-Masjid Al-Haram, with forty years between them.
Its present buildings, however, date essentially from the Umayyad period: the Dome of the Rock was built in 72 AH / 691 CE under Caliph Abdul Malik bin Marwan, and Al-Qibli Prayer Hall was completed under his son Al-Walid bin Abdul Malik (86 - 96 AH / 705 - 714 CE). Its building and restoration have continued in every era since, down to the present day.
Shape and details
A roughly rectangular area with irregular sides, covering about 144 dunams and enclosed by walls on all four sides. Its natural ground slopes down towards the south, so an underground architectural substructure was built on its southern side; part of it now houses the Marwani Prayer Hall and the Old Aqsa Mosque.
The Dome of the Rock stands at its centre on a raised platform, reached by stairways topped by arcades (qanatir). Al-Qibli Prayer Hall stands on its southern side, and its courtyards are dotted with domes, terraces, sabils (public fountains), wells, mihrabs and sundials. Porticoes (riwaqs) run along its western, northern and eastern walls.
The mosque has gates in its northern and western walls, most of which are still open, and other, sealed gates in its southern and eastern walls, such as Bab Al-Rahma (the Gate of Mercy), Bab Al-Jana’iz (the Funerals’ Gate), the Triple Gate, the Double Gate and the Single Gate. It has four minarets: three on the western side, the minarets of Bab Al-Maghariba (Al-Fakhriyya), Bab Al-Silsila and Bab Al-Ghawanima, and a fourth on the northern side, the minaret of Bab Al-Asbat.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is everything within the walls
The name “the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque” refers to the whole area with all its buildings and courtyards, above ground and below it, not to any single building. When Al-Aqsa Mosque was mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, neither Al-Qibli Prayer Hall nor the Dome of the Rock had yet been built. Limiting the name to Al-Qibli Prayer Hall is therefore a common mistake that undermines the unity of the mosque.
Its status in Islam
It is the first of the two qiblas: Muslims prayed towards it before the qibla was changed to the Holy Kaaba in the second year after the Hijra.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was taken to it by night from Al-Masjid Al-Haram, and from it he ascended to the heavens.
It is the third of the mosques to which journeys of worship are made, after Al-Masjid Al-Haram and the Prophet’s Mosque, as stated in an authentic hadith.
Al-Aqsa Mosque through the ages
After the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem under Caliph Omar bin Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), a simple prayer place was set up on its southern side.
In the Umayyad period the Dome of the Rock and Al-Qibli Prayer Hall were built, and the mosque’s main architectural features took shape.
The Crusaders occupied it in 1099 CE, turning the Dome of the Rock into a church and Al-Qibli Prayer Hall into their headquarters, until Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi liberated it in 583 AH / 1187 CE, purified it and restored it to prayer.
In the Mamluk and Ottoman periods many landmarks were added to it, such as schools, porticoes, minarets, sabils and domes, and its restoration continued.
It was occupied along with East Jerusalem in 1967 CE, and in 1969 CE Al-Qibli Prayer Hall was set on fire; the blaze destroyed the minbar of Salah Al-Din (the minbar of Nur Al-Din).
Current use
A congregational mosque where the five daily prayers, the Friday prayer and the two Eid prayers are held. Alongside its prayer halls, it houses Sharia schools, a library and an Islamic museum. It is administered by the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem, which is affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf.