What religion is Al-Aqsa?

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is considered the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina. The mosque was originally built by Caliph Umar in 638 CE, just a few years after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem.

The name “Al-Aqsa” means “the farthest mosque” and comes from a story in the Quran called “The Night Journey”. In the story, Prophet Muhammad travels from Mecca to Jerusalem, where he ascends to heaven and meets with other prophets before returning to Mecca.

While it was once thought that Emperor Justinian’s Nea Church was built at the location of the future Al-Aqsa Mosque, recent discoveries have debunked this theory.

Nonetheless, wooden beams and panels removed during renovations in the 1930s suggest that some of the wood used in the mosque’s construction may have been repurposed from older buildings.

However, the present-day mosque, with its distinctive silver dome, was likely built by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik or his successor al-Walid I. These two structures, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, were designed to form an architecturally coherent ensemble.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a site of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians for many years. It has been closed to non-Muslim visitors for extended periods due to security concerns.