How holy is Al-Aqsa? What is Al-Aqsa built on?

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is considered the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina. The mosque is located on the Temple Mount, which is also known as Haram al-Sharif.

The compound contains several other important religious sites, including the Dome of the Rock, which is believed to be the spot where Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.

The present-day mosque was originally built by the fifth Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik or his successor al-Walid I (or both) as a congregational mosque on the same axis as the Dome of the Rock, a commemorative Islamic monument.

After being destroyed in an earthquake in 746, the mosque was rebuilt in 758 by the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur. It was further expanded upon in 780 by the Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi, after which it consisted of fifteen aisles and a central dome.

However, it was again destroyed during the 1033 Jordan Rift Valley earthquake. The mosque was rebuilt by the Fatimid caliph al-Zahir (r. 1021–1036), who reduced it to seven aisles but adorned its interior with an elaborate central archway covered in vegetal mosaics; the current structure preserves the 11th-century outline.

According to some sources, Al-Aqsa Mosque was built on top of ruins of a Jewish temple constructed by King Solomon. However, this claim is disputed and not widely accepted. The mosque’s foundations date back to the Second Jewish Temple, expanded by King Herod the Great in 20 BCE.