, also known as the Haram al-Sharif, or the Temple Mount
Masjid Al-Aqsa ("the Farthest Mosque"), also known as the "Al Aqsa compound", is a holy site in Shia and Sunni Islam and is located in the
Old City of Jerusalem, and is widely regarded by Jews as the
Temple Mount, the site of the
Holy Temple. It includes the
Qibli mosque and the
Dome of the Rock. It is the third holiest site in Islam. The term Al-Aqsa Mosque was coined in the Quran: Al-Aqsa Mosque is sacred because the "first of the two
qiblas" () was Jerusalem. In Islamic tradition, Al-Aqsa is said to be the "second mosque" (), as well as the "third of the holy sanctuaries" (), under Islamic Law. The term used for mosque,
masjid, literally means "place of prostration", and includes
monotheistic or more specifically
Abrahamic places of worship but does not exclusively lend itself to physical structures but a
location, as Muhammad stated "The earth has been made for me (and for my followers) a place for praying...". When
Caliph Umar conquered Jerusalem after Muhammad's passing, a prayer house was built on the site. The structure was expanded by the
Umayyad caliph
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and finished by his son
al-Walid in 705 CE. The building was repeatedly
destroyed by earthquakes and rebuilt, until the reconstruction in 1033 by the
Fatimid caliph
Ali az-Zahir, and that version of the structure is what can be seen in the present day. This same area was called at later Islamic periods as the
Haram al-Sharif or the
"Noble Sanctuary". The
Dome of the Rock is almost unanimously accepted to be the area from where Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven, although a few fringe theories claim it had been from a mosque in
Medina,
Jir'ana or
Kufa. Although most political references to the Al-Aqsa Mosque date from the 12th century or later due to its occupation by the Crusades, others claim that the mosque's position in Islam is firmly grounded in a number of
hadith dating from the birth of Islam. While Jerusalem is not mentioned by name in the Quran, it is recognized as a sacred site based on several references that have been linked to Jerusalem by later Islamic traditions such as the
hadith. Some 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. Others point to the political motives of the Umayyad dynasty which led to the sanctification of Jerusalem in Islam. Later medieval scripts, as well as modern-day political tracts, tend to classify al-Aqsa Mosque as the third holiest site in Islam. == Umayyad Mosque ==