It was here in the
7th century that the
Islamic prophet Muhammad distributed spoils of war among
his allies, after the battles of
Hunain and
Autas, and before the
siege of Ta'if. Al-Ji'rana was mentioned by the
8th-century Arab historian
Al-Waqidi. In his
Kitab al-Tarikh wa al-Maghazi ("Book of History and Campaigns"), Al-Waqidi describes two ancient sanctuaries in al-Ji'rana visited by
Muhammad on his journey on
dhu al-qa'da of the eighth year after the
Hijrah: ''
("the farthest mosque") and (
"the closest mosque").'' This was also mentioned by
Al-Azraqi, a
9th-century Islamic commentator and historian. The Qur'an does not mention the exact location of "the furthest place of prayer". The actual meaning of the phrase is debated in both early Islamic and contemporary sources. According to the
Encyclopaedia of Islam, the term was originally understood as a reference to a site in the heavens. Another group of Islamic scholars understood the story of Muhammad's ascension from
Al-Aqsa Mosque as relating to Jerusalem. Eventually, a consensus emerged around the identification of the "furthest place of prayer" with
Jerusalem, and by implication the
Temple Mount. In 1953, British Islamic scholar
Alfred Guillaume suggested that Al-Ju'ranah was the location of
Al-Aqsa described in the Qur'an as the destination of Muhammad's Night Journey. He based his theory on the writings of Al-Waqidi and Al-Azraqi. In 1959, French art historian
Oleg Grabar wrote this theory was convincing. This theory has received backing from
Youssef Ziedan,
Mordechai Kedar,
Yitzhak Reiter, and Suleiman al-Tarawneh in recent years. These historians also support the view according which the
Umayyad dynasty's political objectives contributed to the sanctification of Jerusalem in Islam, as they sought to compete with the religious importance of Mecca, which was then ruled by their rival,
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. In November 2020, Saudi lawyer Osama Yamani promoted this theory in an opinion article in the Saudi newspaper
Okaz. The article sparked outrage from
Muslims around the world, with some writers claiming it was fabricated to justify the
decision of some Gulf countries to
normalize ties with
Israel. ==See also==