Theme Week East Jerusalem – The Al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount
Wednesday, 6 January 2016 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Levant / Levante Category/Kategorie: General , UNESCO World Heritage , Union for the Mediterranean
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Al-Aqsa Mosque © Andrew Shiva
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Al-Aqsa Mosque (“the Farthest Mosque”) is the third holiest site in
Islam and is located in
East Jerusalem . The site on which the silver domed mosque sits, along with the
Dome of the Rock , is referred to as
al-Haram ash-Sharif (“the Noble Sanctuary”), or the
Temple Mount . Muslims believe that
Muhammad was transported from the
Sacred Mosque in
Mecca to al-Aqsa during the
Night Journey .
Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad led prayers towards this site until the seventeenth month after the
emigration , when
God directed him to turn towards the
Kaaba .
The mosque was originally a small prayer house built by the Rashidun caliph Umar , but was rebuilt and expanded by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik and finished by his son al-Walid in 705 CE. After an earthquake in 746, the mosque was completely destroyed and rebuilt by the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur in 754, and again rebuilt by his successor al-Mahdi in 780. Another earthquake destroyed most of al-Aqsa in 1033, but two years later the Fatimid caliph Ali az-Zahir built another mosque which has stood to the present day.
Al-Aqsa Mosque interior © Eric Stoltz/cc-by-sa-2.5
During the periodic renovations undertaken, the various ruling dynasties of the
Islamic Caliphate constructed additions to the mosque and its precincts, such as its dome, facade, its
minbar , minarets and the interior structure. When the
Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, they used the mosque as a palace and the Dome of the Rock as a church, but its function as a mosque was restored after its recapture by
Saladin in 1187. More renovations, repairs and additions were undertaken in the later centuries by the
Ayyubids ,
Mamluks ,
Ottomans , the
Supreme Muslim Council , and
Jordan . Today,
East Jerusalem is under
Israeli control , but the mosque is under the administration of the Jordanian/Palestinian-led Islamic
Waqf .
The rectangular al-Aqsa Mosque and its precincts are 144,000 square meters (1,550,000 sq ft), although the mosque itself is about 35,000 square meters (380,000 sq ft) and could hold up to 5,000 worshipers. It is 83 m (272 ft) long, 56 m (184 ft) wide. Unlike the
Dome of the Rock , which reflects classical
Byzantine architecture, the Al-Aqsa Mosque is characteristic of early
Islamic architecture .
Here you can find the complete
Overview of all Theme Weeks .
Read more on
Wikipedia Al-Aqsa Mosque (
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