Al Aqsa Mosque is an ancient mosque in Jerusalem. It ranks as one of the holiest sites in the religion of Islam. Al Aqsa is the third most sacred mosque, after the Great Mosque in Mecca and the Holy Mosque in Medina, both in Saudi Arabia. Al Aqsa is also the second oldest mosque. Only Mecca’s Great Mosque is older. The name Al Aqsa means farthest in Arabic. The name refers to the mosque’s location 767 miles (1,235 kilometers) away from Mecca, the holiest city of Islam.
The huge Al Aqsa Mosque covers more than 35 acres (14 hectares). It can hold as many as 400,000 worshipers. Features of the mosque include a lead dome, a large central atrium (courtyard), narrow arcades (roofed walkways), and a covered area. The mosque has several gates and 4 minarets. A minaret is a slender tower from which a muezzin (crier) calls people to prayer.
The original Al Aqsa Mosque was built around A.D. 710 under the direction of al-Walid I. Al-Walid I was the caliph, or leader, of the Umayyad caliphate, an Islamic empire. Earthquakes twice destroyed the mosque. The present mosque dates from 1035. Later renovations took place in the 1900’s following additional earthquakes.
Al Aqsa Mosque is part of an area that Muslims call al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary). Jews call the area the Temple Mount. The area is sacred to Muslims, Jews, and Christians. The site also includes the Dome of the Rock, an important Islamic shrine. Only Muslims may enter Al Aqsa Mosque on holy days.
In 1951, a Palestinian gunman assassinated King Abdullah I of Jordan in the mosque. In 1969, a member of an evangelical Christian group started a fire in the mosque. The fire destroyed the minbar, a wooden pulpit given to the mosque by Saladin, a ruler of Egypt and Syria in the 1100’s. Tensions between Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Jerusalem led to riots after both incidents.
