Since its occupation in 1967, Al-Aqsa Mosque has been subjected to continuous attacks, most notably the incursions of ministers, Knesset deputies, police officers and settlers and their attempts to perform religious rituals, including offering offerings inside the Temple Mount.

The religious significance of the Al-Aqsa Mosque

It is the mosque that was captured by the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and the story is mentioned in the Qur'an, as Allah Almighty said at the beginning of Surah Al – Isra, "praise be to him who was captured by his slave at night from the Grand Mosque to the Al-Aqsa mosque around which he blessed us" (Isra-Verse 1).

It is also the first of the two tribes, where Muslims prayed to him throughout the Meccan period, in addition to 17 months after the hijra, before they were ordered to convert to the Holy Mosque, and it is also the third mosque that travelers pay attention to after the Holy Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's mosque in Medina.

In addition, for many centuries, the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been an important Center for the teaching of Science and knowledge of Islamic Civilization, A Center for major religious ceremonies, a place for the announcement of royal decrees and the appointment of senior officials.

When was the Al-Aqsa Mosque built

The Al-Aqsa Mosque was built more than two thousand years ago, it is the second mosque that was placed in the ground after the Grand Mosque, and the proof of this is what Bukhari narrated about Abu Dharr Al-Ghaffari, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: I said, O Messenger of Allah, which mosque was placed in the ground first He said, "Holy Mosque," he said, " I said then which?" He said, "Al-Aqsa Mosque," I said, " how many were there between them?" He said: "Forty years, and then wherever prayer overtakes you is separated, and the Earth is for you a mosque".

Who built the Al-Aqsa Mosque

It is not known exactly who built the Al-Aqsa Mosque the first time, as historians disagreed among themselves on who laid the first brick to build the mosque, some of them said that the Prophet Adam Abu al-Bishr built it, some say that he was Sam Ibn Noah, and others argued that the Prophet Ibrahim was the one who built the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Some accounts suggest that the first one who built it was Adam (peace be upon him), who kidnapped its borders after 40 years after establishing the rules of the Haram house by order of Allah, may he be exalted, without having a synagogue, church, temple or temple before them.

History of the Al-Aqsa Mosque

As the construction and reconstruction operations continued on the Grand Mosque, followed on the blessed Al-Aqsa, our master Ibrahim lost his age around the year 2000 BC, and then his sons Isaac and Jacob took over the task after him, and our master Suleiman (peace be upon him) renewed its construction around 1000 BC.

In one of the most famous Muslim conquests in 15 hijra (636 AD), Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab came from Medina to Jerusalem and received it from its inhabitants in an agreement known as the"age covenant", he himself cleaned the honorable rock and Al-Aqsa Square, and then built a small mosque the southernmost of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

He was accompanied by many companions, including Abu Ubaidah Amer Ibn Jarrah, Saad Ibn Abi Waqqas, Khalid ibn al-Walid and Abu Dharr Al-Ghaffari.

The name of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is given to the entire semi – rectangular area of 144 dunums, and its facilities, the most important of which is the dome of the Rock built by Abdul Malik ibn Marwan in 72 Ah (691 ad) with the tribal mosque, which is one of the most magnificent Islamic monuments, and then Caliph al-Walid Ibn Abdul Malik completed the construction of the tribal mosque during his reign, which lasted from 86 to 96 Ah (705-714 ad).

The dome of the Rock has remained in its original form to this day, but the tribal mosque is different from the Umayyad building, as the mosque was built several times following earthquakes over the past centuries, starting from the earthquake suffered by the late Umayyad rule in 130 Ah (747 ad) and passing through the earthquake that occurred during the Fatimid era in 425 Ah (1033 ad).

What are the highlights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque

The Al-Aqsa Mosque consists of several buildings, and contains several landmarks up to 200 landmarks, including mosques, domes, arcades, niches, pulpits, minarets, wells, and other landmarks.

The Al-Aqsa mosque includes both the dome of the honorable rock (the golden dome) located at the site of the heart of it, and the tribal mosque (with a lead dome) located on the southernmost side of the Qibla.

The tribal mosque includes 7 corridors (a middle corridor, three corridors from the East and three from the West), and these corridors are raised on 53 marble columns and 49 stone masts.

There are 25 fresh water wells in Al-Aqsa al-Sharif square, 8 of which are in the bowl of the honorable rock and 17 in the lower courtyards, there are also ablution sites.

As for the avenues for drinking water, the most important is the qaytbay Avenue, roofed with a magnificent stone dome, which attracted the attention of Arab and foreign travelers who visited the mosque, along with the Badiri Avenue and the Qasim Pasha Avenue.

There are also several terraces up to forty, rising one or two degrees from the ground, used for sitting, praying and teaching Sharia science (Hadith, prophetic biography, interpretation, Islamic culture, jurisprudence in addition to Arabic language and painting), accommodating all ages and both genders, and there are 35 terraces, some of which were built in the Mamluk era, and most of them in the Ottoman era.

Al-Aqsa Mosque.. Area, shape and number of doors

The area of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is about 144 dunums (one thousand square meters), and it occupies about one sixth of the area of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Its shape is polygonal or semi-rectangular, the length of its western side is 491 meters, the eastern is 462 meters, the Northern is 310 meters, and the Southern is 281 meters.

The mosque has a dome in the chest, and it also has 11 doors, 7 of which are in the North, a door in the East, two in the West and one in the South.

The price of prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque

Prayer in Al-Aqsa Mosque is double the wage, and there have been many narratives and Hadiths about how much it is amended, it was reported that it amends 500 prayers, and it is also reported that it amends 250 prayers, and it was also said that the prayer in it amends 50 thousand prayers, which scholars believe is not true because it exceeds the virtue of prayer in the Grand Mosque, and they affirm that the most correct statement in the prayer in Al-Aqsa Mosque is the version that indicates that it is a thousand prayers.

Whoever enters Al-Aqsa and performs the prayer anywhere in it -whether under one of its trees, or one of its domes, or on top of one of its terraces, or inside the dome of the rock, or the tribal mosque - a prayer is written for him in Al-Aqsa Mosque, the matter is in it either, and there is no difference in prayer between one place and another in it, all thanks are in it.

The number of minarets of the Al-Aqsa Mosque

The Al-Aqsa Mosque has 4 minarets, and many domes and stables that were intended for Scholars, Mystics and strangers, and the most famous of these domes are the dome of the chain, the dome of the Miraj, and the dome of the Prophet.

As for the arcades, the most important are the northern Portico adjacent to the door of honor of the prophets, and the portico extending west from the chain door to the door of the Moroccans, and there are two sundials to tell the time.

Highlights of events after the occupation 

Al-Aqsa fire

The Al-Aqsa mosque fire came as part of a series of measures taken by the Israeli occupation since 1948 with the aim of obliterating the Islamic cultural identity of the city of Jerusalem.on August 21, 1969, the occupation authorities cut off water from the Al-Aqsa Mosque area and prevented Arab citizens from approaching the mosque yards, while one of the extremists tried to burn down the tribal mosque in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The fire had already broken out and almost came on the dome of the mosque if it had not been for the desperation of Muslims and Christians in the firefighting operations that were carried out against the will of the Israeli authorities, but after the fire came on Salah al-Din's pulpit and the flames caught on the roof of the southern mosque and the roof of three corridors on the eastern side.

Israel claimed that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit, and after the Arab engineers proved that it was done by an actor, it stated that a young Australian was responsible for the fire and that it would bring him to trial, and not long after it claimed that this young man was insane and then released him.

Most of the world's countries condemned this fire, and the Security Council met and issued its Resolution No. 271 of 1969 by 11 votes with 4 abstentions, including the United States of America, which condemned Israel and called on it to cancel all measures that would change the status of Jerusalem.

The resolution stated that"the Security Council expresses its sorrow for the serious damage caused by the fire to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on 21/8/1969 under Israeli military occupation, and recognizes the loss to human culture as a result of this damage".

The statement of the UN Security Council recalled the resolutions of the UN General Assembly on the invalidity of Israel's actions affecting the status of the city of Jerusalem, and affirming the principle of non-acceptance of the seizure of land by military invasion, and stated that "any destruction or desecration of holy places, religious buildings or sites in Jerusalem, or any encouragement or complicity to carry out such an action, can severely threaten international security and peace.

The council added that the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque underscores the urgent need to prevent Israel from violating the resolutions that the council and the General Assembly had issued regarding Jerusalem, and to nullify all the actions and measures it had taken to change the status of the holy city.

The Arab and Islamic countries were outraged, and the leaders of these countries met in Rabat on September 25, 1969 and decided to establish the organization of the Islamic Conference, which at that time included 30 Arab and Islamic countries, and established the Jerusalem Fund in 1976.

Then, the following year, the Jerusalem committee was established under the chairmanship of the late Moroccan King Hassan II to preserve the city of Jerusalem and its Islamic shrines against the Judaization practiced by the Israeli occupation authorities.

Excavations under the Al-Aqsa Mosque

The excavations carried out by the group of temple trustees under the Al-Aqsa Mosque are one of the most prominent dangers facing it.these excavations began since 1967 under Arab houses, schools and mosques under the pretext of searching for Solomon's temple, and then extended in 1968 to reach under the yards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a deep and long tunnel was dug under the mosque and a synagogue was established inside it.

These excavations have received widespread international condemnation, for example, the eighteenth General Conference of UNESCO issued its Resolution No. 427/3 condemning Israel for continuing its excavations and tampering with the civilized character of the city of Jerusalem in general and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in particular.

One of the most dangerous excavations carried out by the occupation was in 2016, where it was opened in the presence of Israeli minister of Culture Miri Regev and Israeli mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barka, where it extended from Ein Silwan south, to the southwestern corner of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque have not stopped, whether by excavations that threaten it with great danger or by frequent intrusions by extremist Jews.

Maximum closure

On July 14, 2017, hundreds of Palestinians performed Friday prayers on the streets of the occupied city of Jerusalem after they were prevented from praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a result of clashes that led to the martyrdom of 3 Palestinians and the killing of two Israeli policemen.

The Israeli occupation authorities arrested the grand mufti of Jerusalem and the holy houses, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, and closed the doors of the Al-Aqsa Mosque until further notice, after which the Israeli government decided to install electronic screening gates at the entrances to the mosque.

The closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque to worshippers on Friday is the first of its kind since the Al-Aqsa mosque fire in 1969.