Al-Aqsa

Today, we are in the most meaningful, important, and holiest part of this land for Muslims. Those who regularly read my articles have noticed how religions, languages, races, and nations are intertwined in these lands. Today we are in the Muslim quarter of the Old City, which contains the largest of the four quarters. And of course, we are in al-Aqsa, a most important place that I have to deal with here. Al-Aqsa is located in the southeast of the Old City and covers an area of one-sixth of the Old City.

Muslim Quarter includes also structures belonging to Christian Community. There are many churches and a part of the ‘Via Dolorasa’, a pilgrimage route for Christians, is also within the borders of this neighborhood. As I said before, everything is intertwined here.

If you are ready, let our journey to Al-Aqsa begin. After showing my passport to the Israeli soldiers standing at the gate of Al-Aqsa and saying the prayer they asked to make sure that I am a Muslim, I can enter this holy place. I felt as if I had taken the exam. However; I forget everything when I see a magnificent dome.

Al-Aqsa was first built by Omar bin Khattab as a small religious house. It was later rebuilt and expanded by the Umayyad caliph Abdulmalik bin Marwan in 700 AD. Al-Aqsa is our first qibla and our third holy place. It is the place where the Prophet ascended to the heavens. The entire 144-decare rectangular area contains 200 structures, a dome, arch, portico, open prayer place, fountains, madrasah, mihrab, and masjid.

Al-Aksa is called ‘Haremi Sheriff’. This name comes from the Ottoman cultural heritage. In the belief of Islam, the term ‘Haremeyn’ is used for the ‘Kaaba’ in Mecca and the ‘Masjid an-Nabawi’ in Medina.

The reason for the exceptional place of Al-Aqsa in Islam is that it is the place of Miraj of Allah.

Isra and Mirac ;

Prophet Muhammad is being taken from Masjid al-Haram to Beytülmakdis (Al-Aqsa). This is called a night walk. (Isra)

He ascends to the sky over the rock in “Dome of the Rock” (Mirac)

This event takes place 12 -17 months before the Hijrah, on the 27th night of the month of Rajab. The Prophet Muhammad comes to Beytulmakdis with his horse named Burak. He leaves Burak on the wall of Al-Aqsa. While Muslims call the wall as ‘Burak Wall’ Jews named it as ‘Western Wall’. IProphet Muhammed ascends to 7 floors above the rock and meets the prophets Adam, Isa, Yusuf, Idris, Harun, and Moses in each of the heavens, respectively. In the 7th heaven, Muhammed meets with Ibrahim. After he comes into the presence of God he returns to give good news to his ummah. These are:

1. The Prophet Muhammed applies to God, with the advice of Hz. Moses, for performing prayer 5 times a day, which was initially fifty times. God gave ten to one and stated that he would bestow the reward of fifty times on those who do five times.

2. It was announced that the first nation to enter heaven will be Muslims. “None of the prophets will enter heaven before you, and none of the ummah will enter heaven before your ummah!”

3.The last two verses of Al-Bacara were revealed.

This is why; Al-Aqsa, the holy Mosque for Muslims, has experienced stormy times throughout history and still continues to do so. In the continuation of my post, you will see that each religion has given different meanings to the most important structures. That’s why this fight never ends.

Now let’s take a trip into history.

The Dome of the Rock, which was built between 687 and 691 during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Abdülmelik, was converted into a church after Jerusalem was taken by the Crusaders in 1099. With the transformation, a cross was placed on the top of the Dome of the Rock, while various icons were placed in the cave under the dome. After Saladin’s conquest of Jerusalem in 1187, most of the changes made during the Crusades were removed. The Muslim rulers who dominated the city since this date, especially during the Ottoman Period, showed great respect to the Dome of the Rock.

The Ottomans’ control of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock took place during the reign of Yavuz Sultan Selim. In particular, Suleiman the Magnificent attached great importance to the Dome of the Rock. After the earthquake that took place in Palestine on July 11, 1927, the Dome of the Rock was badly damaged. However, with the help of Turkey and other Arab countries, the Dome of the Rock was extensively repaired.

the Dome of the Rock; This magnificent structure, which is the holiest place of Islam after Mecca and Medina, has an octagonal structure with a height of 18 meters. While it is the first known domed structure of Islamic architecture, it has been accepted as one of the oldest and most beautiful examples. It is also the first historical artifact that reflects the Islamic belief in the interior decorations of the dome.

In 1998, the golden dome on its top was renovated with the donation of 8.2 million dollars from the King of Jordan Hussein. To do this, the King of Jordan sold a house in London and provided 80 kilos of gold. This dome was first covered with copper plates and covered with gold.

It is believed that it is the sacred rock on which our Prophet began to ascend. It is also widely believed among people that this stone is suspended in the air between the earth and the sky.

There are also different beliefs about this rock. While many people believe that Noah’s ship sat on it after the flood, others accepted that the rock is a part of the Temple of Solomon.

This stone is also very important for the Jews. According to the Jewish traditional view, it is the spiritual union of heaven and earth. Just as Muslims pray by turning to the Kaaba, Jews worship by turning to this stone. They consider this stone to be part of the Temple period. According to Jewish tradition, this stone is known as the place where Prophet Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son.

How can this fight end! There are so many reasons why the heart of the Middle East cannot be shared.

The interior of the Dome of the Rock is furnished with many attractive mosaics and tiles, many of which were added years after its initial establishment. The inner surface of the Dome of the Rock is decorated with verses and motifs from the Qur’an. When you look up at the top of the Dome of the Rock, you can see the Ya-Sin, written in a calligraphy from the reign of Sultan Suleiman in the 16th century.

During the Crusaders Period, this place was converted into a church. The Crusader King of the period believed that this place was a part of the Temple of Solomon, so he set up his headquarters right next to this dome.

In the Dome of the Rock, under the rock called “muallak” (foundation) stone, there is a small cave with a deep mihrab called the ‘Masjid of Prophets’ or ‘Cave of Souls’. It is believed that the Prophet Muhammad prayed here.

In addition, the Dome of the Rock has 4 gates, namely the West Gate, the Gate of Heaven, the Silsile Dome Gate, and the Qibla Gate.

The footprint of the Prophet Muhammad before he ascended into the sky is another structure found in the Dome of the Rock

Aksa Mosque – Qibla Masjid ; According to Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad had led believers to look here while praying until God ordered to turn to the Kaaba.

While 5 thousand people can pray at the same time inside the mosque, 400 thousand people can pray at the same time within its surroundings.

On August 21, 1969, there was a fire that burned the southeast part of this mosque. An Austrian terrorist said, “Jesus is coming again, we need to clear the way”, and aimed to destroy Al-Aqsa by burning a part of the mosque.

Nureddin Zengi Minbar; The conquest of Jerusalem was Nureddin Zengi’s dream and goal. 20 years before the conquest, that is, in 1168, he mad a wooden pulpit with high artistic value to be placed in Al-Aqsa.

The pulpit was assembled from 12.000 pieces using the kundekari technique. It included verses from the Qur’an and historical inscriptions. The pulpit, which had been waiting in Aleppo for 20 years, was brought from the city in 1187 after the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin Ayyubi and was placed in the Al-Aqsa on the right side of the middle altar.

This very valuable pulpit was set on fire by Israeli Jews on Thursday morning, August 21, 1969. It was badly damaged. The Jordanian government had a similar pulpit built and put it in the same place.

 

Marwan Masjid ; Although the exact date of construction of this building is not known, traces have been found that it was built long before the Qibla Masjid. It is the largest of the covered places in Al-Aqsa. Six thousand people can pray at the same time. When the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem, they used this mosque as a barn. One of the things confirming the accuracy of this narration is that the great iron hoops hung on the walls of the mosque are still found today. Later, after the Umayyads took Jerusalem from the Crusaders, its name was changed to ‘Marvan Masjid’ because the Umayyad Caliph Abdulmalik Marvan repaired and reopened this place.

Museum of Islam: The works exhibited in the Islamic Museum are among the most valuable and rare ones of Islamic history. Existing artifacts have documented the history of Al-Aqsa since the time of Omer. The oldest and rarest manuscript copies of the Holy Quran dating back to the 16th century are among the exhibits. The Quran is the largest copy(its dimensions are 110cm×170cm.) of the Holy Quran found in Palestine.

I tried to convey the Al-Aqsa to you with its most important structures and all its spirituality. But there is so much to tell here that it never ends. As I conclude my post here, I would like to let you know that we will be in the Christians Quarter next week 🙂 I would appreciate if you share your views and suggestions with me.

Thanks for your interest…