This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.Al-Aqsa (/æl ˈæksə/; Arabic: الأَقْصَى, romanized: Al-Aqṣā) or al-Masjid al-Aqṣā (Arabic: المسجد الأقصى)[2] is the compound of Islamic religious buildings that sit atop the Temple Mount, also known as the Haram al-Sharif, in the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Dome of the Rock, many mosques and prayer halls, madrasas, zawiyas, khalwas and other domes and religious structures, as well as the four encircling minarets.

The mosque was rebuilt by the Fatimid caliph al-Zahir (r. 1021–1036), who reduced it to seven aisles but adorned its interior with an elaborate central archway covered in vegetal mosaics; the current structure preserves the 11th-century outline.

During the periodic renovations undertaken, the ruling Islamic dynasties constructed additions to the mosque and its precincts, such as its dome, façade, minarets, and minbar and interior structure.

More renovations, repairs, and expansion projects were undertaken in later centuries by the Ayyubids, the Mamluks, the Ottomans, the Supreme Muslim Council of British Palestine, and during the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank.

Al-Aqsa holds high geopolitical significance due to its location atop the Temple Mount, in close proximity to other historical and holy sites in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and has been a primary flashpoint in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

[5][6][7] Arabic and Persian writers such as 10th-century geographer al-Muqaddasi,[8] 11th-century scholar Nasir Khusraw,[8] 12th-century geographer al-Idrisi[9] and 15th-century Islamic scholar Mujir al-Din,[2][10] as well as 19th-century American and British Orientalists Edward Robinson,[5] Guy Le Strange and Edward Henry Palmer explained that the term Masjid al-Aqsa refers to the entire esplanade plaza also known as the Temple Mount or Haram al-Sharif ('Noble Sanctuary') – i.e. the entire area including the Dome of the Rock, the fountains, the gates, and the four minarets – because none of these buildings existed at the time the Quran was written.

[8] During the period of Mamluk[13] (1250–1517) and Ottoman rule (1517–1917), the wider compound began to also be popularly known as the Haram al-Sharif, or al-Ḥaram ash-Sharīf (Arabic: اَلْـحَـرَم الـشَّـرِيْـف), which translates as the "Noble Sanctuary".

[30] The architectural historian K. A. C. Creswell notes that Arculf's attestation lends credibility to claims by some Islamic traditions and medieval Christian chronicles, which he otherwise deems legendary or unreliable, that the second Rashidun caliph, Umar (r. 634–644), ordered the construction of a primitive mosque on the Temple Mount.

[39] As both were intentionally built on the same axis, Grabar comments that the two structures form "part of an architecturally thought-out ensemble comprising a congregational and a commemorative building", the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, respectively.

[51] The Jerusalemite geographer al-Muqaddasi, writing in 985, provided the following description: This mosque is even more beautiful than that of Damascus ... the edifice [after al-Mahdi's reconstruction] rose firmer and more substantial than ever it had been in former times.

[52]Al-Muqaddasi further noted that the mosque consisted of fifteen aisles aligned perpendicularly to the qibla and possessed an elaborately decorated porch with the names of the Abbasid caliphs inscribed on its gates.

[49] According to Hamilton, al-Muqaddasi's description of the Abbasid-era mosque is corroborated by his archaeological findings in 1938–1942, which showed the Abbasid construction retained some parts of the older structure and had a broad central aisle topped by a dome.

[63] It marked the first instance of this Quranic verse being inscribed in Jerusalem, leading Grabar to hypothesize that it was an official move by the Fatimids to magnify the site's sacred character.

[65]Al-Zahir's substantial investment in the Haram, including the al-Aqsa Mosque, amid the political instability in the capital Cairo, rebellions by Bedouin tribes, especially the Jarrahids of Palestine, and plagues, indicate the caliph's "commitment to Jerusalem", in Pruitt's words.

[66] Although the city had experienced decreases in its population in the preceding decades, the Fatimids attempted to build up the magnificence and symbolism of the mosque, and the Haram in general, for their own religious and political reasons.

The Mamluks also raised the level of Jerusalem's Central or Tyropoean Valley bordering the Temple Mount from the west by constructing huge substructures, on which they then built on a large scale.

[82] On 21 August 1969, a fire was started by a visitor from Australia named Denis Michael Rohan,[90] an evangelical Christian who hoped that by burning down al-Aqsa Mosque he would hasten the Second Coming of Jesus.

[93] In the 1980s, Ben Shoshan and Yehuda Etzion, both members of the Israeli radical Gush Emunim Underground group, plotted to blow up the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock.

[100][101][102] On 5 November 2014, Israeli police entered the main prayer hall itself for the first time since capturing Jerusalem in 1967, according to Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, director of the Islamic Waqf.

The octagonal plan of the structure may have been influenced by the Byzantine-era Church of the Seat of Mary (also known as Kathisma in Greek and al-Qadismu in Arabic), which was built between 451 and 458 on the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

The mosque was rebuilt by the Fatimid caliph al-Zahir (r. 1021–1036), who reduced it to seven aisles but adorned its interior with an elaborate central archway covered in vegetal mosaics; the current structure preserves the 11th-century outline.

"[124] The Marwani Mosque is another Islamic prayer hall situated in a large vaulted space beneath the main level of the southeastern corner of the compound, but still above the bedrock and within the enclosing walls of the Temple Mount.

[127] The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf acquired a permit to use Solomon's Stables in 1996 as an alternative place of worship for occasional rainy days of the holy month of Ramadan.

[139][141] The central axes connect the centres of the opposing sides, and the Dome is also aligned on the long (approximately north-south) axis with what is presumed to be the oldest mihrab of the al-Aqsa Mosque.

[145] Originally, built during the Umayyad period, the dome was subsequently destroyed by the Crusaders, and rebuilt in 1539 by Muhammad Bek, Ottoman Governor of Jerusalem during the regin of Suleiman the Magnificent.

[citation needed] Several Muslim writers, most notably al-Suyuti and al-Vâsıtî claimed that the site of the dome is where Muhammad led the former prophets and angels in prayer on the night of Isra and Mir'aj before ascending to Heaven.

[156][157][158] It bears inscriptions from the 12th and 17th centuries: one dated 1191 in Saladin's name, and two mentioning Yusuf Agha, possibly a governor of Jerusalem or a eunuch in the Ottoman imperial palace.

A twelfth gate still open during Ottoman rule is now closed to the public: The administrative body responsible for the whole Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is known as "the Jerusalem Waqf", an organ of the Jordanian government.

[196] Muslims who are residents of Israel or visiting the country and Palestinians living in East Jerusalem are normally allowed to enter the Temple Mount and pray at al-Aqsa Mosque without restrictions.

[206][207] On 15 April 2022, Israeli forces entered the Al-Aqsa compound and used tear gas shells and sound bombs to disperse Palestinians who, they said, were throwing stones at policemen.