The word · History
المَسْجِدُ الأَقْصَى
Masjid al-Aqsa
The mosque enclosure in Jerusalem, third of the three mosques worth travelling to visit.
Also written · Al-Aqsa · Masjid ul Aqsa · Al Aqsa Mosque · Aqsa · Bayt al-Maqdis · Baitul Maqdis · Al-Quds · Jerusalem · Haram al-Sharif · Masjid e Aqsa · Aksa · Qibla al-Ula · Dome of the Rock
The meaning
What Masjid al-Aqsa means in Islam
Aqsa means farthest, because it was the far end of the night journey from Makkah. It was the first qiblah, faced for roughly sixteen months before the direction turned to the Ka'bah. Common confusion worth clearing: al-Masjid al-Aqsa is the whole walled enclosure, including the golden Dome of the Rock and the silver domed prayer hall, not only the building people usually photograph.
Evidence · Qur’an · Stated directly in the Qur’an
Read beside it
Rooms that name it
Words that sit beside it
- Isra and Mi'rajThe night the Prophet was taken to Jerusalem and then raised through the heavens.الإِسْرَاءُ وَالمِعْرَاج
- QiblahThe direction of the Kaaba in Makkah, which Muslims face when they pray.قِبْلَة
- Masjid al-HaramThe Sacred Mosque in Makkah, the enclosure built around the Ka'bah.المَسْجِدُ الحَرَام
- Masjid an-NabawiThe Prophet's Mosque in Madinah, which he built himself and where he is buried.المَسْجِدُ النَّبَوِيّ
More from History
- Abu BakrThe Prophet's closest friend, his companion in the cave, and the first caliph.أَبُو بَكْرٍ الصِّدِّيق
- Banu UmayyahThe first dynasty of caliphs, ruling from Damascus for about ninety years after the Rashidun.بَنُو أُمَيَّة
- Hasan ibn AliThe Prophet's elder grandson, who gave up the caliphate to stop a war between Muslims.الحَسَنُ بْنُ عَلِيّ
- Imam al-BukhariThe scholar from Bukhara who compiled the Sahih, the most rigorously sifted book of hadith.مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ البُخَارِيّ
- KhaybarThe fortified oasis north of Madinah taken in year seven, shortly after Hudaybiyah.خَيْبَر
- SahabahThe Companions: anyone who met the Prophet as a believer and died still believing.الصَّحَابَة