In the name of Allah, all praise and thanks are due to Allah, the Most Gracious and Most Merciful, for all the blessings and favours bestowed upon us. May peace and blessings be upon the Prophet Muhammad SAW, who embarked on the journey of Isra’ and Mi’raj and to whom Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa was one of the destinations. May peace and blessings also be upon his family, companions, followers, and all who tread their path.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is one of the most important mosques in Islam. And his special position is within a Palestinian state that belongs to the land of Sham, where Sham is the land that was blessed by His Majesty in his prayer: “O Allah! Bestow Your blessings on our Sham! O Allah! Bestow Your blessings on our Yemen.” – Narrated by Imam al-Bukhari.

When the Palestinian land was then attacked by the Zionist army, we were called upon to remind the Muslims of the special status conferred on Al-Aqsa Mosque, a special land on the Muslim side.

First Islamic Qibla

Before the Muslims prayed to the Haram Mosque, Al-Aqsa Mosque was the first Qibla of Islam. After the proclamation of the prayers of the five times, the Prophet SAW prayed to Al-Aqsa Mosque. Then, after his emigration to Medina, he was praying before Al-Aqsa Mosque for 16 or 17 months. Then came the revelation from Allah that commanded the Prophet to pray before the Haram Mosque. To this day, the Haram Mosque will be the Qibla of the Muslims and will remain forever.

This is described by al-Barra’ Bin ‘Azib, saying: “When the Prophet entered Medina (hijrah), the Lord prayed before the Temple of Makdis for 16 or 17 months. And God has revealed the Qur’an.”

“Indeed, We see you ˹O Prophet˺ turning your face towards heaven. Now We will make you turn towards a direction ˹of prayer˺ that will please you. So turn your face towards the Sacred Mosque ˹in Mecca˺—wherever you are, turn your faces towards it. Those who were given the Scripture certainly know this to be the truth from their Lord. And Allah is never unaware of what they do.” (Al-Baqarah 2:144)

Then the Prophet appeared before the Ka’bah.

Second Mosque Built on Earth

Among the glories of Al-Aqsa is that it is the second mosque built on the surface of the earth after Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca, where it was the first mosque to be built. The distance between the two mosques is forty years.

As the Prophet SAW mentioned when asked by Abu Dzar, what the first mosque was built: Al-Masjid Al-Haram. Then he asked again: then? Answer: “Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa.” He asked again: What’s the distance between the two? He said, “40 years, then wherever you find the time of prayer, then pray there. Verily, there is glory.

Including Three Mosques That Must Visit It

There are Hadiths that specify the privilege of the three holy mosques of the Muslims, namely the Mosque of the Haram, the Nabawi Mosque, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in which one cannot put the hard work of traveling to the mosque except to the three mosques. These three mosques have their own advantages and glory that surpass the other mosques on the face of the earth.

The Prophet SAW said: “Do not set out on a journey except for three mosques, i.e., Al-Masjid-AI-Haram, the Mosque of Allah’s Messenger SAW , and the Mosque of Al-Aqsa, (Mosque of Jerusalem).” – Narrated by Imam al-Bukhari

Blessed Mosque and its Environs

What is good and what is good in the world and the Hereafter? It is like trees that grow and rivers that flow, and the Hereafter is like the wages of prayer in the Mosque of Aqsa.

In the Qur’an, Allah describes the Mosque of Aqsa with the blessing of His Word:

“Glory be to the One Who took His servant ˹Muḥammad˺ by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He alone is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.” (Al-Isra 17:1)

In this Qur’an, it is indicated that the earth around the Al-Aqsa Mosque is blessed. This also means that Al-Aqsa Mosque itself is blessed even more when its surroundings are embodied with blessings.

Ibn ‘Assyur said: “The mention of the blessing in the vicinity is the greater benefit to the achievement of a blessing to him. 

Where the Prophet Saw Isra’ and Mi’raj

Isra refers to the journey of the Prophet from the Masjidil Haram to Al-Aqsa Mosque, while Mi’raj also refers to the way of the Lord ascending to the sky from Al-Aqsa Mosque. The glory of Al-Aqsa Mosque is that it was the place of the Prophet before he ascended to the sky, which the Lord had prayed there before the mi’raj. This is mentioned in Surah Al-Isra’ verse 1,  as mentioned above.

Multiplied Rewards, Forgiven Sin

A prayer in Al-Aqsa Mosque is worth more than a prayer elsewhere, except in the Haram Mosque and the Nabawi Mosque. The prayer in the Masjidil Haram has the advantage of a hundred thousand rewards over the prayer elsewhere. But the prayer in the Nabawi Mosque is rewarded with a thousand rewards over the rest of the world. As for the prayer in the Mosque of Aqsa, the reward is two hundred fifty times greater than in the rest of the world.

The Prophet SAW said: “One prayer in my mosque is better than four prayers there, but it is still a good place of prayer. Soon there will come a time when if a man has a spot of land as big as his horse’s rope from which he can see Bayt al-Maqdis, that will be better for him than the whole world.”

Shaykh Abdurrazzaq also, when commenting on this hadith, explains that the hadith is one of the knowledges that was given to the Lord, who explained that the hearts of the Muslims will be attached to Al-Aqsa Mosque, which will be increasingly oppressed by the enemy, so that a Muslim hopes that he will have a small piece of land where he can see the Al-Aqsa Mosque from there, which he likes more than the world and its states.

The Prophet SAW said: “Solomon, the son of David, prayed to Allah for three things, and he was granted two. He asked for a law that was equal to his law, and he was given. He asked for a kingdom that would not be given to anyone but him, and then he was given. And he asks that whoever leaves his house he will not but pray in this mosque that his sin will come out like the day he was born. He said, “We hope that God will give it to him.” 

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is one of the lands glorified by the Muslims, it is a blessed land. We pray that one day it will return to its original owner, the Palestinian.

Abdul Rahman Rahuni

Ustaz Abdul Rahman Rahuni is a Malaysian shariah advisor at Muslim Pro. He is a graduate of the Islamic University of Madinah, studying in the field of Islamic Sharia. Ustaz Abdul Rahman is currently a lecturer at Sekolah Menengah Agama Islamiah, Tawau, Sabah.