For more than thirteen hundred years Al Aqsa has been venerated throughout the Muslim world as the third holiest site of Islam. It was to this that the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, made his Night Journey from the Masjid al-Haram in Makkah. It was from this site that he, peace and blessings be upon him, ascended on the Mi'raj, his journey through the heavens to his Lord.
For thirteen hundred years Al-Aqsa has dominated the skyline and the life of the Holy City. For more than thirteen centuries it was a centre of pilgrimage for Muslims from all over the world. For the past twenty years, its very existence has been threatened.
In 638 Jerusalem's thousand years of recurrent religious persecution, intolerance and oppression, were brought to an abrupt halt: Omar ibn al-Khattab, the Second Khalif of Islam, entered al-Quds.
Eager to be rid of their Byzantine overlords and aware of their shared heritage with the Arabs, the descendants of Ishmael, as well as the Muslims' reputation for mercy and compassion in victory - the people of Jerusalem handed over the city after a brief siege.
They made only one condition: That the terms of their surrender be negotiated directly with the Khalif Omar in person.
Omar entered Jerusalem on foot . There was no bloodshed. There were no massacres.
Those who wanted to leave were allowed to, with all their goods. Those who wanted to stay were guarantee protection for their lives, their property and places of worship.
It is related that Omar asked Sophronius, the city patriarch, to take him to the sanctuary of David, as soon as he was through writing the terms of surrender. They were joined by four thousand of the Companions of the Prophet.
Al-Aqsa And The Dome Of The Rock
When they reached the area of the Noble Sanctuary they found it covered in rubbish . Omar proceeded to the west of the sanctuary and unfurled his cloak. He filled it with debris. Those with him did likewise. They disposed of it and returned, again and again, until the whole area where Al-Aqsa Mosque now stands was cleared.
The entire area of the al-Haram al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary, included more than 35 acres. The great rock, site of the Prophet's ascension to heaven on the Night Journey, peace and blessings be upon him, and direction of the first qibla, lay in the centre.
The rock was uncovered and the ground purified. It was suggested that the Muslims pray to the north of the rock, to include it in the Qibla when facing south toward Makkah. But Omar rejected this idea, and possible future confusion, by praying to the south of the rock, at the southernmost wall of the Noble Sanctuary.
A huge timber mosque which held three thousand worshipers was erected on this site, the site of the present Aqsa Mosque.
Fifty years later, near the end of the 7th century, it was given to the Umayyad Khalif, Abdul Malik ibn Marwan, to construct one of the world's most beautiful and enduring shrines over the rock itself. Highlighting the skyline of Jerusalem, and the memories of all that visit, the Dome of the Rock is a tribute to the Muslims love and respect for this site.
After completion of the Dome of the Rock, construction began on the site of the original timber mosque at the south end of the Sanctuary. A vast congregational mosque, accommodating over 5,000 worshipers, rose up. It became known as Masjid al-Aqsa (al-Aqsa Mosque) , although, in reality, the entire al-Haram al-Sharif is considered Al-Aqsa Mosque, its entire precincts inviolable.
The next five centuries of Muslim rule were characterized by peace, justice and prosperity. The Noble Sanctuary became a great centre of learning, scholars came from all over the world to worship at Al-Aqsa and to study and teach within its precincts
Western Wall - Claimed Jews Site in Jerusalem
This is the western wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque , Jewish and Israel assumed that this is all that is left of the ancient Jewish Temple destroyed by the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago.
All the archaeological researches shows that this wall are from the Islamic ages and have nothing to do with the assumed Jewish Temple.
There is a number of archaeological researches published in Jews Media and University shows this facts
Holy Sepulchre - Christian Site in Jerusalem
The tomb in which Jesus was buried and the name of the church built on the traditional site of his Crucifixion and burial. According to the Bible, the tomb was close to the place of Crucifixion , and so the church was planned to enclose the site of both cross and tomb.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre lies in the northwest quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Constantine the Great first built a church on the site. It was dedicated about AD 336, burned by the Persians in 614, restored by Modestus . In the 12th century the crusaders carried out a general rebuilding of the church. Since that time, frequent repair, restoration, and remodelling have been necessary. The present church dates mainly from 1810.
This site has been continuously recognized since the 4th century as the place where Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead. Whether it is the actual place, however, has been hotly debated. It cannot be determined that Christians during the first three centuries could or did preserve an authentic tradition as to where these events occurred. Members of the Christian Church in Jerusalem fled to Pella about AD 66, and Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70. Wars, destruction, and confusion during the following centuries possibly prevented preservation of exact information. Another question involves the course of the second north wall of ancient Jerusalem. Some archaeological remains on the east and south sides of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are widely interpreted to mark the course of the second wall. If so, the site of the church lay just outside the city wall in the time of Jesus, and this could be the actual place of his Crucifixion and burial. No rival site is supported by any real evidence.
Various Christian groups, including the Greek, Roman, Armenian, and Coptic churches, control parts of the present church and conduct services regularly
Cave of Mach-pelah - Jews Site in Hebron
At Hebron, Abraham purchased the cave of Mach-pelah as a burial place for his wife, Sarah, from Ephron the Hittite , this became a family sepulchre.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with their wives Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah, were buried in the cave
Al-Haram al-Ibrahimi - Islamic Site in Hebron
The Cave of Mach-pelah is surmounted by a large mosque, al-Haram al-Ibrahimi . After the Six-Day War (1967), Israel partitioned the mosque by force in to a Mosque and a Jewish service area, since then Jewish services are held in the cave and Muslim pray in the upper mosque which remains the exclusive property of the Muslims
Church of Nativity - Christian Site in Bethlehem
The site of the Nativity of Jesus was identified by St. Justin Martyr, a 2nd century Christian apologist, as a manger in "a cave close to the village", the cave, now under the name of the Church of the Nativity in the heart of the town, has been continuously venerated by Christians since then. St. Helena (c. 248-c. 328), mother of the first Christian Roman emperor (Constantine I), had a church built over the cave; later destroyed, it was rebuilt in substantially its present form by Emperor Justinian (reigned 527-565). The Church of the Nativity is thus one of the oldest Christian churches extant. Frequent conflicts have arisen over the jurisdiction of various faiths at the sacred site, often incited by outside interests; thus, for example, the theft, in 1847, of the silver star marking the exact traditional locus of the Nativity was an ostensible factor in the international crisis over the Holy Places that ultimately led to the Crimean War (1854-56). The church is now divided between the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Armenian Orthodox faiths
