AL-AQSA & PALESTINE - IN THE QURAN

Submitted by ADAM MUSTAFA (Canada), Apr 6, 2007 at 13:07

The Al Aqsa Mosque was initially built by PROPHET IBRAHIM, peace be upon him, forty years after he built the Ka'ba in Makkah. The name "Al-Aqsa Mosque" translates to "the farthest mosque". The STRUCTURE has been rebuilt because it was destroyed by earthquakes.

In Jerusalem, Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH) also established a place of worship. This place would later be known as The House Of Allah (God), or Beteyel. Forty years after the construction of Kaba, Prophet Ibrahim expanded this place of worship. Isaac (PBUH), Prophet Ibrahim's younger son, worshipped in Beteyel, but also made journeys to Kaba in Makkah for Hajj (Pilgrimage) as did Ibrahim (PBUH). Jacob (PBUH) the second son of Isaac (PBUH), extended Beteyel as a place of worship for all the believers of Allah (God) in the region. The natives of the land, the Palestinians, believers in the teachings of the Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH), also worshipped in Beteyel or The House Of Allah (God).

Ibrahim (PBUH), referred to Beteyel as "Masjid Al-Aqsa", which means the farthest place of worship of the One God. Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH), was stating that Masjid Al-Aqsa was the farthest place of worship west of Kaba in Makkah.

Glory to (Allah) Who did take His Servant for a Journey by night
from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque,
whose precincts We did bless,
- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs:
for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things). [Qur'an 17:1]

According to Qur'anic verse, MUHAMMAD, peace be upon him, took the journey in a single night from "the sacred mosque" (in Mecca) to "the farthest mosque" (al-Masjid al-Aqsa).

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