fotografi, photograph

Al-Aqsamoskén (arabiska: المسجد الاقصى, [æl'mæsʒɪd æl'ɑqsˁɑ] al-Masjid al-Aqsa) är en moské på Tempelberget i Jerusalem som uppfördes av kalifen Umar ibn al-Khattab år 638. Den var ursprungligen uppförd av trä men ersattes av en moské i sten av kalif Abd al-Malik efter färdigställandet av den närbelägna Klippdomen och var klar omkring 705.

Al-Aqsamoskén är den tredje viktigaste moskén inom islam efter Masjid al-Haram (moskén som omger Kaba) i Mekka och al-Masjid an-Nabawi (profeten Muhammeds moské) i Medina. Muslimer tror att profeten Muhammed under "den nattliga resan" fördes från den heliga moskén i Mekka till den plats där al-Aqsa nu är belägen. Den islamiska traditionen hävdar att Muhammed bad med böneriktning mot denna plats till den sjuttonde månaden efter utvandringen, då han istället vände sig mot Kaba.

När Jerusalem intogs av de kristna 1099 gjorde de al-Aqsamoskén till högkvarter för Tempelherreorden tills Saladin återtog staden 1187.

Al-Aqsa Mosque (Arabic: ٱلْمَسْجِد ٱلْأَقْصَىٰ‎, romanized: al-Masjid al-ʾAqṣā, "the Farthest Mosque"), located in the Old City of Jerusalem, is the third holiest site in Islam. The mosque was built on top of the Temple Mount, known as the Al Aqsa Compound or Haram esh-Sharif in Islam. Muslims believe that Muhammad was transported from the Great Mosque of Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey. Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad led prayers towards this site until the 16th or 17th month after his migration from Mecca to Medina, when Allah directed him to turn towards the Kaaba in Mecca.

The covered mosque building was originally a small prayer house erected by Umar, the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, but was rebuilt and expanded by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik and finished by his son al-Walid in 705. The mosque was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 746 and rebuilt by the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur in 754. It was rebuilt again in 780. Another earthquake destroyed most of al-Aqsa in 1033, but two years later the Fatimid caliph Ali az-Zahir built another mosque whose outline is preserved in the current structure. The mosaics on the arch at the qibla end of the nave also go back to his time.

During the periodic renovations undertaken, the various ruling dynasties of the Islamic Caliphate constructed additions to the mosque and its precincts, such as its dome, facade, its minbar, minarets and the interior structure. When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, they used the mosque as a palace and the Dome of the Rock as a church, but its function as a mosque was restored after its recapture by Saladin in 1187. More renovations, repairs and additions were undertaken in the later centuries by the Ayyubids, Mamluks, Ottomans, the Supreme Muslim Council, and Jordan. Today, the Old City is under Israeli control, but the mosque remains under the administration of the Jordanian/Palestinian-led Islamic Waqf.

The mosque is located in close proximity to historical sites significant in Judaism and Christianity, most notably the site of the Second Temple, the holiest site in Judaism. As a result, the area is highly sensitive, and has been a flashpoint in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.(Wikipedia, read 2021)