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Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and is located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Established in 705 CE by al-Walid, the mosque has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries. It is currently administered by charitable trust, and the mosque's imam is Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Muhammad Ahmad Hussein.
According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad was transported from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey. This tradition holds that Muhammad led prayers towards this site until the seventeenth month after the emigration, when God directed him to turn towards the Kaaba.Photograph: Andrew Shiva