Temple Mount

Temple Mount
Al-Aqsa (Masjid al-Aqsa)
Haram al-Sharif
Al-Aqsa mosque compound
Har haBayit
Jerusalem's sacred (or holy) esplanade
Aerial view of Al-Aqsa, atop the Temple Mount
Highest point
Elevation740 m (2,430 ft)
Coordinates31°46′41″N 35°14′9″E / 31.77806°N 35.23583°E / 31.77806; 35.23583
Geography
Temple Mount is located in Jerusalem
Temple Mount
Temple Mount
Parent rangeJudean
Geology
Mountain typeLimestone[1]
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Jerusalem
City of David 1000 BCE
Second Temple Period 538 BCE–70 CE
Aelia Capitolina 130–325 CE
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Crusader 1099–1187
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Ottoman 1517–1917
British Mandate 1917–1948
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    The Temple Mount (Hebrew: הַר הַבַּיִת, romanized: Har haBayīt, lit. 'Temple Mount'), also known as The Noble Sanctuary (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, 'Haram al-Sharif'), al-Aqsa Mosque compound, or simply al-Aqsa (/æl ˈæksə/; The Furthest Mosque المسجد الأقصى, al-Masjid al-Aqṣā),[2] and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade,[3][4] is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a holy site for thousands of years, including in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.[5][6]

    The present site is a flat plaza surrounded by retaining walls (including the Western Wall), which were originally built by King Herod in the first century BCE for an expansion of the Second Jewish Temple. The plaza is dominated by two monumental structures originally built during the Rashidun and early Umayyad caliphates after the city's capture in 637 CE:[7] the main praying hall of al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, near the center of the hill, which was completed in 692 CE, making it one of the oldest extant Islamic structures in the world. The Herodian walls and gates, with additions from the late Byzantine, early Muslim, Mamluk, and Ottoman periods, flank the site, which can be reached through eleven gates, ten reserved for Muslims and one for non-Muslims, with guard posts of the Israel Police in the vicinity of each.[8] The courtyard is surrounded on the north and west by two Mamluk-era porticos (riwaq) and four minarets.

    The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism,[9][10][a] and where two Jewish temples once stood.[12][13][14] According to Jewish tradition and scripture,[15] the First Temple was built by King Solomon, the son of King David, in 957 BCE, and was destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, together with Jerusalem, in 587 BCE. No archaeological evidence has been found to verify the existence of the First Temple, and scientific excavations have been limited due to religious sensitivities.[16][17][18] The Second Temple, constructed under Zerubbabel in 516 BCE, was later renovated by King Herod and was ultimately destroyed by the Roman Empire in 70 CE. Orthodox Jewish tradition maintains it is here that the third and final Temple will be built when the Messiah comes.[19] The Temple Mount is the place Jews turn towards during prayer. Jewish attitudes towards entering the site vary. Due to its extreme sanctity, many Jews will not walk on the Mount itself, to avoid unintentionally entering the area where the Holy of Holies stood, since, according to rabbinical law, there is still some aspect of the divine presence at the site.[20][21][22]

    The Al-Aqsa mosque compound, atop the site, is the second oldest mosque in Islam,[23] and one of the three Sacred Mosques, the holiest sites in Islam; it is revered as "the Noble Sanctuary".[24] Its courtyard (sahn)[25] can host more than 400,000 worshippers, making it one of the largest mosques in the world.[23] For Sunni and Shia Muslims alike, it ranks as the third holiest site in Islam. The plaza includes the location regarded as where the Islamic prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven,[26] and served as the first "qibla", the direction Muslims turn towards when praying. As in Judaism, Muslims also associate the site with Solomon and other prophets who are also venerated in Islam.[27] The site, and the term "al-Aqsa", in relation to the whole plaza, is also a central identity symbol for Palestinians, including Palestinian Christians.[28][29][30]

    Since the Crusades, the Muslim community of Jerusalem has managed the site through the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf. The site, along with the whole of East Jerusalem (which includes the Old City), was controlled by Jordan from 1948 until 1967 and has been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967. Shortly after capturing the site, Israel handed its administration back to the Waqf under the Jordanian Hashemite custodianship, while maintaining Israeli security control.[31] The Israeli government enforces a ban on prayer by non-Muslims as part of an arrangement usually referred to as the "status quo".[32][33][34] The site remains a major focal point of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[35]

    1. ^ "New Jerusalem Finds Point to the Temple Mount". cbn.com.
    2. ^ * Where Heaven and Earth Meet, p. 13: "Nowadays, while oral usage of the term Haram persists, Palestinians tend to use in formal texts the name Masjid al-Aqsa, habitually rendered into English as 'the Aqsa Mosque'."
      • Tucker, S.C.; Roberts, P. (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History [4 volumes]: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO History Reference Online. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-85109-842-2. Al-Aqsa Mosque The al-Aqsa Mosque (literally, "farthest mosque") is both a building and a complex of religious buildings in Jerusalem. It is known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews and Christians as the Har ha-Bayit or Temple Mount. The whole area of the Noble Sanctuary is considered by Muslims to be the al-Aqsa Mosque, and the entire precinct is inviolable according to Islamic law. It is considered specifically part of the waqf (endowment) land that had included the Western Wall (Wailing Wall), property of an Algerian family, and more generally a waqf of all of Islam. When viewed as a complex of buildings, the al-Aqsa Mosque is dominated and bounded by two major structures: the al-Aqsa Mosque building on the east and the Dome of the Rock (or the Mosque of Omar) on the west. The Dome of the Rock is the oldest holy building in Islam.
      • "Jerusalem holy site clashes fuel fears of return to war". BBC News. 2022-04-22. Whole site also considered by Muslims as Al Aqsa Mosque
      • UNESCO World Heritage Centre (2022-04-04). "39 COM 7A.27 – Decision". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2022-05-29. …the historic Gates and windows of the Qibli Mosque inside Al-Aqsa Mosque/ Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which is a Muslim holy site of worship and an integral part of a World Heritage Site.
      • PEF Survey of Palestine, 1883, volume III Jerusalem, p. 119: "The Jamia el Aksa, or 'distant mosque' (that is, distant from Mecca), is on the south, reaching to the outer wall. The whole enclosure of the Haram is called by Moslem writers Masjid el Aksa, 'praying-place of the Aksa,' from this mosque."
      • Yitzhak Reiter: "This article deals with the employment of religious symbols for national identities and national narratives by using the sacred compound in Jerusalem (The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa) as a case study. The narrative of The Holy Land involves three concentric circles, each encompassing the other, with each side having its own names for each circle. These are: Palestine/Eretz Israel (i.e., the Land of Israel); Jerusalem/al-Quds and finally The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa compound...Within the struggle over public awareness of Jerusalem's importance, one particular site is at the eye of the storm – the Temple Mount and its Western Wall – the Jewish Kotel – or, in Muslim terminology, the al-Aqsa compound (alternatively: al-Haram al-Sharif) including the al-Buraq Wall... "Al-Aqsa" for the Palestinian-Arab-Muslim side is not merely a mosque mentioned in the Quran within the context of the Prophet Muhammad's miraculous Night Journey to al-Aqsa which, according to tradition, concluded with his ascension to heaven (and prayer with all of the prophets and the Jewish and Christian religious figures who preceded him); rather, it also constitutes a unique symbol of identity, one around which various political objectives may be formulated, plans of action drawn up and masses mobilized for their realization", "Narratives of Jerusalem and its Sacred Compound", Israel Studies 18(2): 115–32 (July 2013).
      • Annika Björkdahl and Susanne Buckley-Zistel: "The site is known in Arabic as Haram al-Sharif – the Noble Sanctuary – and colloquially as the Haram or the al-Aqsa compound; while in Hebrew, it is called Har HaBeit – the Temple Mount." Annika Björkdahl; Susanne Buckley-Zistel (2016). Spatialising Peace and Conflict: Mapping the Production of Places, Sites and Scales of Violence. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 243–. ISBN 978-1-137-55048-4.
      • Mahdi Abdul Hadi:"Al-Aqsa Mosque, also referred to as Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), comprises the entire area within the compound walls (a total area of 144,000 m2) – including all the mosques, prayer rooms, buildings, platforms and open courtyards located above or under the grounds – and exceeds 200 historical monuments pertaining to various Islamic eras. According to Islamic creed and jurisprudence, all these buildings and courtyards enjoy the same degree of sacredness since they are built on Al-Aqsa's holy grounds. This sacredness is not exclusive to the physical structures allocated for prayer, like the Dome of the Rock or Al-Qibly Mosque (the mosque with the large silver dome)" Mahdi Abdul Hadi Archived 2020-02-16 at the Wayback Machine Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs; Tim Marshall: "Many people believe that the mosque depicted is called the Al-Aqsa; however, a visit to one of Palestine's most eminent intellectuals, Mahdi F. Abdul Hadi, clarified the issue. Hadi is chairman of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, based in East Jerusalem. His offices are a treasure trove of old photographs, documents, and symbols. He was kind enough to spend several hours with me. He spread out maps of Jerusalem's Old City on a huge desk and homed in on the Al-Aqsa compound, which sits above the Western Wall. "The mosque in the Al- Aqsa [Brigades] flag is the Dome of the Rock. Everyone takes it for granted that it is the Al-Aqsa mosque, but no, the whole compound is Al-Aqsa, and on it are two mosques, the Qibla mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and on the flags of both Al-Aqsa Brigades and the Qassam Brigades, it is the Dome of the Rock shown," he said. Tim Marshall (2017). A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols. Simon & Schuster. pp. 151–. ISBN 978-1-5011-6833-8.
      • USA Today: "A view of the Al-Aqsa compound (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem's Old City" [1].
      • Al Jazeera: "Israeli Deputy Minister Tzipi Hotovely referred to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as 'the centre of Israeli sovereignty, the capital of Israel'...In response, Netanyahu's office later that night put out a statement saying that 'non-Muslims visit the Temple Mount [Al-Aqsa compound]' but are not permitted to pray there.'" [2]
    3. ^ Kedar, Benjamin (2012). Rival Conceptualizations of a Single Space: Jerusalem's sacred esplanade. Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. The author intends … to deal with a single space – the space which, if we wish to use a strictly neutral term, may be called 'Jerusalem's sacred esplanade'.
    4. ^ Weaver, A.E. (2018). Inhabiting the Land: Thinking Theologically about the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. Cascade Companions. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-4982-9431-7. Retrieved 2022-05-21. The conflict about sovereignty over Jerusalem encompasses conflict over control of the Holy Esplanade, called al-Haram ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) by Muslims and Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount) by Jews.
    5. ^ Kedar, Benjamin (2012). Rival Conceptualizations of a Single Space: Jerusalem's sacred esplanade. Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. The author intends … to deal with a single space – the space which, if we wish to use a strictly neutral term, may be called 'Jerusalem's sacred esplanade'.
    6. ^ Weaver, A.E. (2018). Inhabiting the Land: Thinking Theologically about the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. Cascade Companions. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-4982-9431-7. Retrieved 2022-05-21. The conflict about sovereignty over Jerusalem encompasses conflict over control of the Holy Esplanade, called al-Haram ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) by Muslims and Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount) by Jews.
    7. ^ Nicolle, David (1994). Yarmuk AD 636: The Muslim Conquest of Syria. Osprey Publishing.
    8. ^ "Temple Mount/Al Haram Ash Sharif". Lonely Planet. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
    9. ^ Marshall J., Breger; Ahimeir, Ora (2002). Jerusalem: A City and Its Future. Syracuse University Press. p. 296. ISBN 978-0-8156-2912-2. OCLC 48940385.
    10. ^ Cohen-Hattab, Kobi; Bar, Doron (2020). The Western Wall: The Dispute over Israel's Holiest Jewish Site, 1967–2000. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-43133-1.
    11. ^ Gonen 2003, p. 4.
    12. ^ Sporty, Lawrence D. (1990). "The Location of the Holy House of Herod's Temple: Evidence from the Pre-Destruction Period". The Biblical Archaeologist. 53 (4): 194–204. doi:10.2307/3210164. ISSN 0006-0895. JSTOR 3210164. S2CID 224797947. The holy house has most commonly assumed to be located on the same spot as the Moslem holy structure known as the Dome of the Rock. This assumption has been held for centuries for the following reasons: The rock out-cropping under the Dome of the Rock is the main natural feature within the Haram enclosure; the Dome of the Rock is centrally located within the esplanade, and, at 2,440 feet above sea level, the Dome of the Rock is one of the highests point within the area.
    13. ^ "Temple Mount | Definition, Jerusalem, Bible, & History | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2024-05-07. Retrieved 2024-05-27. Temple Mount, site of the Temple of Jerusalem, which was destroyed by the Romans on the 9th/10th of Av in 70 CE (see Tisha be-Av). It consists of a raised platform that, since the 7th century, has been home to the Islamic holy sites of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. The lower section of the compound's Western Wall, which dates to the 2nd century BCE, is the only remnant of the retaining wall that surrounded the Temple. It has served as a site of pilgrimage for Jews since the Temple's destruction.
    14. ^ "Old City of Jerusalem | Map, Quarters, Gates, History, Pictures, & Importance | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2024-04-23. Retrieved 2024-05-27. The Old City is dominated by the raised platform of the Temple Mount – known in Hebrew as Har Ha-Bayit, the site of the First and Second Temples, and known to Islam as Al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf ("The Noble Sanctuary"), a Muslim holy place containing the Dome of the Rock, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and other structures.
    15. ^ 2 Chron. 3:1–2.
    16. ^ Reich, Ronny; Baruch, Yuval (2016). "The Meaning of the Inscribed Stones at the Corners of the Herodian Temple Mount". Revue Biblique (1946–). 123 (1): 118–24. ISSN 0035-0907. JSTOR 44092415. The Temple Mount has never been the focus of a modern archaeological excavation
    17. ^ Wendy Pullan; Maximilian Sternberg; Lefkos Kyriacou; Craig Larkin; Michael Dumper (2013). The Struggle for Jerusalem's Holy Places. Routledge. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-317-97556-4. The sources for the first temple are solely biblical, and no substantial archaeological remains have been verified.
    18. ^ Yitzhak Reiter (2017). "Post-1967 Struggle over Al-Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount". Contested Holy Places in Israel–Palestine. London: Routledge. pp. 20–50. doi:10.4324/9781315277271-3. ISBN 978-1-315-27727-1. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
    19. ^ Baker, Eric W.. The Eschatological Role of the Jerusalem Temple: An Examination of the Jewish Writings Dating from 586 BCE to 70 CE. Germany: Anchor Academic Publishing, 2015, pp. 361–62
    20. ^ Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Avoda, Beit haBechira, 6:14.
    21. ^ Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi, Bernard Avishai, 'Jews Don’t Have a ‘Holiest’ Site,' Haaretz 13 May :’The point is, this kind of recklessness not only offended secular democrats, it vulgarized what “holy” has meant for most observant Jews, too. Not coincidentally, more than 85 percent of Israel’s Haredi Jews oppose prayer on the Mount, for reasons having to do with purity and impurity that cannot be resolved in “our time.” Advocates of such prayer and sacrifice tend to be, like Goren, Orthodox-nationalist zealots educated in local yeshivas and identified with the neo-Zionist settlement project. They are, like Islamists, fanatics warped by violence and nationalist fantasy – “Jewists,” not Jews.‘
    22. ^ Sam Sokol, Should Jews Be Allowed to Pray on the Temple Mount? Many Israelis Think So, Poll Shows,' Haaretz 3 May 2022: '86.5 percent of ultra-Orthodox Jews opposed prayer for reasons of halakha, while national religious (51 percent), traditional religious (54.5 percent) and traditional non-religious respondents (49 percent) supported worship on the mount for nationalist reasons. Many rabbis, and almost all ultra-Orthodox ones, prohibit their followers from ascending the Temple Mount due to concerns over ritual purity.'
    23. ^ a b National Geographic Society (U.S.); de Blij, H.J.; Downs, R.; John Wiley & Sons (2007). Wiley/National Geographic College Atlas of the World. Wiley. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-471-74117-6. Retrieved 2022-06-15. Al 'Aqsa is the second oldest mosque in Islam after the Kaaba in Mecca and is third in holiness after the mosques in Mecca and Medina. It holds up to 400,000 worshippers at one time.
    24. ^ * Kasolowsky, Raissa; Blair, Edmund (2023-04-06). "Factbox: Where is Al Aqsa mosque and why is it so important in Islam?". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-07-23. Where and What Is the al-Aqua Mosque? The Al-Aqsa lies at the heart of Jerusalem's Old City on a hill known to Jews as Har ha-Bayit, or Temple Mount, and to Muslims internationally as al-Haram al-Sharif, or The Noble Sanctuary. Muslims regard the site as the third holiest in Islam, after Mecca and Medina. Al-Aqsa is the name given to the whole compound and is home to two Muslim holy places: the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Qibli Mosque, which was built in the 8th century AD.
      • Where Heaven and Earth Meet, p. 13: "Nowadays, while oral usage of the term Haram persists, Palestinians tend to use in formal texts the name Masjid al-Aqsa, habitually rendered into English as 'the Aqsa Mosque'".
      • Tucker, S.C.; Roberts, P. (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History [4 volumes]: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO history reference online. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-85109-842-2. Al-Aqsa Mosque The al-Aqsa Mosque (literally, "farthest mosque") is both a building and a complex of religious buildings in Jerusalem. It is known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews and Christians as the Har ha-Bayit or Temple Mount. The whole area of the Noble Sanctuary is considered by Muslims to be the al-Aqsa Mosque, and the entire precinct is inviolable according to Islamic law. It is considered specifically part of the waqf (endowment) land that had included the Western Wall (Wailing Wall), property of an Algerian family, and more generally a waqf of all of Islam. When viewed as a complex of buildings, the al-Aqsa Mosque is dominated and bounded by two major structures: the al-Aqsa Mosque building on the east and the Dome of the Rock (or the Mosque of Omar) on the west. The Dome of the Rock is the oldest holy building in Islam.
      • "Jerusalem holy site clashes fuel fears of return to war". BBC News. 2022-04-22. Whole site also considered by Muslims as Al Aqsa Mosque.
      • UNESCO World Heritage Centre (2022-04-04). "39 COM 7A.27 – Decision". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2022-05-29. …the historic Gates and windows of the Qibli Mosque inside Al-Aqsa Mosque/ Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which is a Muslim holy site of worship and an integral part of a World Heritage Site.
      • PEF Survey of Palestine, 1883, volume III Jerusalem, p. 119: "The Jamia el Aksa, or 'distant mosque' (that is, distant from Mecca), is on the south, reaching to the outer wall. The whole enclosure of the Haram is called by Moslem writers Masjid el Aksa, 'praying-place of the Aksa,' from this mosque."
      • Yitzhak Reiter: "This article deals with the employment of religious symbols for national identities and national narratives by using the sacred compound in Jerusalem (The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa) as a case study. The narrative of The Holy Land involves three concentric circles, each encompassing the other, with each side having its own names for each circle. These are: Palestine/Eretz Israel (i.e., the Land of Israel); Jerusalem/al-Quds and finally The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa compound...Within the struggle over public awareness of Jerusalem's importance, one particular site is at the eye of the storm – the Temple Mount and its Western Wall – the Jewish Kotel – or, in Muslim terminology, the al-Aqsa compound (alternatively: al-Haram al-Sharif) including the al-Buraq Wall... "Al-Aqsa" for the Palestinian-Arab-Muslim side is not merely a mosque mentioned in the Quran within the context of the Prophet Muhammad's miraculous Night Journey to al-Aqsa which, according to tradition, concluded with his ascension to heaven (and prayer with all of the prophets and the Jewish and Christian religious figures who preceded him); rather, it also constitutes a unique symbol of identity, one around which various political objectives may be formulated, plans of action drawn up and masses mobilized for their realization", "Narratives of Jerusalem and its Sacred Compound", Israel Studies 18(2): 115–32 (July 2013).
      • Annika Björkdahl and Susanne Buckley-Zistel: "The site is known in Arabic as Haram al-Sharif – the Noble Sanctuary – and colloquially as the Haram or the al-Aqsa compound; while in Hebrew, it is called Har HaBeit – the Temple Mount." Annika Björkdahl; Susanne Buckley-Zistel (2016). Spatialising Peace and Conflict: Mapping the Production of Places, Sites and Scales of Violence. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 243–. ISBN 978-1-137-55048-4.
      • Mahdi Abdul Hadi: "Al-Aqsa Mosque, also referred to as Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), comprises the entire area within the compound walls (a total area of 144,000 m2) – including all the mosques, prayer rooms, buildings, platforms and open courtyards located above or under the grounds – and exceeds 200 historical monuments pertaining to various Islamic eras. According to Islamic creed and jurisprudence, all these buildings and courtyards enjoy the same degree of sacredness since they are built on Al-Aqsa's holy grounds. This sacredness is not exclusive to the physical structures allocated for prayer, like the Dome of the Rock or Al-Qibly Mosque (the mosque with the large silver dome)"Mahdi Abdul Hadi Archived 2020-02-16 at the Wayback Machine Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs; Tim Marshall: "Many people believe that the mosque depicted is called the Al-Aqsa; however, a visit to one of Palestine's most eminent intellectuals, Mahdi F. Abdul Hadi, clarified the issue. Hadi is chairman of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, based in East Jerusalem. His offices are a treasure trove of old photographs, documents, and symbols. He was kind enough to spend several hours with me. He spread out maps of Jerusalem's Old City on a huge desk and homed in on the Al-Aqsa compound, which sits above the Western Wall. "The mosque in the Al-Aqsa [Brigades] flag is the Dome of the Rock. Everyone takes it for granted that it is the Al-Aqsa mosque, but no, the whole compound is Al-Aqsa, and on it are two mosques, the Qibla mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and on the flags of both Al-Aqsa Brigades and the Qassam Brigades, it is the Dome of the Rock shown," he said. Tim Marshall (2017). A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols. Simon & Schuster. pp. 151–. ISBN 978-1-5011-6833-8.
      • USA Today: "A view of the Al-Aqsa compound (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem's Old City" [3].
      • Al Jazeera: "Israeli Deputy Minister Tzipi Hotovely referred to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as 'the centre of Israeli sovereignty, the capital of Israel'... In response, Netanyahu's office later that night put out a statement saying that 'non-Muslims visit the Temple Mount [Al-Aqsa compound]' but are not permitted to pray there.'" [4]
    25. ^ Prawer, P.M.H.J.; Prawer, J.; Ben-Shammai, H.; Ben-Tsevi, Yad Yitshak; Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit bi-Yerushalayim (1996). The History of Jerusalem: The Early Muslim Period (638–1099). New York University Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-8147-6639-2. Retrieved 2022-05-31. ... The Temple Mount, al-Haram al-Sharif, is a large esplanade (sahn in Arabic) ...
    26. ^ Colby, Frederick S. (2008). Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Discourse. SUNY Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-7914-7788-5. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
    27. ^ Quran 2:4, 34:13–14.
    28. ^ Cohen, Hillel (2017). "The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa in Zionist and Palestinian National Consciousness: A Comparative View". Israel Studies Review. 32 (1). Berghahn Books: 1, 8–9, 17. doi:10.3167/isr.2017.320102. eISSN 2159-0389. ISSN 2159-0370. JSTOR 45238302. The holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif or al-Aqsa is central to both the Jewish and Palestinian Arab national movements… Al-Aqsa can thus be seen as the central symbol of Palestinian nationalism... One should bear in mind that since the emergence of nationalism in the Arab world, important schools have insisted on separation of religion and state. In addition, a degree of tension exists between al-Aqsa's two aspects, as a national symbol uniting Palestinian Muslims and Christians, and al-Aqsa as an exclusively Muslim symbol. In other words, the intentions of Palestinians united under the banner of al-Aqsa are not all the same… For the Palestinians, al-Aqsa is a singular focal point of self-respect and religious destiny. This heightens their commitment to the site, without connection to their religious affiliation (Muslim or Christian) or level of religious belief and observance.
    29. ^ Reiter, Yitzhak (2013). "Narratives of Jerusalem and its Sacred Compound". Israel Studies. 18 (2). Indiana University Press: 115–32. doi:10.2979/israelstudies.18.2.115. ISSN 1084-9513. S2CID 143739581. This article deals with the employment of religious symbols for national identities and national narratives by using the sacred compound in Jerusalem (The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa) as a case study. The narrative of The Holy Land involves three concentric circles, each encompassing the other, with each side having its own names for each circle. These are: Palestine/Eretz Israel (i.e., the Land of Israel); Jerusalem/al-Quds and finally The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa compound...Within the struggle over public awareness of Jerusalem's importance, one particular site is at the eye of the storm – the Temple Mount and its Western Wall – the Jewish Kotel – or, in Muslim terminology, the al-Aqsa compound (alternatively: al-Haram al-Sharif) including the al-Buraq Wall... "Al-Aqsa" for the Palestinian-Arab-Muslim side is not merely a mosque mentioned in the Quran within the context of the Prophet Muhammad's miraculous Night Journey to al-Aqsa which, according to tradition, concluded with his ascension to heaven (and prayer with all of the prophets and the Jewish and Christian religious figures who preceded him); rather, it also constitutes a unique symbol of identity, one around which various political objectives may be formulated, plans of action drawn up and masses mobilized for their realization.
    30. ^ Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs; Tim Marshall: "Many people believe that the mosque depicted is called the Al-Aqsa; however, a visit to one of Palestine's most eminent intellectuals, Mahdi F. Abdul Hadi, clarified the issue. Hadi is chairman of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, based in East Jerusalem. His offices are a treasure trove of old photographs, documents, and symbols. He was kind enough to spend several hours with me. He spread out maps of Jerusalem's Old City on a huge desk and homed in on the Al-Aqsa compound, which sits above the Western Wall. "The mosque in the Al-Aqsa [Brigades] flag is the Dome of the Rock. Everyone takes it for granted that it is the Al-Aqsa mosque, but no, the whole compound is Al-Aqsa, and on it are two mosques, the Qibla mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and on the flags of both Al-Aqsa Brigades and the Qassam Brigades, it is the Dome of the Rock shown," he said. Tim Marshall (2017). A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols. Simon & Schuster. pp. 151–. ISBN 978-1-5011-6833-8.; Mahdi Abdul Hadi, Mahdi Abdul Hadi Archived 2020-02-16 at the Wayback Machine: "Al-Aqsa Mosque, also referred to as Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), comprises the entire area within the compound walls (a total area of 144,000 m2) – including all the mosques, prayer rooms, buildings, platforms and open courtyards located above or under the grounds – and exceeds 200 historical monuments pertaining to various Islamic eras. According to Islamic creed and jurisprudence, all these buildings and courtyards enjoy the same degree of sacredness since they are built on Al-Aqsa's holy grounds. This sacredness is not exclusive to the physical structures allocated for prayer, like the Dome of the Rock or Al-Qibly Mosque (the mosque with the large silver dome)."
    31. ^ Lieber, Dov (July 20, 2017). "Amid Temple Mount tumult, the who, what and why of its Waqf rulers". Times of Israel. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
    32. ^ "What Are the Temple Movements and Why Should We Be Worried?". Ir Amim.
    33. ^ Gilbert, Lela (21 September 2015). "The Temple Mount – Outrageous Lies and Escalating Dangers". Hudson Institute. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
    34. ^ Yashar, Ari (28 October 2015). "Watch: Waqf bans 'Religious Christians' from Temple Mount". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
    35. ^ "Israeli Police Storm Disputed Jerusalem Holy Site". Archived from the original on October 31, 2009.


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