By: Dr. Sharif Abu Shammalah
CEO of al-Quds Foundation Malaysia
Masjid Al-Aqsa is located in the south-east part of the walled city of al-Quds (which is called today the old town). Al-Aqsa is a name to everything surrounded by the wall of Al-Aqsa and comprises of all mosques musalla inside such as Al-Qibli mosque (located on the south side) and the Dome of the Rock (located in the Masjid’s center) in addition to about 200 other sites and buildings located within its borders (walls), such as mosques (musallas), buildings, domes, sabils (public water fountains), terraces (Mastabas), corridors, schools, niches, pulpits, minarets, gates, wells and libraries.
Al-Masjid was built on a high hill called Al-Aqsa Mount, and it’s called by Western sources (Moriah Mount). The mount shares its eastern and southern borders with the eastern and southern borders of the old city of al-Quds, and it occupies an area of approximately 144000 square meters and thus Masjid al-Aqsa constitutes about the sixth of the old city’s area. It is well known that the boundaries and the area of al-Masjid haven’t changed over the centuries, and its walls are forming the shape of an irregular semi-rectangle with the following lengths:
Southern side: 281 m
Northern side: 310 m
Eastern side: 462 m
Western side: 491 m
Remarks on the naming:
- Masjid al-Aqsa was mentioned as Beit al-Maqdis in some traditional texts and hadith, such as the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he said: “When Quraysh disclaimed me, I went to Hejr [Ismail] and Allah manifested Beit al-Maqdis for me, and I started telling them about its signs while I looked at it.” (Agreed upon) but this name has later become a reference to the whole city of al-Quds, where al-Aqsa is located, especially in the Islamic eras.
- Some books call Masjid al-Aqsa as Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary). However, Shariah scholars see it as a misnomer because it’s not a Haram with the actual concept where hunting or cutting trees are forbidden as in Masjid al-Haram (Mecca’s Haram), and Masjid al-Nabawi (Medina’s Haram).
- Some people use the name of Masjid Al-Aqsa on al-Qibli Chapel in the southern side of the Masjid, and this is also a misnomer, because al-Qibli chapel is part of al-Aqsa but it’s not Masjid al-Aqsa itself. The chapel serves as a main roofed prayer hall. However, this misnomer is intentionally and primarily propagated by the Zionist occupation to delude the world that the violations and incursions that take place in the yards of Masjid al-Aqsa are occurring in adjacent areas to the Masjid and not in the Masjid itself, which is aimed to make it easier for the occupation to then seize parts and areas of al-Aqsa, and for that, the occupation Municipality of al-Quds has issued a decision that deemed the yards of Masjid al-Aqsa as “public squares,” which allows the occupation to extend its control over al-Aqsa’s yards since it’s a public property lying within the Municipality’s area.
- The Zionist occupation seeks strongly to blur on the name of Masjid al-Aqsa in many different ways. For instance, the occupation currently imposes the name of the “Temple Mount” on the Masjid through its media, issued publications and websites, and, unfortunately, until the moment (19/02/2017) Google Map shows in its English version the name of “Temple Mount” on the of place of the Masjid, and that’s a deliberate falsification that needs to be corrected.
