In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. O Allah! I seek refuge in You from knowingly associating partners with You in any way, and I seek Your forgiveness for that which I do not know.
Ameen.
In Islam, apart from Masjidil Haram and Masjid An-Nabawi, there is another mosque that is as important and significant to the Muslims. It is Masjid Al-Aqsa in Palestine.
This mosque bears witness to many historical events of several Prophets in Islam. The most significant history is the miraculous night journey of our beloved Prophet Muhammad's s.a.w., also known as Isra' and Mi'raj.
Why is the mosque called Al-Aqsa?
Al-Aqsa (الاٌّقْصَى) is a well known mosque in the Muslim world. However, do you know where does the name originate from?
It originated from the words of Allah s.w.t Himself:
"Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing."
[Surah al-Isra', verse 1]
Allah s.w.t bestowed upon the name Al-Aqsa.
What does Al-Aqsa mean?
There are two meaning:
Firstly, the literal meaning of Al-Aqsa is Al-Abad (الابعد),
which means the furthest.
It indicates the distance between Mecca to Masjid al-Aqsa.
Secondly, according to ibn kathir, al-Aqsa means the Sacred House which is in Jerusalem, the origin of the Prophets from the time of Ibrahim
Al-Khalil.
On another note, Masjid Al-Aqsa is also referred as baitul maqdis which was mentioned in the authentic hadith.
However, today, there are several names which have been used besides Masjid al-Aqsa that follows the zionist colonialist narrative or ideology, such as The Temple Mount, The Second Temple, Dome of Rock and Western Wall.
There are many other names,
but Alhamdulillah, the name al-Aqsa is still the one acknowledged among the Muslims.
May Allah s.w.t protects and uphold the name of Masjid Al-Aqsa, Insya Allah.
Wallahu'alam.
