3 ms·

> Quran 17:1 mentions Muhammad’s supernatural “Night Journey” to the “Farthest Mosque”, which Islamic tradition identifies with the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

> Quran 17:1 mentions Muhammad’s supernatural “Night Journey” to the “Farthest Mosque”, which Islamic tradition identifies with the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Farthest (Al-Aqsa) Mosque being in Jerusalem is a recent invention. The night journey is said to have happened in 621, but the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built in 637 when the Muslims captured Jerusalem. So the Al-Aqsa Mosque of the Quran is not the one currently called the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
skissane 2y ago
> The Farthest (Al-Aqsa) Mosque being in Jerusalem is a recent invention. Do you have any evidence that Muslims have only "recently" started to claim it is in Jerusalem? From what I understand, they were already claiming that well over 1000 years ago. > The night journey is said to have happened in 621, but the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built in 637 when the Muslims captured Jerusalem. So the Al-Aqsa Mosque of the Quran is not the one currently called the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Standard explanation for this: "Al-Aqsa Mosque" has two senses, a broad sense and a narrow sense. In the broad sense, it is the entire complex of Islamic religious structures on the Temple Mount, centered on the Dome of the Rock. In a narrow sense, it is the main congregational prayer hall in that complex, the current building of which was constructed in the 1030s. The 637 structure you mention was a temporary wooden structure, which by the next century was replaced by a much grander stone one, which went on to twice be destroyed by earthquakes. So, since in the broad sense "Al-Aqsa Mosque" means the whole Temple Mount complex, of course the Temple Mount pre-existed the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem in 637 (around 5 years after Muhammad's death), and it was there for Muhammad to have supernaturally visited in 621 (if one believes he went on such a supernatural journey, I personally don't) Indeed, according to many Muslim accounts, the site Muhammad visited in 621 was not the site of the narrow sense mosque, it was the rock which the Dome of the Rock now covers.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

skissane 2y ago

> The Farthest (Al-Aqsa) Mosque being in Jerusalem is a recent invention. Do you have any evidence that Muslims have only "recently" started to claim it is in Jerusalem? From what I understand, they were already claiming that well over 1000 years ago. > The night journey is said to have happened in 621, but the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built in 637 when the Muslims captured Jerusalem. So the Al-Aqsa Mosque of the Quran is not the one currently called the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Standard explanation for this: "Al-Aqsa Mosque" has two senses, a broad sense and a narrow sense. In the broad sense, it is the entire complex of Islamic religious structures on the Temple Mount, centered on the Dome of the Rock. In a narrow sense, it is the main congregational prayer hall in that complex, the current building of which was constructed in the 1030s. The 637 structure you mention was a temporary wooden structure, which by the next century was replaced by a much grander stone one, which went on to twice be destroyed by earthquakes. So, since in the broad sense "Al-Aqsa Mosque" means the whole Temple Mount complex, of course the Temple Mount pre-existed the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem in 637 (around 5 years after Muhammad's death), and it was there for Muhammad to have supernaturally visited in 621 (if one believes he went on such a supernatural journey, I personally don't) Indeed, according to many Muslim accounts, the site Muhammad visited in 621 was not the site of the narrow sense mosque, it was the rock which the Dome of the Rock now covers.