The name Al-Aqsa means ‘farthest mosque’ and is in reference to the journey Mohammed is believed to have made on his way to heaven to receive instructions from Allah. While the Dome of the Rock serves more as a shrine than a mosque, Al-Aqsa is a functioning house of worship, accommodating up to 5000 worshippers at a time.
Originally built by order of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid (r 709–15 CE), Al-Aqsa stands on what the Crusaders believed to be the site of the First Temple and what others believe was a marketplace on the edge of the Temple. This might be where Jesus turned over the tables and drove out the moneychangers with a makeshift whip (Matthew 21:13).
Rebuilt at least twice after earthquakes razed it, the mosque was converted into the residence of the Kings of Jerusalem after the Crusaders took the city in 1099 CE. On the death of Baldwin II in 1131 CE the building was handed over to a 10-year-old order of soldier-monks whose members soon began referring to themselves as the Templars after their new headquarters. The order added a number of extensions to the structure, including the still-remaining refectory along the south wall of the enclosure. The other Crusader structures were demolished by Saladin, who added the intricately carved mihrab (prayer niche indicating the direction of Mecca) to the mosque that can be seen today.
