No. The verse names al-Masjid al-Aqsa in the Night Journey account. The Dome of the Rock is a later monument, completed in 691–692, and should not be read back into the verse as its explicit architectural subject.[1][2]
What the verse names
Qur’an 17:1 names al-Masjid al-Aqsa in the account of the Night Journey and describes its surroundings as blessed. It does not use the later architectural name Qubbat al-Sakhra, or Dome of the Rock, and it does not describe an octagonal gold-domed building. Claims about the verse should therefore stay with the wording the cited text actually contains.[3]
When the monument was built
The Metropolitan Museum identifies the Dome of the Rock as an Umayyad commission of Abd al-Malik completed in 691–692. That chronology places the surviving monument after the Prophet’s lifetime. The building can carry later religious, artistic and historical meanings without being inserted as an explicitly named structure into the Qur’anic verse.[2][4]
A place association is not an architectural identification
Muslim tradition connects the Night Journey with Al-Aqsa, while later monuments commemorate and interpret sacred associations within the sanctuary. A responsible explanation can discuss that relationship while distinguishing the scriptural name, the wider place and the date of a particular building. This avoids treating respect for a tradition as evidence for wording that is not present in the verse.[1][2][5]
Sources & references
References are attached to the passages they support. Dates below record source consultation.
- Qur’an 17:1 · The Night Journey
Quran.com · Arabic text and attributed translations · Consulted 2026-09-14
- The Dome of the Rock · Ana Botchkareva
The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Qur’an 17:1 · The Night Journey
17:1
Quran.com · Arabic text and attributed translations · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Abd al Malik ibn Marwan · Yitzchak Schwartz
The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Consulted 2026-09-14
- A Guide to Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (2015)
pp. 12–13
PASSIA · Jerusalem Awqaf · Hashemite Fund · Consulted 2026-09-14