The Islamic history of Al-Aqsa did not begin with the golden dome. Muslim tradition connects the sanctuary with the Night Journey and the first qibla; later historical accounts associate an early southern place of prayer with Caliph Umar. The present monumental fabric belongs to later Umayyad and subsequent building phases.[1][2][3][4]
In this guide
A site with an earlier sacred history
The Metropolitan Museum situates the Dome of the Rock on the site associated with Solomon’s and Herod’s temples. This earlier setting matters for understanding why Al-Quds held importance to more than one religious community. An account focused on Islamic buildings should not imply that the site first acquired a history when those buildings were commissioned, or erase the significance that other traditions attach to it.[5]
The account of Umar’s place of prayer
The custodial guide and the Museum With No Frontiers record both transmit the association of Umar with an early, simple place of prayer on the southern side. They do not establish that this was the present hall: the museum record dates the monument broadly to 685–715, names later Umayyad patrons, and describes repeated rebuilding. The Umar account is therefore presented as a historical tradition about an earlier prayer space, not as a surviving-building date.[6][7]
Religious references are earlier than the surviving domes
Qur’an 17:1 refers to al-Masjid al-Aqsa in the Night Journey narrative. The hadith about the earlier prayer direction also concerns the Prophet’s lifetime. Neither should be interpreted as a description of Abd al-Malik’s later octagonal monument or of every part of the present southern hall. The sacred place and the successive buildings occupying it have related but different timelines.[2][8][5]
From early prayer space to monumental patronage
Under the Umayyads, Al-Quds received major architectural investment. The Dome of the Rock and the early development of the southern mosque are associated with Abd al-Malik and al-Walid. These projects belong to a wider period of experimentation and adaptation in Islamic architecture. They should be read as a building phase within the site’s history, rather than the sole beginning of that history.[4][9]
Ask which kind of beginning is intended
“Who built Al-Aqsa?” can mean who first established the sacred place in religious tradition, who created an early Muslim prayer building, or who commissioned a surviving monument. Those are not interchangeable questions. The builder and date depend on which structure or tradition is meant; the surviving sources do not always identify either.[10][6][9]
Sources & references
References are attached to the passages they support. Dates below record source consultation.
- A Guide to Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (2015)
pp. 3–8
PASSIA · Jerusalem Awqaf · Hashemite Fund · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Qur’an 17:1 · The Night Journey
Quran.com · Arabic text and attributed translations · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Aqsa Mosque · Yusuf al-Natsheh
Description and dating
Museum With No Frontiers · Discover Islamic Art · Consulted 2026-09-14
- The Art of the Umayyad Period (661–750)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Consulted 2026-09-14
- The Dome of the Rock · Ana Botchkareva
The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Consulted 2026-09-14
- A Guide to Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (2015)
p. 8
PASSIA · Jerusalem Awqaf · Hashemite Fund · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Aqsa Mosque · Yusuf al-Natsheh
Description, date and patrons
Museum With No Frontiers · Discover Islamic Art · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Sahih al-Bukhari 399 · Prayer toward Bayt al-Maqdis
Sunnah.com · Sahih al-Bukhari · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Jamiʿ al-Aqsa
Archnet · Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Sahih al-Bukhari 3366 · The two mosques and forty years
Sunnah.com · Sahih al-Bukhari · Consulted 2026-09-14