Day 12 - Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa (Islam's third holiest site)

According to Islamic tradition, Mohammed was in Mecca in AD 621, and he had either a vision or an amazing bodily voyage called the 'Night Journey'. Muslims believe that the angel Gabriel came to him with a winged force named Buraq, which had a human face. Mounted on this strange animal, Mohammed flew through the air to Jerusalem (750 miles away). On the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Mohammed supposedly led other prophets who appeared as well - such as Moses, Jesus and Adam - in prayer. (The Temple had been destroyed 551 years earlier in AD 70.) * Then Mohammed remounted Buraq and went up to the heavens into the presence of God, where he pleaded with God about having only five daily prayer. (God had supposedly been demanding 50 daily prayers.) After this it is said that mohammed returned to Mecca and described this journey to others. Most people refused to believe him.


The site on the southern extremity of the Temple Mount where Mohammed is believed to have prayed during the 'Night Journey'  became known as the 'farthest mosque', which is the Arabic meaning of Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa. The actual mosque was finished in AD 705, and it was rebuilt several times following earthquakes. According to tradition, the golden 'Dome of the Rock', which is beside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, now covers the site where Mohammed supposedly went up to heaven.


The Al-Aqsa Mosque is said to be the third holiest religious site for most Muslims. According to one tradition, Mohammed himself said that an Islamic prayer done at the Kaaba in Mecca is worth 100,000 prayers; a prayer done in Medina is worth 1,000 prayers, and a prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is worth 500 prayers compared to any other location.


* Muslims prayed daily toward Jerusalem until AD 624 when Muslims then began to pray toward Mecca.

Prayer Ideas:

• Several thousand Muslims attend the weekly Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which has an interior capacity of about 4,000. (Tens of thousands pray on the esplanade outside during major religious events.) For security reasons, the Israelis have restricted attendance at Friday prayers to only older men who have families; some of them are the patriarchs of their families.
• Pray for the men who attend the Friday prayers. May God awaken their minds to want to know about what happened at Israel's ancient temple (especially Matthew 27:51). They need a revelation that only Jesus can truly lead people to the father (John 14:6).
• Declare Jesus, the Son of God and the King of Israel, also Lord over the Muslim men who come to pray (John 1:49).
• Pray for their families to also come into the kingdom of God (John 3:3)

- All text from 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World