Masjid Al Aqsa: The first Qibla

The First Qibla: Masjid Al-Aqsa

Our post this time is about the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.  It is full of history and beauty. Full of controversy and contention. Literally many people have died trying to control it.  It is on my bucket list to visit it in the near future. 

Masjid Al Aqsa was the first Qibla (direction of prayer) in Islam and the third most holiest mosque for muslims, after Masjid al-Haram in Makkah and Masjid Nabawi in Madina. These days many people, as well as muslims, fail to recognize this mosque and they mistake it for the Dome of the Rock. As a matter of fact both Masjid al Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock are situated in the same complex, the Al Aqsa complex which is found in the heart of Jerusalem.
At the southernmost end of the of the complex is Masjid Al Aqsa, also known as al-Jami' al-Aqsa or al-Qibli or Masjid al-Jumah or al-Mughata, these names refer to the building with the silver lead dome which was re-built by the Khalifa Umar bin Al-Khattab in the year 19 Hijri. At the centre of the complex is the well known golden Dome of the Rock. The entire area is regarded as Baitul-Maqdis or Al-Qudus and comprises nearly one sixth of the walled city of Jerusalem.

For centuries, al-Masjid al-Aqsa referred not only to the mosque, but to the entire complex, while al-Jami' al-Aqsa referred to that particular mosque. This changed during the period of Ottoman rule (c. early 16th century to 1918) when the entire complex came to be known as al Haram ash-Sharif

Map of the Al Aqsa complex

In the picture above, the following are identified by colours: 
Masjid al-Qubbatus-Sakhra (The Dome of the Rock) 
Masjid al-Aqsa (The Farthest Mosque) 
Al Madrasa An-Nahawiah 
Al Musalla Al-Marwani

The word Al Aqsa masjid literally means 'the farthest place of worship of the One God' in reference to the fact that Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) has stated that Masjid Al-Aqsa was the farthest place of worship west of the Kabba in Makkah. 

When Prophet Muhammad received the command from God to lead the muslims in five daily prayers, their prayers, originally, were directed towards the holy city of Jerusalem. For Muslims, the city of Jerusalem is a very important place.
The city attained an added importance when Prophet Muhammad made the miraculous Night Journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and the Ascent to Heaven (that night is known as the Isra’ wal-Mi’raj).

The History of Al Aqsa masjid is so immense and great that I cannot pretend to cover it on this blog, besides there are other blogs and websites that deal with the subject exclusively. Below we cover a brief outline of its story.

Bits of History:

• Most muslim scholars are of the opinion that Masjid Al Aqsa was first built by Prophet Adam.
• Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) rebuilt the Masjid Al Aqsa in Jerusalem as he and Ismail rebuilt the Ka'ba in Makkah.
• Prophet Dawood (David) began the rebuilding of Masjid Al Aqsa.
• It was Prophet Suleyman (Solomon) who finally completed the building of Masjid Al Aqsa.
• Masjid Al Aqsa, which was built by Prophet Suleyman, was destroyed in 587 BC by Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon.
• The Jews call this same Masjid Al Aqsa built by Sulayman as their Temple.
• The Jews re-built their Temple on the same site in 167 BC but was destroyed in 70 AD and Jews banished from Jerusalem.
• The site of Masjid Al Aqsa remained barren and was used as a rubbish tip for nearly 600 years until the great Khalifah Umar bin Khattab liberated Jerusalem in 637/8 AD.
• The Khalifah Umar bin Khattab began the foundation of Masjid Al Aqsa and a timber mosque was built.
• The Umayyad Khalifah, Abd' al Malik ibn Marwan in 691/2 [72/73 AH] began the construction of, Dome of the Rock.
• The al Buraq wall or Western Wall where Prophet Muhammad tied his animal the Buraq on the night journey of al Isra is what the Jews call the wailing wall.
• Israel occupied Masjid Al Aqsa in 1967.
• A fire in 1967 destroyed the 900 year old mimbar installed by Salahudeen al Ayubi.

The 900 year old mimbar

Sanki Yedim Camii, ' As if I have eaten' mosque

The name of this mosque is the strangest name for a mosque  I have ever heard of and I'm sure it's true of many of us.

Sanki Yedim Camii, ' As if I have eaten'  mosque

The mosque we are visiting today is located in Istanbul and it has an amazing and inspiring story behind it. The story behind it really shows that if you want to achieve something you can do it, if you really put your mind to it. It’s all about deciding on your goal, having determination to achieve it, focusing on it constantly and actively working towards it.

Its name is Sanki Yedim, 'As if I have eaten' and the story goes like this: A man, named Keçeci Hayreddin (Khair Al-Deen) Efendi lived in the district of Fatih in Istanbul, He was a poor man but his one hope in life was to build a mosque 
with his very own money. He decided to turn his dream into reality by saving as
much money as he could from his work in order to build a mosque even if it was 
a small one. So, whenever he’d walk by any market stall and the feeling to buy 
something to eat came to him, like some fruit, or meat, or candy, he’d say to
himself: "Sanki Yedim" meaning “As if I have eaten". 
Then he would take the money for the cost of the food he didn't buy and put it 
aside in a box to save it. This continued for months and years, he would only buy 
enough food to satisfy his hunger and keep his strength and no more. Meanwhile 
the money in the box increased little by little until enough money was collected, 
after 20 years, to build a small mosque.

When the people of the area came to know of the story they called the mosque 'Sanki Yedim'

The original mosque is believed to have been built in the 18th century during the Ottoman era. The mosque was severely burned during the First World War and was left derelict for a long time. In 1959, with the interest of the local people it was rebuilt in the same space but with different architecture. The mosque's interior space measures 100 square feet with enough space for 200 people to pray at the same time. It has a single minaret, painted white and nowadays it’s surrounded by homes and apartment buildings.

The mosque before it was rebuilt

Selimiye

The first mosque in our 'journey' is the Selimiye mosque in Edirne, Turkey. I first heard about it from my Turkish friends in Greece. 

The Selimiye Mosque (Turkish: Selimiye Camii) is an Ottoman mosque in the city of Edirne, Turkey. The mosque was commissioned by Sultan Selim II and was built by architect Mimar Sinan between 1569 and 1575. It was considered by Sinan to be his masterpiece and is one of the highest achievements of Islamic architecture.

This impressive mosque sits on top of the highest hilltop of Edirne and it stands at the center of a külliye (a complex of a hospital, school, library and/or baths around a mosque) which comprises a medrese (Islamic academy teaches both Islamic and scientific lessons), a dar-ül hadis (Al-Hadith school), a timekeeper’s room and an arasta (row of shops).

 It seems that under one of the marble legs of the muezzin’s stand, the motif of an upside down tulip catches the eye. This tulip motif represents a piece of the story of this truly crowning glory of Edirne.
 According to this story, the site where the mosque was built was once a tulip garden. The owner, however, did not want to sell his garden. In the end, she sold the plot on condition that the mosque would be decorated with the motif of a tulip. Mimar Sinan, kept to the agreement of the sale and put the tulip motif upside down. The tulip motif represents the once tulip garden, and its being upside down represents the owner’s stubbornness.  

All the above pictures were taken from Google.

According to G. Necipoglu in 'The Age of Sinan, architectural culture in the Ottoman Empire'' the Selimiye was the first grand sultanic mosque that travellers from Europe and the Balkans encountered on their way to Istanbul, and the last one they saw on their way back.

The Selimiye was an expression of the love Sultan Selim II felt for Edirne. the people of the city had supported him faithfully in his bid to be the Sultan while he was posted there between 1548 and 1550 as lieutenant governor, in command of defending the western border of the empire. 

The mosque was built, according to the foundation inscription, between 1568 and 1575. It was common practice at the time for the sultans to lay the foundations of a mosque before embarking on a military campaign with the hope that the 'spoils' of the war would be dedicated to its construction and its waqf (endowments). The fact that the mosque was designed and the foundations of such a monumental structure laid just before the conquest of Cyprus shows the confidence and certainty the Sultan felt about his forthcoming victory. It is indeed a historical fact that the mosque was funded by the Sultan's legal share of the booty from Cyprus.

One of the aims of my blog is to take my own pictures for this journey, in the meantime I will use what I find on Google.