Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, is not located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Saudi lawyer and journalist Osama Yamani is claiming.
In an article in the Saudi news outlet Okaz, Yamani claims that the mosque is actually located in Al Ju'ranah, near Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
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Yamani writes that the confusion between the two sites stems from the fact that many history books state that Al-Aqsa is located in Jerusalem.
"Jerusalem is not Al-Aqsa, which is not cited in the missions that Allah gave Muhammad and the caliphs. Similarly, Jerusalem is a city, and Al-Aqsa is a mosque," he states.
Yamani adds that originally, Muslims did not face in the direction of Al-Aqsa while praying.
Yamani backs up his argument with historic facts, such as the fifth caliph from the Umayyad dynasty, Abd al-Malik, building the Dome of the Rock in the year 691 CE. Al-Malak built the dome nine years after Abd Allah Ibn al-Zubayr rebelled and prevented local residents from fulfilling the obligation to make the haj pilgrimage to Mecca.
"At that stage, he changed the direction of prayer toward Jerusalem," Yamani says, referring to al-Malik.
Yamani explains that "There are stories influenced by political considerations that served purposes of that time, and sometimes claims are made that they have nothing to do with faith or following religious dictates."
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