The Night Journey (Isra and Mi'raj)

The Islamic belief that one night, while alive (c. 621 CE), Muhammad was miraculously carried from Mecca on a winged steed, al-Buraq, to ‘the farthest mosque’ (al-masjid al-aqsa) and ascended to heaven (Quran 17:1). It is the root of Islam’s claim to the Temple Mount, and the Western Wall is even called the ‘Buraq Wall’ in this tradition, the spot where the steed was said to be tethered, one more later name laid over Judaism’s holiest accessible site. The history complicates the claim: the Quran never names Jerusalem; no mosque existed there in Muhammad’s lifetime, the Al-Aqsa building dates to about 705 CE, after his death; some early Muslim traditions placed ‘the farthest mosque’ elsewhere; and Muhammad never physically set foot in Jerusalem. Note the distinction often muddled: he did not die in Jerusalem, he died in Medina, and the Night Journey is a vision of ascent, not a death. None of this mocks the faith. It simply notes that a later tradition cannot erase the thousand years of Jewish Temple history that came first.

Read more on the main site: How ‘al-Aqsa’ got stretched to the whole Mount