The Second Masjid That Was Built After Ka’aba

The Second Masjid That Was Built After the Ka'bah

The Prophet ﷺ informs us when he's asked, "O Prophet of Allah, what was the first masjid ever built?" He says, Al-Masjid al-Haram, the Sacred Mosque, the Ka'bah. And then, "What was the next masjid ever built?" He says, Al-Masjid al-Aqsa. And he's asked, "How many years were between their construction?" He says, 40 years.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3366; Sahih Muslim, Book 5, Hadith 1067)

And so we know that this masjid — its story does not begin with the life of the Prophet ﷺ. Its story does not begin with Maryam ﷺ, or Isa, or Sulaiman, or Ibrahim. Its story begins with Adam ﷺ, or one of his sons who built this masjid. And so it is the second masjid ever to be built in human history.

A Place of Barakah

And just as Al-Masjid al-Haram is a sacred place, Al-Masjid al-Aqsa is a sacred place — it's a sanctified place. In the Qur'an, in numerous places, Allah calls this place, this masjid, He calls it a place of barakah. Barakah in the English language refers to anything that multiplies, anything that has blessing in it.

Barakah is when you place a seed in the ground, and you come back 10 years later and there's a whole rainforest there. Somehow it multiplied, it has an effect. This barakah — in the Qur'an, when Allah talks about places, locations in the Qur'an — the one location every time Allah mentions it, He says:

Al-Masjid al-Aqsa in the Qur'an

Allah says — Glory be to the One who took His slave from the sacred masjid in Mecca to the farthest masjid in Jerusalem, which We have blessed its surroundings with:

And when Allah talks about Lut ﷺ — when Lut is running away from the destruction of his people — where does he take refuge? Where does he find rest? Where does he find safety? In Jerusalem, in Al-Masjid al-Aqsa. Allah says, "We saved Lut," and he took refuge in the land that We placed a great deal of blessing in for the entire world:

And Allah says about Sulaiman ﷺ — and Sulaiman could command the winds with a single word, and these winds would take him to the blessed land — speaking of specifically the land of Jerusalem and Al-Masjid al-Aqsa:

And when Allah talks about Musa ﷺ — and Musa has a legacy with this place, but we'll just mention the ayah. When Musa ﷺ speaks to his people, he says, "My people, Banu Israel — we've just been saved from Egypt. Allah is giving you an opportunity to enter the blessed sacred land that He has promised you." What land is that? It is Jerusalem and Al-Masjid al-Aqsa: