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Jerusalem and the Furthest Mosque
By: Ayatullah Shaheed Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim
The Furthest Mosque (al-masjid al-aqsa) is the place to which the Holy Prophet (S) was carried at night (during his Night Ascension to the heavens) and to which the Holy Qur'an has referred to, saying: Glory be to Him Who made His servant to go on a night from the Sacred Mosque to the Furthest Mosque of which We have blessed the precincts so that We may show to him some of Our signs. Surely, He is the Hearing, the Seeing. (17:1)
According to other traditions, the Furthest Mosque (of Jerusalem) was the place from which the Holy Prophet (S) started his night ascension to the heavens.1 At that place too, there is a famous rock known to be the very place of the Holy Prophet’s ascension to the skies.
About the merit of this mosque, a famous tradition upon which all Muslims unanimously agree reports the following: Luggage must not be packed except for travel to three mosques: the Sacred Mosque (of Makkah), the Prophet’s Mosque, and the Furthest Mosque.2
Traditions that are reported from the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) confirm this distinctive feature. In this respect, Abu-Hamzah al-Thumali has quoted Imam al-Baqir (‘a) as saying:
The most distinctive mosques are four: (1) the Sacred Mosque (of Makkah), (2) the Prophet’s Mosque, (3) the Mosque of Jerusalem, and (4) the Kufah Mosque. An obligatory prayer performed at these mosques is equal (in reward) to one Hajj Pilgrimage and a supererogatory prayer to one ‘Umrah.3
Al-Sakuni has reported Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) on the authority of his father on the authority of Imam ‘Ali (‘a) as saying: One prayer offered at the mosque of Jerusalem is equal to one thousand prayers, one prayer at the Great Mosque is equal to one hundred, one prayer at the tribe mosque is equal to twenty-five, and one prayer at the mosque of the market is equal to twelve, while one prayer at one’s house alone is considered one only.4
1. - Al-Huwayzi, Tafsir Nur al-Thaqalayn 3:103, H. 10 as quoted from ‘Ali ibn Ibrahim’s famous book of Tafsir (exegesis of the Holy Qur'an).
2. - Sahih al-Bukhari 2:56; Sahih Muslim 4:126.
3. - Al-Hurr al-’Amili, Wasa’il al-Shi’ah 3:551, S. 64, H. 1.
4. - Al-Hurr al-’Amili, Wasa’il al-Shi’ah 3:551, S. 64, H. 2.
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