# Why is Quds (Jerusalem) So Special? | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Al-Aqsa - Past, Present, and Promise
**Published:** 2024-11-15
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/fIAu4c_pVik
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/why-is-quds-jerusalem-so-special-al-aqsa-series
**Topics:** History

## Description
Quds: home to the first qiblah of this ummah, the second masjid ever built in this world. Why have the hearts of believers always yearned for Jerusalem? What profound secrets and virtues does it hold? This lecture uncovers these hidden gems, inviting you to explore the unique significance of...

## Transcript
**[0:00]** Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytani r-rajim. Bismillahir rahmanir rahim. Alhamdulillahi rabbil 'alamin. Wa la 'udwana illa 'ala adh-dhalimin.

**[0:16]** Wal 'aqibatu lil-muttaqin. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik 'ala 'abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin (ﷺ) wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim tasliman kathira. Firstly I want to thank the Minaret Tain Center for hosting this lecture series. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala bless it and bless all of you.

**[0:32]** May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala enable you and us and everyone who will be tuning into this virtually and everyone whose heart is connected to Masjid al-Aqsa and the people who have been barred from it despite being its neighbors. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant us all a prayer in it while it is liberated.

**[0:50]** And may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us to be a part of its liberation. Allahumma ameen. I want to take you to the year 614. The year 614. It's exactly 1410 years ago.

**[1:07]** And I want you to imagine that you are one of the first Muslims waking up to a reality of persecution in Mecca. It's the last third of the night in Mecca. And you're one of those handful of people that have embraced the message of the Prophet (ﷺ).

**[1:27]** And the Prophet (ﷺ) and our mother Khadijah (رضي الله عنها) wake up to pray Qiyam al-Layl. And at the same time Ali (رضي الله عنه) and Fatimah al-Zahra (رضي الله عنها) wake up

**[1:44]** though they were not married yet to pray Qiyam al-Layl. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (رضي الله عنه) along with his Muslim family wake up to pray at that same time. And the list goes on and on of that early batch of Muslims.

**[2:00]** Bilal and Khabbab in wherever they were wake up to pray their Qiyam al-Layl. And as they begin their salah, they ponder upon the ayat.

**[2:15]** Ya ayyuhal muzzammil qumil layla illa qaleela nisfahu aw inqus minhu qaleela aw zid 'alayhi warattilil qur'ana tartila Where Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala commands them to pray Qiyam al-Layl before the five prayers were legislated.

**[2:33]** And just as we are accustomed to be in these places where we have to find where the qibla is. As they wake up in their rooms, they recognize that no one can pray in the Ka'bah or in the vicinity of the Ka'bah

**[2:49]** because it has been desecrated by the idols within and without and is under the occupation of the mushrikeen. And just as we look to the ceiling and we try to calculate where Mecca is, all of them in their rooms in Mecca are turning their hearts and their minds towards the first qibla of Jerusalem.

**[3:13]** It's a powerful visual when you think about what's being embedded in their hearts. Many of us have had the opportunity to visit Mecca for the first time after having prayed towards it for our entire lives

**[3:28]** and for those who have not yet had that opportunity, may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala facilitate it for you soon. And the sentiment that you would often get when you step into Mecca for the very first time after having prayed towards it is like you're stepping into a picture.

**[3:43]** It doesn't feel real initially because of how deeply it has been embedded in your heart. For all of those names that I mentioned from the early Muslims in Mecca that are standing up at the same time of the night

**[3:58]** to find their place of prayer, to find their direction of prayer towards Jerusalem, none of them had had the blessing of ever seeing al-Aqsa before or ever having entered into al-Aqsa before.

**[4:13]** But it was deeply embedded in their hearts as those few blessed homes lit up every single night when Qiyam al-Layl was fard, when the night prayer was fard upon the Muslims as they turned towards al-Aqsa in their liturgy. If you met Anas ibn Malik (رضي الله عنه), and this lecture is going to require a lot of visualization.

**[4:36]** You're in Medina and you're meeting the last major sahabi who's still giving his dars, giving his lectures in the masjid. He's over a hundred years old and you walk up to Anas ibn Malik (رضي الله عنه), and you ask him to introduce himself or reflect upon his existence.

**[4:55]** He would say about himself, la yabqa min man salla al-qiblatayn ghayri. No one on the face of the earth exists today that had the honor of praying towards the first and the second qibla. Had the honor of praying towards al-Quds and towards Mecca.

**[5:14]** He could have introduced himself in a thousand different ways, but the greatest honor that he mentioned that distinguished him, that no one was alive on the face of the earth, can you imagine? Except for one man that lived at a time when they still prayed facing towards Jerusalem.

**[5:34]** It was solidified in their hearts. There was a time when the early Muslims wondered what was greater, Jerusalem or Mecca? Al-Masjid al-Aqsa or al-Masjid al-Haram?

**[5:49]** Jabir ibn Abdullah (رضي الله عنه) narrates that a man stood up on the day of Fath Mecca. Think about the day of the conquest of Mecca and how momentous that occasion is. We've been barred from al-Masjid al-Haram all of these years. And here we are now praying inside the vicinity of the Ka'bah.

**[6:07]** And a man stood up and he said, Ya Rasulullah, inni nazartu lillahi in fatahallahu 'alayka makka an usalliya fi bayt al-maqdis rak'atayn. O Messenger of Allah, I made an oath that if Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala opened Mecca for you and I,

**[6:25]** for this community, that I would pray two rak'ahs in Bayt al-Maqdis, in Jerusalem. That's where his heart was. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said, Salliha huna, pray here.

**[6:40]** This is too great of a burden. Don't put this on yourself. And he repeated the oath, inni nazartu lillahi in fatahallahu 'alayka makka. That if Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala opens Mecca for you, that I will pray two rak'ahs in Masjid al-Aqsa.

**[6:55]** The Prophet (ﷺ) said, salliha huna, just pray here. And he insisted once again and the Prophet (ﷺ) said, sha'nuka idhan. In that case, this is your burden. You have to fulfill this oath. I tried to give you a way out, but this is your burden.

**[7:10]** But think about how deeply seared Masjid al-Aqsa was in his heart, even in the moment of opening Mecca, of the most glorious moment in the seerah of the Prophet (ﷺ). The heart and the mind of this companion was there.

**[7:27]** People used to wonder, what is greater? Al-Masjid al-Aqsa or Masjid al-Nabi (ﷺ), Jerusalem or Medina? And there are several narrations in this regard. Ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنه) says that there was a woman who fell ill in al-Madinah.

**[7:47]** And she made this oath. She said, in shafanillah la akhrujanna fala usalliyanna fi bayt al-maqdis. If Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala cures me from this illness, because it was one that she did not know that she would be cured from,

**[8:02]** then surely I will go to Jerusalem and I will pray my two rak'ahs. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala cured her from what she thought might have been a terminal disease. And as she was cured, Ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنه) says she went and she packed her bags.

**[8:18]** SubhanAllah, think about this woman. She went and she packed her bags. She went and she got her camel ready. She set the scene to make her way to Jerusalem. And then on her way out to al-Aqsa, not knowing what the political circumstances of al-Aqsa was,

**[8:34]** she goes to Maymunah, the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ). Maymunah (رضي الله عنها), Umm al-Mu'minin. And she says to Maymunah (رضي الله عنها) that I intend to go out to pray in Masjid al-Aqsa. Not knowing what's going to happen to her on the way,

**[8:50]** but this was an oath that I took with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. If I was going to be cured from this, think of a person who wants to be cured from cancer or something that seems terminal. I'm going to pray in Jerusalem. And Maymunah (رضي الله عنها) says this to the Prophet (ﷺ).

**[9:05]** And the Prophet (ﷺ) said, tell her to go home and to eat from what Allah has provided for her. And to pray in this masjid, salatun feehi afdalu min alfi salatin fee ma siwahu min al-masajidi illa masjid al-ka'bah.

**[9:22]** Prophet (ﷺ) said to pray in this masjid of mine, in Masjid al-Nabi (ﷺ), is like praying a thousand prayers elsewhere except for Masjid al-Ka'bah, which is one of the acceptable ways to refer to it in Mecca. That is greater in virtue.

**[9:38]** But what was in her heart that when she was ill, this is what she was thinking about. The sahaba would wonder amongst themselves. Abu Dharr (رضي الله عنه) says, tadhakarna wa nahnu 'inda rasulillahi (ﷺ) ayyuhuma afdal.

**[9:55]** That we were sitting with the Prophet (ﷺ) and we were having a discussion amongst ourselves and we wondered which of them is greater. Masjid Rasulillahi (ﷺ) or Masjid Bayt al-Maqdis. Is it the masjid of the Prophet (ﷺ)

**[10:10]** or is it the masjid of Bayt al-Maqdis? Faqala (ﷺ), salatun fee masjidi hadha afdalu min arba'i salawatin feehi. That to pray in this masjid of mine is four times more rewardable than praying in that masjid,

**[10:29]** in Masjid al-Aqsa. Now I'm going to pause in the hadith here. How much is it worth to pray in Masjid al-Nabi (ﷺ)? This is where I start asking you questions by the way. So I'm going to actually expect answers. All ten weeks by the way. How much is it to pray in the masjid of the Prophet (ﷺ)?

**[10:45]** How many salawat? One thousand, right? So one fourth of one thousand is two hundred and fifty. But then there's another narration that's very famous where the Prophet (ﷺ) alludes to it being worth five hundred

**[11:02]** to pray in Masjid al-Aqsa and then a thousand to pray in Masjid al-Nabi (ﷺ) and then a hundred thousand to pray in al-Masjid al-Haram. So how do we reconcile between the seeming discrepancy here in the virtues?

**[11:18]** And the scholars say a few things. Some of them simply said that the hadith about five hundred is not authentic. Sanadan, in terms of its chain. Others mention that perhaps this is the fard versus the sunnah. Could be that this is an obligatory prayer versus a voluntary prayer.

**[11:33]** Some of them said perhaps it's jama'ah, praying in jama'ah and may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us to pray in jama'ah in Masjid al-Aqsa. Some of them say it's jama'ah versus praying alone. And some of them say that the virtue may have been increased over time. And others say that perhaps an initial number was given to the Prophet (ﷺ)

**[11:52]** that was lower and then Allah increased the number over time. Which is done as when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells the Prophet (ﷺ) that this number of your ummah, this percentage of your ummah will enter into jannah and Allah keeps increasing it as it's revealed to the Prophet (ﷺ).

**[12:10]** In any case, it's highly virtuous. Another side note which is extremely important. Some of us read this hadith and we go, okay, 100,000 in Masjid al-Haram, 500 maximum in Masjid al-Aqsa.

**[12:27]** Do you really think that your comfortable five-star hotel in a tower right next to Masjid al-Haram which is perfectly air-conditioned and you have all your restaurants and conveniences and buffets available to you

**[12:43]** while you walk to it is greater in the entire picture than that person that has to climb over occupation soldiers and every single barrier and wait hours and hours under oppression to pray in Masjid al-Aqsa?

**[12:58]** Maybe the salah itself indeed could have that virtue. Allah Azawajal has given everyone their reward. We don't have to diminish from the reward of 100,000 in Masjid al-Haram.

**[13:13]** May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant that to us while still appreciating that certainly those people that have to climb these barriers, that have to overcome all of these disasters in order to pray Salat al-Fajr in Masjid al-Aqsa

**[13:29]** will be rewarded for that struggle in its entirety which is why the Prophet (ﷺ) did not stop there. He could have just said, look a prayer in Masjid al-Nabawi is four times greater than a prayer in Masjid al-Aqsa. Conversation stops. But this hadith which is authentic in al-Hakim, the Prophet (ﷺ) continues.

**[13:47]** Qala wa la ni'ma al-musalla. He said what a beautiful and blessed musalla it is. Qala wa la yushikanna an la yakuna lir-rajuli mithlu shatani farasihi min al-ardi haythu yara minhu bayt al-maqdis khayrun lahu min ad-dunya wa ma fiha.

**[14:04]** He said there will come a time that what will be more beloved to a person, that there will be nothing more beloved to a person than having a space the size of a horse's saddle

**[14:19]** where he could simply see Masjid al-Aqsa. That sight, that ability to occupy lands. SubhanAllah this hadith is so deep because it recognizes the occupation of al-Aqsa, the longing of the believers for it, and the shrinking of the land around it.

**[14:38]** That if a person just had a tiny horse's saddle where they could just see Bayt al-Maqdis. Imagine a view of Bayt al-Maqdis. Right now what's more precious to you? Your hotel room from which you can see the Ka'bah without taking from any of the jalal of the Ka'bah.

**[14:57]** Or a room bi-idhnillahi ta'ala that we will occupy around Masjid al-Aqsa where the believers will visit from around the world. The Muslims that live there hosting the Muslims that come and visit with a view of Masjid al-Aqsa. Prophet (ﷺ) said there will come a time where just having a horse's,

**[15:15]** you could be in a one star hotel. You could be in no hotel at all. You're in a tight land and you can see Masjid al-Aqsa that is more beloved to you than the dunya and everything that is inside of it. I want you to continue along this journey with me because what I'm trying to do is

**[15:32]** I want you to think about what's familiar to you of Mecca and Medina. And to place Jerusalem in its ranks. And to think about how it gets seared and embedded into our hearts. In the narration of Maymunah bint Sa'd (رضي الله عنها).

**[15:47]** Not Maymunah zawj al-Nabi (ﷺ). But another Maymunah (رضي الله عنها). Very famous narration where there's much debate over its chain. Where the Prophet (ﷺ) says to her that go ahead and pray in Masjid al-Aqsa.

**[16:05]** Utuhu fasallu feehi. Go and pray in Masjid al-Aqsa. And if you're unable to go and pray in Masjid al-Aqsa, then at least send some oil to be used in its lamps.

**[16:20]** And subhanAllah the last lecture that we gave in the firsts where we take a break for a few months inshaAllah ta'ala to focus on the first qibla. We talked about Tamim al-Dari (رضي الله عنه) al-Filastini. As Imam al-Dhahabi referred to him.

**[16:36]** Who came to the Prophet (ﷺ) from Palestine as a Christian and became a notable companion of the Prophet (ﷺ). And as Abu Sa'id (رضي الله عنه) says, the first one to put lamps in the masjid of the Prophet (ﷺ). And the Prophet (ﷺ) is telling the Muslims in Medina

**[16:51]** that if the only thing you can do is to send some oil to put in its lamps, then do so. If that's the extent of your material connection, and you need to have a material connection. Because just like salah is a material and physical exercise

**[17:06]** that emanates from the heart and encompasses all of our limbs, our attachment to al-Aqsa cannot be some ambiguous, philosophical picture that resides in our head alone. If the only thing you have is to fund some of the oil in its lamps,

**[17:22]** then do so. What then, as Ibn al-Jawzi rahimahullah says, that this narration is not just speaking about the oil in the lamps, but certainly is speaking about anything that is spent, li-islahiha, for the repairs of Masjid al-Aqsa,

**[17:37]** for the constructions of Masjid al-Aqsa, aw infaqun 'ala ahlihi, or to spend on the people around al-Aqsa. What then of boycotting the lamps of the oppressors and not consuming the oil of the oppressors? As you look at this beautiful place in this terrible situation.

**[17:58]** I also want you to think about Surat al-Tin, wa teeni wa zaytoon, wa toori seeneen, wa hadha al-balad al-ameen. Wa teen, teen is of course the fig. What is the fig referring to? Many of the 'ulama say that this is referring to

**[18:15]** the mountain of al-Judi, which is where the safina of Nuh (عليه السلام), the Ark of Noah settled, as he was commanded to leave his people. Somewhere in the area of al-Sham, or what would exist today between Turkiya and al-Sham.

**[18:31]** Because there is a prominence of fig, teen there. Some of them say this too is referring to Palestine, to Palestine as well. Wa teeni wa zaytoon. Allah refers to Jerusalem, Palestine, Palestine,

**[18:46]** and its surrounding lands as al-zaytoon, the land of the olives. As this was the place of 'Isa (عليه السلام), at the mountain of olives and the place of many of the anbiya, where Musa (عليه السلام) longed for, 'Isa (عليه السلام) preached from.

**[19:02]** Wa teeni wa zaytoon, wa toori seeneen, and of course Sinai, which refers to Musa (عليه السلام), and the desert of Sinai. Wa hadha al-balad al-ameen, refers to Mecca,

**[19:17]** and this place of Mecca. So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala encompasses ulul 'azmi min ar-rusul and their places, the greatest messengers and their places, from Nuh (عليه السلام) to Ibrahim (عليه السلام) to Musa (عليه السلام) to 'Isa (عليه السلام) to Muhammad (ﷺ) and the places that they encompassed,

**[19:32]** as well as where they received the wahi from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala initially, where the point of revelation started for them or at some point descended upon them. I want you to think when Allah refers to it as al-zaytoon,

**[19:47]** for how many years have we become accustomed to large military equipment, uprooting the olive fields and stealing the olives of the Palestinian people? And for years, we've digested this

**[20:03]** and we've become okay with it. But Allah Azawajal chose to refer to this place as al-zaytoon, the place of olives. And subhanAllah, this is one of the things, by the way, that Ibn al-Jawzi rahimahullah when he talks about, and we will get to this in lecture number two,

**[20:19]** all of the different dimensions of barakna feehi aw barakna hawlahu, a place of baraka, a place of blessing, is that this is a land that is rich with resources. And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala purposely, or one of the wisdoms of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala

**[20:34]** making Mecca a barren desert is that no one would want any resources from Mecca. There's nothing you get from Mecca except for the Ka'bah. You're not going for any of the zira'ah, for any of the agriculture or the crops of Mecca. You're going only for the Ka'bah.

**[20:50]** You're going only for al-Masjid al-Haram. Whereas Jerusalem is meant to be a contested place until the end of times. And Allah Azawajal made it a place rich of resources, of fig, of olives, of trees, of blessing,

**[21:05]** as if Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is describing the very lands that would become from the baraka of 'Isa (عليه السلام), from the blessing of 'Isa (عليه السلام), where the fruits and the different vegetation will come sprouting so beautiful and so natural.

**[21:20]** May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us to eat its fruits here before the fruits of al-jannah. Allahumma ameen. So Allah Azawajal swears by the place, he swears by its resources. And that's why when some people then come back and say, but what's the big deal about Jerusalem?

**[21:37]** Why Palestine? Why the emphasis on this land? Why the emphasis of al-Aqsa? SubhanAllah, we went from a place where people who lived around the Prophet (ﷺ) in Mecca and Medina wondered if Jerusalem was a greater place,

**[21:54]** was a more sacred place than the sacred places that they lived, to a time where Muslims will say, Palestine, but. And I don't say this to diminish the cause of anyone else. Alhamdulillah, Dr. Basira, blessed to have you here.

**[22:11]** Our brothers and sisters in Bosnia, who have been our sisters in the struggle, our brothers in the struggle, and they know what genocide looks like and we're seeing what genocide looks like. We have some of the children of the revolution of al-Sham of Syria that are here. They know that struggle for liberation.

**[22:26]** I'm not saying diminish those causes at all, but I'm saying that there is something wrong with the heart that even finds in itself the ability to ask that question and say, yeah, al-Aqsa is bad, but.

**[22:41]** Palestine is bad, but. Because Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, wa man adhlamu mimman mana'a masajid Allah an yudhkara fee hasmuhu wa sa'a fee kharabiha. Who is more of an oppressor

**[22:57]** than the one who forbids people from glorifying the name of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in his masajid, and who plots and strives to ruin them. And most of the mufassareen say this is referring to primarily Masjid al-Aqsa,

**[23:12]** that it starts with the Babylonian destruction of al-Aqsa. It starts with that sacred masjid, but Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala uses masjid in the general sense because it refers to by extension the other masajid as well. But the primary masjid that's being referred to here

**[23:28]** is indeed al-Masjid al-Aqsa. Wa man adhlamu, ay la ahada adhlamu, no one is more oppressive than a person who strives to corrupt and destroy a place like this. And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, wa ula'ika ma kana lahum an yadkhuluha illa kha'ifeen.

**[23:45]** People like that should never feel safety when they enter into our holy lands. They should never feel safety or security when they enter into those places. When they march even under the apparatus of the Zionist occupation,

**[24:01]** with all of the weaponry and the military aid and all of the so-called security of their ministers walking through and performing their rituals on our land, then know that in their hearts, there is always a fear.

**[24:16]** There is always a khawf. As emboldened as they seem to be outwardly, wa ula'ika ma kana lahum an yadkhuluha illa kha'ifeen. Lahum fid dunya khizyun, wa lahum fil akhirati 'adhabun 'adheem. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says

**[24:31]** that they will have disgrace in this world and a greater punishment that awaits them in the hereafter. So instead, you actually start from this place. If you don't care about Masjid al-Aqsa as a primary function of your iman,

**[24:47]** as a primary function of your belief, how can you claim to care about any other masjid? If you don't care about the cause of the people of al-Aqsa, how can you claim to care about the cause of anybody else? Then we come to hadith Abu Dharr (رضي الله عنه).

**[25:04]** And I want you, if you can, to pay attention to the narrators of these hadith because now we're going to reflect inshaAllah just some of these angles from these hadith. Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (رضي الله عنه), who's the same companion that we already narrated that says tadhakarna wa nahnu 'inda Rasulullah,

**[25:20]** that we were disputing amongst ourselves in the presence of the Prophet (ﷺ), which is greater, Masjid Rasulullah (ﷺ) or Masjid al-Aqsa. He is the one who asked the Prophet (ﷺ) ayyu masjidin wudi'a fil ardi awwal, which masjid was built on the earth first

**[25:36]** al-Masjid al-Haram, and then which one, al-Masjid al-Aqsa. The fact that the second masjid on earth is this masjid means that Allah's name has been glorified in that place through generations for thousands and thousands

**[25:54]** and thousands of years. wa man adhlamu mimman mana'a masajid Allah an yudhkara fee hasm. For how many generations and thousands of years has the name of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala been mentioned and glorified in that place? And the scholars mentioned that of the greatest reasons

**[26:11]** that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala made this the first qibla, Allah could have simply made Mecca the first qibla. But of the greatest reasons that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala made this our first qibla is to embed it in the hearts of the Muslims forever as Ibn al-Jawzi rahimahullah said,

**[26:26]** so that it gets to the point that separating al-Aqsa from being a Muslim is as grievous as separating a Muslim from Mecca. Can you imagine Islam without the Ka'bah? Can you imagine Islam without salah? So why doesn't it enrage you and inflame you

**[26:44]** to see al-Aqsa under occupation in the same way that it would to see the Ka'bah under occupation? I guarantee you, if Mecca was under occupation, if al-Masjid al-Haram was under occupation, you would have not a single Muslim,

**[26:59]** except for maybe a few, that would say, yeah, Mecca is bad, but can you imagine people saying that? I mean, when COVID hit and there weren't people doing tawaf around the Haram, you had all these people talking about

**[27:14]** a sign of the end of times and the day of judgment. Is that sight more painful to you than the sight of the occupation at al-Aqsa and that which is happening around al-Aqsa? So you'd have to separate a Muslim from al-Aqsa the way you'd have to separate a Muslim from salah.

**[27:30]** That is the gravity of it in al-iman, in regards to our faith, which brings you to a genre of literature. To love what Allah loves is a sign of iman. To have apathy towards what Allah loves

**[27:47]** is a sign of the lack of faith. To hate what Allah loves is a sign of hypocrisy or even disbelief. All right? To love what Allah loves is a sign of faith, meaning what? The Prophet (ﷺ) said,

**[28:04]** Ahibbullah, love Allah, lima yaghdhukum min ni'mihi for the blessings that he provides for you. And love me, ahibbuni, why? Love me, lihubbillah, for the love of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for me.

**[28:20]** And love Ahl al-Bayt al-Nabi (ﷺ), the family of the Prophet (ﷺ), lihubbi, for the love of the Prophet (ﷺ) for them. A sign of faith is to love what Allah loves, to love who Allah loves. Allahumma yas'aluka hubbak wa hubba man yuhibbuk.

**[28:36]** Oh Allah, I ask for your love and the love of those that are beloved to you. And the love of every deed, kulli 'amalin yuqarribuni ila hubbak, of every deed, of everything that brings me closer to your love. Hubb al-Ansar min al-iman, to love the Ansar is a sign of faith.

**[28:51]** To love the family of the Prophet (ﷺ) is a sign of faith. To love the companions is a sign of faith because you love what Allah loves. To love the Ka'bah is a sign of faith. To love Masjid al-Aqsa is a sign of faith. And the lack of that is a loss of iman

**[29:08]** and can even become a sign of hypocrisy, of nifaq. So when someone says, what's the point of creating a longing for Masjid al-Aqsa? It starts with that, that it is as fundamental to your faith as loving anything else

**[29:23]** that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has mentioned that he loves. I was looking at the famous hadith of Musa (عليه السلام) in Sahih al-Bukhari. And I want you to pay attention to the chapter that al-Bukhari puts this hadith under. The name of the chapter is, Bab man ahabba dafna fil ard al-muqaddasati aw nahwiha.

**[29:44]** The chapter is called, whoever loves to be buried in the Holy Land or around the Holy Land. For the one who loves to be buried in the Holy Land or around the Holy Land. And by the way, SubhanAllah,

**[30:00]** a comparison to this is the hadith of the Prophet (ﷺ), man istata'a minkum an yamuta fil madinati fal yaf'al. That whoever amongst you can die in Madinah, let them do so. Because the Prophet (ﷺ) will intercede on behalf of the one who dies in Madinah. So the chapter of a person

**[30:15]** who loves to die in the Holy Land or around it. And when al-Bukhari writes a chapter, there is an indication in that, that there is a ruling, that it is natural, it is fitri for a Muslim to love to die in that land, to want to die in that land.

**[30:30]** May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us to die there without becoming deceived by our deeds. Because at the end of the day, inna al-arda la tuqaddisu ahadan. The earth does not make anyone holy, but there is Holy Land. But he brings in the last request of Musa (عليه السلام).

**[30:47]** annahu sa'ala allaha an yudniyahu min al-ard al-muqaddasati ramyatan bi hajar. The hadith from Abu Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه), that when Musa (عليه السلام) was dying, and he was forbidden from entering into Jerusalem, he asked Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to die

**[31:04]** just a stone's throw away from the Holy Land. Now SubhanAllah, a few things. Let me ask you all a question. Did Musa (عليه السلام) ever go to Mecca? I'm gonna take hands now.

**[31:19]** How many of you believe Musa (عليه السلام) went to 'Umrah or Hajj, went to Mecca? Okay, all of you are wrong. The Prophet (ﷺ) actually narrated authentically that Musa (عليه السلام) made pilgrimage to Mecca

**[31:35]** at some points. That he had actually been to Mecca at some points. And this is part of the bringing it all together by the way, that Ibrahim (عليه السلام) built it. Musa (عليه السلام) has already visited it. 'Isa (عليه السلام) will visit it before he dies

**[31:52]** because he has not died. Mulabbiyan, saying Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk. The Prophet (ﷺ) revived it. This is a place where the prophets have built and the prophets have visited. So Musa (عليه السلام) has been to Mecca

**[32:08]** and he's asking Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to die a stone's throw from Jerusalem, to have that opportunity. And according to the Bible, of course, it's Mount Nebo. Allah A'lam, but the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned taht al-kathib al-ahmar under the Red Dune, which would seem to confirm that idea

**[32:23]** that it's literally right outside of Jerusalem. Now I want you to think about this. Al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar rahimahullah mentions that dying a stone's throw away means he died right at the border at the time. That the soldiers of the enemy

**[32:38]** would have been right in front of him at the time. Can you imagine the pain of Musa (عليه السلام) for 40 years being right at the border while it is under occupation and knowing that he could not enter,

**[32:54]** not because of a lack of resources, not because of a lack of divine imperative, but because of the cowardice and the refusal that was found amongst his men. That that deprivation came as a result of something within.

**[33:12]** If you ask the people of Palestine and you ask the people of Gaza, what's happening right now? They're not talking about their enemy. They're saying, where in the world are all these Muslims that we hear about? On our borders and beyond, where are you people?

**[33:29]** Where is this Ummah of Muhammad (ﷺ), this billion plus strong Ummah? While a group of us can be massacred and genocided for everyone to see in this small strip of land. If you were to talk to a person

**[33:44]** who lived in Gaza before October 7th, and I'm not making this up, nor am I saying that this is unusual. It is very usual to meet someone who was born and raised in Palestine, 70, 80 years old, and has never prayed in Masjid al-Aqsa.

**[34:01]** It's actually the norm. Can you imagine the pain of being right there, 40 years, like Musa (عليه السلام), 50 years, 60 years, and I can't pray there? And this is what Bukhari puts under the chapter of

**[34:17]** a person who longed so much for that place because longing for it is iman, that they would love to die there and they would love to be buried there. And SubhanAllah, one of the things that amazes me about these hadith of the Prophet (ﷺ)

**[34:33]** is that the Prophet (ﷺ) spoke about the land of Palestine as if it was already under Islam before it was under Islam. And then he spoke about its subsequent occupation and he spoke about the victory at the end of time, (ﷺ).

**[34:48]** He spoke about the people and the land as if he was a contemporary to what it would become after him, Alayhi Salatu Wasallam. And he tended to bring these out. I want you to think about a time where

**[35:03]** you were in a really difficult situation and you had someone in a ditch with you or you had someone that was with you, you know, in a difficult time and they said some really powerful words to you. Sometimes when these hadith come from the Prophet (ﷺ) are almost as relevant as the actual words that he's saying.

**[35:19]** And so I'll share with you a hadith that you might have heard but maybe you lost the context. Awf ibn Malik (رضي الله عنه) says, That Ataytun Nabiya (ﷺ) Fi Ghazwati Tabuk. I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) in the battle of Tabuk and I entered into his tent.

**[35:36]** He describes it as being a dark, dusty tent. Meaning we're in the midst of the pang of war. Usually when you're in the midst of the pangs of war, you don't have time to think about anything but the battle ahead, right? You're not talking about anything else. You're not thinking about anything else.

**[35:52]** You're in the middle of war. But the Prophet (ﷺ) says to us, and I want you to put yourself in that tent. The battle is ahead of you. And he says (ﷺ), U'dud sitatan bayna yaday as-sa'ah

**[36:07]** Count six things before the day of judgment. Listen to me and count six things before the day of judgment. Qala (ﷺ) Mawti My death. And SubhanAllah there is a great deal

**[36:22]** of self-awareness of the Prophet (ﷺ) that when Allah says, wama tadri nafsun mada taksibu ghadan wama tadri nafsun bi ayyi ardin tamoot that no soul knows what will happen tomorrow or on what place of the earth it will die. This Prophet (ﷺ)

**[36:37]** who was given prophecy after prophecy after prophecy was not given the time of his death (ﷺ) or the exact circumstances of his death. And when he approached Badr and Uhud and Khandaq and Tabuk, he was expecting a shahada (ﷺ) himself.

**[36:52]** He expected it at any moment. And so there is a self-awareness and a calmness and a tranquility, count six things before the day of judgment will come to you. And the very first thing he says is my death, mawti, thumma fath bayt al-maqdis

**[37:08]** and then the conquest of Jerusalem. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said, thumma mawtanun ya'khudhu feekum ka qu'as al-ghanam. He said then a plague

**[37:23]** that will take you the way that herds are killed. And subhanAllah ta'un Amwas, many of those companions died in the very plague that the Prophet (ﷺ) was speaking about. So many of them participated in fath bayt al-maqdis

**[37:39]** in the conquest of Jerusalem under Sayyidina 'Umar (رضي الله عنه) and many of them died in the plague of Amwas shortly thereafter. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said, afterwards, qala (ﷺ) istifadatun mal

**[37:55]** hatta yu'ta ar-rajulu mi'ata dinarin fayadallu sakhitan. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that there would come a time that wealth will be increased on my ummah to the point that every, or not everyone, but that a person would be given a hundred dinars, meaning a large amount of money, but they're not satisfied.

**[38:13]** So you go from the fitna of hardship to the fitna of wealth. And indeed we see that as well. That there's a fitna of wealth in the ummah. That the wealth comforts and the wealth distracts from that which is to come. And then the Prophet (ﷺ)

**[38:29]** mentioned, thumma fitnatun la yabqa baytun min al-'arabi illa dakhalathu. And then a fitna that not a single Arab house would escape, thumma hudnatun takunu baynakum wa bayna bani al-asfar fayaghdirun. He said, and then there will be a fitna between you and bani

**[38:46]** al-asfar, which could refer to the Byzantines or the Romans or their descendants or whatever it could be. There's a long discourse on this that I don't care to get too far into just now, but that you would have a truce with them and then they would betray you. Fayatunakum tahta thamanina ghaya tahta kulli ghaya ithna 'ashra alfa.

**[39:05]** The Prophet (ﷺ) said, and then that army would turn against you after a truce and they would come under 80 flags. Under each flag there would be about 12,000 soldiers killing the Muslims. SubhanAllah. You may have heard this hadith before, but

**[39:21]** doesn't it sound a little bit different when you think about when the Prophet (ﷺ) said it? Like we're in a tent and a battle is right in front of us. And the Prophet (ﷺ) is saying, listen, this is what is still to come for this ummah and this is what has been promised for you ahead. And so it was Mecca, it was

**[39:42]** Medina, it was Jerusalem, and this concert of connection to the sacred places remains so deeply embedded in the hearts of the believers. And I want to go through some of the definitions bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. First and foremost, another connection, it is called Bayt al-Maqdis, right?

**[40:02]** Bayt al-Maqdis, which means the house of purity. Bayt al-Maqdis means the house of purity. What is one of the names of the Ka'bah? Al-Bayt. We already covered al-Haram. Anyone else have

**[40:19]** another name? It's in the Quran. It's not that late where y'all are that sleepy, right? Bayt al-'Atiq. It's a house of freedom. Freedom from what? When you go to do 'Umrah or Hajj,

**[40:34]** you hope that if you have Hajj Mabrur, an accepted Hajj, that you have freedom from hellfire, right? That you're freed from your sins, which means you're freed from the hellfire as well. So there's a connection, al-Bayt al-'Atiq, Bayt al-Maqdis, the house of purity.

**[40:54]** And al-Bayt al-Maqdis is a place that people will strive to free from oppression and people also go to hoping to be freed from their sins. So there's a connection between Bayt al-Maqdis

**[41:09]** and Bayt al-'Atiq. There's a connection between Medina and Jerusalem I want you to take into consideration. When you walk into Jerusalem, as Abu Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) says, there isn't a spot, I'm sorry, in Medina. There isn't a spot in Medina, except that

**[41:25]** the Prophet (ﷺ) stood under that tree or prayed under that tree or sat under that tree. So every part of Medina, you are living in the footsteps of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his companions. It is one of the things that makes Medina so serene is the athar, the effect of the Nabi (ﷺ). He's

**[41:44]** still there, like it's so deeply felt. And that's why when you take a Muslim to Medina, they feel like it's home so quickly. It's like this is a place that I've never been to. This is a place unfamiliar, but I never want to leave Medina. Why? Because every step

**[42:00]** that you take, Rasulullah (ﷺ), Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali, all of them took their steps there. Some of the ahadith that you grew up reading, you're in the place that it happened in that moment, not recognizing. You feel it. And then you go and you say salam to the Prophet (ﷺ). What an amazing feeling

**[42:18]** it is, right? Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (رضي الله عنه). And in Jerusalem, there's not a single handspan of al-bayt al-maqdis except that a prophet has prayed there or

**[42:34]** an angel has stood there. So the impact on the land of the collective presence of blessed souls is what makes Medina what it is to us. It's not the structure of Masjid al-Nabawi.

**[42:51]** It's not the hotels. It's not the cooling tiles and the cool umbrellas. It's the blessing of the people that once stood there. And when you go to Jerusalem, there isn't a single spot that you're stepping except that this is where 'Isa (عليه السلام) was. This is where Yusuf (عليه السلام) was. This is where this person was. And if it wasn't a

**[43:09]** prophet that you know, then it was an angel that you don't know that was in that very same spot that you are at. And so there's a connection to it, like a connection that you'd feel to al-Madinah. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said, of course, ar-rihalu ila thalathati masajid, that travel is only undertaken for three masjids, meaning

**[43:28]** in search of virtue. Some people take this hadith way too literally. And they would tell you you can't go to Minaret Tain to attend a lecture because you have a masjid around the corner. Ar-rihalu ila thalathati masajid. It's not that, but you don't go to a masjid

**[43:43]** based on its virtue, except for these three masjids. You don't undertake a journey except for these three masajid. And Imam Ibn al-Jawzi rahimahullah says that one of the reasons why it's called al-muqaddasah is also because as Ibn 'Abbas (ﷺ) said, it is al-mutahharah, that you are purified from your dhunub, you are purified from your

**[44:03]** sins when you pray in that masjid. And he says it's also purified from ash-shirk, meaning what? That this is the land of the prophets and Allah will never allow shirk to settle in that land. That shirk and its people will not be allowed full settlement in that land.

**[44:22]** That shirk will be uprooted from that land. He also says muqaddasah ay mubarakah, it is blessed in every way, in terms of dunya and in deen. And it is of course the place where

**[44:37]** truth will prevail as this is the place where 'Isa (عليه السلام) will end al-Masih al-Dajjal. And so the fitna of al-Dajjal and the fitna that preceded al-Dajjal will end as well with al-Masih al-Dajjal. So it's a holy land because it's a purifying land. And in another authentic

**[44:54]** hadith, again the companion is Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (رضي الله عنه). The Prophet (ﷺ) was with Abu Dharr (رضي الله عنه), his Musnad Imam Ahmad. Abu Dharr says ash-sham ardu al-hijrah wa ardu al-mahshar wa ardu al-anbiya. Ash-sham, may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala

**[45:13]** bless it all, is the place of hijrah. The original land of hijrah as al-Tabari calls it is ash-sham. That's where the prophets always end up fleeing to is ash-sham. So it's the original land of hijrah. Wa ardu al-mahshar and is the land of the assembly on the day of judgment. The land

**[45:29]** where everyone will be gathered once again. Wa ardu al-anbiya and the land of the prophets. Fa-aqarrahu an-nabiyyu (ﷺ). And the Prophet (ﷺ) confirmed what Abu Dharr was saying (رضي الله عنه). Now what about al-Aqsa specifically? There's something very beautiful that I want you to

**[45:46]** pay attention to in the hadith that I already referenced briefly. Prophet (ﷺ) was asked by Abu Dharr (رضي الله عنه), ayyu masjidin wudi'a fil ardi awwal? Qala al-masjid al-haram. Which masjid was built first? He said al-Masjid al-Haram. He said then what? He said al-Masjid al-Aqsa.

**[46:01]** Qultu kam kana baynahuma, I asked the Prophet (ﷺ), how many years between the construction of Masjid al-Haram and Masjid al-Aqsa? How many years was it? 40 years. Qala (ﷺ), arba'una sanah. Now this hadith,

**[46:19]** the scholars say could be referring to two constructions. It could be referring to awwal bina', the first construction. Because who built the Ka'bah? Before Ibrahim, in the time of Adam

**[46:36]** (عليه السلام), Allah Azawajal awwal baytin wudi'a fil ard. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala sent the angels and the Ka'bah was constructed in one manifestation. So the first masjid built on earth was al-Masjid al-Haram. In the exact way that you see it now, no. But the first, because it's not about the

**[46:54]** construction, it's about the place. It's not about the specifications of the construction, it's about the place. The first masjid that was built was al-Masjid al-Haram. So if you're talking about the first bina', the first construction, this is in the time of Adam (عليه السلام). 40 years after,

**[47:11]** the scholars who hold that opinion, from the sahaba by the way, that this is referring to the first bina', say that just as Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala built for Adam (عليه السلام) through the angels, al-Masjid al-Haram, Allah Azawajal built al-Masjid al-Aqsa just 40 years afterwards. So we're

**[47:29]** talking about the beginning of earth and it was done at the hands of who? Does anyone know? This gets really interesting by the way. Sheeth. Who is Sheeth? Sheeth (عليه السلام) is the son of Adam

**[47:44]** (عليه السلام). And he's very interesting by the way because Sheeth was a son that Allah gave to Adam (عليه السلام) after, according to many of the mufassirin, after the murder of Habil. And so his

**[47:59]** name actually means hibatullah, a gift from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. So they lost a son to murder and Allah gifted them with another righteous son in Sheeth (عليه السلام). And so subhanAllah how beautiful in sahih al-qawl that if this is it, how beautiful that that's the son that Allah

**[48:19]** Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala would carry out the construction, the first construction of al-Masjid al-Aqsa through a gift that was given after oppression, which is the story of al-Aqsa to come. Right? So if we're talking about the first bina', this is what we're speaking about. The second building, the

**[48:35]** second construction, if the hadith is speaking about that is referring to raf' al-qawa'id wa idh ya raf'u Ibrahim al-qawa'id min al-bayti wa Isma'il, the raising of the house, which was done by Ibrahim (عليه السلام), al-Khalil (عليه السلام). And he of course settled both his child Isma'il (عليه السلام)

**[48:54]** in Mecca, as well as what he constructed in al-Bayt al-Maqdis in Jerusalem, what he was able to establish in Jerusalem. And in this situation, of course, if you think about this, subhanAllah, one of the blessings here is that Ibrahim (عليه السلام) constructed two of the three holy places,

**[49:12]** raised two of the three holy places, one of them maintained by his son Ishaq, the other one maintained by his son Isma'il. This is not just an honor for Ibrahim (عليه السلام), but it's a sign

**[49:29]** of the Prophet (ﷺ) being the seal of the prophets of all of mankind. So when someone says, what was the point of half of the seerah praying towards Jerusalem and the other half praying towards Mecca? Many of those who were acclaimed descendants of Ishaq, either in descent

**[49:48]** or theology, denied the Prophet (ﷺ)'s authority because he was not from the children of Ishaq. And so making the qibla of Jerusalem first affirms that he is imam al-mursaleen (ﷺ), he is the imam of the prophets and the leader of both of the nations

**[50:09]** that culminate from his father Ibrahim (عليه السلام). And so the Prophet (ﷺ) is not just the prophet of the Arabs, he's not just the prophet of the children of Isma'il, of Banu Isma'il, but he is the final prophet (ﷺ) of both Banu Isra'il being Banu

**[50:28]** Ishaq as well as Banu Isma'il. And so Allah Azawajal gave him both qiblas as a sign that he brought that all together for this prophet (ﷺ). And he is indeed the ultimate fulfillment of the dream of Ibrahim (عليه السلام). Al-Masjid al-Aqsa of course being the culmination

**[50:48]** of the masjid in this regard, and al-Masjid al-Aqsa means al-ab'ad as the scholars say, the furthest away. So between these two masjids there was no greater distance in their construction between Mecca as well as Jerusalem. Now I'm going to come to a conclusion inshaAllah ta'ala here and

**[51:05]** there's so much subhanAllah to cover but that's why we have 10 lectures alhamdulillah to actually break this down in the deepest sense and I pray that you'll pay attention, you'll take notes inshaAllah and it'll all come together by the time we get to the 10th lecture something from the first lecture will pop inshaAllah ta'ala about the virtues of this place and you'll start having your own

**[51:22]** reflections bi-idhnillahi ta'ala because that is also what pondering on the Quran and the sunnah is meant to do. Imam Ibn 'Ashur rahimahullah says that the ayah that we recite in the beginning of Surah al-Isra, subhanallahi asra bi-'abdihi laylan min al-masjid al-harami ila al-masjid al-aqsa

**[51:39]** where Allah Azawajal mentions that glory be to him who took his slave from al-Masjid al-Haram ila al-Masjid al-Aqsa. He says that in that was a bushra, was a glad tidings of Masjid al-Nabi (ﷺ) because on that night Allah says ila al-Masjid al-Aqsa between the two

**[51:57]** masjids he took him on a journey between the two masjids because on that night the Prophet (ﷺ) stopped in al-Madinah as well so it was a bushra, a glad tidings of Masjid al-Nabi (ﷺ) and in that single night journey all three of the masajids were given to

**[52:12]** the Prophet (ﷺ) in the spiritual sense in the sense that the groundwork was laid for all three of those places for the Prophet (ﷺ) in a single night journey and that's why for us we can undertake a journey or one of the connections when we undertake a journey to any one of those three masajid we are in ceremony of one of the stops

**[52:33]** of the Prophet (ﷺ) on laylat al-isra' wal mi'raj on the night of the three masjids but in one of the constructions. Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (رضي الله عنه) says that Sulayman constructed over 40 masjids and that's why by the way like Ibn Taymiyyah

**[52:54]** for example he quotes a saying from the scholars that al-Aqsa would refer to the in the broadest sense everything that Sulayman built all 40 masjids right so don't just think of we're going to talk about this by the way this image I know that's always no one watches the lecture

**[53:10]** everyone gets mad about which dome you chose to put in all right we'll talk about the boundaries and we'll talk about that next lecture inshaAllah but he says that this was the the desire of Sulayman (عليه السلام) that what he constructed of a place of sujud would all count within

**[53:27]** Masjid al-Aqsa but what the Prophet (ﷺ) says is that when Sulayman (عليه السلام) built al-Masjid al-Aqsa he asked Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for three things and it's really beautiful because Sulayman is a man of ihsan like he's a man of excellence so his du'as are incredible

**[53:47]** like you've got to think here when Allah talks about the hikmah the wisdom he gave to Sulayman surely that's going to materialize like in his du'as his du'as were very wise his du'as were very wise so what's the first thing he asked for a wisdom that would agree with the

**[54:04]** judgment of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala it would agree with the judgment of Allah Azawajal or it would or no one else would be given his sound judgment or his wisdom so Sulayman (عليه السلام) asked Allah for supreme judgment for supreme wisdom and Allah praises him for his hikmah

**[54:23]** okay so that's the first one and a customized kingdom that no one after him would have the first du'a by the way if you want to reflect on it judgment is for justice he asked

**[54:42]** Allah for sound judgment for 'adl and there's the famous story of Sulayman (عليه السلام) that's quoted in the sharh of this hadith between him and Dawud (عليه السلام) right that two women came to the to Sulayman (عليه السلام) claiming the same child right and Sulayman's hikmah his wisdom

**[55:02]** his judgment surpassed his father because Sulayman said all right they're both claiming the child let's cut the child in half and just give them each a half and then one woman said no no no it's her child and Sulayman (عليه السلام) said it's in fact your child because the real mother would not

**[55:21]** have allowed for that baby to be cut in a tube hikmah wisdom his wisdom surpassed everywhere so there's wisdom in his du'a so his first du'a is for justice his second du'a is for da'wah for da'wah to preach to spread the mission of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala why does he want

**[55:41]** so that he can walk into his palace and say mashaAllah amazing i love this gold pillar or this incredible bed that i never even sleep in or these incredible horses or what or these incredible servants is that what Sulayman wanted no he wanted a kingdom to spread the word

**[56:02]** of Allah Azawajal he wanted glory for the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to pass that to be a source of da'wah and he used it as such i mean the stories of the Quran are incredible in that regard and the third one

**[56:26]** he said that no one will come to this masjid wanting nothing but two rak'ahs for the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala except that they would leave from here as purified from their sins as the day their mother gave birth to them

**[56:45]** a similar reward to hajj and 'umrah that no one comes here praying two rak'ahs only seeking Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala's virtue except that they would leave completely purified for their sins so in that regard his first du'a was for 'adl, was for justice, his second du'a was for da'wah, his third du'a was for fadl, was for virtue, extra blessings

**[57:10]** and this is ihsan and du'a, excellence and du'a ...ask Allah is more, keep asking so the audacity to ask for more and I want to focus inshaAllah ta'ala and end with this for tonight

**[57:26]** Imam Ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullah says that the Prophet (ﷺ) said that the first two du'as were granted to Sulayman (عليه السلام) and I hope that the third one was granted to him as well and the Prophet (ﷺ) said I hope that the third one was granted to him as well

**[57:42]** and the Prophet (ﷺ) said I hope that the third one was granted to him as well and the Prophet (ﷺ) said I hope that the third one was granted to him as well and the Prophet (ﷺ) said I hope that the third one was granted to him as well and the Prophet (ﷺ) said I hope that the third one was granted to him as well

**[57:58]** and the Prophet (ﷺ) said I hope that the third one was granted to him as well and the Prophet (ﷺ) said I hope that the third one was granted to him as well and the Prophet (ﷺ) said I hope that the third one was granted to him as well and the Prophet (ﷺ) said I hope that the third one was granted to him as well

**[58:14]** and the Prophet (ﷺ) said I hope that the third one was granted to him as well and the Prophet (ﷺ) said I hope that the third one was granted to him as well this is so important because you know when I take groups for hajj may Allah Azawajal facilitate hajj mabrur for all of us

**[58:31]** you ask someone what's the reward of hajj? they say jannah, you're free from all of your sins actually the Prophet (ﷺ) said al-hajj al-mabrur it's not just hajj it's an accepted hajj and Abdullah ibn 'Umar was so afraid of missing out on the virtue of that du'a of Sulayman (عليه السلام) when entering into Masjid al-Aqsa

**[58:53]** that he wouldn't even drink water when he would go there so that was sincerely and only for the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala what's an analogy that we should have for ourselves? let your activism for Palestine be as sincere as Ibn 'Umar with that sip of water

**[59:08]** let your activism for al-Aqsa, your activism for Gaza be as sincere as Ibn 'Umar when he entered into al-Aqsa I want you to think about this that there will come a time where it's not popular anymore you can already see it dimming, don't you?

**[59:23]** it's not popular anymore people are tired, people have moved on and so add the Palestinians into the bucket of oppressed peoples that we've forgotten about let's go back to sleep on al-Aqsa while our enemy continues to plot and plan against it and excavate every single part of it

**[59:43]** and remove the people and the landmarks from that land does it work that way? sincerity shows when other people move on like Ibn 'Umar (رضي الله عنه) was thinking about that small detail

**[59:58]** that I won't even take a sip of water I also say this to the people that have been blessed with maybe going to visit al-Aqsa even in this situation and I know there's a whole realm of disagreement amongst the scholars count me, not amongst the scholars

**[1:00:14]** amongst the students of knowledge or the students of the students of knowledge amongst those that agree with the scholars that say as many people that can go and visit right now visit right now, just don't whitewash or normalize the occupation while you're there because the occupation clearly doesn't want people to visit

**[1:00:30]** but look at where you're buying your stuff from and look at what you're doing over there don't sit there and do things that would contradict and undermine the cause while you're there and don't stop working for the time that you don't have to enter through the occupation's port in order to get there

**[1:00:48]** this is the purity of going there it's not tourism it's not for something that you just put out there and then you move on from it's greater than that and subhanAllah in that the scholars mentioned that the ayah rijaalun la tulhihim tijaratun wa la bay'un 'an dhikrillahi wa iqam as-salah

**[1:01:07]** that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala when he mentions men who are not distracted by their trade or by their wealth from the remembrance of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala establishing the prayer many of the mufassareen say this is referring to al-Bayt al-Maqdis as well that primarily this is referring to Masjid al-Aqsa

**[1:01:24]** and I want you to think about the people that have to go and pray in Masjid al-Aqsa right now they're not just overcoming the distraction of dunya they're also trying to overcome the oppression of the dhalimeen every single time they try to go it has been made so difficult and they are in ribat

**[1:01:39]** they are in fortifying that place when they insist upon fighting through those checkpoints and that humiliation to get to that place I'll end with one more story for you inshaAllah ta'ala it's a beautiful story that brings us all together there's a man by the name of Dhun-Nun al-Misri

**[1:01:56]** rahimahullah ta'ala he was a great sage al-Imam al-Ghazali rahimahullah tells a story about him in Masjid al-Aqsa and the reason why his name is Dhun-Nun al-Misri which is similar to Yunus (عليه السلام) or he was nicknamed with that

**[1:02:11]** is the story is that he was on a ship and that someone had lost their jewelry and that they accused him of stealing that jewelry and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala caused that as he made du'a to Allah to vindicate him from that accusation

**[1:02:26]** that some of the fish in the sea rose up and they had that jewelry in their mouths the same pearls in their mouths and he was able to pick one and give it back Dhun-Nun al-Misri al-Imam al-Ghazali rahimahullah recounts a story

**[1:02:41]** that he came to visit al-Masjid al-Aqsa and he was a Nubian man from Africa and as he came to enter into Jerusalem some of the people said to him the guard, not the Israeli guard

**[1:02:56]** they weren't around back then but the person that was there said to him where are you from? and he said I'm from those people tatajafa junubuhum 'an al-madaji'i yad'una rabbahum khawfan wa tama'an wa mimma razaqnahum yunfiqun

**[1:03:13]** those people who fight their beds at night calling upon Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in fear and in hope and he said and who are you going to? qala ila rijal la tulhihim tijaratun wa la bay'un 'an dhikrillahi wa iqam as-salah I'm going to be with people who are not distracted

**[1:03:30]** by their trade, by their wealth from the remembrance of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and from establishing the prayer may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us amongst those people who are counted both in terms of the quality of those people

**[1:03:45]** as well as in the love of that cause and counted amongst those who are physically present and spiritually present and whose hearts are connected to al-Aqsa even as it's under occupation and whose hearts are dedicated to its liberation

**[1:04:00]** even when other people move on Allahumma ameen hadha wa sallallahu wa sallim wa baraka 'ala nabiyyina Muhammad wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een inshaAllah ta'ala we will continue next week jazakum Allahu khayran wa salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

## Other Episodes in "Al-Aqsa - Past, Present, and Promise"
- [When Will Palestine Be Free? Signs of the Day of Judgment | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/when-will-palestine-be-free-signs-of-day-of-judgment-al-aqsa.md)
- [Zionism 1,000 Years In the Making | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/zionism-one-thousand-year-in-the-making-al-aqsa.md)
- [Salahuddin: The Legend Who Liberated Jerusalem | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/salahuddin-the-legend-who-liberated-jerusalem-al-aqsa.md)
- [Roman Emperor Who Almost Became Muslim & Conquest of Jerusalem | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/roman-emperor-who-almost-became-muslim-and-conquest-of-jerusalem-alaqsa.md)
- [Isra and Miraj: The Greatest Journey Through the Heavens | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/isra-and-miraj-the-greatest-journey-through-the-heavens-al-aqsa.md)
- [Isra wal Miraj, Surah Rum, and the Year of Grief | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/isra-wal-miraj-surah-rum-and-year-of-grief-al-aqsa.md)
- [Syria, the Umayyad Mosque, and the Messiah’s Return | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/syria-umayyad-mosque-messiah-return-al-aqsa.md)
- [The Prophets, the Messiah, and the Promised Land | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/the-prophets-the-messiah-and-the-promised-land-al-aqsa.md)
- [The Switch of the Qiblah: Story of Masjid Qiblatayn | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/switch-of-the-qiblah-story-of-masjid-qiblatayn-al-aqsa.md)
- [The Blessed Land of Al-Sham: Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan | Al-Aqsa: Past, Present, and Promise](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/al-aqsa-past-present-and-promise/the-blessed-land-of-al-sham-palestine-lebanon-syria-jordan-al-aqsa.md)