To the followers of Islam, it was the third-holiest city in the world, after Mecca and Medina. Muslims recognized it as the location of al-Masjid al-Aqsa (the Furthest Mosque), the place where, according to the Qur’an, the Prophet Muhammad was brought on his “Night Journey,” when the angel Gabriel transported him from Mecca to the Temple Mount, from which they ascended together into the heavens.
