I was given the opportunity to visit Jerusalem and it's surroundings with a company of 28. Before leaving, after what was shown on the media, I prepared myself for the worst but never stop praying for the best.
Our first encounter with the immigration officers at the border was smooth. We had to go through 4 booths before we were allowed to enter. We were given an entrance visa and it took us only 30 minutes for clearance and continued our journey to the Holy Land. We were indeed lucky because from previous experiences of other groups, which I heard or told, they were detained for many hours at the checkpoint and sometimes their entrance were denied. It happened to my neighbours. It was a great relief for all of us. Syukur Alhamdulillah.
When we were on the bus, as we entered Jerusalem, from afar, there she was.....The Dome of the Rock. It was easy to locate because of the Golden Dome...so majestic and very commanding view indeed. Allahu Akbar! we were speechless and without realizing that our tears dropped. A sign of happiness and thankful to The Almighty Allah for making our dreams came true. Subhanallah...Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar!
Holy Land? This is our first Qibla, this is the place where the Prophets roam, this is the place of Israk Mikraj Of Prophet Rasulullah s.a.w and many more stories as told in the Al Quran .....everything is here! We felt so blessed being there and stepping on the same soil as the Prophets did. Subhanallah...
Masjid Al Aqsa is a compound. There used to be 7 Masjids but two turned into a museum and a library. All the masjids still function well except for Subuh Prayer ONLY in Camii Qibli. The names of the other Masjids are Dome of the Rock, Masjid Marwan, Masjid Qadim and Masjid Buroq.
All this while, we thought that the Dome of the Rock is the main Camii until we prayed in Masjid Qibli. That is the main masjid and that is our first Qiblah until Allah directed Rasulallah to turn to Kaaba in Mekah. It was originally a small masjid built by Umar, the second Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. It was then rebuilt by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik and finished by his son al Walid in 705CE. but it was destroyed completely in 746 by an earthquake but was then rebuilt again in 754. Unfortunately, another earthquake destroyed most of al-Aqsa in 1033 but again two years after that, the structure of the Camii that we saw today still stand strong. Thanks to Caliph Ali az-Zahir. (Wikipedia)
When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, they used the Camii as their palace and Dome of the Rock as a church but the functions were restored after Jerusalem was recaptured by Salahuddin al-Ayoubi in 1187. More renovations, repairs and additions were undertaken by the Ayyubids(Kurdish), Mamluk Sultanate from Egypt, Ottomans (Turkish Empire), The Muslim Council and Jordon. Today, Israel controls the Old City but the Masjid Al Aqsa remains under the administration of the Jordanian/Palestinian-led Islamic Waqf. (Wikipedia)
I will forever cherish this journey and if permitted by Allah, I would love to revisit again and again even if it is the last place I can, before the end of my life! It is indeed a journey of a lifetime The feeling of being near to His Love Ones, made this journey ultimate! You have to be there to feel it!
