Ebrahim Moosa | Palestine Information Network
Masjid al-Aqsa has always been a magnet for the lovers and friends of Allah (SWT), and those seeking renunciation of the world.
Chronicle mention a myriad of illustrious personalities from the earliest Muslim generations who connected themselves to the Masjid.
In his meeting with Sayyidinā ʿUmar (RA), Uways al-Qarnī reportedly expressed a desire to offer Salāh at Masjid al-Aqṣā. The Caliph made thorough preparations for him and his dream was realised.
During his time at al-Aqsa, Sufyaan ath Thawri, the great Muhadith and jurist, completed a recitation of the Qurʾān at the Dome of the Rock. He was seen purchasing a banana for one Dirham in the Holy City. After eating it in the shadow of the Rock, he turned to his companion and said, “When a donkey finishes its fodder, it increases its work.” He then stood up and performed a great amount of Salāh.
Ascetics and people of Tasawwuf were fascinated with Masjid al-Aqṣā, viewing it as a key nexus between Heaven and earth. Just as the Prophet g ascended from the Masjid on the night of Miʿrāj, they viewed a presence at the Masjid as being beneficial to spiritual ascendance.
The Sufi Bishr ibn al-Harith al Haafi was asked, “Why do the pious get happy at Baytul Muqaddas?” He replied, “Because it dispels their worries and the ego does not rise and become arrogant in it.”
He was also asked, “What remains with you of the pleasures of the world?” Bishr replied, “To lie down on my side beneath the sky in the Jamīʿ’ of Baytul Muqaddas.”
The renowned ascetic Ibrāhīm bin al Adham, who had renounced his Kingdom and migrated to al-Shaam, would sleep near the Rock at al-Aqṣā during his spiritual visits to al-Quds. He was even imprisoned for a while in the city after he had told a guard that he was a “runaway slave”. He was subsequently released after protests against his incarceration from the people of al-Quds and his clarification that he meant that he was a slave of the Almighty running away from his sins.
He once advised some contemporaries to proceed to the Holy Land. Gesturing towards Bayt al-Maqdis, he referred to it as mountains “where you cannot do any evil”.
Rabia al-Adawiyyah (Rabia Basriyyah), the famous Sufiyah, also fled to al-Shaam, choosing it as a place for spiritual seclusion. She spent a good portion of her later life in worship in al-Quds. There is a shrine claimed to be her grave on the famous Mount of Olives near Masjid al-Aqṣā.
Dhunun Misri recounted his observations at the Masjid as follows: “On the Rock of Jerusalem I have found the sinner estranged; the one obedient to Allah exhilarated; the frightened fleeing; the hopeful entreating [Allah]; the contented rich; and the lover submissive.”
It is narrated of Sirī al-Saqatī of Baghdad that during the course of his stay at al-Aqṣā he was once resting and stretched his leg into the Miḥrāb. He heard a voice reprimanding him for acting in a way kings would. Upon that he pledged never to do it again.
Imam al-Ghazali also travelled to Bilād al-Shaam for a ten year period of seclusion and devotion to Allah c and found the inner certainty he had sought. He lived in al-Quds for a significant period, passed through Baghdad and visited Makkah for Hajj. Eventually he returned to his birthplace of Tus and remained there, dedicated to worship and teaching.
At al-Aqsa, Imam al-Ghazali stayed in a room above the Bāb al-Raḥmah, In his moments of solitude there, he began penning his most celebrated work, the Ihya ‘Ulum al-Din (The Revival of Religious Sciences)
