Jerusalem became known as Al-Quds, The Holy. Many of the Prophet's Companions traveled to worship at the blessed spot to which Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, was brought by night and from which he ascended through the heavens. According to the authenticated tradition of the Prophet, travel for the sake of worship is undertaken to only three mosques; the Sacred Mosque in Makkah, the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah, and the Furthest Mosque in Jerusalem.

In 685AD the Umayyad Khalif, 'Abdul Malik ibn Marwan, commenced work on the Dome of the Rock. Essentially unchanged for more than thirteen centuries, the Dome of the Rock remains one of the world's most beautiful and enduring architectural treasures; a shrine to the Noble Rock, the gold dome stretches 20 meters across the Noble Rock it contains, the dome rises to more than 35 meters above it. The Qur'anic verse 'Ya Sin' is inscribed across the top in the dazzling tile work commissioned in the 16th century by Suleiman the Magnificent;

'Ya Sin. By the wise Qur'an. Surely you are among those sent on a straight path. A revelation of the Mighty, the Compassionate. That you might warn a people whose fathers were never warned, so they are heedless.' Qur'an, 36:1-6 

The dome itself has been covered with many materials over its lifetime. Initially it was built of wood and covered with brass, and then lead sheathing was laid in 1448. The excess weight of the lead covered dome was a great concern in the earthquake prone region, and in the 1960s it was replaced by an anodized aluminum covering. In 1993, the government of Saudi Arabia donated gold foil to clad the dome in its current state.

The Noble Rock is the focus of the interior of the Dome of the Rock shrine, situated directly beneath the lofty dome and surrounded by the highly ornate inner circular and outer octagonal arcades. The shrine is octagonal in shape, having 8 sides. Each side has a door and 7 windows, with rock crystal carving. The dome is made of gold. Right in the middle, the shrine hosts the honored rock on which the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) stood on, before he was raised to heaven. Quranic mosaic used for inside out decoration of the Dome of the Rock walls.

Since 1967, Al-Aqsa mosque inside the Temple Mount, has been the target of several attempts by the occupation authorities to destroy or burn it, including several attempts to bring about its collapse through underground excavations. During 2005 new attempts been made by a group of people known as "Temple Lunatics' to storm the area, but were foiled by Israeli government.
 

The Jerusalem Islamic Supreme Council had repeatedly warned against such activities. On August 21, 1969, an attempt was made to burn Al-Aqsa mosque. The U.N. has passed a resolution on Number 1512, condemning Israel for the attempt and calling for preserving Jerusalem's entity and its holy sites. Zionists believe Al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques should be dismantled to build the temple mount instead.

Above images are the contribution of Thekra A. Sabri