History of Baitul Muqaddas

King David (Hazrat Daud A.S) founded the city of Jerusalem and holy place, which was further taken care by his son King Solomon (Hazrat Sulaiman A.S). Usually, the city of Jerusalem is known “Bait-ul-Muqqadas” (holy house or place). Most of the prophets of Allah were appointed in this city. This is one of the most blessed places in the world and majority of people from different religions wish to visit here. This city is equally holy for the three largest religions in the world i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Holy prophet of Islam considered it as the first Qibla and used to say his prayers with his companions facing towards its direction. In the journey of Mairaj this city was the first destination of the Holy prophet where the other prophets offered prayer after him. King David ruled the city for 33 years and this was a period of unrest for Israelites army as he united Israelites together h who h were earlier li di divided id d apart. King Solomon constructed Hekhal (Solomon’s Temple) according to the wishes of his father, King David. Deep inside the Hekhal he built a sacred place and put the “Sakina’s Coffin” there. The city was destroyed and captured many times by different warriors and religions. Hekhal was de- stroyed and rebuilt many a times in various eras. During the caliphate of Hazrat Umar Farooq (R.A), he conquered Jerusalem and built a simple mosque at the place where it used to be Hekhal earlier. Before that time, the place was like garbage storage because people used to through garbage to register their hatred against the Jews. Later Umayyad dynasty laid down the foundation of Aqsa Mosque and completed the construction. The sacred places are located on the east side of the city where Muslims, Christians and Jews pay their religious regards. According to the statement of Dr. Barkley, the most sacred place for Muslims Haram Shrif is situated on 35 acres. Masjid-e-Aqsa and Qubat-ul-Sakhra are also located in it. There are many high points in Haram which are knows as “Mehraab” by Muslims and they say prayers in front of these places. There fifty inside and outside doors in “Haram Shrif”. In 1967, Maulana Sher Ali stated that the number of these doors is fourteen. There are many other sacred buildings in its jurisdiction except Masjid-e-Aqsa and Qubat-ul-Sakhra. Now this city hosts the most religious and holy places of Jews,