Al-Aqsa Mosque enclave may well be considered one of the most studied places in the world in terms of history, archaeology and architecture. Yet, large volumes of controversial literature continue to appear. Information on al-Aqsa enclave is suffering from alteration and falsification and inaccuracy. These are not only due to the present situation of the al-Aqsa mosque where there are some attempts to control on this site but it relates to old mistakes and historical misidentification.

Old references and statements on the al-Aqsa mosque were developed over centuries. These were circumscribed by the competing religious beliefs and socio-political environment of the three monotheistic religions; Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Even more today they become much exaggerated, especially with the present political and religious hidden agendas. Consequently, information becomes misleading and researches witnesses an information dilemma.

This is not all; such activities are also corresponding with political propaganda on al-Aqsa Mosque that is delivered worldwide. All of these are aiming at taking control over the site and changing its Islamic Identity. This scenario can also be found in other disciplines that touch the city of Jerusalem and al-Aqsa mosque; such as Archaeology, Architecture, politics…etc. Hence, these occasioned the importance of the paper.

This paper is intended to examine some old and new information on al-Aqsa mosque to show to what extent the present academic platform of knowledge on al-Aqsa mosque is ill. Building on such knowledge is extremely risky and conclusions are consequently misleading and must be taken with caution.  The paper will employ an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach in its investigation and it is hoped that it will bring scholars, attention to the type and the style of information resources on which they usually build their researches on al-Aqsa mosque. 

Conference Title

the 15th international academic conference on Islamicjerusalem studies

Conference Country

Turkey

Conference Date

April 24, 2014 - May 1, 2014

Conference Sponsor

Istanbul Zaim University