Al-Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam (after Mecca and Medina). According to the Quran, the Prophet Muhammad was miraculously transported from Mecca to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and ascended to heaven there.

Al-Aqsa is, in the Jewish faith, considered to be the site of the First and Second Temples of Jerusalem. According to the Talmud, it is where the Binding of Isaac occured, the location of the Holy of Holies, and where the world was created.