Al-Aqsa Mosque

Al-Aqsa mosque, which is located in Jerusalem, is the third holiest place in Islam, the second house of worship on earth, and was the first direction of prayer for Muslims. A single prayer in Al-Aqsa mosque is equivalent to 500 times the prayers in any other mosque except for the Haram Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet's (An-Nabawi) Mosque in Madina. The mosque is 80 meters long and 55 meters wide with a silver-domed. The mosque is built on 53 pure marble columns and has 7 alley ways leading to 7 large doors. Inside the mosque, supporting the ceiling wooden beams, are 49 squared granite columns . The sanctuary of the mosque is built on quartz columns and its speech stand (mimbar) of Salah al-Din Al-Ayyubi is decorated by ivory and ebony. The mosque was built in 691 by Abdul-Malek Ibn Marwan .

Dome of the Rock mosque, which is also located in Jerusalem in the proximity of Al-Aqsa mosque, is one of the most beautiful examples of Islamic architecture. The Umayyad Caliph Abdul-Malek Ibn Marwan initiated the building of the mosque in 685, and it was not completed until 692. The mosque is built with marble and decorated with ceramic tiles and Quranic mosiac and is octagonal in shape. Each side of the mosque has a door and 7 windows, with rock-crystal carving and the dome is made of gold. In the middle of the mosque is the honored rock on which the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) stood on, before he was raised to heaven.