Palestine is home to one of the three most sacred sites on Earth to Muslims, Masjid al-Aqsa (The Aqsa Mosque). It is the epicenter and metaphorical “beating heart” of the holy city of Jerusalem, and of the blessed region of the Levant (Bilād al-Shām) more generally.
Masjid al-Aqsa served as the first qibla (direction of Muslim prayer) before God instructed the Muslims to pray towards the Kaʿba in Mecca.
It is the hallowed ground upon which Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad led all of God’s thousands upon thousands of prophets and messengers in prayer–from Adam to Abraham to Moses to Jesus and beyond–during his miraculous Night Journey (Israʾ) from Mecca to Jerusalem and Ascension (Miʿraj) to the heavens.
Beyond Masjid al-Aqsa and Jerusalem, other locations across Palestine wield great sacred significance to Muslims for having been lands upon which the stories of countless prophets and messengers of God unfolded.