QuoteWhy do you feel sorry?
Peace, Ayman...
I think the idea here is that some people seem to have a problem accepting that the Masjid Haram and Masjid Aqsa are physical, geographical places.
Personally, I see no problem with the belief that they are. "Al-Bayt" (the Sanctuary) is a physical location (a high altitude valley) where the ancient Arabs made offerings of livestock during a four-month restriction period (Al-Hajj). When Abraham thanked Allah and mentioned that he settled his progeny in an uncultivated valley, it really means a literal and physical place. Likewise, when Allah spoke to Musa and told him to remove his slippers because he was in the Sanctified Valley of Tuwa, it is clearly a physical place, not some kind of abstraction or system.
Having said that, I have a theory as to what the Masjid Haram and Masjid Aqsa really are, if you care to consider it:
The Masjid Haram is a PLACE. (Just as "maghrib" is the place or direction of the sun set, and "mal3ab" is a playing field, and "malha" is an amusement park). It is a geaographical expanse which surrounds and encompasses the Bayt (Sanctuary), where the laws concerning the restriction of hunting game are observed, and where the hustle and bustle of the pilgrims who used to come and make the livestock offerings to feed the poor, pay their alms, trade, and discuss the problems of society. It is the place where the annual Hajj gathering took place in the crowded and conjested Sanctuary (quite a noisy place, as I imagine it to be). During the time of Muhammad, there where instances when the believers were blocked or prevented from reaching this place, and making the offerings. The Quran talks about times of war, and regulations for fighting in the Masjid and cleansing the place from idol-worship. How some people can't see this as a phisycal location is truly puzzling.
The Masjid al-Aqsa, on the other hand, is a more quiet and solitary place, where Moses heard the divine call at the Valley of Tuwa, and where Muhamad also had a spritual encounter at the Sidr tree. (It is like a place of reflection and meditation). Many times I have pondered about the first passages in Surah 17 and wondered if the subject of the Isra (night journey) was Muhammad or Moses. I have finally accepted that it was indeed Muhammad who made the journey, and ended up in the very same place where Allah spoke to Moses nearly 18 centuries earlier.
Consider the following:
{So when he reached it, he was called from the edge of the right side of the valley at the blessed area of the tree: "O Moses, it is I, Allah, the Rabb of all peoples."}The intimate details given there mean that Muhammad knew that place very well. It is the Valley of Tuwa, where Moses removed his slippers as a sign of respect, and heard the divine call. Muhammad made the night journey to that same place, and had his own vision at the site of the Sidr (Lote) tree.
{Did the narrative of Moses come to you? (O Muhammad) * His Rabb called him at the sacred valley of Tuwa * Go to Pharaoh, for he has transgressed}...[79: 15-17]{I am your Lord, so take off your slippers; you are in the holy valley Tuwa}...[20:12]Going back to Surah 17, it begins in Ayah #1 by praising Allah, who sent Muhammad on a journey from the Masjid Haram (the site of the Sanctuary where the Hajj is conducted every year in a barren valley) to the Masjid Aqsa, which lay at the furthest reaches of the territory, and was a place of green mountains, where the Tur (famous mountain covered by trees and very well-known to Muhammad and his people) overlooked the valley of Tuwa.
The purpose of the trip was to show Muhammad some signs. What signs are they? I believe they are the same signs mentioned in the first passages of Surah 53 (the vision of Jibreel at the Sidr tree). This vision was seen by Muhammad in the SAME place (the valley of Tuwa) where Moses heard the divine call.
This is why Ayah # 2 of Surah 17 immediately talks about Moses receiving the Scripture as a guidance to Bani Israel.
By tying all these passages together, we can reach the following conclusion: that Masjid Haram is the geographical region where the site of the Hajj was located, whereas the Masjid Aqsa is the site of the Valley of Tuwa, where Moses and Muhammad saw the divine signs.
Peace...
