Can some body in our Forum tell me as to who built Masjid Aqsa and when. Thanks
According to traditional Muslim history: it was built by Umar the second caliph, then rebuilt and expanded by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik and finished by his son al-Walid in 705 CE. It was originally a garbage dump, meaning such a building did not exist when 17:1 was revealed.
How could all Nabi & Rasool pray there when the Masjid was not there ?
A common explanation given by Traditional Muslims is that since the whole earth is a masjid an actual building is not needed, i.e. it refers to the site not a building.
I mention this in my article (http://mypercept.co.uk/articles/meaning-masjid-al-haram-Quran.html), amongst other problems.