while in some sources it is also known as al-Masjid al-Aqsa; the wider compound is sometimes known as Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in order to avoid confusion.

During the rule of the Rashidun caliph Umar or the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I , a small prayer house on the compound was erected near the mosque's site. The present-day mosque, located on the south wall of the compound,