Land of the Prophets
Almost every prophet – including those who were born elsewhere – lived in the Holy Land or had a special connection to it, which makes Al Aqsa important in the eyes of Muslims.
Prophet Muhammad has also explained the importance of Al Aqsa in light of previous Abrahamic religions.
“When Prophet Sulaiman finished building Bayt al Maqdis, he asked Allah for three things: a judgement that was in harmony with His judgment, a dominion that no one after him would have, and that no one should come to this mosque intending to pray there without emerging free of sin as the day his mother bore him,” the hadith says, quoting the Prophet.
“Two prayers were granted, and I hope that the third was also granted.”
The prophets of the children of Israel are undoubtedly included when Muslims refer to the Holy Land as the "land of the prophets" and according to Islam, they form a continuity in the line of prophecy that ended with Prophet Muhammad.
Another example of a prophet who had a special relationship with the Holy Land and Jerusalem, in particular, is Prophet Abraham. After he destroyed the idols of his people in ancient Babylon, he had to leave the city. He eventually landed in Palestine. In the Quran, there is a mention of his new home in the Holy Land.
“But We delivered him and his nephew Lot and directed them to the Land which We have blessed for the nations.” (Al Anbiya, 21:71)