According to Islamic officials in Jerusalem, 250,000 people gathered to worship at the Al-Aqsa Mosque to commemorate Laylat al-Qadr, as the holy month of Ramadan begins.

On Wednesday evening, the devout gathered at the mosque, one of Islam’s holiest shrines, next to the golden-topped Dome of the Rock. Muslims believe that the place is where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.

Muslims believe that the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad on the night of Laylat al-Qadr, or the Night of Power. Laylat al-Qadr is reported to fall on one of the odd nights of Ramadan’s final ten days, with the specific night unclear but often assumed to be the 27th.

Worshippers gathered amid rising tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in the aftermath of a series of fatal assaults within Israel, arrest raids in the West Bank, and Israeli police violence on Palestinians at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.

On Wednesday night, no incidents were reported.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque complex is also known as the Temple Mount by Jews. They mostly pray at the Wailing Wall, also known in Arabic as the Buraq Wall.

[embedpost slug=”/uk-minister-is-accused-of-watching-porn-in-the-house-of-commons/”]