Mujir al-Din al-ʿUlaymi
described an earthquake that struck Jerusalem and damaged
the
Al Aqsa Mosque, which he
dated to
A.H. 130
(11 September 747 – 30 August 748 CE). His account includes
three instances of eyewitness testimony transmitted through
a chain of witnesses (
isnād
), describing an earthquake
that struck at night. One witness reported two earlier
daytime foreshocks, possibly in the afternoon. Another
witness described the main shock as occurring on a
black and cold night, full of rain and wind
, yet also
claimed that the quake
breached the roof of the Al Aqsa
Mosque so that the stars appeared
— an apparent
discrepancy, since stars would not have been visible on a
stormy night. Otherwise, the testimonies are largely
consistent.
In another passage, Mujir al-Din recorded that an
earthquake in
A.H. 130
damaged the Al Aqsa Mosque, prompting repairs during the
reign of Caliph
al-Mansur
(r. 754–775 CE). A subsequent, undated earthquake destroyed
the repaired structure, leading to a second reconstruction
to new dimensions under Caliph
al-Mahdi
(r. 775–785 CE).