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While the Al-Aqsa mosque is by and large considered the third holiest site by Muslims, this view is not universal. Other Muslim sites put forward as the "third holiest" include:

Imam Ali Mosque, Iraq

It is commonly reported in the worlds media that the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq, is the third holiest site for the estimated 130 million followers of the Shiite branch of Islam worldwide – approximately 10 percent of total Muslims. It is estimated that only Mecca and Medina receive more Muslim pilgrims.

The Guardian described Najaf, as the third holiest place of Shi'ite Muslims The Boston Globe reports “for the world's nearly 120 million Muslim Shiites, Najaf is the third holiest city, behind Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The CNN website states: “the Shiite the city of Najaf, Islam's third holiest city after Mecca and Medina and home to the Tomb of Imam Ali, cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and father of Karbala's Husayn ibn Ali”. Referring to Najaf, ShiaNews.com describes it as “the place is the burial site of Islam’s second most important figure and third holiest shrine”

Heritage Photo Agency based in Iran states: “The world's 120 million Shiites regard Najaf - a center of scientific, literary and theological studies - as their third holiest site, behind Mecca and Medina”.

Zaman Newspaper, based in Turkey, reports that “Because Najaf is home to the Imam Ali tomb and Mosque, Shiite Muslims regard Najaf as the third holiest city after Mecca and Medina”.

Asian Times Online reports about Qom being the second holiest city in Iran. In an attempt to impress the importance of the Hazrat-e Masumeh shrine located in Qom, the article quotes the following famous hadith: "Our sixth imam, Imam Sardeg, says that we have five definitive holy places that we respect very much. The first is Mecca, which belongs to God. The second is Medina, which belongs to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the messenger of God. The third belongs to our first imam of Shia, Ali, which is in Najaf. The fourth belongs to our third imam, Hussein, in Karbala. The last one belongs to the daughter of our seventh imam and sister of our eighth imam, who is called Fatemah, and will be buried in Qom. Pilgrims and those who visit her holy shrine, I promise to these men and women that God will open all the doors of Heaven to them."

On the website of The Virtual Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the Islamic World, a division of the University of Georgia, under Miscellaneous Relevant Links, it cites a link to a news story “about Iraqi troops using the shrine of Ali in Najaf and about the instructions given to American troops not to damage the shrine, which, after Mecca and Medina, is the holiest city for Shiites.” And “American authorities have not taken an active public role in the mosque investigation because of Iraqi sensitivity to any US presence at the Najaf shrine. The mosque is the most sacred Shiite shrine in Iraq and the third holiest in the world after Mecca and Medina” (last section on page)

IslamicTouism goes further and bypasses Medina stating “Najaf, home to the shrine of Imam Ali, the cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, is Muslim Shiites second holiest site after Mecca in Saudi Arabia”.

Imam Husayn Shrine, Iraq

Public Broadcasting Service portrays Karbala as follows: “…For Shiites, his tomb is the holiest site outside of Mecca and Medina, and many make the pilgrimage there -- up to a million pilgrims visit the city to observe Ashura, the anniversary of Husayn's death”.

channel4.com states: “The holy city of Karbala, situated 100 km south of Baghdad, derives its name from the ancient Babylonian meaning "sacred place of God" from the two shrines it houses of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Husayn and his brother 'Abbas. Shia Muslims consider this to be one of the holiest places in the world second only to Mecca and Najaf.

Al Askari Mosque, Iraq

Time Magazine reported at the time of the Al Askari Mosque bombing that “al-Askari one of Shiite Islam's holiest sites, exceeded in veneration only by the shrines of Najaf and Karbala. Even Samarra's Sunnis hold al-Askari in high esteem. The expression 'to swear by the shrine' is routinely used by both communities".

Rawze-e-Sharif, Afghanistan

Situated in Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan, Rawze-e-Sharif, also known as The Blue Mosque, is believed by a minority of Muslims, mainly Afghans, to be the resting place of Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. It is described by the International Security Assistance Force as third holiest site in Islam. , (page 8).

Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus

According to the United Nations Development Programme, Islam’s third sacred holy site after the Kaaba in Mecca and the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina, is Hala Sultan Tekke, or Umm Haram in Cyprus, which has long been the destination of Muslim pilgrims.

A certain Professor Bowen completed an assessment of the environmental and cultural assets of Cyprus as a senior Fulbright scholar. He stated: “In the south is the city of Lamaka … Just outside the city is the location of the Hala Sultan Tekke Mosque, the third holiest place for Muslims in the world.

There are also a number of Islamic websites which state: “Cyprus is also home to the highly venerated Hala Sultan Tekke shrine - many consider it the third holiest shrine of Islam. Like the shrine in Mecca, it too has a black rock, said to have fallen as a meteorite as part of the tritholon over the shrine. The shrine is also to a woman named Umm Haram, the alleged foster mother of the prophet”, while IslamDefenders.com states: "Umm Haram's shrine was claimed to be the third most important pilgrimage site in the Muslim world, especially after 1787, when a tekke, an informal Ottoman monastery, was established close to the tomb" and “She was buried in that spot... Her shrine, the third holiest in the Moslem world after Mecca and Medina...”

Many Cypriot holiday and property websites also name Hala Sultan Tekke as the third holiest site in the Muslim world.

Al Juwana Mosque, Saudi Arabia

According to the faculty handbook of the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals , the site of the second Friday prayer performed by Muhammad at the Jawatha (Al Juwana) Mosque, is the third holiest site after Mecca and Medina. (pg. 19).

Takht-i-Suleiman, Iran

A tenuous claim by certain travel websites state that “for Central Asian Muslims Takht-i-Suleiman is the third most sacred place after Mecca and Medina. At the summit an ancient mosque built by Bobur in 1510 still operates”. (Day 23)

Dargah Sharief, India

Another interesting mention of a seemingly holier site than the Al Aqsa compound is Dargah Sharief in Ajmer by a tourist website which states that the tomb of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moin-ud-din-Chisti (1140-1235), is the most famous Muslim pilgrimage center in India. It is considered the second holiest pilgrim site after Mecca - it is believed that seven pilgrimages to Ajmer equal one to Mecca.

Kairouan, Tunisia

By 670, the Arabs had taken Tunisia, and by 675, they had completed construction of Kairouan, the city that would become the Arab base in North Africa. Kairouan would also become the third holiest city in Islam in the medieval period, after Mecca and Medina, because of its importance as the centre of the Islamic faith in the Maghrib.

• Islam
• Ziyarat
• Mosques in Iraq
• Mosques in Iran
• Mosques in India
• Mosques in Tunisia
• Mosques in Afghanistan