If I recall correctly, Al Aqsa mosque was a Byzantine Church before the Muslims conquered Jerusalem.
The Muslims then converted the existing church to a Mosque.
So the Muslims did what the Orthodox Christians had done at the site before them - intentionally occupy a site known for its religious significance to another faith.
It remains, an intentional myth, an invention, that the site had any connection to Mohammed, in his lifetime. That was an Islamic political excuse for occupying a site.