The Prophet's Mosque (Arabic: ٱلْمَسْجِد ٱلنَّبَوِي, romanized: al-Masjid al-Nabawī, lit. 'Mosque of the Prophet') is the second mosque built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Medina, after the Quba Mosque, as well as the second largest mosque and holiest site in Islam, after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, in the Saudi region of the Hejaz. The mosque is located at the heart of Medina, and is a major site of pilgrimage that falls under the purview of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
Muhammad himself was involved in the construction of the mosque. At the time, the mosque's land belonged to two young orphans, Sahl and Suhayl, and when they learned that Muhammad wished to acquire their land to build a mosque, they went to Muhammad and offered the land to him as a gift; Muhammad insisted on paying a price for the land because they were orphaned children. The price agreed upon was paid by Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, who thus became the endower or donor (Arabic: وَاقِف, romanized: wāqif) of the mosque, on behalf or in favor of Muhammad.
Originally an open-air building, the mosque served as a community center, a court of law, and a religious school. It contained a raised platform or pulpit (minbar) for the people who taught the Quran and for Muhammad to give the Friday sermon (khutbah). Subsequent Islamic rulers greatly expanded and decorated the mosque, naming its walls, doors and minarets after themselves and their forefathers. After an expansion during the reign of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I (r. 705–715), it now incorporates the final resting place of Muhammad and the first two Rashidun caliphs Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) and Umar (r. 634–644). One of the most notable features of the site is the Green Dome in the south-east corner of the mosque, which was built above the site of the former house of Aisha, where the graves of Muhammad, Abu Bakr and Omar are located.
In 1909, under the reign of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, it became the first place in the Arabian Peninsula to be provided with electrical lights. From the 14th century, the mosque was guarded by eunuchs, the last remaining guardians were photographed at the request of then-Prince Faisal bin Salman Al Saud, and in 2015, only five were left. It is generally open regardless of date or time, and has only been closed to visitors once in modern times, as Ramadan approached during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
History
Under Muhammad and the Rashidun (622–660)
The mosque was built by Muhammad in 622 after his arrival in Medina. Riding a camel called Qaswa, he arrived at the place where this mosque was built, which was being used as a burial ground. Refusing to accept the land as a gift from the two orphans, Sahl and Suhayl, who owned the land, he bought the land which was paid for by Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, and it took seven months to complete the construction of the mosque. It measured 30.5 m × 35.62 m (100.1 ft × 116.9 ft). The roof which was supported by palm trunks was made of beaten clay and palm leaves. It was at a height of 3.60 m (11.8 ft). The three doors of the mosque were the Bāb ar-Raḥmah (بَاب ٱلرَّحْمَة, "Gate of the Mercy") to the south, Bāb Jibrīl (بَاب جِبْرِيْل, "Gate of Gabriel") to the west, and Bāb an-Nisāʾ (بَاب ٱلنِّسَاء, "Gate of the Women") to the east. At this time point in the history of the mosque, the wall of the qibla was facing north to Jerusalem, and the Suffah was along the northern wall. In the year 7 AH, after the Battle of Khaybar, the mosque was expanded to 47.32 m (155.2 ft) on each side, and three rows of columns were built beside the west wall, which became the place of praying. The mosque remained unaltered during the reign of Abu Bakr.
Umar demolished all the houses around the mosque, except those of Muhammad's wives, to expand it. The new mosque's dimensions became 57.49 m × 66.14 m (188.6 ft × 217.0 ft). Sun-dried mud bricks were used to construct the walls of the enclosure. Besides strewing pebbles on the floor, the roof's height was increased to 5.6 m (18 ft). Umar constructed three more gates for entrance. He also added Al-Buṭayḥah (ٱلْبُطَيْحَة) for people to recite poetry.
The third Rashidun caliph Uthman demolished the mosque in 649. Ten months were spent in building the new rectangular shaped mosque whose face was turned towards the Kaaba in Mecca. The new mosque measured 81.40 m × 62.58 m (267.1 ft × 205.3 ft). The number of gates as well as their names remained the same. The enclosure was made of stones laid in mortar. The palm trunk columns were replaced by stone columns which were joined by iron clamps. Teakwood was used in reconstructing the ceiling filza.
Umayyad era
In 706 or 707, the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I (r. 705–715) instructed his governor of Medina, the future caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, to significantly enlarge the mosque and carried out the fourth and most monumental expansion of the mosque. According to the architectural historian Robert Hillenbrand, the building of a large scale mosque in Medina, the original center of the caliphate, was an "acknowledgement" by al-Walid of "his own roots and those of Islam itself" and possibly an attempt to appease Medinan resentment at the loss of the city's political importance to Syria under the Umayyads.
It took three years for the work to be completed. Raw materials were procured from the Byzantine Empire. Al-Walid lavished large sums for the mosque's reconstruction and supplied mosaics and Greek and Coptic craftsmen. The area of the mosque was increased from the area 5,094 square metres (54,830 ft2) of Uthman's time, to 8,672 square metres (93,340 ft2). For the first time, porticoes were built in the mosque connecting the northern part of the structure to the sanctuary. The reconstruction preserved the location of the qibla wall (in the direction of prayer), but Umar ordered the addition of a curved niche to it and this became the first concave mihrab in Islamic architecture. The renovated mosque was richly decorated with marble paneling and mosaics covering its walls. Later written accounts, such as that of Ibn Jubayr (1184), described the mosaics as containing inscriptions and depicting landscapes with trees, suggesting that they resembled the style of contemporary Umayyad mosaics in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Great Mosque of Damascus.
The mosque's redevelopment entailed the demolition of the living quarters of Muhammad's wives and the expansion of the structure to incorporate the graves of Muhammad, Abu Bakr and Umar. The vocal opposition to the demolition of Muhammad's home from local religious circles was dismissed by al-Walid. A wall was built to segregate the mosque and the houses of the wives of Muhammad. The mosque was reconstructed in a trapezoid shape with the length of the longer side being 101.76 metres (333.9 ft).
According to the 10th-century writer Ibn Rusta, minarets were also built for the first time during al-Walid's expansion as four towers were added to the mosque's corners. They may be the first minarets in Islamic architecture, though it is not clear exactly what purpose these towers served in this early period. At the time of Ibn Rusta's writing, only one of the original four towers remained standing. The southwest minaret was demolished in 716 on the orders of Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik.
Abbasid era
The Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi (r. 775–785) extended the mosque to the north by 2,450 square metres (26,400 sq ft), the fifth expansion of the mosque which took four years to complete. His name was also inscribed on the walls of the mosque. He also planned to remove six steps to the minbar, but abandoned this idea, fearing damage to the wooden platforms on which they were built. The project required the demolition of the two northern minarets of al-Walid's time but they were replaced by two new towers at the northern corners of the new expansion. According to an inscription of Ibn Qutaybah, the caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833) did "unspecified work" on the mosque. Al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861) lined the enclosure of Muhammad's tomb with marble. In 1257–58 Al-Musta'sim wanted to carry out a renovations program of the mosque but the renovation was interrupted by the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258.
Mamluk era
In 1269, the Mamluk sultan Baybars sent dozens of artisans led by the eunuch Emir Jamal al-Din Muhsin al-Salihi to rebuild the sanctuary, including enclosures around the tombs of Muhammad and of Fatima. in 1279 sultan Qalawun added a wooden dome over the tomb of the prophet, and rebuilt the south-western minaret (Bab Al-Salam minaret) in 1307, which still retains its lower structure but with the upper section being built during the Ottoman era.
In 1474 the Mamluk sultan Qaitbay ordered major renovation to be conducted on the mosque's roofs, columns, walls and minarets, the work also included the rebuilding of the wooden dome to a stone dome over the prophet's tomb in 1476. and in 1481–1483 he carried out the sixth expansion of the mosque, and ordered the reconstruction of the Nabawi mihrab, Uthmani Mirhab and the Tahajjud Mihrab. In addition, he rebuilt the south-eastern Raisiyyah Minaret (main minaret) in 1481. It was subsequently renovated in 1483 and again in 1486. He also commissioned the construction of the Western Minaret, which was later demolished during the Saudi expansions.
Ottoman era
Sultan Suleiman I (r. 1520–1566) rebuilt the east and west walls of the mosque, and rebuilt the northeastern minaret known as Sulaymaniyya. He added a new altar called Ahnaf next to Muhammad's altar, Shafi'iyya, and placed a new steel-covered dome on the tomb of Muhammad. Sultan Suleiman I wrote the names of the Ottoman sultans from Osman I (r. 1299–1324) to himself (Kanuni) and revived the "Gate of Mercy" (Bab al-Rahma) or the west gate. The pulpit that is used today was built under Sultan Murad III (r. 1574–1595).
Saud bin Abdul-Aziz took Medina from Ottoman control between 1805 and 1813 and his followers, the Wahhabis, demolished nearly every tomb and dome in Medina to prevent their veneration, except for the dome over Muhammad's tomb. According to their interpretation of Islam, they considered the veneration of tombs and places, which were thought to possess supernatural powers, as an offence against tawhid, and an act of shirk. Muhammad's tomb was stripped of its gold and jewel ornaments, but the dome was preserved either because of an unsuccessful attempt to demolish its complex and hardened structure, or because some time ago, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, founder of the Wahhabi movement, wrote that he did not wish to see the dome destroyed.
In 1817, Sultan Mahmud II (r. 1808–1839) completed the reconstruction of Al-Rawḍah Al-Sharīfah (Arabic: ٱلرَّوْضَة ٱلشَّرِيْفَة, lit. 'The Noble Garden') on the southeast side of the mosque, and reconsturcted its dome. The dome was painted green in 1837, and has been known as the "Green Dome" ever since. Sultan Mahmud II's successor, Sultan Abdulmejid I (r. 1839–1861), carried out the seventh expansion of the mosque, and it took thirteen years to rebuild the mosque, beginning in 1849. Red stone bricks were used as the main material in reconstruction of the mosque. The floor area of the mosque was increased by 1,293 square metres (13,920 ft2).
On the walls, verses from the Quran were inscribed in Islamic calligraphy. On the northern side of the mosque, a madrasah was built for teaching the Qur'an. An ablution site was added to the north side. The prayer place on the south side was doubled in width, and covered with small domes. The interiors of the domes were decorated with verses from the Qur'an and couplets from the poem Qasīdat al-Burda. The qibli wall was covered with polished tiles with lines inscribed from the Qur'an. The places of prayer and courtyard were paved with marble and red stone. Following Fakhri Pasha's arrest by his own officers having resisted for 72 days after the end of the Siege of Medina on 10 January 1919, 400 years of Ottoman rule in the region came to an end.
Saudi rule and modern history (1925–present)
After the foundation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, the mosque underwent several major modifications. The eighth expansion of the mosque started in 1951, King Abdulaziz (1932–1953) ordered demolitions around the mosque to make way for new wings to the east and west of the prayer hall, which consisted of concrete columns with pointed arches. Older columns were reinforced with concrete and braced with copper rings at the top. The western, north-western and north-eastern minarets were replaced with two minarets in Mamluk revival style. The two minarets were erected to the northeast and northwest of the mosque. A library and a museum were also built along the western wall to house historic Qurans and other religious texts. In 1974, King Faisal added 40,440 m2 (435,300 sq ft) to the mosque.
The largest and most monumental expansion of the Prophet's Mosque took place during the reign of King Fahd, beginning in 1985. This major project required the demolition of numerous buildings surrounding the mosque to accommodate its growth. As part of the expansion, six new minarets were constructed, each reaching a height of 103.89 meters. An additional 27 inner courtyards were also added, each covering an area of 324 m2 (3,490 sq ft). Every courtyard was equipped with a movable dome that can be opened or closed depending on weather conditions, enhancing both comfort and functionality. The distinctive Ablaq pattern of the arches was preserved, maintaining continuity with the design established during the first Saudi expansion. The main Nabawi mihrab was also renovated as part of the project. Beneath the mosque, a lower level covering approximately 28,000 m2 (300,000 sq ft) was constructed to house essential infrastructure, including air-conditioning, water supply, warning and security systems, surveillance cameras, and remote-control equipment. In addition, an underground parking facility was built adjacent to the mosque. The expansion also included the construction of 15 service buildings around the outer courtyards, providing ablution facilities, restrooms, and drinking fountains to better accommodate the growing number of worshippers. In 1992, when it was completed, the mosque took over 160,000 m2 (1,700,000 sq ft) of space. Escalators were among the additions to the mosque.