Quba Mosque

Tradition says this is the first mosque in Islam, begun before the Prophet, peace be upon him, even entered Medina.

This is Quba Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Tradition says it is the first mosque in Islam, built before the Prophet, peace be upon him, even entered Medina.

In September 622, after the long journey from Mecca, he stopped here. According to tradition, the land was a yard for drying dates, and he laid the first stone himself.

The Quran speaks of a mosque founded on piety from the first day. Many scholars link that verse to Quba.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, came back often. Sahih al-Bukhari reports that he visited every Saturday, sometimes walking, sometimes riding. Another tradition says that whoever purifies himself at home and prays here is rewarded like one Umrah.

The change of prayer direction toward the Kaaba is traditionally tied to another mosque, Masjid al-Qiblatayn. But when the news reached worshippers at Quba at dawn, tradition says they turned in the middle of their prayer.

Over the centuries the mosque was rebuilt again and again. Caliph Uthman first renovated it, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz added its first minaret, a new mihrab was built in the eleventh century, and an Ottoman sultan restored it in the nineteenth.

In 1984 King Fahd laid the foundation for a new mosque, and the old building was replaced. Designed by Abdel-Wahed El-Wakil, it opened in 1986 with four minarets, more than fifty domes, and room for over twenty thousand worshippers.

Several details here are tradition rather than documented history, including the date-drying yard and the first stone, and the link to the Quran verse is the view of many scholars, not all.