Prophet’s Mosque: The second holiest mosque for Muslims (Part – 1)

By Asad Russel –

About the Prophet’s Mosque, Medina, Saudi Arabia:
In Medina, Saudi Arabia a great mosque is the Prophet’s Mosque or the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi. Next to the house of the Prophet and now contains his tomb built by the Prophet Muhammad himself on the site of a mosque it stands. After al-Haram in Mecca in the world the second holiest mosque is the Prophet’s Mosque (comes in third the Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem).

The history of the Prophet’s Mosque:
By the Prophet himself was built the original Prophet’s Mosque, in 622 AD after his emigration to Medina where he settled next to the house. For the reading of Quran with a raised platform an open air building it was.

Enclosure of 30x35 meters nearly a square, with palm trunks and mud walls was built the mosque and three doors through accessed, to the south the Bab Rahmanh; to the west the Bab Jibril and to the east the Bab al-Nisa. Throughout the world of other mosques in the building since has been adopted of the building the basic plan.

Inside called the suffrah to the south a shaded area the Prophet created and facing north towards Jerusalem the prayer space aligned. When to Mecca was changed the Qibla (the prayer direction), to the south was re-oriented the mosque. As a community center also served the mosque, and also as a school of religion. At 629 seven years later, the increasing number of Muslims to accommodate in size the mosque was double.

Over the centuries to embellish and enlarge the Prophet’s Mosque continued the subsequent Islamic ruler. The old structure tore down by Umayyad Caliph al-Walid (from 705 to 715) in 707 and in its place a larger one built, of the Prophet the house and tomb incorporating.

In size was 84 by 100 meters the mosque, foundations of stone and on stone columns supported a teak roof. By Coptic and Greek craftsmen with mosaics were decorated the mosque walls, in Damascus in the Umayyad mosque and in Jerusalem by the same Caliph built the Dome of the Rock seen similar to those. On four sides by a gallery was surrounded the courtyard, on its corners with four minarets. On the Qibla wall was built topped by a small dome a mihrab.

To enlarge it further between 778 and 781 of al-Walid’s mosque destroyed the northern section Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi (from 775 to 785). To the mosque 20 doors he added also, each of the west and east walls there are eight and on the north wall there are four.

The Mamluk Sultan Qala’un during the reign, above the house and tomb of Prophet was erected a dome and outside of Bab al-Salam was built an ablution fountain. Earlier which had been destroyed the fourth minaret was rebuilt by Sultan Nasir bin Muhammad bin Qala’un. In 1481 much of the mosque destroyed after a lighting strike, the east, west and Qibla walls were rebuilt by the Sultan Qaytbay.

From 1517 until World War I who controlled Medina the Ottoman sultans their mark also made, of the mosque the eastern and western walls rebuilt the Sultan Suleyman I (from 1520 to 1566) and known as al-Suleymaniyya the northeastern minaret built. 

Will Continue........

Posted by : Unknown 8:36 PM Tags : Travel Destinations

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