The Prophet's Mosque

The Prophet's Mosque, known in Arabic as Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, is a mosque in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, and one of the holiest places in Islam. Pilgrims and visitors come to pray where the Prophet Muhammad set up his place of worship. A prayer here is said to carry the reward of 1,000 prayers elsewhere, and it is one of only three mosques people may travel to for worship alone. Inside, the Rawdah sits at the front of the mosque, between the Prophet's former house and his pulpit. Nearby you can see the mihrab marking where he prayed, the present one dating to 888 AH, and the 12-step pulpit dating to 998 AH. The Blessed Chamber was the Prophet's home, and he and his companions Abu Bakr and Omar are buried there. The columns holding up the Rawdah's roof are each linked to particular events. The mosque is open 24 hours a day and has no minimum age. The Prophet built the mosque soon after arriving in Madinah from Makkah, having stopped first at Quba. It was enlarged in his lifetime, then under Umar in 17 AH and Othman in 29 AH. The largest works came in the Saudi era. The expansion of 1406 to 1414 AH under King Fahd brought the total area to 400,327 square metres, courtyards included, and King Abdullah laid the foundation stone for another large expansion in 1433 AH.