The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said:
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"Whoever performs forty times of prayer in my mosque (the Prophet's (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) mosque) with the congregation of the mosque, a statement of being exempt of the Hell-fire and a salvation from its torture will be written to him/her, and he/she is considered free from hypocrisy" [al-Musnad & al-Mu'jam] |
And We have not sent any Messenger but that he must be obeyed by the command of Allah. And, (O Beloved,) if they, having wronged their souls, had come to you imploring the forgiveness of Allah, and the Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) had also asked forgiveness for them, then (owing to this mediation and intercession) they would certainly have found Allah Most Relenting, Ever-Merciful. |
The first person to cover the Holy Ka'bah with full Kiswah and set up a door that could be locked in the Holy Ka'bah was As‘ad Abu Kurib al-Himyari , who believed in the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) four centuries prior to his mission.
In those days, it used to take 11 days to travel ( Apx.350 km) between Mecca nd Madina, but Hijrah, the camel carrying the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) took only 8 days to reach Madina
Although angels are commissioned by Almighty Allah to convey the blessings on the Noble Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), salam is directly received by the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم).
The museum is located in one of the buildings of Barakah Charity halt located on Aflah bin Saeed Street off King Abdulaziz Street in Madinah.
The Madinah heritage media Museum is a small, tightly-packed museum with a lot to communicate.
The first train to arrive to Al Madina was in 1908 AD. A special celebration was held on the occasion.
Huge projects change the faces of cities and great ambitions help create such projects. Madinah had its date with a quantum leap to usher in a new era of urban development.
Read moreCustodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman is scheduled to launch development projects worth SR5.102 billion in Madinah Thursday, during his second official visit to Madinah since his ascension to the throne.
Work is undergoing at Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz International Airport in Madinah to ensure preparedness with the arrival of a large number of pilgrims and visitors to perform Umrah and visit the Prophet's Mosque.
Huge projects change the faces of cities and great ambitions help create such projects. Madinah had its date with a quantum leap to usher in a new era of urban development.
The main travelers’ building covers 155,000 square meters
The mosque of the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) is covered with so many subtle signs and secrets that it makes the DaVinci Code look like a cheap puzzle for pre-schoolers. Each pillar, each dome, each window carries a story and indicates the location of events that carry historical and spiritual significance.
The people who constructed the Prophet's Mosque realized that it would be impossible to put up signs everywhere as it would distract from the main purpose of prayers. Therefore, they came up with an ingenious way of indicating a location of importance through minor changes in the design of surrounding objects. What are the secrets? Well, that is a story for another day insha'Allah.
The mosque of the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) was never just a mosque. It was the center of the first Islamic community and nation. It was the scene of our greatest triumphs and tragedies. It was a community center, homeless refuge, university and mosque all rolled into one.
Like the Muslim community, it has grown over the years and become more modern with each passing generation. But despite the exponential growth and changes from the simple Hijazi date palm trunk interior to the marble and gold clad structure we have today – the inner core remains the same. Perhaps there's a lesson in there for us all.
Most mosques only have one mihrab, but the Prophet's ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) mosque has three. The current mihrab is the one used nowadays for the imam to lead prayers. The next mihrab is set back and is called the Suleymaniye or Ahnaf mihrab. It was made on the orders of the Sultan Suleyman the magnificent for the Hanafi imam to lead prayers whilst the Maliki imam lead prayers from the Prophetic mihrab. The Prophetic mihrab completely covers the area that the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) used to lead prayers from except where he placed his feet.
For more than 650 years after the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) passed away, there was no dome over his ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) grave. The first one was built in 1279 by a Mamluk sultan and was made of wood. The green dome that we see today is actually the outer dome over the room of the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him). There is an inner dome that is much smaller and has the name of the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him), Abu Bakr raḍyAllāhu 'anhu (may Allāh be pleased with him) and Umar raḍyAllāhu 'anhu (may Allāh be pleased with him) inscribed on the inside.
A significant event in the history of Madinah was the volcano that erupted in the year 654H (1258CE) in Harra al-Sharqiyyah. The volcano erupted violently and historians say it was preceded by an earthquake of 18 tremors in one day alone, shaking buildings, and the force was so violent that the ceiling of the Prophet’s Mosque was damaged. The eruption fire could be seen from several hundred miles, as predicted by a Hadith.
In the same year, a store-keeper’s negligence led to the Masjid Al Nabawi catching fire which burned the Mihrab, the treasures (dating back to 300H), books, etc. The fire was so extensive that the roof and even some of the walls of the room of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) collapsed, revealing his resting place for the first time in 600 years.
The second time the mosque caught fire was in the year 886H (1484CE). On a cloudy Ramadan day, while the Mu’adhdhin was calling for prayers from the top of minaret, a lightning struck the minaret instantly killing the Mu’adhdhin and setting fire to the ceiling of the mosque. A number of people who rushed to put out the fire stumbled from the roof and died. The fire destroyed the Mihrab, the minaret, the pulpit and the doors.
The current mosque is more than 100 times the size of the original building. This means that the current mosque covers almost the entire area of the old city itself. This is evident from the fact that whereas Jannat Al-Baqi cemetery was on the outskirts of the city during the time of the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him), it now borders the precincts of the current mosque grounds.
In 1909, it became the first place in the Arabian Peninsula to be provided with electrical lights.
When the Ottomans introduced electricity to the Arabian Peninsula, the first place to be lit up was the mosque of the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him). By some accounts, it would be a few more years before the Sultan himself had full electricity in his own palace in Istanbul.
It turns out that the dome has been white before its color is changes to dark green in 1817 during renovation of the musjad
An attempt to steal the body of the Prophet was made in the year 557H (1164CE). They were two Christian men disguised as Moroccans who claimed that they were from Andalusia. The two rented a house not far from the Sacred Chamber where the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) was buried and began to dig a tunnel from within to the Sacred Chamber. During the day they were found in Prophet’s Mosque and visiting al-Baqi` graveyard. Sultan Nuruddin Mahmud ibn Zanki saw a dream in which the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) pointed to two men of blond hair and said: “Mahmud, save me from them.” The Sultan woke up in panic, said his prayers, and went back to sleep. But the dream was repeated three times. He then summoned his minister Jamaluddin Al-Mawsili and directed him to prepare for a journey to Madina. The Sultan and his minister left for Madina in a large caravan which one historian, Majduddin Al-Matari, said comprised of one thousand camels. They crossed the distance from Syria to Madina in 16 days. The Sultan went directly to the Prophet’s Mosque, performed prayers and sat there, bewildered at what to do next. The minister asked the Sultan if he could recognize the two men if he saw them, and when the Sultan replied in the affirmative, the minister summoned the citizens and asked them to present themselves so that the Sultan could bestow alms on them.
Among all those who came to receive the alms, the Sultan could not identify the two men. On being informed that two Moroccan men were the only ones who had not come to collect alms, he ordered that they be brought forth, whereupon he immediately identified them. Leaving them there the Sultan went to the house where the two men lived but could find nothing to incriminate them until he found large sums of money. Continuing the search he stumbled upon a piece of wood. Lifting it he saw the beginning of a tunnel leading to the direction of the Sacred Chamber. The two men admitted the crime. Sultan Nuruddin ordered the digging of a ditch around the Sacred Chamber and lead to be cast inside the ditch to guard against any future attempt to penetrate the walls.