Quba Mosque

Quba Mosque stands in the Quba district on the southern edge of Madinah, in western Saudi Arabia, about 3.5 kilometres south of Al-Masjid an-Nabawi. According to Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad laid its first stones in 622, when he arrived at Quba on his migration, the Hijra, from Makkah, and it is regarded as the first mosque built in Islam.

The mosque is mentioned in the Quran as a mosque founded on piety from the first day, and Muslim tradition records that the Prophet visited it regularly, often on Saturdays. A hadith states that praying two units of prayer in Quba Mosque carries a reward like that of an umrah, which is why most pilgrims to Madinah make a visit.

The building has been rebuilt and enlarged many times over the centuries. The present mosque was designed by the Egyptian architect Abdel-Wahed El-Wakil. King Fahd laid its foundation stone on 3 November 1984, and it opened on 2 November 1986. It is built around courtyards, with white walls, several domes and four minarets, combining traditional local forms with a larger modern prayer hall. A further expansion announced by King Salman in 2022 will raise the area to about 50,000 square metres and the capacity to around 66,000 worshippers.

The mosque is open throughout the day for prayers, with separate sections and entrances for men and women. A pedestrian route called the Quba Walkway links it with the area of Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, and buses and taxis run between the two.

There is no entry fee. Visitors should dress modestly, with women covering their hair, and remove shoes before entering the prayer areas. Early morning and the time between prayers are less crowded, while visits peak around the Hajj and Ramadan seasons.

Room for 20,000 worshippers and the King Salman expansion

Since the 1986 rebuild, Quba Mosque has held about 20,000 worshippers on a site of about 13,500 square metres. The women's prayer area spans two floors and holds about 7,000. The King Salman expansion is designed to more than triple that capacity, so parts of the surroundings may be under construction during your visit.

Clay blocks, a central courtyard and six main domes

El-Wakil built the mosque with traditional hollow clay blocks, which keep the interior cooler. He changed the plan from square to rectangular and arranged it around a central courtyard reached from all seven main entrances. The roof carries six main domes among 56 in total, and four minarets mark the corners. The old building was taken down for the rebuild.