Al-Masjid al-Nabawi: Difference between revisions

This mosque is called al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the Grand Mosque of Medina, Masjid al-Rasul, Masjid Rasul Allah, Masjid al-Nabi and the mosque of Medina. The most famous name of the mosque is "al-Masjid al-Nabawi". [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]] used to say daily [[congregational prayers]] in this mosque and he promoted political and social frameworks in this mosque,<ref>See: Pūrḥusayn, "Qānūnmandī dar ḥukūmat-i nabawī", p. 153.</ref> as a result it was called as Masjid al-Nabi in its early days. In addition, as the house of Prophet Muhammad (s) was added to the mosque and he was buried there, it was named as the mosque of Prophet Muhammad (s), al-Masjid al-Nabawi.<ref>See: Ibn Saʿd, ''al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā'', vol. 2, p. 234.</ref> Furthermore, Prophet Muhammad (s) called this mosque "masjidi" (my mosque) in a narration.<ref>Kulaynī, ''al-Kāfī'', vol. 4, p. 556.</ref>

The house and the burial place of [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]] were located out of the mosque when it was not expanded. But later they were added to the area of the mosque and a pentagon-shape wall was built around them; it is said the wall was not built in a square shape so that it would not look like [[Ka'ba]]. As it was likely for the Crusades to attack [[Medina]] and destroy the burial place of Prophet Muhammad (s), hence for protection a wall of stone and molten lead metal was constructed around the burial place of Prophet (s). Later in 668/1269-70 and 694/1294-5 a number of Sultans built wooden maqsuras for the house in the mosque.

The house of [[Lady Fatima (a)]] was located behind the house of [['Aisha]], Prophet Muhammad's (s) wife. The door of her house was on the western side of the house which led to Prophet(s)'s  house. Today the house is gone and it was added to the mosque, which is now located in the shrine and the house of Prophet Muhammad (s). Sunni scholars believe she was buried in [[al-Baqi' cemetery]], while the majority of Shi'ite scholars believe she was buried in her house, today it is located in al-Masjid al-Nabawi. However Shi'ite scholars are not sure about the burial place of Lady Fatima (s), but they believed that she was most likely buried in al-Masjid al-Nabawi.

# The door on its southern side was closed when [[Qibla]] was changed to [[Ka'ba]], instead another door was opened in its northern side.

# The door in the western side called "Bab 'Atika" which is now known as "Bab al-Rahma". It was called 'Atika as it was opened to the house of 'Atika the daughter of [['Abd Allah b. Yazid b. Mu'awiya]]. Later t was called Rahma, based on a narration from [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]] that one day a person came from this door to Prophet (s) and he asked him to pray to God to rain and it happened, then after seven days rain stopped because that man had asked for it.

# The door on the eastern side known as "Bab 'Uthman", "Bab al-Nabi" and "Bab al-Jabra'il" because this door was opened to the house of [['Uthman b. 'Affan]], also Prophet Muhammad (s) used to enter the mosque from this door and [[Gabriel]] (Jabra'il) came to Prophet Muhammad (s) from this door in the time of the [[battle of Banu Qurayza]].

According to Rasul Ja'fariyan, about 2104 pillars exist in al-Masjid al-Nabawi and the most notable ones are: the [[pillar of Hannana]], the [[pillar of Tawba]] and the [[pillar of Haras]].

In early days of Islam, whenever Prophet Muhammad (s)] wanted to give a speech or sermon, he used to lean against a palm tree. Then in 7/628-9 or 8/629-30 a [[minbar]] (pulpit) was built for him. It had two steps and a seat. In some narrations, merits of the pulpit are mentioned from Prophet Muhammad (s). After the demise of Prophet (s), the pulpit was used until the time of [[Mu'awiya]]. But then Mu'awiya tried to bring the minbar from [[Medina]] to Sham and to his palace in order to gain respect and authority which was opposed by people and it remained in the mosque. When al-Masjid al-Nabawi was on fire in 654/1256 the minbar was burnt as well. Later the Sultan of Egypt sent another minbar to al-Masjid al-Nabawi. It was replaced a number of times in the next centuries. The current minbar in al-Masjid al-Nabawi was sent by Sultan Murad, an Ottoman king, in 998/1589-90.

# Mihrab of Prophet Muhammad (s): There is a [[Mihrab]] in al-Masjid al-Nabawi which is attributed to Prophet Muhammad (s), but it did not did exist during the lifetime of Prophet (s). It was built later, apparently in the time of [['Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz]] on the place where Prophet (s) used to say [[prayer]]s; which is regarded sacred to Muslims.

# Mihrab of Tahajjud: This Mihrab does not exist now, it was located near the pillar of the same name. Prophet Muhammad (s) used to stand next to this pillar when he kept vigil and worshiped God at nights. In following centuries a commemorative Mihrab was built there which became famous as Mihrab of Tahajjud (worship and vigil); however it was later removed by Saudi government.

# Mihrab of Lady Fatima (a): This Mihrab is located in the south of Mihrab of Tahajjud inside maqsura or the house of [[Lady Fatima (a)]] which was added to the mosque; it can be seen from the current windows in the mosque. This Mihrab was mentioned in some narrations: for example [[Imam al-Hasan (a)]] said, "I saw my mother on a Thursday night saying [[prayers]] in [[Mihrab]] until morning and she prayed for all the believers. I told her why didn't you pray for yourself? And she said, oh my son, our neighbors have priority over our family".

The first dome of al-Masjid al-Nabawi was built by Sultan Al-Mansur Qalawun al-Mamluki in 678/1279-80. Later Sultan Qaitbay repaired the dome in 887/1482-3 as it was damaged by fire. Also it was rebuilt in the time of Sultan Mahmud the Ottoman king in 1233/1817-8. In the time Sultan 'Abd al-Hamid, the Ottoman king, the color of the dome was changed to green which became famous as [[Qubbat al-Khazra']] (the Green Dome). It has become a tradition to repaint the dome green once a couple of years.

*The material for this article is mainly taken from [http://fa.wikishia.net/view/مسجد_النبی {{ia|مسجد النبی}}] in Farsi WikiShia.