Al-Masjid an-Nabawi

Meaning

The steps that crossed the desert reach Medina at last. Here the people welcomed the Prophet, singing 'The full moon has risen over us' — and where his camel came to rest he raised a mosque, and made the emigrants from Mecca and the helpers of Medina brothers, opening the first Muslim community. Beneath the Green Dome he sleeps: the place the Hijra reached.

After the Grand Mosque of Mecca, the second holiest place of worship in Islam — the mosque the Prophet Muhammad built in Medina after the Hijra. Tradition holds that when he reached here on leaving Mecca in 622, the people welcomed him with song, and where his camel came to rest he built his house and a mosque. Here the emigrants from Mecca (the Muhajirun) and the helpers of Medina (the Ansar) were made brothers, and the first Muslim community (the ummah) was founded. Muhammad was laid to rest beside this mosque, and over him rises the Green Dome. From the year of this migration (the Hijra), the Islamic calendar begins.

Field notes

Location

Medina · Saudi Arabia · N24.5° · E39.6°

Best time

By day when the dome shines green; at dusk when the courtyard turns to gold.

Getting there

In the city of Medina, Saudi Arabia; the last place the Hijra reaches, across the desert from Mecca.

Etiquette

The second holiest site of Islam; keep the etiquette of prayer, keep quiet, and dress modestly.

Sources

• · Encyclopaedia Britannica: Medina
• · Wikipedia: Al-Masjid an-Nabawi

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