Prophet's Mosque

Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (the Prophet's Mosque) in Medina is the second holiest site in Islam after the Grand Mosque of Mecca. The mosque was originally built by the Prophet Muhammad himself in 622 CE immediately after the Hijra (migration) from Mecca to Medina, on land beside the home that became his residence and eventually his burial place. The Green Dome that rises above the southeastern corner of the mosque, painted its distinctive colour in the early nineteenth century under the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II, marks the chamber containing the tombs of the Prophet, the first caliph Abu Bakr and the second caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab. Visiting the Prophet's Mosque is a deeply meaningful supplementary act for Muslim pilgrims to Mecca and is among the most spiritually significant journeys in a Muslim's life, though it is not part of the Hajj itself. The mosque has been progressively expanded since its founding under successive Muslim rulers — most dramatically under the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I, the Mamluk sultans, the Ottomans, and the modern Saudi state — and now accommodates more than a million worshippers across multiple levels and the surrounding open plazas. The famous green carpet of the Rawdah, the area between the Prophet's tomb chamber and his original minbar (pulpit), is held in special spiritual reverence and visited by pilgrims year-round.