Al-Masjid an-Nabawi

When the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Madinah after his long journey from Makkah, people were so happy that every family wanted him to live in their house. But the Prophet ﷺ had a kind idea: he let his camel walk freely, and said wherever it stopped, that is where he would build a mosque and a home.

The camel sat down on an empty piece of land that belonged to two orphan boys. The Prophet ﷺ paid them a fair price and then rolled up his sleeves and helped build the mosque with his own hands — carrying mud bricks alongside his companions and singing happy songs while they worked.

The first Masjid an-Nabawi was very simple. The walls were mud, the roof was palm leaves, and the floor was sand. There were no carpets, no fancy lights, no air conditioning! But it was the happiest place because the Prophet ﷺ prayed there, taught there, and even slept there. The first 'lamp' was a burning stick of fire, and the first 'school' was a corner of the mosque called the Suffah.

Over many centuries, kings and rulers expanded the mosque again and again. Today it is HUGE — bigger than 100 football fields! Ten massive umbrellas in the courtyard open like giant flowers to shade pilgrims from the hot sun, and twelve tall minarets touch the sky. The most famous part is the bright Green Dome, built right above the Prophet's blessed resting place.

Inside the mosque is a tiny area between the Prophet's house and his minbar (pulpit) called Riyadh al-Jannah — 'A Garden from the Gardens of Paradise.' The Prophet ﷺ himself said so! It has a special soft green carpet, and millions of Muslims dream of praying just two rak'ahs there one day.