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Articles Hajj Sacred Places Holy Places of Medina
Holy Places of Medina
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Holy Places of Medina
The Prophet's Mosque
The Prophet (P.B.U.H) came out from Mecca on 27th of Safar (SEP.10, 622 A.D.) in the first year of Hejira and reached Qiba after ten days. He stayed there for four days and on 12th of Rabi-ol-Aval (Sep. 24) his Highness went to Medina .The Prophet (P.B.U.H) announced that wherever his she-camel kneels down he will choose that place for building the mosque and his house. The place where his she-camel knelt down is the Prophet’s mosque at present. The Prophet (P.B.U.H) bought that land.
The Prophet (P.B.U.H) came out from Mecca on 27th of Safar (SEP.10, 622 A.D.) in the first year of Hejira and reached Qiba after ten days. He stayed there for four days and on 12th of Rabi-ol-Aval (Sep. 24) his Highness went to Medina .The Prophet (P.B.U.H) announced that wherever his she-camel kneels down he will choose that place for building the mosque and his house. The place where his she-camel knelt down is the Prophet’s mosque at present. The Prophet (P.B.U.H) bought that land.
At first it was a ruined place with some date palms’ roots and a few number of graves. The Prophet (P.B.U.H) ordered to cut the roots and level the place and use the date palms’ trunks and fronds in mosque’s building .
The Prophet (P.B.U.H) placed three doors for the mosque , the southern door at the end of the mosque and Babul Rahmah (Al-Rahmah door) at the west and the door of Gabriel at the east where he himself enters the mosque. The mosque was as high as a man and its area was 1050 square meters , it means that the north-south side was 70 zar (35 meters) and the east-west side was 60 zar (30 meters) .
The mosque was built of wood and sun-dried bricks and date palm’s trunks covered its roof .The Prophet (P.B.U.H) made a shady place at the end of the mosque which was named Saffeh , in which the strangers and indigents took shelter , and the people who lived there were called “habitants of Saffeh” .
Qiblah
The Muslims said their prayers at the Prophet’s Mosque toward the Holy Jerusalem for sixteen months until verse No .144 form “Baqarah” Surah was revealed and due to that the Qiblah was changed to Kaaba .“We have seen the turning of your face to heaven and now verily weshall make you turn toward the inviolable place of worship , then turn your face toward it .“
Pulpit
The first pulpit that was built for the Prophet (P.B.U.H) ,was a platform made of mud and without stairs so the new comers could recognize the Prophet (P.B.U.H). Who delivered his homilies on Fridays and the other occasions. In the 7th year A.H(628 A.D.) a new pulpit was made of wood.
Sacred Area
The merciful Prophet (P.B.U.H) had defined the sacred place in a Hadith (tradition) , when he said: The area between my house and my pulpit is one of the Paradise gardens . The holy place is22 meters long and 15 meters wide. Later on a small part of the holy place was added to the environs of the Prophet’s house. (Present shrine)
The Pillars
The pillars of the mosque are trunks of dates palms and their locations have not been changed in various times of the mosque’s extensions. Among this pillars , eight pillars are famous because of somespecialities.1)Mokhlagheh pillar2)Ghoreh pillar (Ayeshe or Mohajerin), the placefor sitting the emigrants from Mecca.3)Tobeh pillar (Abo lababeh) , the pillar where Abolbabeh tied himself for repentance.4)Mohras pillar, the place where Imam Ali (A.S.) used to say his prayers.5)Vophod pillar , the place where the Prophet Muhammad (P .B .U .H) used to receive the missions ofdelegations.6)Sarir pillar , the place where the Prophet (P .B .U .H) performed his Etekaf (a kind of worship) in there.7) Morabah - tol - ghabr pillar 8)Tahajod pillar , the place for midnight prayer and incantations.
After the return of the Holy Prophet (P .B .U .H) from Khibar war and with considering the increasing of the Muslims population the Prophet (P .B .U .H) felt that the mosque was in need of some extensions , so by adding the adjacent land the measurement of the mosque became twice as much, Thus , the expansion of the Prophet’s house in north and south and east became twice as much. In this manner , the mosque become as a rectangle of 136 Zar (68 m) long from south to north and 114 Zar (57 m) wide from east to west. During the time of Islam’s respectful ultimate the area of mosque was 3876meters .
The House of the Prophet (P)
The house of the Prophet (P .B .U .H) , which at present is his holy shrine , can be measured in south (Qiblah) about 10 .75 Zar and in north (Sham) 10.25 Zar , and the east-west width is 6 .65 Zar.
Ground Floor
The ground floor of the mosque which consists in the old mosque and the new expansion forms the most important part of the Prophet ‘s mosque.
The Principal Space
The new expansion which all of it is for prayer is in the ground floor and the eastern and western sections are identical. The internal section that joins two sides sections, has formed in direction of old building. All over the praying area is roofed except the open space (courtyards) which has movable roofs .
All the roofs are considered with dimensions of (6 by 6) meters or (18 by) meters 18 and the pillars that the load of the roof is upon them are 12m height. The ground floor and the principal area are 14 m height that draw the horizon line of the mosque building. The necessity of equal connection between the old building and the new one caused some renovations in the old mosque .
Among them we could mention the covering of the open space (courtyard) with 12electrical shades in the form of old domes. This identical designs of (18 by 18) meters have been performed in two open spaces with dimensions of (64 by 32) meters.
Internal spaces
The ground floor has 27 open spaces with 27sliding movable domes. The dimension of each one is (18 by 18) meters and artistically located around the ground floor.
The minarets
Apart from four principal minarets , another six ones were built in the mosque that each one is 104 meters high and on the top of each one is a shining crescent.
Underground floor
Underground floor measurements are equal to the ground floor’s and some of industrial equipments are located at this place. The height of this floor is four meters and the main pillars of the building that are in the depth of 20 meters have crossed inside of it.
All the roof of the prophet's mosque is left for praying and it has a capacity of 90000 prayers. There are several ways for prayers to reach the mosque but in order to prevent the clash between those who exit from principal doors and those who go to the underground floor , they have built some exit doors beside the principal entrance doors which related to the prayers on the ground floor .
There are 30stairways and escalators to allow the prayers to go to the ground floor and the underground floor, for the roof there is a covered balcony with the width of six meters , and it could be seen all over the mosque.
The roof of the Mosque
The new project of the expansion of the holy shrine formation is based on inspiration of everlasting traditions of Islamic architecture, for example , the design of the courtyard’s tents is based on this method in such a way that it can make a connection between the traditional idea of using the thin cloth for covering the roof and keeping away the direct sun light from the tents.
Specialty of tents
Among the For mentioned tents, 12 of them are spread out upon two courtyards of the mosque. The tents are 14 meters high in case of being spread out that is as tall as the wall of the mosque and completely cover the courtyards of the mosque. The flexible metal bars are placed inside each tent. The pillar of each tent is covered with white marble and is automatically opens and closes the tent. Each tent covers an area of (18 by17) meters.
The diameter of each tent is near 14 m and the weight of each tent is 10tons .In summer at daytime the white cover of the tents spread out until its shadow covers all over the courtyard, this cover is removed at nights and the night pleasing breeze flows in.
Movable domes
The main role of these domes is covering the courtyards at different climate conditions and regulating the inside air of the mosque. In summer with the first beam of the sunlight these domes move gently and completely cover the courtyard and provide a pleasant shadow and help the air - conditioning system. When the night comes the domes return back to their first place and the ceilings open to let the hot air exit to the night’s cold sky and in winter this action happens vice versa .
The Minarets
The minarets are the principal sign of each mosque from the beginning and are employed as a fundamental element in the prophet's mosque at new expansion of it. In this way six new minarets were built with the height of104 meters and have became as a beautiful symbol .In the expanded section of the mosque2104 pillars are established and on the top of them there are arches that cover the praying space .
Each pillar is the pedestal of four arches that form the porches and ceilings. The arches are covered by pieces of industrial granite in blue , gray and white color. At the joint point of arch and ceiling the pictures of flowery works could be seen and the diameter of each pillar at the ground is 64 cm and the height of each one is 13 meters.
Entrances and doors
There are seven big entrances around the mosque and each one has pillars and portals. These doors are in the north , east and west and for each one there is a separate entrance and exit. The length and width of the doors are (6 by 3) meters.
The doors are made of thick wood with a thickness of fifteen cm and are covered by a layer of copper. At the middle of each door there is a big circle and is imprinted by the name of Mohammad (P .B .U .H) and there is a smaller circle in it that is imprinted by the name of Rassol-Allah, and there are some other identical doors in the north and west of the Qiblah of the mosque.
The doors in ground floor are as follows : Seven big entrances, each one with five,3 by 6 doors and fourteen side doors with the same size .Two entrances are placed at the back of the building and each one has three doors with the same dimensions.
Two entrances, the entrance of Bab-ol-Rahmeh (with two doors) and the other one Bab-ol-Nesa (with two doors) and twelve small two post-doors which are connected to six escalators and to the stone-step of the fourteen mentioned doors .There are two outer sloping entrances at the underground floor with six stairs to out and one stair to the mosque.
Walls, Ceilings and Stone-Pavements
Ceilings are made of industrial granite and they are mostly in square shapes , small and big. The length of the big one is six meters. The outer walls are all covered by natural granite and a little industrial granite is used for external appearance, and the walls are faced with marble .
The green brick (western and Arabic brick) with golden cover is used on the top of entrances to beautify the appearance , and the golden tiles are seen in frames and walls up to height of three meter shave been covered by local granite and in the upper appearance the black granite is used. Due to the importance of the seven entrances and the necessity of being visible , the floor of entrance halls are covered with white marble and an octagonal star in the middle of it .
The Prophet (P.B.U.H) placed three doors for the mosque , the southern door at the end of the mosque and Babul Rahmah (Al-Rahmah door) at the west and the door of Gabriel at the east where he himself enters the mosque. The mosque was as high as a man and its area was 1050 square meters , it means that the north-south side was 70 zar (35 meters) and the east-west side was 60 zar (30 meters) .
The mosque was built of wood and sun-dried bricks and date palm’s trunks covered its roof .The Prophet (P.B.U.H) made a shady place at the end of the mosque which was named Saffeh , in which the strangers and indigents took shelter , and the people who lived there were called “habitants of Saffeh” .
Qiblah
The Muslims said their prayers at the Prophet’s Mosque toward the Holy Jerusalem for sixteen months until verse No .144 form “Baqarah” Surah was revealed and due to that the Qiblah was changed to Kaaba .“We have seen the turning of your face to heaven and now verily weshall make you turn toward the inviolable place of worship , then turn your face toward it .“
Pulpit
The first pulpit that was built for the Prophet (P.B.U.H) ,was a platform made of mud and without stairs so the new comers could recognize the Prophet (P.B.U.H). Who delivered his homilies on Fridays and the other occasions. In the 7th year A.H(628 A.D.) a new pulpit was made of wood.
Sacred Area
The merciful Prophet (P.B.U.H) had defined the sacred place in a Hadith (tradition) , when he said: The area between my house and my pulpit is one of the Paradise gardens . The holy place is22 meters long and 15 meters wide. Later on a small part of the holy place was added to the environs of the Prophet’s house. (Present shrine)
The Pillars
The pillars of the mosque are trunks of dates palms and their locations have not been changed in various times of the mosque’s extensions. Among this pillars , eight pillars are famous because of somespecialities.1)Mokhlagheh pillar2)Ghoreh pillar (Ayeshe or Mohajerin), the placefor sitting the emigrants from Mecca.3)Tobeh pillar (Abo lababeh) , the pillar where Abolbabeh tied himself for repentance.4)Mohras pillar, the place where Imam Ali (A.S.) used to say his prayers.5)Vophod pillar , the place where the Prophet Muhammad (P .B .U .H) used to receive the missions ofdelegations.6)Sarir pillar , the place where the Prophet (P .B .U .H) performed his Etekaf (a kind of worship) in there.7) Morabah - tol - ghabr pillar 8)Tahajod pillar , the place for midnight prayer and incantations.
After the return of the Holy Prophet (P .B .U .H) from Khibar war and with considering the increasing of the Muslims population the Prophet (P .B .U .H) felt that the mosque was in need of some extensions , so by adding the adjacent land the measurement of the mosque became twice as much, Thus , the expansion of the Prophet’s house in north and south and east became twice as much. In this manner , the mosque become as a rectangle of 136 Zar (68 m) long from south to north and 114 Zar (57 m) wide from east to west. During the time of Islam’s respectful ultimate the area of mosque was 3876meters .
The House of the Prophet (P)
The house of the Prophet (P .B .U .H) , which at present is his holy shrine , can be measured in south (Qiblah) about 10 .75 Zar and in north (Sham) 10.25 Zar , and the east-west width is 6 .65 Zar.
Ground Floor
The ground floor of the mosque which consists in the old mosque and the new expansion forms the most important part of the Prophet ‘s mosque.
The Principal Space
The new expansion which all of it is for prayer is in the ground floor and the eastern and western sections are identical. The internal section that joins two sides sections, has formed in direction of old building. All over the praying area is roofed except the open space (courtyards) which has movable roofs .
All the roofs are considered with dimensions of (6 by 6) meters or (18 by) meters 18 and the pillars that the load of the roof is upon them are 12m height. The ground floor and the principal area are 14 m height that draw the horizon line of the mosque building. The necessity of equal connection between the old building and the new one caused some renovations in the old mosque .
Among them we could mention the covering of the open space (courtyard) with 12electrical shades in the form of old domes. This identical designs of (18 by 18) meters have been performed in two open spaces with dimensions of (64 by 32) meters.
Internal spaces
The ground floor has 27 open spaces with 27sliding movable domes. The dimension of each one is (18 by 18) meters and artistically located around the ground floor.
The minarets
Apart from four principal minarets , another six ones were built in the mosque that each one is 104 meters high and on the top of each one is a shining crescent.
Underground floor
Underground floor measurements are equal to the ground floor’s and some of industrial equipments are located at this place. The height of this floor is four meters and the main pillars of the building that are in the depth of 20 meters have crossed inside of it.
All the roof of the prophet's mosque is left for praying and it has a capacity of 90000 prayers. There are several ways for prayers to reach the mosque but in order to prevent the clash between those who exit from principal doors and those who go to the underground floor , they have built some exit doors beside the principal entrance doors which related to the prayers on the ground floor .
There are 30stairways and escalators to allow the prayers to go to the ground floor and the underground floor, for the roof there is a covered balcony with the width of six meters , and it could be seen all over the mosque.
The roof of the Mosque
The new project of the expansion of the holy shrine formation is based on inspiration of everlasting traditions of Islamic architecture, for example , the design of the courtyard’s tents is based on this method in such a way that it can make a connection between the traditional idea of using the thin cloth for covering the roof and keeping away the direct sun light from the tents.
Specialty of tents
Among the For mentioned tents, 12 of them are spread out upon two courtyards of the mosque. The tents are 14 meters high in case of being spread out that is as tall as the wall of the mosque and completely cover the courtyards of the mosque. The flexible metal bars are placed inside each tent. The pillar of each tent is covered with white marble and is automatically opens and closes the tent. Each tent covers an area of (18 by17) meters.
The diameter of each tent is near 14 m and the weight of each tent is 10tons .In summer at daytime the white cover of the tents spread out until its shadow covers all over the courtyard, this cover is removed at nights and the night pleasing breeze flows in.
Movable domes
The main role of these domes is covering the courtyards at different climate conditions and regulating the inside air of the mosque. In summer with the first beam of the sunlight these domes move gently and completely cover the courtyard and provide a pleasant shadow and help the air - conditioning system. When the night comes the domes return back to their first place and the ceilings open to let the hot air exit to the night’s cold sky and in winter this action happens vice versa .
The Minarets
The minarets are the principal sign of each mosque from the beginning and are employed as a fundamental element in the prophet's mosque at new expansion of it. In this way six new minarets were built with the height of104 meters and have became as a beautiful symbol .In the expanded section of the mosque2104 pillars are established and on the top of them there are arches that cover the praying space .
Each pillar is the pedestal of four arches that form the porches and ceilings. The arches are covered by pieces of industrial granite in blue , gray and white color. At the joint point of arch and ceiling the pictures of flowery works could be seen and the diameter of each pillar at the ground is 64 cm and the height of each one is 13 meters.
Entrances and doors
There are seven big entrances around the mosque and each one has pillars and portals. These doors are in the north , east and west and for each one there is a separate entrance and exit. The length and width of the doors are (6 by 3) meters.
The doors are made of thick wood with a thickness of fifteen cm and are covered by a layer of copper. At the middle of each door there is a big circle and is imprinted by the name of Mohammad (P .B .U .H) and there is a smaller circle in it that is imprinted by the name of Rassol-Allah, and there are some other identical doors in the north and west of the Qiblah of the mosque.
The doors in ground floor are as follows : Seven big entrances, each one with five,3 by 6 doors and fourteen side doors with the same size .Two entrances are placed at the back of the building and each one has three doors with the same dimensions.
Two entrances, the entrance of Bab-ol-Rahmeh (with two doors) and the other one Bab-ol-Nesa (with two doors) and twelve small two post-doors which are connected to six escalators and to the stone-step of the fourteen mentioned doors .There are two outer sloping entrances at the underground floor with six stairs to out and one stair to the mosque.
Walls, Ceilings and Stone-Pavements
Ceilings are made of industrial granite and they are mostly in square shapes , small and big. The length of the big one is six meters. The outer walls are all covered by natural granite and a little industrial granite is used for external appearance, and the walls are faced with marble .
The green brick (western and Arabic brick) with golden cover is used on the top of entrances to beautify the appearance , and the golden tiles are seen in frames and walls up to height of three meter shave been covered by local granite and in the upper appearance the black granite is used. Due to the importance of the seven entrances and the necessity of being visible , the floor of entrance halls are covered with white marble and an octagonal star in the middle of it .
