Al-Suqya Mosque

Suqyā Mosque(Arabic: مسجد السقیا) is one of the mosques in Medina, which is located in the southeast part of Medina railway station, in ʿAnbarīyya neighborhood. This mosque is called Suqyā; Because it is located in the Suqyā region and near the Suqyā well. On the way to Badr, the Prophet saw his army in Suqyā, did his prayer, prayed for the people of Medina and drank water from the well of Suqyā.

Location

Suqyā Mosque is located inside the fence of ʿAnbarīyya railway station and in its southeast. The well of Suqyā is located in the south of that mosque, and Tariq Makka Street separates the two(the well and the mosque). Currently, the Suqyā Mosque is located inside the railway station.

Reason for the naming

This mosque is called Suqyā; Because it is located in the Suqyā region and near the Suqyā well.

Qubba al-ruʾūs

From the 11th/16thAD century onwards, this mosque was also known as the Qubba al-ruʾūs. According to ʿAlī Ḥāfiẓ, it was called Qubba al-ruʾūs because the ʿUttoman Turks used to cut off the heads of desert bandits and put them there.According to ʿAyyāshī, the historian of Medina, Making this mosque known as Qubba al-ruʾūs has a bad effect and this name is not worthy of this mosque.

Prophet(a) in Suqyā

On the way from Medina to Badr (in the Battle of Badr), Prophet Muhammad(a) stopped in Suqyā and did prayer and prayed: Just as God blessed the people of Mecca after the prayer of Prophet Abraham (a), may He also bless the people of Medina. It is said that the Prophet saw his army in this place. It is reported that the Prophet(a) drank water from the Suqyā well on his way to Badr.

History of Suqyā Mosque

Ibn Shabbah considers this mosque as one of the mosques where the Prophet(a) prayed. According to Samhūdī's report, ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿazīz built this mosque at the place of the Prophet's prayer. According to the words of Samhūdī, quoted by Abū ʿAbdallah Asadī, one of the historians of the first centuries, this mosque was famous as one of the historical mosques of Medina.

Samhūdī's report about Suqyā Mosque

At the time of Samhūdī, this mosque was destroyed. He went to the place of the mosque and seeing a big building stone, he ordered to dig there. After the exploration, the miḥrāb and the four corners of the Suqyā Mosque appeared. Based on the decorations and carvings of the stones that were discovered, Samhoudi believed that this building was built during the time of ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿazīz. According to Samhudī's report, Suqyā Mosque in his time, was rebuilt on its original foundations, which is a square with an area of about seven cubits by seven cubits.Aḥmad ʿAbbāsī's report in the 11th/17th century also confirms the area of this mosque. According to a report from 1073AH/1662-3AD this mosque is located on the left side of the road leading to Medina from ʿAqīq route, in the western Ḥarra.

Yāsīn Khayārī's opinion

Scholars of the first and middle centuries are of the same opinion that the Suqyā Mosque is a historical mosque that is located inside the railway station today. Yāsīn Al-Khayārī a contemporary historian of Medina, said: the ruined building that was located next to the Suqyā well in his time and was destroyed for the development of the road, is the Suqyā Mosque.This dilapidated building is clearly visible in the picture he gave in his book. Muḥammad ʾIlyās Abdu-l Ghanī, with several reasons, has proved the famous opinion and rejected the opinion of Khayārī.

Description of the mosque

Shanqīṭī describes the Suqyā Mosque as follows: Inside the buildings of the railway station, from the south, the Suqyā Mosque can be seen, which has triple domes. The middle dome is bigger. The mosque building has vertical and horizontal sections and consists of three empty spaces or gaps covered by three domes. The middle dome is the biggest of all the domes. Its miḥrāb is in the Qibla wall. In half of the north, east and west walls of its building, an arched and crescent-shaped valve with a circular arch is installed. The walls are plastered with white plaster.

Gallery

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  The old picture of Suqyā Mosque from the 80s.

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  The old picture of Suqyā Mosque from the 80s.

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  The picture of the destroyed building, attributed to the Suqyā Mosque in the book Tārīkh maʿālimal-madīna al-munawwara, p. 149.

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  The picture of Suqyā Mosque after Rebuilding.

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  The picture of the miḥrāb of Suqyā Mosque.

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References

• ʿAbbāsī, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd.ʿUmdat al-akhbār. Medina: al-Maktab al-ʿilmīyya, [n.d].
• ʿAbdu-l Ghanī, Muḥammad ʾIlyās. Al-Masājid al-Atharīyya fī al- madīna al-munawwara. Medina: [n.p], 2000.
• Anṣārī, ʿAbdu-l quddūs al-. Āthār madīna al-munawwara. Medina: Maktabat al-Salafīyya, 1973.
• ʿAyyāshī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad. Al-Riḥla al-ʿAyyāshiyya. Abu Dhabi: Dār al-Suwaydī, 2006.
• ʿAyyāshī, Ibrāhīm .Al-Madīna al-munawwara bayn al-māḍī wa al-ḥāḍir. Medina: al-Maktab al-ʿilmīyya, 1972.
• Ḥāfiẓ, ʿAlī.Fuṣūl min tārīkh al-madīna al-munawwara. Jeddah: Shirka al-madīna al-munawwara, 1417 AH.
• Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad b. Manīʿ al-Ḥāshimī al-Baṣrī. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭā. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya,1410AH-1990.
• Jaʿfariyān, Rasūl. Āthār-i islāmi-yi Makka wa Madīna. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1382 Sh.
• Khayārī, Sayyid Aḥmad Yāsīn.Tārīkh maʿālimal-madīna al-munawwara qadīman wa ḥadīthan. Riyadh: al-Amāna alʿāmma li-liḥtifāl miʾat ʿām ʿalā tʾsīs al-mamlika al- ʿarabiyya al-suʿūdiyya, 1419 AH/1999.
• Numīrī, Ibn Shabbah. Tārīkh al-madīna al-munawwara. Edited by Fahīm Muḥammad Shaltūt. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1380 sh.
• Ṣāliḥī Lumaʿī, Muṣṭafā.Al-madīna al-munawwara taṭawwurihā al-ʿumrānī wa turāthiha al-miʿmārī. Beirut: Dār al-Nihḍa al-ʿArabīyya, 1981.
• Samhudī, ʿAlī b. ʿAbd Allāh. Wafāʾ al-wafā bi akhbār dar al-Muṣṭafā. Edited by Muḥammad Muḥyi al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd. Beirut: 1984.
• Shanqīṭī, Muḥammad al-ʾAmīn al-. Al-Durr al-thamīna fī maʿālim dār al-rasūl(s). Beirut: Muʾassisa ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān, 1411 AH.
• Tirmidhī, Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-. Al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ. cairo: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1419 AH.