Mosque of Fatima al-Zahra
Template:Infobox religious building
The Mosque of Fatima al-Zahra (Arabic: مسجد فاطمة الزهراء) is one of the historic mosques of Medina, built after the 14th/20th century in the southernmost area of the al-Fath Mosques, located near the western side of the Mosque of ʿAlī. This site is reported to have served as one of the command positions of the Prophet Muḥammad during the Battle of the Trench, as well as a place of prayer for him and his Companions. The mosque consists of a roofless rectangular structure with walls about one meter high, enclosed by an iron fence. Another name attributed to this mosque is the "Mosque of Saʿd ibn Muʿādh".
Location
The Mosque of Fatima al-Zahra is situated in the southernmost part of the Mosques of the Conquest, to the west of the Mosque of ʿAlī at the Trench. It lies within the old quarter of Medina, on an elevated area of Mount Silaʿ.[1]
Names
According to a 1947 CE report, the name of Saʿd ibn Muʿādh was applied to the Mosque of Fatima al-Zahra.[1] It has been noted, however, that neither of these names appear in early sources.[2]
Architectural history
None of the historical sources prior to the 14th century AH mention the existence of a mosque named after Fatima al-Zahra or Saʿd ibn Muʿādh in this area.[3] For example, ʿAlī ibn Mūsā, in his 1885 CE (1303 AH) travelogue, made no reference to this mosque.[4] It is only in old maps of Medina (dated 1325 AH/1947 CE) that a mosque under the name of Saʿd ibn Muʿādh is recorded.[5]
Modern renovations
In 1399 AH/1979 CE, the Saudi authorities undertook repairs on the mosque.[6] By 1418 AH, the mosque was a rectangular plot measuring 21 m², roofless, with walls about two meters high. Its length exceeded six meters and its width exceeded three meters.[7] In 1419 AH, the entrance was sealed with concrete blocks, and worshippers prayed outside the mosque.[2]
Present structure
According to aerial maps[8] and user-contributed images,[9] by 2021 CE/1442 AH the mosque had become a roofless rectangular structure with low stone walls, today enclosed by a metal fence.
Gallery
Position among the Mosques of the Conquest
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Maʿālim al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah bayna al-ʿimārah wa-l-tārīkh, vol. 4, p.180.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Āthār Islāmī Makkah wa-Madīnah, Jaʿfarīyān, p.303.
- ↑ Masājid al-Athariyyah, ʿAbd al-Ghanī, p.149.
- ↑ Waṣf al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah, p.17.
- ↑ al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah: Tatawwuruhā al-ʿImrānī, p.198 / Masājid al-Athariyyah, ʿAbd al-Ghanī, p.149.
- ↑ Maʿālim al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah bayna al-ʿimārah wa-l-tārīkh, vol.4, p.183.
- ↑ Masājid al-Athariyyah, ʿAbd al-Ghanī, p.150.
- ↑ Google Maps, map
- ↑ photos
Sources
- Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ṭabarī (al-Muḥibb al-Ṭabarī), Dhakhāʾir al-ʿUqbā, Maktabat al-Qudsī, Cairo, 1356 AH.
- ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Kaʿkī, al-Maʿālim al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah bayna al-ʿImārah wa-l-Tārīkh, vol. 4, Beirut, 2011.
- Rasūl Jaʿfarīyān, Āthār Islāmī Makkah wa-Madīnah, Tehran: Nashr Mushʿar, 2011.
- Muḥammad Ilyās ʿAbd al-Ghanī, Masājid al-Athariyyah, al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah: al-Rashīd Press, 2nd ed., 1419 AH.
- Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā, Dār Ṣādir, Beirut.
- Ṣāliḥ Lamʿī Muṣṭafā, al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah: Tatawwuruhā al-ʿImrānī, Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍah al-ʿArabiyyah, 1981.
- al-Wāqidī, al-Maghāzī, 2 vols., Nashr Dānish Islāmī, 1405 AH.
- ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Samhūdī, Wafāʾ al-Wafā bi-Akhbār Dār al-Muṣṭafā, ed. Qāsim al-Samarraʾī, London: al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2001.
- Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd ibn Najjār, al-Durra al-Thamīnah fī Tārīkh al-Madīnah, Cairo: Maktabat al-Thaqāfah al-Dīniyyah.