Al-Sajda Mosque (Arabic: مسجد السجدة) is one of the old mosques in Medina, which was built in the prayer place of the Prophet Muhammad(a). The mosque is located in the north of al-Masjid al-Nabawi at the intersection of Abu Dharr Street and Airport Street. This mosque is also known as al-Buhayri Mosque, Abu Dharr Mosque and 'Aswaf Mosque.

Al-Sajda Mosque
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General Information
Other NamesAbu Dharr Mosque, Al-Buhayri Mosque, Al-ʾAswaf Mosque, Al-Safila Mosque
PlaceMadina 900 meters north of al-Masjid al-Nabawi
UsageMosque
Current State
StatusActive

Directions

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Location

This mosque is located 900 meters north of al-Masjid al-Nabawi at the intersection of Abu Dharr Street and Airport Street.[1]

Story

Prophet Muhammad(a) prayed in this place. The last sajda of the Prophet(a) was so long that the companions thought that he had passed away. When he got up from sajda, he said: Gabriel came to me and said: Whoever from your nation sends blessings upon you, God sends blessings upon him; I performed sajda for gratitude.[2]

Names

This mosque has been called by different names. It is called the al-Sajda or al-Shukr (gratitude) because of the sajda of the Prophet mentioned above. Because it was next to the garden of al-Buhayri, it was called al-Buhayr or al-Buhayri Mosque, and because it was close to the Aswaf palm grove or on the way to al-Safila Gardens, it was also called al-Aswaf or al-Safila Mosque.[3]

It is not exactly clear why and when this mosque became known as Abu Dharr Mosque, but al-Matari, a local historian of Medina, mentioned it as Abu Dharr Mosque in the 8th/14th century. Al-Samhudi doubted the correctness of this naming, but the name of Abu Dharr Mosque has been widely used.[4]

History of the mosque

Al-Matari (d. 741/1340-41) writes in the book of Al-Ta'rif bi-ma ansat al-hijra that on al-Safila Road, which is the eastern road to Hamza's grave, there is a very small mosque, which is called Abu Dharr Mosque.[5] At the end of the 9th/15th century, al-Samhudi (d. 911/1505-6) described the mosque as a small building with dimensions of 8 cubits by 8 cubits located near a palm grove called al-Buhayr.[6]

Another report from the year 1303/1885-6 describes the place as a small mosque without a roof near al-Sadaqa spring.[7] 'Abd al-Quddus al-Ansari, also spoke about this mosque in his book. He described al-Buhayr Mosque as a very small square mosque with a length and width of 4 meters and according to his report, the walls of this mosque were one meter high.[8]

Sayyid Ahmad Yasin al-Khayari, in his book, which was first published in 1410/1989-90, spoke about the reconstruction of the mosque where this mosque was under the supervision of the Department of Awqaf of Saudi Arabia.[9] In his book, Ilyas 'Abd al-Ghani also considered the reconstructed mosque to be 18 meters long and 10.13 meters wide.[10]

Gallery

Notes

  1. ʿAbd al-Ghanī, al-Masājid al-atharīyya, p. 93.
  2. Samhūdī, Wafāʾ al-wafā, vol. 3, p. 209-210.
  3. ʿAbd al-Ghanī, al-Masājid al-atharīyya, p. 92-93.
  4. Najafī, Madīna shināsī, p. 206-207; ʿAbd al-Ghanī, al-Masājid al-atharīyya, p. 93.
  5. Maṭarī, al-Taʿrīf bi-mā ansat al-hijra, p. 147-148.
  6. Samhūdī, Wafāʾ al-wafā, vol. 3, p. 209.
  7. ʿAbd al-Ghanī, al-Masājid al-atharīyya, p. 95.
  8. Anṣārī, Āthār al-Madīna al-munawwara, p. 139-140.
  9. Khayārī, Tārīkh maʿālim al-Madīna al-munawwara, p. 180.
  10. ʿAbd al-Ghanī, al-Masājid al-atharīyya, p. 94.

References

  • ʿAbd al-Ghanī, Muḥammad Ilyās. Al-Masājid al-atharīyya fī l- Madīna al-munawwara. Medina: [n.p], 2000.
  • Anṣārī, ʿAbd al-Quddūs al-. Āthār al-Madīna al-munawwara. Medina: Maktabat al-Salafīyya, 1973.
  • Khayārī, Sayyid Aḥmad Yāsīn al-.Tārīkh maʿālim al-Madīna al-munawwara qadīman wa ḥadīthan. Riyadh: al-Amāna al-ʿāmma li-l-Iḥtifāl Miʾat ʿĀm ʿAlā l-Taʾsīs al-Mamlaka al-ʿArabīyya al-Suʿūdīyya, 1419/1999.
  • Maṭarī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-. Al-Taʿrīf bi-mā ansat al-hijra min maʿālim dār al-hijra. Riyadh: Dār al-Malik ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, 2005.
  • Najafī, Sayyid Muhammad Bāqir. Madīna shināsī. Tehran: Mashʿar, 1387Sh.
  • Samhūdī, ʿAlī b. ʿAbd Allāh. Wafāʾ al-wafā bi-akhbār dar al-Muṣṭafā. Beirut: 1984.