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The Quba Mosque (, , ) is a mosque located in Medina, in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia, first built in the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the 7th century Common Era.Michigan Consortium for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (1986). 9780918720580, Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University. . ISBN 9780918720580 It is thought to be the first mosque in the world, established on the first day of Muhammad's Hijrah to Medina. Its first stone is said to have been laid by the prophet, and the structure completed by his companions. The mosque was subsequently modified across the centuries until the 1980s, when it was completely replaced by a new building that stands today.
Some scholars have debated the historicity of the mosque's foundation story. Leone Caetani questioned whether Muhammad recognized other mosques in this way and argued that the story is likely a later invention, part of a trend by later Muslims to associate various mosques with Muhammad's life. Johannes Pedersen supported the story's plausibility, arguing that there are indications in the Qur'an and other traditional sources that other mosques indeed existed and were recognized in Muhammad's time.
Initially, the mosque was built from Medina in the village of Quba', before Medina expanded to include this village. The first mosque would have been oriented towards Jerusalem and Muhammad most likely rebuilt it when the qibla (direction of prayer) was changed toward the Kaaba in Mecca.
Another renovation occurred in 1044, when a mihrab (niche symbolizing the qibla) was added by Sharif Abu Ya'la Ahmad ibn Hasan (or Abu Yali al-Husayni). Further additions were made around 80 years later. Later renovations were made by the Zengid dynasty vizier Jamal al-Din al-Isfahani in 1160. During the Mamluk Sultanate, Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun reconstructed the mosque in 1333, the ceiling was redone under al-Ashraf Barsbay in 1436, and Qaytbay made renovations in 1476.
During the Ottoman era, Sultan Suleiman sponsored the reconstruction of the minaret and the mosque's ceiling in 1543. Sultan Mustafa II renovated these same elements again in 1699. Major renovations and modifications took place in 1829 and in the following decade or so during the reigns of Mahmud II () and Abdülmecid I ().
King Fahd laid the foundation stone for the expansion on November 3, 1984, and the project was completed two years later, with its inauguration on November 2, 1986. This expansion reshaped the mosque from a square to a rectangular layout, featuring a central courtyard accessible from all entrances. A dedicated women's prayer area was established in the northern section, spanning two floors and accommodating approximately 7,000 female worshipers. أمانة منطقة المدينة المنورة مسجد قباء this expansion, the mosque featured four minarets and 56 domes. It also included accommodations for Imam and Muezzin, and a library. The mosque's land area measured , with the building itself covering . أمانة منطقة المدينة المنورة مسجد قباء
In March 2023, the responsibility for overseeing and operating the Quba Mosque was transferred to the Al Madinah Region Development Authority from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah, and Guidance.
Muhammad frequented the mosque and prayed there. This is referred to in a number of hadith:
The Umayyad structure at the time of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz's renovations (early 8th century) was made from cut stone and lime, with a ceiling made of valuable timber. It was also decorated with Mosaic, probably created with the help of Byzantine Empire craftsmen who also worked on a renovation of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina around the same time. According to descriptions in the Abbasid period, such as those of , the mosque measured approximately and contained an interior courtyard measuring around , while Its walls were around high and its minaret was roughly .
The early 19th-century renovations initiated by Mahmud II replaced the originally flat ceiling of the mosque with a new ceiling of shallow domes supported by arches and columns. Prior to its modern reconstruction, the mosque's western entrance was also fronted by a façade with Ottoman Tughra (calligraphic signatures) and an inscription recording Mahmud II's works. In the late 19th century, the writer Ibrahim Rifat Pasha reported that the mosque measured some with a ceiling around high.
The recent new construction of the Quba Mosque that happened in 1984 include many new additions, such as 7 main entrances, 4 parallel minarets, and the 56 mini domes that surround the perimeter of the mosque from an overhead point of view. The courtyard of this mosque is composed of black, red, and white marble, and majority of the structure and interior structures such as the minbar and mihrab are all composed of white marble. Originally, there was one minaret, the new renovations included the addition of the other three minarets, they rest on square bases, have octagonal shafts which take on a circular shape as they reach the top.
The prayer hall is arranged around a central courtyard, characterised by six large domes resting on clustered columns. A portico, which is two bays in depth, borders the courtyard on the east and west, while a one-bayed portico borders it on the north, and separates it from the women's prayer area.
The women's prayer area, which is surrounded by a screen, is divided into two parts as a passageway connects the northern entrance with the courtyard. When Quba Mosque was rebuilt in 1986, the Medina architecture was retained – ribbed white domes, and basalt facing and modest exterior – qualities that recalls Madina's simplicity. The courtyard, is flagged with black, red and white marble. It is screened overhead by day from the scorching heat with shades. Arabesque latticework filters the light of the palm groves outside. Elements of the new building include work by the Egyptian architect Abdel-Wahed El-Wakil, Pakistani architect Hassan Khan Sayyid and the Stuttgart tensile architect Mahmoud Bodo Rasch, a student of Frei Otto.
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