The building of the Prophet's Mosque

The Prophet built the Prophet's Mosque on the spot where his camel had knelt, after buying the land from two orphan boys, and he took part in its construction himself. ^{1 2} The site contained polytheist graves, ruins and palm trees. He ordered the graves dug up, the ruins levelled and the palms cut down, and the qibla was set toward Jerusalem. ¹

Its door-posts were of stone, its walls of mudbrick and clay, and its roof of palm fronds, with palm trunks as its pillars. Its floor was laid with sand and pebbles, and it had three doors. He built mudbrick rooms beside it for his wives, and moved into them when they were complete. ^{1 2} He carried bricks and stones together with the Companions, reciting verses of supplication for the Ansar and the Muhajirun, and they grew more energetic for it. ¹

The mosque was not for prayer alone. It was a centre of learning, a forum in which tribes that had been at feud in the time of ignorance came together, a base for administering affairs, and a council chamber for assemblies. It also gave shelter to the poor Muhajirun who had no homes. ² At the beginning of the hijra the call to prayer was instituted, and the book refers to the dream of Abdullah ibn Zayd concerning it. ^{2 3}

• The book states that the Prophet's arrival in Medina was on Friday 12 Rabi' al-Awwal of the first year of the hijra, corresponding to 27 September 622 CE. This is the author's arrangement. ¹