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Overview
The sources say that al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik demolished the Prophet's Mosque and rebuilt and enlarged it, in 87 or 88 AH according to the reports. 1 5
Al-Tabari's account
In Safar 88 AH the demolition of the mosque began. Al-Walid sent to the king of the Byzantines, informing him and asking for his help, and he sent him a hundred thousand mithqals of gold, a hundred workers and forty loads of mosaic. 1
Al-Suyuti's account
According to al-Suyuti, al-Walid began building the mosque of Damascus, and wrote for the expansion and rebuilding of the Prophet's Mosque in 87 AH. The years of the two sources differ. 5
The inclusion of the chambers
Al-Salabi says that al-Walid wished to expand, and included the chambers of the Mothers of the Believers, the chamber of Fatima and the chamber of Aisha in the mosque. When Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz learned of it from Medina, he gathered the ten jurists and the notables of the people, and they denied it and disliked it. 3
He says that the jurists held that the chambers should be left as they were, and Umar wrote to al-Walid to that effect, and al-Walid ordered him to renew the building as he wished. 4
Sources
- Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk — al-Tabari (ed. Abu al-Fadl Ibrahim) , j.6 p.436
- Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 367
- The Umayyad State: Factors of Prosperity and Consequences of Collapse — Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi (Part Two, 2005) , p.129-130
- The Umayyad State: Factors of Prosperity and Consequences of Collapse — Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi (Part Two, 2005) , p.130-131
- Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p.367
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The Demolition and Rebuilding of the Prophet's Mosque under al-Walid”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/walid-rebuilds-the-prophets-mosque/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.