Al-Masjid an- Nabawi or Prophet’s Mosque is among the holiest sites in the world, this was the first mosque in Medina which was constructed after Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) migrated to the city.
At the time of Prophet (PBUH) it was constructed on a 35×30 meters dimension. Walls were built from unbaked bricks, columns were made from palm tree trunks and roof was covered with the help of palm tree branches. From this small mosque Muslims maintained their political affairs and ruled Middle East, Persia and Syria.
The mosque was extended on several occasions, the first extension was done during the life of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh). The first four renovation and exttensions were made during Khilafat e Rashida:
- Abu Bakr (Ra) renovated the mosque during his caliphate but no expansion was made.
- During Omar (ra) caliphate the mosque was unable to fulfill the requirement because of the increased Muslim population so he ordered extension and mosque dimensions were increased to 70×60 meters.
- Uthman (Ra) also extended the mosque by 5 meters in 3 directions and was the first to decorate the mosque with beautiful stones, timber stone and iron bars.
- During Ali (Ra) caliphate the masjid was maintained but no significant extension was required.
Later period in the caliphate the mosque was renovated and extended on numerous periods:
- Umar bin Abdul Aziz extended Masjid Nabawi in 88H after purchasing the hujras of the wives of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh), except the hujra of Aisha in which Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh), Abu Bakr (Ra) & Umar (Ra) were buried. He was the first to build 4 minarets on four corners of the mosque and also polished the doors and pillars with gold.
- The next great extension was made by Abbasid Caliph Al-Mahdi, the extension was continued for 4 years and was completed in 165 Hijri and no further extension was required for the next 500 years.
- In 654 Hijri most of the mosque caught fire because of a lighted candle and was reconstructed by Mutassim Billah. It was during the period of Tatar invasion.
- In 886 Hijri parts of mosque caught fire after a lightning struck. It was reconstructed by Sultan Qaitaibi in 888Hijri.
The biggest extension was made during the Ottoman Caliphate. Though many ottoman sultan renovated the mosque but In 1265 Hijri Caliph Abdul Majeed started new construction, renovation and extension of the mosque which took 12 years to complete.
This time the mosque was completely decorated with stones on which quranic verses and the name of prophets were calligraphed. 2 new minarets were added, separate building was added for children’s learning which is now used as a library.
The next big extension were during Saudi Rulers who extended the mosque twice first in 1368 Hijri & then in 1405 Hijri, it was made sure that the new Saudi construction is done in a way that it will match with the Ottoman work which was beautifully done. The second Saudi extension was so great that no more extension was required after that.