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Umbrella of the Mosque — Fotopedia
Umbrella of the Nabawi holy mosque at Medina
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Al-Masjid an-Nabawi

Al-Masjid al-Nabawī (Arabic: اَلْمَسْجِد اَلنَّبَوِي[ʔælˈmæsdʒɪd ænnæbæwiː], "Mosque of the Prophet"), often called the Prophet's Mosque, is a mosque built by the Islamic Prophet Muhammad situated in the city of Medina. It is the second holiest site in Islam (the first being the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca). It was the second mosque built in history and is now one of the largest mosques in the world. After an expansion during the reign of al-Walid I, it also now incoporates the site of the final resting place of Muhammad and early Muslim leaders Abu Bakr and Umar.

The site was originally adjacent to Muhammad's house; he settled there after his Hijra (emigration) to Medina in 622. He shared in the heavy work of construction. The original mosque was an open-air building. The basic plan of the building has been adopted in the building of other mosques throughout the world.

The mosque also served as a community center, a court, and a religious school. There was a raised platform for the people who taught the Quran. Subsequent Islamic rulers greatly expanded and decorated it. In 1909, it became the first place in the Arabian Peninsula to be provided with electrical lights. The mosque is under the control of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.


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List of large mosques

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List of largest mosques

This is a list of mosques that accommodate at least 5000 worshipers. The default listing is alphabetical; to sort using different criteria, click on the desired column headers. Note that determining exactly what should be included when calculating area is a highly subjective assessment, and the figures given here adhere to no common standard.