بناء المسجد النبوي
Building of Masjid al-Nabawi
Rabi' al-Awwal, 1 AH (622 CE)
Madinah المدينة المنورة
The Prophet ﷺ entered Madinah and his camel knelt at a plot of land belonging to two orphan boys. He purchased the land and built the Prophet's Mosque (Masjid al-Nabawi) there, participating personally in the construction alongside the Companions. Adjacent to the mosque, he built rooms for his family and a covered area (the Suffah) for poor Muslims who had no homes.
Why this matters
Masjid al-Nabawi became the center of the new Islamic civilization — serving simultaneously as a mosque, school, parliament, court, and social welfare center. The Ahl as-Suffah (People of the Bench) were devoted students of knowledge who lived in the mosque, and from them came many of the greatest hadith narrators. Prayer in this mosque carries a reward of one thousand prayers elsewhere.
Hadith references
Sahih al-Bukhari, #1190
Narrated by: Abu Hurairah
“The Prophet ﷺ said: 'A prayer in this mosque of mine is better than one thousand prayers in any other mosque, except Masjid al-Haram.'”