Sacred Sites
Quba Mosque
Also Known As Quba Common short form, dropping "Mosque".
Islamic Sites
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Origin 622
The mosque on the southern edge of Medina held to be the first built in Islam, founded by Muhammad on his arrival from Mecca in 622 before he reached the city itself. Tradition credits him with laying its first stones, and a saying attributed to him holds that to purify oneself at home and then pray two units at Quba earns the reward of a lesser pilgrimage, which keeps it a constant destination for those already in Medina. Like the rest of the Medina sanctuary, it is closed to non-Muslims. A vast expansion begun under the present Saudi state is enlarging it many times over.
Facts
Geography
LatitudeApproximate reference point, rounded to one decimal place; this marks the site's general location for a map, not a survey-grade or precise boundary measurement. LongitudeApproximate reference point, rounded to one decimal place; this marks the site's general location for a map, not a survey-grade or precise boundary measurement. Site
Type of Site Type of Site DetailSome classical commentators identify Quba as the mosque named in Quran 9:108, a mosque whose foundation was laid in piety from the first day, a scriptural distinction, though a minority tradition, that reinforces the standing account that prayer there carries the reward of a lesser pilgrimage. 1 Origins
Origin Period Status
Status TodayIn active religious use 1 UNESCO World HeritageConfirmed absent from Saudi Arabia's eight inscribed World Heritage sites and fourteen tentative-list entries, verified live 2026-08-06. Location
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The First Mosque of Islam
The Quba Mosque, on the southern edge of Medina, is held by tradition to be the first mosque built in Islam, founded by Muhammad at the very beginning of the Muslim community.
Founded on the Hijra
When Muhammad and his followers made the Hijra, the emigration from Mecca that marks the start of the Muslim calendar in 622, he stopped at Quba on the approach to Medina before entering the city itself. Tradition holds that he founded the mosque there and took part in laying its first stones, making it the earliest mosque of the new community, built before the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. The Quran's reference to a mosque "founded on piety from the first day" is traditionally understood to point to Quba.
The reward of prayer there
A saying attributed to Muhammad holds that one who purifies oneself at home and then comes to Quba and prays two units of prayer earns the reward of a lesser pilgrimage, an umra, which keeps the mosque a constant destination for those already in Medina and gives visiting it a particular devotional value. It is thus woven into the wider pattern of visitation associated with the holy city.
A closed and expanding sanctuary
Like the rest of the Medina sanctuary, Quba is closed to non-Muslims. A very large expansion begun under the present Saudi state is enlarging the mosque many times over, part of the broader reshaping of the holy cities to accommodate ever greater numbers of pilgrims. It remains an active place of worship deeply embedded in the sacred geography of Medina.
A Reward Tied to a Specific Place
Some hadith describe a specific reward for a two-unit prayer performed at Quba comparable to completing an entire Umrah, a claim that has made a modest early mosque into a heavily visited pilgrimage stop in its own right.
A reward tied to a specific place
Tradition attributed to Muhammad describes performing ritual ablution at home and then travelling specifically to pray at Quba Mosque as carrying merit equivalent to performing a lesser pilgrimage, a claim that has made the mosque a common stop for pilgrims visiting Medina beyond its historical significance as the first mosque built in Islam.
From a simple structure to a modern complex
The original mosque, built shortly after Muhammad's arrival in Medina, has been expanded and rebuilt multiple times over the centuries, with the most extensive modern renovation producing a large structure with multiple white domes and minarets capable of accommodating thousands of worshippers, a scale far beyond the modest original building this entry's companion article describes.
As this entry's companion article covers
The mosque's founding as the first mosque constructed in the history of Islam, built during Muhammad's initial arrival in Medina during the Hijra, is addressed directly in this entry's companion article rather than repeated here.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Quba Mosque was the first stop on the Hijra route and the first mosque built after it.
Belongs to Tradition
Held to be the first mosque built after the migration to Medina.
Contained In
Sources
1. The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition
P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs (eds.), Brill, 2005from the site's own catalogue recordView the Source 2. UNESCO World Heritage List
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO World Heritage CentreView the Source 3. Encyclopaedia Britannica (online academic reference)
Encyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2024View the Source Muhammad at Medina
W. Montgomery Watt, Clarendon Press, 1956On the Hijra, the arrival at Quba and the early Medina communityView the Source King Salman Project to Expand the Quba Mosque
Saudi Gazette, Saudi Gazette, 2022The 2022 expansion project and its scaleView the Source Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
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