Building of Masjid al-Nabawi

The Prophet ﷺ purchased the land where al-Qaswa had knelt — a date-drying ground belonging to two orphan boys near Banu Najjar — for ten dinars, insisting on purchase rather than accepting the gift. Construction of Masjid al-Nabawi began immediately. The Prophet ﷺ himself carried bricks and stones alongside the companions, reciting poetry of encouragement; the companions responded: 'If we sit while the Prophet works, that would be straying from the path.' The initial structure was simple: dried brick walls, palm frond roof supported by palm trunks, a sand and gravel floor. The qiblah was toward Jerusalem — the practice at the time — and would change to Mecca approximately seventeen months after the Hijra. Three doors were made, and a covered area — the suffah — was established at the northern end as shelter for the poor companions who had no homes in Medina. The Ahl al-Suffah (People of the Bench) lived there, learning from the Prophet ﷺ directly. Abu Hurayrah, the most prolific narrator of hadith, was among them — his constant proximity to the Prophet ﷺ produced the hadith record that has shaped Islamic scholarship for fourteen centuries. Adjacent to the mosque the Prophet ﷺ oversaw construction of the hujurat — small rooms for his wives, of the same simple materials. Aishah described hers as so small that when the Prophet ﷺ prayed inside it while she slept, he would move her feet to make space for prostration. From the day the mosque was completed — approximately seven months after the Hijra — it served as the nerve center of the entire community: the Prophet ﷺ led five daily prayers, delivered khutbahs, received tribal delegations, adjudicated disputes, and taught there. Masjid al-Nabawi has been expanded repeatedly through Islamic history and is now among the largest mosques in the world. Its core — the Rawdah between the minbar and the Prophet's grave — is described in the hadith as a garden from the gardens of Paradise. A prayer there is worth a thousand prayers elsewhere except Masjid al-Haram. The building that began with palm fronds in 1 AH became the second holiest site on earth.