Prayer for rain
The story of the cloud.
FaysaLBinDaruL — CC BY 4.0 · Indonesiagood — CC BY 4.0 · Indonesiagood — CC BY 4.0 · Imam Khairul Annas — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Indonesiagood — CC BY 4.0 · Kaliper1 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kaliper1 — CC BY-SA 4.0
One of the oldest mosques in Medina, about 500 metres west of the Bab al-Salam gate of the Prophet's Mosque, on the spot where the Prophet is said to have led the Eid prayer in 631 and the prayer for rain when the city suffered a drought. Its name means «the cloud»: tradition says clouds covered the sky over Medina and rain fell after the prayer for rain. The mosque was built under the Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz in the early eighth century and renovated several times, notably by the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid I in 1859, who gave it roughly its present look. It consists of a rectangular entrance portico 26 metres long and a prayer hall 30 metres long and 15 metres wide under six domes, the largest above the mihrab. Its black stone walls and white domes stand out among the area's modern hotels, and the facade is lit at night. The mosque was closed for daily prayers for a time because it is so close to the Prophet's Mosque, then reopened; the five daily prayers are now held with an internal sound system that does not clash with the call from the main mosque. A visit is free and short, easy to combine with a walk around the western plazas of the Prophet's Mosque.
The story of the cloud.
Under white domes.
At its best in the evening.
About 500 m west of Bab al-Salam of the Prophet's Mosque, Medina
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque)Islam's second holiest mosque after the Grand Mosque in Mecca, built by the Prop6 minutes walk
Al-Baqi CemeteryThe first and oldest Muslim cemetery in Medina, just south-east of the Prophet's9 minutes walk
Hejaz Railway Station and Museum, MedinaThe last station of the Hejaz Railway, which the Ottoman Empire built from Damas9 minutes walk
The Seven MosquesA group of small historic mosques at the foot of Mount Sala in Medina, linked to20 minutes walkTradition says clouds covered Medina and rain fell after the Prophet led the prayer for rain on this spot.