A tribe's answer
The Abd al-Qays tribe lived in al-Ahsa when news of Islam reached them. Their leader, known as al-Ashaj, sent a messenger to Makkah to learn more, then embraced Islam with his people and built the mosque in 628. It became the second mosque in Islam where Friday prayer was held, after the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah.
It stands north-east of al-Hufuf, built of stone and clay mortar under a roof of shandal wood. Three arcades run parallel to the qibla wall, three round towers hold the outer corners, and the prayer hall takes about 170 worshippers. South-west of the mosque lie the remains of a graveyard believed to hold Companions of the Prophet who fell in the Ridda Wars.
An older crossroads
The mosque belongs to the wider Jawatha site, a cluster of sand-covered mounds strewn with pottery and glass. Its earliest finds reach back to 7,000–8,000 BCE, and remains of the Dilmun civilisation have been found there. Caravans of dates, crops and perfume once passed through, linking southern and northern Arabia with Mesopotamia.
On 31 August 2022 the Mohammed bin Salman Project for the Development of Historical Mosques announced its restoration in the project's second phase, following the building traditions of the Eastern Province. The mosque lies within Al-Ahsa Oasis.