A mosque raised by the Prophet
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) built the mosque after arriving in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah in 622, the year that marks the start of the Hijri calendar. In 628, on his return from Khaybar, he enlarged it himself, adding 1,425 m² and bringing it to 2,475 m².
The Prophet is buried in the chamber of Aisha, beneath the Green Dome, which is square at its base and octagonal at the top; it was painted green in 1837 under Sultan Abd al-Hameed. Between the chamber and the minbar lies Al-Rawdah Al-Sharifa, about 15 m wide and covering 397.5 m².
Fourteen centuries of expansion
The caliphs Umar ibn al-Khattab and Uthman ibn Affan each enlarged the mosque, as did the Umayyad al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik, the Abbasids, Sultan Qaitbay and the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid. The first Saudi expansion, under King Abdulaziz, brought the total area to 16,548 m². The second, under King Fahd, added about 82,000 m² and, with the surrounding courtyards, reached 235,000 m².
The third Saudi expansion began under King Abdullah in 2012, and King Salman ordered its completion. The mosque now has ten minarets, rising to 104 m, and 229 doors, about 100 of them opening to the outside.