The first foundations
Quba Mosque stands in the south-west of Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, on the Hijrah Road about 3.5 km from the Prophet's Mosque. Its foundations were laid in 622, the year the Prophet arrived in the city, and it is recorded as the first mosque built in Islam. Once known as the Mosque of Bani Auf, it takes its present name from the Quba Well.
Uthman ibn Affan carried out its first renovation, and Umar ibn Abdulaziz added its first minaret between 705 and 712. In 1932 King Abdulaziz ordered a straight road laid between Quba and the Prophet's Mosque.
The mosque today
In 1985 King Fahd ordered an expansion from 1,600 m² to 13,500 m², replacing the single old minaret with four, each 47 m tall; the new mosque was inaugurated in 1987. It has 62 domes, four square courtyards and room for 20,000 worshippers.
On 8 April 2022 HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the King Salman expansion, which aims to raise the area to 50,000 m² and capacity to about 66,000 worshippers, and takes in 57 historical sites such as farms, gardens and wells. The Quba Front, a 3 km pedestrian path, now leads from the mosque towards the Prophet's Mosque.