031 - Building of the first Mosques in Islam

[DOWNLOAD MP3]

We are still discussing the first few days of the Prophet's PBUH arrival. In this episode, we back up a little bit to talk about the Prophet's PBUH stay in Quba, before he entered central Madinah.

When Did the Prophet PBUH Arrive in Quba?

As to when he arrived in Quba, we don't know for sure. The sahaba did not concern themselves with dates that much. We have a spectrum of opinions among the scholars, and the 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal is commonly put — but academically, this doesn't make sense. One early book of history mentions the Prophet PBUH left Makkah on the 1st of Rabi' al-Awwal; and the average time it took to get from Makkah to Madinah by a fast rider was about 3½ days; and if it was a slow caravan, it would take up to 9 days; so it doesn't make sense that the Prophet PBUH arrived on the 12th, even if we put in 2-3 nights in Ghari Thawr. A date of 8th or 9th makes more sense.

And we know from the reports that the Prophet PBUH arrived around high noon: the reports say that when the news reached Madinah that the Prophet PBUH had left Makkah, the Ansar went out every morning to wait for the Prophet PBUH to come, until eventually, when the sun got too hot (by 11 AM or so), they would go back to qaylulah — and the reports say the Prophet PBUH arrived at this time when everybody had gone back home. So from this, we know that he PBUH arrived at around high noon. And this was on a Monday, as mentioned in Ibn Ishaq.

______________

Houses the Prophet PBUH Stayed at While in Quba

We already said that Madinah was composed of small pockets of villages, and that the farthest settlement of Madinah in the direction of Makkah was Quba. So the people of Quba met the Prophet PBUH first.

When in Quba, the Prophet PBUH stayed at the house of Kulthum ibn al-Hidm (كلثوم بن الهدم), who was an elderly man from the tribe of Amr ibn Awf (بنو عمرو بن عوف), and he was the first sahabi to die in Madinah after the Prophet PBUH arrived. So subhan'Allah, Allah allowed him to live until the Prophet PBUH came, hosted the Prophet PBUH, and then died. What an honor.

It is also said that the Prophet PBUH stayed in the house of Sa'd ibn Khaythama (سعد بن خيثمة). But some reports say, no, rather, he would spend the night at the house of Kulthum, and then go to the house of Sa'd ibn Khaythama during the day — Kulthum was a married man with children, and Sa'd was a bachelor, so the Prophet PBUH would spend the day in the house of Sa'd so that guests could come without any problem. Abu Bakr RA stayed in the house of another of the Ansar.

______________

Building Masjid Quba & the Blessing of Masjid Quba

The next day, the Prophet PBUH began building the first masjid in Madinah, which is Masjid Quba (مسجد قباء). (Side note: And there was already a makeshift masjid that the Ansar would use to pray Jumu'ah in, which was most likely the house of As'ad ibn Zurarah.) The Prophet PBUH started building Masjid Quba when Ali RA arrived, i.e., 2-3 days after staying in Quba. And then, according to Ibn Ishaq, they set out for the city of Madinah (central Madinah) on Friday morning. So Masjid Quba was begun to be built on Wednesday or Thursday. The first stone/pillar was put by the Prophet PBUH, then Ali and Abu Bakr RA continued, and then the Ansar took over from there.

Technically, Masjid Quba was the first masjid the Prophet PBUH built — but it's worth mentioning that he did not witness its completion. The first masjid he completed himself and prayed in was his own masjid, Masjid al-Nabawi. Of course, there's a "first" element to both of them.

There is a little bit of controversy in the books of tafsir about the reference in verse [9:108] of the Quran — which masjid is being referred to when Allah SWT says, "A mosque founded on taqwa from the first day"? Is it Masjid Quba or Masjid al-Nabawi? There are two opinions (obviously):

1) The majority opinion is that it is Masjid Quba, since it is in the same vicinity as the other masjid being referenced in the same verse, which is the masjid built by the munafiqun (Masjid al-Dirar): "Do not [O Prophet] ever pray in it" [Quran, 9:108]. (Note: For a more detailed discussion on Masjid al-Dirar, see episode 90.) And in one hadith in Abu Dawud, we are specifically told that the reference to the "mosque founded upon taqwa" in the verse is to Masjid Quba: When verse [9:108] was revealed, the people of Quba were asked, "Why did Allah praise you in a manner that He doesn't praise us: 'In it are men who wish to purify themselves' [9:108]?" And the people of Quba said with regards to purifying themselves after using the restroom: They have a practice that they would wipe themselves, and then wash with water. (Whereas most of the people at the time would only wipe themselves and they would not use water.) So from this hadith, we learn that the reference is to Masjid Quba. (Trivia on the blessing of Masjid Quba: The Prophet PBUH said, "Whoever does wudu from his house and then prays 2 rak'at in Masjid Quba will get the reward of a full Umrah." And the Prophet PBUH would always at least once a week ride to Quba and pray in there — normally on a Monday.)

2) But one day, when a sahabi came to the Prophet PBUH and asked him, "Which is the masjid referred to by Allah in... (basically [9:108])?", the Prophet PBUH said, "Indeed, wallahi, it is this masjid of mine (i.e., Masjid al-Nabawi)" [Tirmidhi] — this hadith is also authentic.

Q: So which one?

A: It's both. The verse applies to both. Both masjids were built upon taqwa from the first day. And the reason the Prophet PBUH said "my masjid" was so that no one thinks Masjid Quba has a higher blessing than his mosque — because it doesn't. And Allah knows best.

______________

The Prophet's PBUH First Salat al-Jumu'ah

Recall Salat al-Jumu'ah had already begun and taken place even before the Prophet PBUH came — because they had Mus'ab ibn Umayr RA with them [see episode 25]. And up until this point, the Prophet PBUH had not prayed Jumu'ah once yet. (And this, by the way, shows us the importance of the commandment of Jumu'ah — it is so important that the sahaba had to establish it even without the Prophet PBUH.)

After spending a few days in Quba, the Prophet PBUH announced on Thursday night that he would enter [central] Madinah the next morning. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, he was in Quba helping build the masjid. And on Friday morning, he left Quba, and Salat al-Jumu'ah occurred in the middle. So the first Jumu'ah that the Prophet PBUH prayed was neither in Masjid Quba, nor was it in Masjid al-Nabawi (because there was no Masjid al-Nabawi yet at the time); rather, he prayed it in the area of Banu Salama (بنو سلمة). He just stops over there and gives his first Jumu'ah khutbah.

And this khutbah has been recorded by Ibn Ishaq and al-Bayhaqi with a slightly weak chain — but there is no haraj/problem in narrating it. What is really amazing is that all of the khutbahs of the Prophet PBUH that are recorded —and we only have a few of them— they do not last more than 3-5 minutes. The khutbahs of the Prophet PBUH were extremely short. In one hadith, the Prophet PBUH said, "It is from the fiqh (intelligence/understanding) of a man that he shortens the khutbah, and lengthens the salah." So his PBUH salah was longer than his khutbah. But in our times, it's the other way around. Why? Because in our times, Jumu'ah is the only time 90% of the ummah ever comes to masjid. Whereas at the time of the Prophet PBUH, he was speaking to people whose Iman was at a different level, and they did not need the reminders that we need. So this is one of those things that the ummah has had to change. But still, we try to keep it reasonable: 20-25 minutes is reasonable. An hour is clearly too long.

As to the first Friday khutbah of the Prophet PBUH, it comprised of a few things:

In the first khutbah, he encouraged the Muslims to be generous, reminded them of the certainty of death and of meeting Allah SWT, and that Allah will ask every one of them what he had been given and how he spent it; and then he said —and this part is recorded in Bukhari—: "Whoever is able to save himself from the Fire even with the seed of a date, let him do so. And if he doesn't even have this, then with a good word. Because every [good] deed is multiplied 10 times." Then he sat down. That's the first khutbah: Charity, death, meeting Allah, hisab (حساب - accountability), and speaking good.

Then he stood up, and began the second khutbah with khutbat al-hajah. (Note 1: This is contrary to what we do today, of reciting khutbat al-hajah in the first khutbah) (Note 2: However, from other narrations, we learn that he would usually recite the khutbat al-hajah in the first khutbah. [So it's just possible he changed over later.]) The Prophet PBUH then said, "The successful one is he whom Allah has beautified his heart, and has caused him to enter Islam after leaving kufr, and has chosen him above the rest of the people for the best of all matters (i.e., you who have accepted Islam have been blessed like no one else on earth)." He then said, "Love what Allah SWT loves, and love Allah with your entire heart, and never tire of the Speech of Allah and of the dhikr of Allah. And never let your heart become hard. Allah chooses what He wishes and what He blesses, and He blessed this (i.e., the Quran and dhikr) to be the best deed. So worship Allah, and do not associate partners with Him. And have taqwa of Him as He said you should, and be sincere to Allah in all that you say. Love one another with the spirit of Allah between you. And remember, Allah hates His promise be broken. Wassalamu'alaykum (والسلام عليكم - and may peace be upon you)."

Subhan'Allah, look at how comprehensive the khutbah is, and how pertinent it is. In the first khutbah, the Prophet PBUH stressed charity because Islam needed money and sacrifice at that time. Indeed, if there was any time people needed to donate for the cause of Allah, it was right at the beginning of Islam. He further reminded them of the reality of life and the certainty of death. This short khutbah has both threats and rewards. This is the way of Islam. We tell people the rewards of Allah to make them feel happy and joyful, but we also make them scared of the fearful punishment of Allah. This concept is called targhib and tarhib (الترغيب والترهيب‎) in Arabic. Note the first khutbah is action-based, and the second is purely spiritual. Subhan'Allah, this is the perfection of Islam. Further, he tells them to never get tired of reading the Quran or doing dhikr — as these two can make your heart soft. And he concludes by reminding them to love one another with the help of Allah, for His sake, and he reminds them that they have a promise to Allah to fulfill His religion.

He then entered [central] Madinah after this, and the events went as we discussed previously [see episode 30]. The camel sat down, the Prophet PBUH asked whose house was the closest, and he stayed with Abu Ayyub.

______________

Tangent: The Khutbat al-Hajah

The khutbat al-hajah (خطبة الحاجة - sermon of necessities):

إن الحمد لله نحمده ونستعينه ، ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا ، من يهده الله فلا مضل له ، ومن يضلل فلا هادي له ، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له ، وأشهد أن محمدا عبده ورسوله

"Verily, all praise is due to Allah, therefore, we praise Him, and we ask for His help. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our deeds and the consequences of our souls. Verily, whomever Allah guides, no one can misguide. Whomever Allah misguides, no one can guide him [back to the Straight Path]. I testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah —alone and with no partner— and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger."

This is so eloquent. It is such a beautiful and concise speech. This khutbah is so powerful that some people accepted Islam just because of this khutbah. The most famous example is that of Dimad al-Azdi (ضماد الأزدي) [during Makkan dawah]. He was from the leaders of the tribes of Yemen. And he was a medicine man. When he came to Makkah, the people of Makkah told him, "Beware of this man [Muhammad]. He is a magician, he is a crazy man," etc. So Dimad put cotton in his ears to make sure he didn't hear what the Prophet PBUH said — they warned him so much that he became terrified. But then he said to himself, "I am an intelligent man. How powerful can his speech be? If he is wrong, I will guide him. If he is sick, I'm a medicine man — I will cure him." So he took the cotton out, and walked up to the Prophet PBUH, and said, "Your people have warned me about you. But I want to listen to what you have to say." So the Prophet PBUH recited khutbat al-hajah, and said, "Amma ba'd (أما بعد - as to what follows)..." — and he was going to begin the actual speech. But Dimad said, "Stop. Repeat this word that you have just said." So the Prophet PBUH repeated the entire khutbat al-hajah. And Dimad said, "I have memorized the poetry of everyone out there, and I consider myself an intelligent and educated man. But wallahi, I have never heard anything as eloquent as this. By Allah, you must be a man Allah inspires." And khalas, he accepted Islam right then and there. This is how eloquent khutbat al-hajah is, and it deserves its own lecture.

And people have written books about it. Ibn Taymiyyah has a treatise explaining khutbat al-hajah. Ibn al-Qayyim has many pages about khutbat al-hajah in his explanation of Sunan Abi Dawud. In our times, Sheikh al-Albani has written an entire booklet about khutbat al-hajah and its reports.

______________

Status of the Masjid in Islam

The first thing the Prophet PBUH did in Madinah was turn his attention to building the masjid. Notice in the span of 5 days, the Prophet PBUH has built two masjids, and he doesn't even have a roof over his head yet. (Side note: The people also built a third masjid where the Prophet PBUH stopped and did khutbah.) [On this note, there were many masjids in Madinah at the time of the Prophet PBUH — not just Masjid Quba and Masjid al-Nabawi. There were at least a dozen masjids — but the Prophet's PBUH Mosque was the central and the largest, and it also appears that, after its completion, it was the only masjid where Jumu'ah was done.]

We see therefore the importance of the masjid. The masjid was built even before his house.

— It shows us the status of the House of Allah AWJ; Allah literally calls masjids His Houses, and He praises them in the Quran [24:36].

— The masjid was the place of ilm (knowledge) and shura (discussion/consultation).

— It was the place where people decided affairs and socialized. They would laugh and joke in the masjid.

— The masjid was the place of celebration, e.g., nikahs.

— And subhan'Allah, the Prophet PBUH was in his Masjid more than he was in his own house.

— From the masjid, ilm, Quran, and the armies of Islam spread. (The armies would be arranged inside the masjid, and then they would go out from there.)

— And in it, those who had no house would sleep: as soon as Muslims came, they would be housed in the masjid if they had no house. The Prophet PBUH said in a sahih hadith, "Masjid is the house of every muttaqi (متقي - can loosely be translated as 'believer')." Of course, the scholars have discussed whether it is wajib to house every Muslim who has no shelter — but basically, the general rule of Islam is that for a Muslim who needs a place to sleep, the masjid will become his place to sleep. (Side note: This hadith has a secondary meaning as well, which is, "The muttaqi will want to be in the masjid" — i.e., they will feel comfortable being in the masjid as they will in their house.)

— And of course, the Masjid of the Prophet PBUH literally became a university, a house, and a masjid, all in one, for Ahl al-Suffa (أهل الصفة - the People of the Suffa) — and we will talk about Ahl al-Suffa in episode 34, insha'Allah.

______________

Poem That the Sahaba Versified While Building Masjid al-Nabawi

We mentioned that the Prophet PBUH himself participated in building the masjid [see episode 30]. When the sahaba saw him, they versified a poem:

لئن قعدنا والنبي يعمل لذاك منا العمل المضلل

"Wallahi, if we sit down and the Prophet PBUH is working, then this from us is a very astray/shameful matter."

______________

Ammar ibn Yasir's Light-Hearted Exchange With the Prophet PBUH While Building Masjid al-Nabawi

One incident is narrated, which has deep theological and historical implications. Ammar ibn Yasir (both his parents were the first shaheeds) was carrying two large bricks (quarry stones), and his entire body was dusted in full — and he is struggling with them; he says (jokingly), "O Prophet PBUH, they are killing me by giving me two stones and they are only carrying one stone." (Side notes: This shows us the sahaba had a sense of humor with the Prophet PBUH. It also shows a fiqhi point: When it comes to these types of jokes, it is not considered 'lying' as long as the person you are speaking to understands that it is a joke.) The Prophet PBUH smiled and said, "No, O Son of Sumayyah, they are not killing you. Rather, the people who shall kill you will be al-Fiat al-Baghiyah (الفئة الباغية - the Group That Has Gone Beyond the Bounds)." (And notice the Prophet PBUH called him "Son of Sumayyah" to give honor to his mother Sumayyah, the first shaheed in our religion. Forever afterwards the sahaba would call him "Son of Sumayyah" because the Prophet PBUH called him this.) The Prophet PBUH also said, "Everyone is getting one reward and you are getting two. And the last thing you shall drink in this world will be a glass of milk."

Subhan'Allah. Ammar only joked with the Prophet PBUH, and the Prophet PBUH responded with a hadith that would carry such deep theological and historical implications. Ammar ibn Yasir's death would become a very important death in Islam. Why? Because during the time of fitna (37 AH, in Ali's khilafa), Ammar would choose to be on the side of Ali RA against the forces of Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan RA (معاوية بن أبي سفيان). Thus as Sunni, we believe that Ali was closer to the truth than Muawiyah, based on this hadith of Ammar. But also as Sunni, we respect all of the sahaba, so we don't say anything bad about Muawiyah. We say Muawiyah was sincere too — it's just that Ali was closer to the truth — radi-Allahu-anhum ajma'in (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين - may Allah be pleased with them all).

(As a footnote: There were three groups of sahaba during the time of fitna: [1] The group of Ali. [2] The group of Muawiyah. [3] The group that didn't fight, i.e., the abadilah: Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, Abdullah ibn Umar, and Abdullah ibn Abbas — they were asked multiple times to take part, but they said no. And Ibn Taymiyyah says, "This group of sahaba [who didn't pick sides] was ON the truth; Ali was *closer* to the truth; and Muawiyah was *not as close* as Ali.")

And indeed, as the Prophet PBUH prophesied, Ammar ibn Yasir drank some milk, went to fight in the battle against the forces of Muawiyah, and he died from an arrow shot.

______________

Changing of the Rak'at & the Legislation of Adhan

Moving on to the prayers in the masjid. We don't know exactly when the changing of the rak'at of the 5 salahs occurred. Recall the 5 salahs were given during al-Isra wal-Mi'raj. However, at that time, every single salah was two rak'at. In Sahih Bukhari, Aisha RA tells us, "When we came to Madinah, the salahs were placed as you know them; and the two rak'at were kept for the traveler." This shows us, therefore, that at some point in the early Madinan phase, the Prophet PBUH and the sahaba started praying as we now know it: 2-4-4-3-4. Before this, every salah was just two rak'at. And then the sunan and the nawafil were added.

As to the call of prayer: The Prophet PBUH called the sahaba and asked them, "How should we call the people at the time of the salah?" One said, "Let us use a bell like the Christians." But this was discarded. (And there are authentic hadiths that mention the Prophet PBUH did not like bells, and that he also said, "The angels do not accompany any caravan that has a bell.") Others say, "Let us use a shofar (i.e., a horn)." But this was discarded too. And others gave other ideas, but no idea basically made sense, so the meeting finished without any idea being chosen. That night, two people saw a dream: Umar RA and Abdullah ibn Zayd (عبد الله بن زيد) RA. Their dreams were the same. Abdullah ibn Zayd saw in his dream a man selling some items (either the horn or the bell or something). So he went up to him and said, "Can I buy these items?" The man said, "Why?" He said, "Because the Prophet PBUH wants to decide how to call the people to prayer, so I'm thinking one of these will do the job." The man said, "Should I not tell you something better than that?" Abdullah said, "Of course." The man said, "When you want to call the people to prayer, say, 'Allahu'akbar, Allahu'akbar (and all the way to the end — basically adhan as we know it now).'" And then he woke up — this dream was so vivid he rushed to the Prophet PBUH to tell him. And the Prophet PBUH said, "This is a true dream, insha'Allah." And it's clear from the report that Abdullah ibn Zayd was hoping to be the muezzin — but the Prophet PBUH had other plans. The Prophet PBUH said, "Stand up, O Bilal, because you have the loudest voice." And the Prophet PBUH told Abdullah ibn Zayd to stand with Bilal to tell him the adhan. So Abdullah ibn Zayd told him every phrase, and Bilal repeated it in a loud voice. (So technically, Abdullah ibn Zayd did give the first adhan.) And as Bilal is saying the adhan, Umar RA comes rushing into the masjid without having fully tied his lower garment, and says to the Prophet PBUH, "O Messenger of Allah, I saw these phrases in my dream [too]." So it appears Allah AWJ had shown the dream to multiple of the sahaba — and He had willed that Abdullah ibn Zayd is the one who gets the honor of telling it to the Prophet PBUH.

It is important to note that this is *the only* aspect of our shariah legislated by the dream of a sahabi. It is also important to note that technically, the dream itself was not the source of the legislation, but rather, the Prophet PBUH saying "it is true." We DO NOT base our shariah on dreams — if the Prophet PBUH had not said "it is true," we would not have based our shariah on it.

Why was the adhan legislated in this manner? Allah knows best. Sh. YQ hasn't found anybody commenting on this. And Sh. YQ also tried to look up about Abdullah ibn Zayd, but all he could find was a statement from Ibn Hajar who said, "This is the sahabi who is famous for the story of the dream." That's it. So why did Allah choose him for the dream? We do not know.

______________

Houses of the Prophet PBUH

So the Prophet PBUH spent around 2-3 weeks building his mosque, and thereafter, started building his houses. At the time, he had 2 wives: Sawda RA and Aisha RA. And both of their houses were built next to the masjid. These were the only two houses of the Prophet PBUH that were connected to the masjid. (Other wives were married later on by a number of years; and by that time, people had moved in and connected other houses to the masjid, so the Prophet's PBUH other wives' houses were in a separate block, i.e., they didn't have direct entrances to the masjid.) Note Sawda RA was an elderly lady and senior to the Prophet PBUH in age. She wanted to please the Prophet PBUH so much that she told him one year, "Ya Rasulullah, I am an elderly lady, and I know that you prefer the company of Aisha, so I will gift my night to her." This means Aisha's RA house was the only house the Prophet PBUH *lived in* that was connected to the masjid. Sawda's RA house was connected as well, but the Prophet PBUH didn't spend the night there. He would visit Sawda and spend time with her during the day, but he would not spend the night in her house, because she gifted her night to Aisha.

______________

Next time, we will discuss the pairing up of the Muhajirun and the Ansar [episode 32], and the constitution that the Prophet PBUH drew up between the Ansar, the Muhajirun, the pagans, and the Jews, of Madinah [episode 33]. This was an unprecedented constitution.

______________

Q&A

Sunnah prayer.

The regular sunan can be divided into two categories:

1) Sunan al-Ratibah = prayers that the Prophet PBUH would do as a habit, i.e., the 10 or 12 rak'at that are linked to the 5 daily salawat. The Prophet PBUH said in a hadith, "Whoever prays for the sake of Allah 10 rak'at a day, Allah will build a palace for him in Jannah." 12 has also been reported. These 10 or 12 rak'at are:

Fajr: 2 sunnah before Fajr

Zuhr: 4 before Zuhr, 2 after (some say 2 before, and 2 after)

Maghrib: 2 after Maghrib

Isha: 2 after Isha

These are the Sunan al-Rawatib (or Sunan al-Ratibah) which the Prophet PBUH always prayed when he wasn't traveling. Except for the sunnah of Fajr, he would pray it even when he was traveling.

2) Witr prayer. In the terminology of hadith, witr prayer is basically tahajjud and is basically qiyam al-layl. Witr = tahajjud = qiyam al-layl. (It's basically the same concept: "the night prayer.") Witr can be said any time after Isha until Fajr. If you can't get to the level of excellence of waking up at 3 AM, you can pray it before going to sleep — but it's the least rewarding to do so. Witr is basically praying an odd number of rak'at — the Prophet PBUH would usually pray 11 or 13. This the Prophet PBUH would never miss even when he was traveling. Ibn Taymiyyah and others say witr was wajib upon the Prophet PBUH no matter what (but not upon his ummah), based on verse [17:79] in the Quran.

There is also nafl prayer which is unlimited in its scope. You may pray it at any time of the day and night, as long as it's not in the times of prohibition.

[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, November 2023]