Medinah Sharif, Saudi Arabia
Coordinates: 24.465912, 39.606958
Mosque of Al-Ghamamah is one of the oldest mosques in Medinah sharif, Saudi Arabia, located in the place believed to be where the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ performed an Eid prayer in the year 631.
It is also narrated that Prophet Muhammad offered Salat ul-Istasqa when the city of Medinah sharif faced a shortage of rain.
For a while, this mosque was closed for daily prayers because of its proximity to the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi. However quite recently it has been reopened for the worshipers for praying.
Five times prayers are held in this mosque now with an internal sound system to avoid the clash of sounds from the Prophet’s Mosque. The mosque is one of the historical relics of Medinah Sharif.
It is located at 500 meters west of As-Salam door of Al-Masjid an-Nabawi.
Istisqaa Prayer
According to the Hadith tradition , once the people of Medinah sharif complained to prophet Muhammad ﷺ on the lack of water and rain fall and their hardships in consequence. At the moment prophet ﷺ was at the Masjid e Nabawi, he ﷺ rose and emerged from the mosque and offered “Salat ul-Istisqaa” at this approximate location. As he prayed the clouds started to gather and rain fell.
“Ghamamah” means cloud, and it is named as such as it is narrated that rain clouds covered the city when Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had performed Salat ul-Istasqa here.
Funeral of King of Nejash
It is also reported that at this place the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ offered Janazah of Hz. Najashi (رضي الله عنه), the king of Abasynia.
He was Christian but welcomed the groups of the Muslims who had migrated to Habasha in order to escape the persecution of the Quraish.
He gave warm welcome to the Muslim delegation and offered complete protection. Later on he embraced Islam after observing the Muslims. When he passed away there was no one who could lead his Janazah, so the Prophet ﷺ prayed his funeral prayers, the only time ever, in the absence of the actual body.
Construction
The mosque was built during the reign of the Caliph Hz. Umar bin Abdul Aziz رضي الله عنه between the hijri calendar of 86 to 93, and renovated by the Sultan Hasan bin Muhammad bin Qalawan Ash-Shalihi in 1340 during the Sharifate of Mecca era.
It was renovated again by the Sharif Saifuddin Inal Al-Ala’i in 1622, and the time of the Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid I in 1859 during the Ottoman era, using new tools and the look resembled more or less the shape of today. After that it was renovated again during the time of the Sultan Sultan Abdul Hamid II and by the Saudi government.
