Dumat al-Jandal, Saudi Arabia
Coordinates: 29.811939, 39.867461
The Mosque of Omar Ibn al-Khattab is a historic mosque in Dumat al-Jandal in northern Saudi Arabia, located adjacent to the Marid Castle.
It one of the oldest mosques in the north of the Arabian Peninsula and is considered one of the important monuments in Al-Jawf and in Saudi Arabia in general.
The mosque is attributed to the caliph Hz. Umar ibn Al-Khattab رضي الله عنه, it is said that it was built by him in the year 16 AH during his return from Jerusalem.
One narration also says that he ordered it’s construction while heading to Jerusalem.
Beside this Masjid, there is also one of the oldest castle known as Marid Castle, Al Jouf Museum and Domah Lake.
Also the intricate Mud Houses adjacent to the mosque shows how this place functioned as a community during those glory days.
Architecture
The importance of the Mosque is in its design because it represents a continuation of the pattern of the first mosques design in Islam.
It reminds of the design of the Prophet’s mosque in Medina in its early stages. The shape of this mosque is almost rectangular and built of carved stone, and extends from west to east 32.5 meter of length and 18 meters wide.
The mosque consists of the corridor of the qiblah, the mihrab, the minbar, the courtyard of the mosque and the prayarea.
The First minaret in the Islamic Era
The famous minaret of the mosque is located in the southwestern corner and deviates from the level of the qibla wall.
The minaret is such an old one, and no one at the present time can climb in it for fear of falling.
The minaret is divided into four floors built on the roof of the corridor that leads to the external road, and entry to the minaret was through climbing to the ceiling of the mosque then to the first floor of it.
The upper floors were connected to each other by a stone staircase, but some parts of it have collapsed, which made the climb to the minaret impossible now.
It is the first minaret built in the Islamic era, and it was built of stone with a height of 12.7 meters and a square base that its length is 3 meters.
The minaret is unique in design and the mosque well managed until now and kept clean by the authorities.
