Madinah
For the first sixteen or seventeen months after the Hijrah, the Muslims in Madinah prayed facing Jerusalem. In 2 AH the command came to turn towards the…
For the first sixteen or seventeen months after the Hijrah, the Muslims in Madinah prayed facing Jerusalem. In 2 AH the command came to turn towards the Ka'bah in Makkah, and according to the well-known account the change happened during a prayer in this mosque of Banu Salimah, with the worshippers turning around in the middle of the prayer to face the new qibla. The mosque has been known ever since as the Mosque of the Two Qiblas. The present mosque was rebuilt in the 1980s in a striking white design with twin minarets and domes. It stands in the north-west of Madinah, about five kilometres from Masjid al-Nabawi, and is one of the most visited historic mosques in the city.