The Seven Mosques and the Mosque of the Two Qiblahs

Today’s excursion took us to the location of the Battle of the Trench, or Khandaq, as well as some of the mosques that are associated with that battle, popularly known as “The Seven Mosques”.

The Seven Mosques, or al-Masajid al-Sab‘, mark the places where the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions, may Allah be pleased with him, stood guard during that battle. However, only three of the seven are confirmed as authentic: the Mosque of Victory, or Masjid al-Fath; the Mosque of Salman al-Farsi, and; the Mosque of the Banner, or Masjid al-Raya. Alhamdulillah we had chance to visit all these mosques and offer prayers in some of them.

Near the Mosque of Victory and the Mosque of Salman al-Farsi is also the Mosque of ‘Ali, where it is said that our beloved Messenger, peace be upon him, offered the first ‘Id al-Fitr and ‘Id al-Adha prayers. Later, ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, led these prayers in the same location during the Caliphate of ‘Uthman, when the latter was besieged in his home by the rebels. Intimately connected to this story, we also visited the well that ‘Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, purchased from the Jewish merchant in order to serve the Muslims during this battle. Shaykh Hamza gave a moving talk at this site, about the virtues of Caliph ‘Uthman, and how during the last days of his Caliphate he was refused water from the rebels who besieged his home, even though before he had selflessly provided water to the people of Madinah.

We finished our journey with a visit to the Mosque of the Two Qiblahs, or Masjid al-Qiblatayn, where the Prophet, peace be upon him, was ordered by Allah mid-prayer to change the qiblah from Jerusalem to Makkah.