Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh)

The second of the great Islamic shrines is the Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in Ma dina, Saudi Arabia. This mosque was founded by the Prophet in 622, and He is buried under its floor. In 707, under the Umayyad caliph, al-Walid I, the mosque -- including the enclosure of the Tomb of the Prophet -- was enlarged.

The mosque was decorated with marble and mosaics of gold glass that represented trees and buildings. These decorations covered the walls of the open courtyard, as well as the colonnaded sanctuary against the south wall. The mosque has been redecorated by the Abbasids, the Mamluks and the Ottomans. Most recently, the entire mosque was redecorated and enlarged by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. The rectangular mosque enclosure has five minarets and a great green dome. The mihrabs are Mamluk and Ottoman. This mosque, with its bipartite division and axis planning, became the prototype for subsequent Islamic religious buildings. The prototype is called an "Umayyad hypostyle mosque".