Arriving at Quba and Building the First Masjid
story❧Arrival Date
There is genuine scholarly uncertainty about the exact date the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Madinah. The 12th of Rabīʿ al-Awwal is frequently cited, but it is academically difficult to sustain. One early historical source says the Prophet ﷺ departed Makkah on the 1st of Rabīʿ al-Awwal. A fast rider took three and a half to four days from Makkah to Madinah; a slow caravan took up to nine days. Factor in the days in Ghār Thawr and the longer coastal route taken, and the 12th seems too late. The 8th or 9th of Rabīʿ al-Awwal makes better chronological sense. Ibn Isḥāq says it was a Monday, and this is agreed upon.
❧The Settlement of Quba
Madinah was not one compact city. It was a collection of small tribal settlements scattered across a large oasis, each with its own cluster of houses, gardens, and fortifications. The southernmost settlement, the one closest to the direction of Makkah, was Qubāʾ (قُبَاء). This was where the Prophet ﷺ first arrived.
He stopped at the house of Kulthūm ibn Hidm, an elderly man from the Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf clan of the Aws tribe. The arrangement was thoughtful: for the nights, the Prophet ﷺ stayed at Kulthūm's house (a private household). During the daytime, when streams of visitors, Anṣār and Muhājirūn, would come to see him, he moved to the house of Saʿd ibn Khaythama, a bachelor from the same clan, whose home could more freely serve as an open meeting place without the complications of a family household.
Abū Bakr (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu) stayed at a separate Ansari house.
Kulthūm ibn Hidm, subḥānallāh, became the first Muslim to die in Madinah after the Prophet ﷺ arrived. Allāh had preserved this elderly man just long enough to host the Messenger ﷺ in those first days.
❧Waiting for Ali
The Prophet ﷺ had left Makkah before ʿAlī. ʿAlī stayed in Makkah for three more nights after the Prophet's departure, completing the return of the amānāt, the items left in trust at the Prophet's house by Makkans who trusted no one more. Then he departed, taking the main direct route (the faster path), while the Prophet ﷺ had taken the longer coastal route via Ghār Thawr. The result: they effectively arrived in Madinah's vicinity at nearly the same time. ʿAlī reached Qubāʾ on Wednesday or Thursday.
The Prophet ﷺ waited for ʿAlī before beginning construction of the masjid.
❧Building Masjid Quba
On the Wednesday or Thursday, once ʿAlī had arrived, the Prophet ﷺ began building what would become the first purposely-built masjid in Islamic history: Masjid Qubāʾ.
The Prophet ﷺ himself placed the first stone. Then ʿAlī placed a stone. Then Abū Bakr. Then the Anṣār took over and completed the construction.
❧The Quranic Reference
Sūrat al-Tawbah verses 108–110 were revealed later in a context that referenced two masjids: the masjid al-ḍirār (the Masjid of Harm), which was built by the Munāfiqīn near Qubāʾ, and a second masjid that Allāh contrasted positively:
"لَمَسْجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى التَّقْوَىٰ مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ أَحَقُّ أَن تَقُومَ فِيهِ ۚ فِيهِ رِجَالٌ يُحِبُّونَ أَن يَتَطَهَّرُوا ۚ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُطَّهِّرِينَ"
La-masjidun ussisa ʿalā al-taqwā min awwali yawmin aḥaqqu an taqūma fīhi. Fīhi rijālun yuḥibbūna an yataṭahhharū, wallāhu yuḥibbu al-muṭṭahhirīn.
"A masjid founded upon taqwā from its very first day is more worthy that you stand in it. In it are men who love to purify themselves, and Allāh loves those who purify themselves."
The majority opinion among scholars of tafsīr: this verse refers to Masjid Qubāʾ, because the contrast is with the Munāfiqīn's masjid nearby, and the Prophet ﷺ is being told to pray at this one instead. This reading is supported by a ḥadīth in Abū Dāwūd.
However, another authentic ḥadīth in Tirmidhī and Musnad Imām Aḥmad records that when someone asked the Prophet ﷺ directly which masjid the verse referred to, he said: "إِنَّهُ لَمَسْجِدِي هَذَا", Innahu la-masjidī hādhā, "It is indeed this masjid of mine", meaning Masjid al-Nabawī.
The reconciliation: both masjids qualify. Both were founded upon taqwā from their first day. The Prophet ﷺ's statement was not to exclude Qubāʾ but to prevent anyone from thinking Qubāʾ surpassed his own masjid in blessing. Both are legitimate references of the verse.
❧The Weekly Visit
After leaving Qubāʾ for Madinah, the Prophet ﷺ would return every single week, usually Mondays, to pray two rakʿāt in Masjid Qubāʾ, either walking or riding his camel. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib testified to this. And the Prophet ﷺ said: "مَنْ تَوَضَّأَ فِي بَيْتِهِ ثُمَّ صَلَّى فِي مَسْجِدِ قُبَاءَ كَانَ لَهُ كَأَجْرِ عُمْرَةٍ", "Whoever performs wuḍūʾ at his house and then prays in Masjid Qubāʾ will receive the reward of a complete ʿUmrah."
❧The People of Quba and Their Purification
The phrase "rijālun yuḥibbūna an yataṭahhharū" (men who love to purify themselves) prompted a direct question: why did Allāh praise them specifically for purification? When asked, the people of Qubāʾ said: we wash ourselves with water after using the restroom, in addition to wiping. Most people in that era would only wipe without water. The people of Qubāʾ added water as well. This ḥadīth (in the books of Ṭahārah) establishes that using water is better, though it is not wājib (obligatory). No scholar of Islam ever said it is mandatory. But it is preferred. And this is why the Islamic world's culture of istinjāʾ with water is praised in the Quran.
❧Departure to Madinah
On Thursday night, the Prophet ﷺ announced he would leave for Madinah the following morning. Preparations were made. On Friday morning he departed, accompanied by over 500 Anṣār who had dressed in their ceremonial attire.