This is the mosque of “Qoba”. It is said to be the first mosque built by Mohammad (S) in Medina. As you stare at its magnificent white edifice you can’t help feeling that before you stands not an outstanding white stature but a simple stone wall covered with a roof made of palm branches. A wall built by the hands of the Prophet, a building founded on piety and only worthy of the pious to pray in. This is the place to practice piety and purification! And you wish you could practice both in its elutriated space everyday for we humans are forgetful, very forgetful!

The Mosque of “Qeblatyn” or “The two Kiblahs’” is the mosque in which Mohammad read half of his noon prayer toward Bait-ul-Moqadas (Jerusalem) and the other half in the direction of the Ka’aba with all the followers praying behind him. For they too turned from their incessant Kiblah toward the new direction following the steps of the great Prophet of God.

In the holy space inside the mosque the story of the Kiblah’s change fills your thoughts. “Verily we see the turning of thy face in heaven so we shall turn thee toward a “kiblah” thou shalt be pleased with. Turn then thy face toward the Sacred Mosque; and whenever you be (in prayers) turn ye your faces toward it; verily those who have been given the Book know it is the Truth from their lord; and God is not heedless of what they do.”* After passing by the magnificent dazzling mosques of Qoba and Qeblateyn you come upon a simple, plain and humble building known as the mosque of “Salman”! It is a small, short structure, which your eye perceives without disturbance from the sunlight and your feeling enjoys without fascination from its great height. It’s only the spiritual glory of the mosque that calls you to itself as you sense a strange feeling of connection with the owner of its name. Salman Farsi! Mohammad’s Iranian companion, the Prophet’s amorous and aware companion! He is the man who proposed digging a ditch during the war of Ahzab and thus saved the Muslims from defeat. Salman, the everlasting plain example of love and knowledge for all Iranian Muslims!

As you leave the mosque of Salman you catch several stone steps leading to a mosque standing on a mountain’s slope. The mosque of “Fath” (victory)! It is the place where Mohammad stationed himself during the war of Ahzab, the place where he attempted to pray for the victory of the Muslim troops and the place where God granted his prayer.

The building like the mosque of Salman is simple and plain, its scented space full of the feeling of trust in God. A mosque that only eyes filled with faith and knowledge behold as a gleaming bridge leading from dust to heavens above. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ * Holy Qur’an by S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali Published by Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an, Inc.