That night after evening prayers I took an Uber to Masjid al-Quba which is the first mosque in Islam that was used by the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) himself. The mosque is absolutely beautiful in my opinion.
It’s got a selection of small-medium sized domes and an array of minarets. The building is completely white and the whole area is marble floored and smooth and also very clean. One regret that I do have is that I didn’t spend too much time inside the mosque itself beyond reading my prayers as I was gravitated outside the mosque and the nice area.
It is also a very family friendly place with small families exploring around with kids. A key difference I noticed was that the mosque area had a lot more women worshippers/visitors so I needed to be mindful about the entrance I was using as well as the Wudu/Toilet areas.
But this was the only thing. The prayer hall inside is quite vast and it reminded me of Masjid Aisha in Makkah. If you can, of course, I would recommend visiting, it is a lovely place which reminds me a lot of Regents Park Mosque in London, only more organised I would say and more open.
After exiting the mosque I took a bit of a walk around as well as took a lot of photos and images. It was very dark at this point but as there’s a lot of street lights, the images were quite good I think. After scouring the area for a bit I did find the entrance to the Garden of Salman al Farsi. This is a Garden right next to Masjid al-Quba where Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) planted some date trees himself for the freedom of Salman Al-Farsi.
It is also where he rested during his prophetic quest in Madinah. There is an entrance fee to the garden and because it was at night, I had planned to return during the daytime so I could see better, but unfortunately I never did get round to this. Something to keep in mind for my next trip!
Beyond the garden there is the Quba souk. This is a bit more modern than Quba walkway with nice cafes and supermarkets similarly or even better than what you’d find in Covent Garden in London. However, it is a bit overpriced I have to say. A little box of dates cost me SAR 23 whereas in Madinah Dates market, you can buy a kilo or so for SAR 20. It’s a nice supermarket with a range of Saudi products but a bit overpriced.
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