Bay’ah Mosque: A Mosque Commemorating the Aqaba Pledge

Site at a Glance

Rating

★4.8

Popularity

Medium

Country

Saudi Arabia

Primary era

Medieval

External website

Open ↗

Eras represented

Medieval

Civilizations

Abbasid

Site type

Religious

Remains

Mosque

History

The Aqaba Pledge

Bay’ah Mosque is a Sunni mosque in Saudi Arabia, at Al Mashair near Makkah, associated with the Bay’ah of Aqaba, a pledge made before the migration to Medina. The present mosque was built in 761 during the Abbasid period on the site linked with that event.

In 621, during the thirteenth year of Muhammad’s prophetic mission, twelve men from Yathrib, the earlier name of Medina, met him at this location. Ten belonged to the Khazraj and two to the Aws, two groups from the city. They pledged to worship only God, avoid theft, adultery, infanticide, slander, and malicious speech, obey Muhammad as a prophet, fulfil God’s commands, and remain loyal in prosperity and adversity. Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib was also present.

The pledge offered Muhammad migration to Yathrib and promised him support and protection there. Muhammad and his companions later migrated to Medina after persecution by the Quraysh, the leading tribal group in Mecca during his lifetime, intensified. The mosque’s alternative names, Aqaba Mosque and Mosque of Aqaba Hill, preserve its connection with the place of the pledge.

Abbasid Construction and Later Renewals

The Abbasid caliph Abu Ja’far al-Mansur, who ruled from 754 to 775, ordered the mosque’s construction in 761. The Abbasid Caliphate was a major Islamic ruling dynasty that came to power in 750. Two inscriptions, one on the qibla wall, the wall facing the Kaaba, and another on the southern wall, record this construction.

A later rebuilding or restoration took place under the Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir during the thirteenth century. The mosque then underwent several further renewals during the Islamic period, preserving the building’s association with the pledge while changing parts of its physical fabric.

Modern Restoration and Visibility

Restoration and repairs carried out under King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud kept the mosque within its historical boundaries. The works included an iron fence around the building and a nearby water tank for pilgrims during the Days of Tashriq, the days immediately following the major rites of the Hajj.

The mosque had formerly been concealed behind Aqaba Hill. The Jamarat expansion projects in 2007 made it more visible, turning it into a recognizable landmark among the historical sites of Mecca and the sacred pilgrimage area. Rehabilitation and restoration later began under the second phase of Mohammed bin Salman’s Historical Mosques Development Project, with Bay’ah Mosque as the first site targeted in the Mecca region during that phase.

Remains

Setting and Approach

Bay’ah Mosque stands at the foot of Mount Thabir, in a ravine identified as the Ravine of the Bay’ah or Ravine of the Ansar. The mountain surrounds the site to the north, east, and northeast. The mosque lies about 300 metres from the Aqaba Jamarat, one of the ritual stoning sites in Mina visited during the Hajj. A paved road separates the building from the Jamarat area, with one description giving the road a width of approximately 100 metres.

Courtyard and Arcades

The building consists of an open courtyard preceded by a covered canopy. In front of the prayer niche is a prayer forecourt approximately 45 metres long, extending about 45 metres toward the mosque’s northern side. An earlier architectural description records two roofed arcades, each covered by three domes carried on four arches, with the open courtyard behind them. The building had two doors on its northern side and two on its southern side, while each arcade had three doors leading to ground level.

That description gives each arcade a length of about 23 cubits and a width of 14 cubits. It measures the courtyard at approximately 24.5 cubits from north to south and 23.5 cubits across, while the distance from the mihrab, the prayer niche marking the direction of the Kaaba, to the far end of the courtyard was about 38 1/6 iron cubits. The account also describes much of the mosque as being in ruins at that time, without establishing whether these measurements belonged to the original building or to a later restoration.

Modern Building

In its modern form, the mosque is rectangular and covers approximately 500 square metres. Its northern side measures about 27.90 metres, while the eastern side is about 17 metres. The wall of the qibla arcade is approximately 7 metres high and 6.85 metres long. The eastern wall reaches about 4 metres, and the other arcade wall extending from north to south is approximately 3.20 metres high.

Water Tank

A water tank stands south of the mosque, separated from it by a road approximately 7.20 metres wide. It serves pilgrims in Mina during the Days of Tashriq.