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Sacred sitesThe Seven Mosques and the Trench
A cluster of small historic mosques on the western slope of Mount Sala marks where the Muslims kept watch during the siege of Medina in 627 CE — one of the city's most atmospheric ziyarat stops.
Why there are mosques on a hillside
In 627 CE (5 AH) a coalition of Meccan Quraysh, the Ghatafan and allied tribes — perhaps ten thousand fighters — marched on Medina. On the advice of the companion Salman al-Farsi, the Muslims dug a defensive ditch across the city's exposed northern approach, an unheard-of tactic in Arabia, and manned it for weeks of siege. The full story is told on the Battle of the Trench page. The command posts and watch positions during the siege lay along the western slope of Mount Sala, a low black hill inside today's city, and in the generations that followed, small mosques were raised on the spots associated with the Prophet Muhammad and his leading companions. That cluster became known as Sab'u Masajid — the Seven Mosques.
Which seven?
Counting them has always been slightly elastic. Only six small mosques actually stand on the slope, and traditional lists reached seven either by counting Masjid al-Qiblatayn, a short distance away, or by including a now-vanished mosque of Fatimah's sister site. The names attach the buildings to the figures said to have been stationed or to have prayed there:
| Mosque | Association | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Masjid al-Fath | The Prophet Muhammad | The largest, on the spot where he is reported to have prayed for victory ("fath") during the siege; the answered prayer gives the whole site its focus |
| Masjid Salman al-Farsi | Salman al-Farsi | Honours the companion whose Persian siege-craft suggested the trench |
| Masjid Abu Bakr | Abu Bakr as-Siddiq | Small domed structure below al-Fath |
| Masjid Umar | Umar ibn al-Khattab | Just south of Abu Bakr's mosque |
| Masjid Ali | Ali ibn Abi Talib | Recalls his duel with the champion Amr ibn Abd Wudd, one of the few combats of the siege |
| Masjid Fatimah | Fatimah az-Zahra | The smallest, a few metres square |
| (Seventh) | Varies by list | Traditionally Masjid al-Qiblatayn, counted in to make seven |
How firmly each attribution rests on early sources varies — these are commemorative buildings, mostly Ottoman-era rebuildings of medieval structures, not seventh-century survivals. They mark memory more than masonry, and honest guides say so.
The site today
The six historic mosques are tiny — some barely a room with a dome — and they are preserved as heritage structures rather than working prayer halls. Congregational prayer on the site moved to the large modern Al-Khandaq Mosque built beside the cluster, which serves the five daily prayers. Visitors walk the stepped paths between the old buildings, read the site panels, and look north across the district where the trench itself once ran; no trace of the ditch survives under the modern city, though the line of Mount Sala and the ridges makes the defensive logic easy to grasp on the ground.
How to visit
- Location: western Medina, at the foot of Mount Sala, roughly 3–4 km from the Prophet's Mosque — about ten minutes by taxi or ride-hail (transport guide).
- Combine it: the site sits naturally between Masjid al-Qiblatayn and the return to the centre on the classic half-day circuit that also takes in Quba and Mount Uhud — see the itineraries.
- Time needed: 30–45 minutes covers the whole cluster at a relaxed pace.
- Find it: the compound and each named mosque are pinned on the interactive map.
For the military and political background — the coalition, the weeks of stalemate, the storm that broke the siege and what the outcome meant for Medina — read the full account of the Battle of the Trench.