Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque

This guide to the Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque in Medina traces an open patch of ground in the district of Manakha where the Prophet Muhammad once led prayer under open sky, with no walls and no roof, for the Eid festivals and for rain. Nearly three decades later, as the city dug a defensive trench against invasion, tradition holds that Ali, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, kept watch here alone through the night, guarding an edge with nowhere left to retreat. Decades on, the governor Umar ibn Abdul Aziz ordered mosques built over every spot where the Prophet had prayed.