The original mosque was built by Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w), next to the house where he settled after his journey to al-Madinah in 622 AD. The original mosque was an open-air building with a raised platform for the reading of the Qur'an. It was a rectangular enclosure of 30 m × 35 m (98 ft × 110 ft), built with palm trunks and mud walls, and accessed through three doors: Bab Rahmah to the south, Bab Jibril to the west and Bab al-Nisa' to the east. The basic plan of the building has since been adopted in the building of other mosques throughout the world.
Inside, Muhammad (s.a.w) created a shaded area to the south called the suffah and aligned the prayer space facing north towards Jerusalem. When the qibla (prayer direction) was changed to face the Kaaba in Mecca, the mosque was re-oriented to the south. The mosque also served as a community center, a court, and a religious school. Seven years later (629 AD/7 AH), the mosque was doubled in size to accommodate the increasing number of Muslims.
Betapa ringkas bentuk masjid tersebut. Asalkan ianya mampu diimarahkan seperti disarankan Rasullullah SAW, rekabentuk ringkas adalah memadai dalam pembinaan sesebuah masjid.
Masjid murah kos dan ringkas tetapi selalu diimarahkan oleh umat Islam adalah lebih baik dari Masjid berharga berjuta-juta ringgit dan penuh dengan keindahan architecture terkini dan moden tetapi tidak diimarahkan oleh umat Islam.
Apa yang disembah oleh umat Islam ialah Allah SWT, bukannya keindahan dunia (contohnya: keindahan masjid).
Apa yang disembah oleh umat Islam ialah Allah SWT, bukannya keindahan dunia (contohnya: keindahan masjid).
Maksud sebuah Hadis yang diriwayatkan oleh Anas bin Malik r.a. Bahawasanya Rasullullah SAW bersabda:
"Tidak berlaku (terjadi) hari kiamat sehingga umatku bermegah-megah (dengan binaan) masjid".