Masjid al-Qursah, and the Seven Mosques You Cannot Visit

Masjid al-Qursah is one of the mosques in Madinah where the Prophet ﷺ is recorded as having prayed, and one you cannot go and visit.

That sounds like a contradiction. It is not, and understanding why is genuinely useful before you plan a Ziyarat day.

The list, and the two groups on it

Saudipedia publishes a list of the mosques in Madinah where the Prophet ﷺ prayed. The total is twenty-five, and they fall into two groups.

Eighteen still exist. These are buildings you can stand in front of, and in many cases pray in: the Prophet's Mosque, Quba, al-Jumu'ah, al-Qiblatayn, al-Mustarah, al-Ijabah, Banu Haram, al-Sajdah, al-Suqya, al-Tawbah, al-Adna, al-Manaratayn, Misbah, Banu Bayadah, al-Rayah, al-Shaykhayn, al-Fath and Banu Khatmah.

Seven have a known location. Historians know where the mosque stood. There is no mosque of that name standing there now.

The seven are: Banu Zafar (al-Baghla), al-Qursah, Banu Qurayzah, al-Fadikh, Banu Juhaynah and Bali, Atban ibn Malik, and the prayer area at Sha'b al-Jarrar.

Masjid al-Qursah is in the second group.

What "known location" means in practice

It means the Madinah historians, working from the early sources and from continuous local knowledge, can say roughly where a mosque stood. It does not mean there is a signposted spot, a preserved wall, or anything to photograph.

Madinah has been rebuilt many times over fourteen centuries, and rebuilt very heavily in the last fifty years. Whole quarters have gone under roads and apartment blocks. That is what happened to most of the seven.

So if a guide offers to take you to Masjid al-Qursah, the honest question is: take you to what?

What we could and could not verify

Being straight about this is more useful than filling the page.

• Verified: Masjid al-Qursah appears on Saudipedia's published list, in the group whose location is known.
• Not verified: a specific narration describing what happened there.
• Not verified: the exact modern location, any marker, or any access.
• Not verified: the meaning behind the name, on which we found nothing we could rely on.

We are not going to write three paragraphs of atmosphere around a name. If you have a sourced reference for this mosque, we would genuinely like to see it.

How to use this

Treat the twenty-five as a checklist you can actually verify claims against.

When someone tells you a mosque in Madinah is one where the Prophet ﷺ prayed, you can now ask which group it is in. If it is one of the eighteen, there is a building to see. If it is one of the seven, there is a location and a piece of history. If it is on neither list, ask for the source before you spend an hour driving there.

That is a small piece of knowledge that will save you time on every Madinah trip you ever take.

Is any of this part of Hajj or Umrah?

No. None of the twenty-five, apart from the obligation to pray wherever you are, involves a rite of Hajj or Umrah. Only Masjid Quba among them carries a sound hadith giving a specific reward for praying in it.

Honest verdict

There is nothing to visit. Spend the time in Masjid an-Nabawi, which is where almost every pilgrim wishes afterwards they had spent more of it.

Related

• Masjid Banu Khatmah — one of the eighteen, with the list explained.
• Masjid Banu Zafar — another of the seven, with a strong hadith attached.
• Banu Qurayzah — another of the seven.
• Madinah Ziyarat guide — the sites that are actually worth your day.

Getting there

Madinah's smaller historic sites are scattered, and reaching them one taxi at a time turns a short list into a whole morning. Our Madinah Ziyarat private car covers the round on one fixed fare for the whole vehicle with the driver waiting at every stop, and the Madinah Ziyarat tour is the guided version. For arrival, the Madinah airport transfer has fixed fares.

Accuracy note

Saudipedia publishes a list of mosques in Madinah where the Prophet ﷺ prayed, giving the total as twenty-five: eighteen that still exist and seven whose location is known. Masjid al-Qursah appears in the second group, alongside Banu Zafar (al-Baghla), Banu Qurayzah, al-Fadikh, Banu Juhaynah and Bali, Atban ibn Malik, and the prayer area at Sha'b al-Jarrar. We could not verify a specific narration describing an event at Masjid al-Qursah, its exact modern location, any marker or access, or the meaning behind its name, and we have said so rather than filling the gap. Among the twenty-five, only Masjid Quba carries a sound hadith giving a specific reward for praying in it. Visiting is not a rite of Hajj or Umrah. Content verified August 2026. If you hold a sourced reference for this mosque, please send it to us and we will update the page.