Masjid al-Tawbah and the Pillar of Repentance: Two Different Places

There are two different things in Madinah called the mosque, or the pillar, of repentance, and searching for one will usually get you the other. Sorting that out is the most useful thing this page can do.

• Masjid al-Tawbah is a small historic mosque, listed by Saudipedia among the mosques in Madinah where the Prophet ﷺ prayed. Reports place it in the al-Usbah area, on the Quba side of the city.
• Ustuwanat al-Tawbah, the Pillar of Repentance, is a marked column inside Masjid an-Nabawi, also called the Pillar of Abu Lubabah.

Most people searching for "the mosque of repentance in Madinah" actually want the second one.

The Pillar of Abu Lubabah

This is the story people are looking for, and it is worth telling properly.

Abu Lubabah, may Allah be pleased with him, was from the Aws, who had long-standing ties with Banu Qurayzah. After the siege of the Trench, he was sent to speak with them. When they asked him what would happen if they surrendered, he gestured across his throat.

He realised immediately what he had done. The sources record that he went straight to the Prophet's Mosque and tied himself to a palm trunk, saying he would not move until Allah forgave him, or until the Prophet ﷺ himself untied him.

He stayed there for days. When the forgiveness came, the Prophet ﷺ untied him with his own hands.

The column marking that place inside Masjid an-Nabawi is Ustuwanat al-Tawbah. If you are inside the mosque near the Rawdah and you see a column with a name plate, this is likely to be one of the marked pillars.

Evidence note: the episode of Abu Lubabah is carried in the seerah and tafsir literature, and commentators connect it with the verse in Surah al-Tawbah about those who acknowledged their sins, mixing a good deed with a bad one. It is level B historical reporting rather than a narration in Bukhari or Muslim, and we are labelling it that way.

Masjid al-Tawbah itself

The small mosque of that name is a separate site. Saudipedia includes it among the eighteen surviving mosques in Madinah where the Prophet ﷺ prayed. Reports place it in the al-Usbah area, near Quba, which is the same neighbourhood as Masjid Banu Anif.

We were not able to confirm from an official source the exact street, current access or opening times, so we are not going to state them. If your driver knows it, good; if he does not, the al-Usbah area near Quba is where to ask.

As with the other small mosques on that side of the city, no special prayer or reward for praying there is authentically reported.

The part worth carrying

Abu Lubabah did not make excuses. He did not explain that it was a gesture, that he had been under pressure, that his tribe had put him in an impossible position. All of that was true.

He tied himself to a post and stayed there.

And the Prophet ﷺ untied him personally. Not a message sent, not a delegation. He came and did it himself.

You do not need a permit, a taxi or a guide for that lesson. It travels.

Is any of this part of Hajj or Umrah?

No. Neither the mosque nor the pillar is a rite of Hajj or Umrah. There is no prescribed prayer at the pillar and no reported reward for praying beside it. Do not push through a crowd to reach a column.

Visiting

• For the pillar: it is inside Masjid an-Nabawi, in the old section. If you have a Rawdah permit you may pass near the marked columns, but do not treat finding one as the goal of your visit.
• For the mosque: ask in the al-Usbah area near Quba, and combine it with Quba and Masjid Banu Anif.
• Be clear which one you mean when you ask anyone. That is the whole point of this page.

Related

• The Rawdah — the area the marked pillars stand in.
• Masjid an-Nabawi — the mosque itself.
• The Battle of the Trench — the siege that led to Abu Lubabah's errand.
• Masjid Banu Anif — in the same area as the small mosque.

Getting there

Madinah's smaller historic mosques 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 includes Masjid al-Tawbah among the eighteen surviving mosques in Madinah where the Prophet ﷺ prayed. Reports place it in the al-Usbah area near Quba; we could not confirm the exact street, current access or opening times from an official source and have not stated them. The Pillar of Repentance, Ustuwanat al-Tawbah, is a separate marked column inside Masjid an-Nabawi and is a different thing from the mosque of that name. The episode of Abu Lubabah, his gesture to Banu Qurayzah, his tying himself to a palm trunk in the mosque and the Prophet ﷺ untying him after the forgiveness came, is carried in the seerah and tafsir literature, where commentators connect it with the verse in Surah al-Tawbah about those who acknowledged their sins; this is level B historical reporting rather than a narration in Sahih al-Bukhari or Sahih Muslim. No prescribed prayer or reported reward attaches to the pillar or to the mosque, and neither is a rite of Hajj or Umrah. Content verified August 2026. Correction? Tell us.