Masjid Banu Haram: Where Jabir Fed the Whole Camp

Masjid Banu Haram stands on the western side of Mount Sela' in Madinah, in the quarter where the clan of Banu Haram lived. During the Battle of the Trench the Muslim camp was in this area.

It is a small mosque, and it is attached to one of the best-loved stories in Sahih al-Bukhari.

Jabir's dinner

The story is told by Jabir ibn Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, whose family home was in this quarter.

During the digging of the trench, in cold weather and with the men working on almost nothing, Jabir noticed that the Prophet ﷺ was clearly hungry. He went home, and he and his wife killed a young goat and ground a small measure of barley into flour for bread.

He came back and quietly invited the Prophet ﷺ to come and eat, meaning him and one or two others, because that was all the food there was.

The Prophet ﷺ called out to the whole camp to come to Jabir's meal.

Jabir's account of his own reaction is preserved, and it is very human: he says words to the effect that he was appalled, knowing exactly how little food was waiting. His wife asked whether he had told the Prophet ﷺ how little there was. He had.

They all ate. The sources record that around a thousand men were fed from that pot and that bread, and that food was left over.

This is in Sahih al-Bukhari. It is level A.

Why the story lands

Because of the detail Jabir keeps in. He was embarrassed. He had invited one man and been overheard by an army. He tells the story against himself, and that is exactly why it reads as true.

The house is gone. The quarter is built over. The mosque marks the area, and the account is in the strongest collection there is.

The cave

Near the mosque is what people call the Bani Haram cave, associated with the Prophet ﷺ praying there and staying some nights.

Evidence level: that association comes through the later collections, including Majma' al-Zawa'id, rather than from Bukhari or Muslim. Treat it as traditional. It is not established the way Jabir's account is, and anyone presenting the cave as certain is going past the sources.

Jabir's family

Worth knowing while you are standing there. Jabir's father, Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Haram, was killed at Uhud and is buried at the martyrs' cemetery.

So the man who fed the army during the Trench had lost his father in the battle two years earlier, and still killed his goat for the camp.

The evidence, plainly

• Jabir's meal during the digging: level A, Sahih al-Bukhari.
• The Muslim camp being in this quarter: established in the seerah literature.
• That this mosque marks the exact site of the house: historical tradition, level B.
• The cave: traditional, from the later collections. Level C.
• A reward for praying here: none that we know of.

Is visiting part of Hajj or Umrah?

No. Not a rite of either.

Visiting

• Ten minutes. It is small and there is little to see.
• It is near the Trench cluster, on the west side of Mount Sela', so combine them.
• Do not scramble around looking for the cave. The ground is rough and the identification is not established.
• Tell the story to whoever you are travelling with. That is the actual value of the stop.

Nearby

• The Battle of the Trench — the siege Jabir was digging for.
• The Seven Mosques — on the other side of the same mountain.
• Mount Sela' — the ridge this quarter sits against.
• Madinah Ziyarat guide — the full list with evidence levels.

Getting there

Madinah's smaller historic mosques are scattered across the city, 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

Jabir ibn Abdullah's account of the meal during the digging of the trench, including the young goat, the small measure of barley, the invitation and the whole camp being fed, is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari. The Muslim camp being based in the quarter of Banu Haram during the siege is established in the seerah literature. That this mosque marks the exact site of Jabir's house is historical tradition, level B. The association of the nearby cave with the Prophet ﷺ praying and staying there comes through the later collections, including Majma' al-Zawa'id, rather than Bukhari or Muslim, and we have marked it as traditional rather than established. Jabir's father, Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Haram, being killed at Uhud is established in the hadith and seerah literature. We know of no authentic report of a reward for praying in this mosque. Visiting is not a rite of Hajj or Umrah. Content verified August 2026. Something to fix? Tell us.