Masjid Banu Khatmah, and the List of Twenty-Five

Masjid Banu Khatmah is one of the small historic mosques of Madinah. Saudipedia includes it in its list of the mosques in the city where the Prophet ﷺ prayed.

That list is worth knowing about before you read any further, because it puts every small mosque in Madinah into perspective.

Twenty-five mosques

According to Saudipedia, the Prophet ﷺ prayed in twenty-five mosques in Madinah. Eighteen of them still stand. For the other seven, the location is known but the building does not survive as a mosque.

Masjid Banu Khatmah is in the group of eighteen that still exist.

So when someone tells you Madinah has "dozens of mosques where the Prophet prayed", the documented number is twenty-five, and the list is published. That is a useful thing to carry around.

What is recorded about it

The mosque stood among the dwellings of the Banu Khatmah, in the area known as Qurban.

The Madinah historians also record an alternative name for it: Masjid al-Ajuz, the Old Woman's Mosque. We have not found an explanation for that name that we can rely on, so we are passing on the name without inventing a story to go with it.

The historical descriptions place it near the grave of al-Bara' ibn Ma'rur, may Allah be pleased with him, one of the leaders of the Ansar who took part in the Pledge of Aqaba and who died shortly before the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Madinah.

The evidence, plainly

• That the Prophet ﷺ prayed in this mosque: recorded in the Madinah historical literature and carried into Saudipedia's published list. Level B documentation.
• The location among the Banu Khatmah at Qurban and the name Masjid al-Ajuz: from the same historical literature.
• A special reward for praying here: none that we know of.

We were not able to verify current access, opening times or the state of the building, and we are not going to guess at them.

Is visiting part of Hajj or Umrah?

No. Not a rite of either.

Honest verdict

This is one for a second or third trip.

If you have three days in Madinah, spend them on Quba, Uhud, Qiblatayn, the Trench area and as much time in the Prophet's Mosque as you can manage. Those are the sites where the evidence is strongest and the experience is worth the drive.

Masjid Banu Khatmah belongs to the long tail: real, documented, and modest. Worth seeing if you are working through the list of eighteen. Not worth displacing anything above.

Related

• Masjid Banu Anif — the most physically interesting of the small mosques.
• Masjid al-Manaratayn — another of the eighteen.
• Masjid al-Suqya — and the halt before Badr.
• Madinah Ziyarat guide — the whole city, site by site.

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 publishes a list of mosques in Madinah where the Prophet ﷺ prayed, giving the total as twenty-five, of which eighteen still exist and seven have a known location; Masjid Banu Khatmah appears among the eighteen. The location among the dwellings of the Banu Khatmah at Qurban, the alternative name Masjid al-Ajuz, and the position near the grave of al-Bara' ibn Ma'rur come from the historical literature of Madinah. We have found no reliable explanation for the alternative name and have not invented one. This is level B documentation rather than an authentic hadith naming the mosque. We could not verify current access, opening times or the state of the building and have not guessed. We know of no authentic report of a special reward for praying here. Visiting is not a rite of Hajj or Umrah. Content verified August 2026. Something to add? Tell us.