Short answer: by the Quran and Sunnah, the oldest mosque in the world is al-Masjid al-Haram around the Kaaba in Makkah, followed by al-Aqsa in Jerusalem (Sahih al-Bukhari 3366). The first mosque the Prophet ﷺ built was Quba, near Madinah, in 622 CE. In the United States, the first known mosque congregation met in Biddeford, Maine, in 1915; the first purpose-built mosque was in Ross, North Dakota, around 1929; and the oldest one still standing is the Mother Mosque of America in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, opened in 1934.
The oldest mosque in the world
The Quran calls the Kaaba "the first House [of worship] established for mankind" (3:96). Abu Dharr asked the Prophet ﷺ which mosque was set up first on earth. He said al-Masjid al-Haram. Then which? He said al-Masjid al-Aqsa. How long between them? Forty years (Sahih al-Bukhari 3366; Sahih Muslim 520).
So in Islamic belief, the two oldest mosques are the Sacred Mosque in Makkah and al-Aqsa in Jerusalem. Their present buildings are much later: see our posts on the Kaaba and al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock.
Quba: the first mosque the Prophet ﷺ built
When the Prophet ﷺ arrived from Makkah on the Hijrah in 622 CE, he stayed some days at Quba, a village on the edge of Madinah, and founded a mosque there before entering the city. Most commentators say this verse refers to it:
لَا تَقُمْ فِيهِ أَبَدًۭا ۚ لَّمَسْجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى ٱلتَّقْوَىٰ مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ أَحَقُّ أَن تَقُومَ فِيهِ ۚ فِيهِ رِجَالٌۭ يُحِبُّونَ أَن يَتَطَهَّرُوا۟ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُطَّهِّرِينَ ﴿١٠٨﴾
Laa taqum feehi abadaa; lamasjidun ussisa 'alat taqwaa min awwali yawmin ahaqqu an taqooma feeh; feehi rijaaluny yuhibbona ai yatatahharoo, wallaahu yuhibbul mmuttah hireen
Do not stand [for prayer] within it - ever. A mosque founded on righteousness from the first day is more worthy for you to stand in. Within it are men who love to purify themselves; and Allah loves those who purify themselves.
Quran 9:108 · Sahih International · Read Surah At-Tawbah
The Prophet ﷺ used to visit Quba every Saturday, walking or riding, and pray two rakahs there (Sahih al-Bukhari 1193; Sahih Muslim 1399). He said: "Whoever purifies himself at home, then comes to the mosque of Quba and prays in it, has a reward like that of an Umrah" (Sunan Ibn Majah 1412, graded sahih by al-Albani).
The early mosques, with dates
For the first decades of Islam, dates in the sources are solid for Arabia and the garrison cities. For mosques far from the centre, local tradition often claims an early date that historians cannot confirm. We mark which is which.
| Mosque | Place | Date (CE) | How sure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masjid Quba | Madinah, Saudi Arabia | 622 | Sure: sira and hadith |
| Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet's Mosque) | Madinah, Saudi Arabia | 622 | Sure: built by the Prophet ﷺ and the Companions on arrival |
| Masjid al-Qiblatayn | Madinah, Saudi Arabia | 624 (2 AH) | Tradition: where the change of qibla is said to have reached a congregation mid-prayer |
| Jawatha Mosque | Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia | In the Prophet's ﷺ lifetime (exact year unknown) | The first Jumuah outside Madinah was held at Jawatha (Sahih al-Bukhari 892). The present building is a later reconstruction |
| Huaisheng Mosque | Guangzhou, China | Tradition: 627 | Doubtful: the story that a Companion founded it is not in early sources. Historians date the building to the Tang or Song dynasty |
| Cheraman Juma Masjid | Kodungallur, Kerala, India | Tradition: 629 | Debated: local tradition ties it to a king of the Chera dynasty; historians argue for a later date |
| Mosque of Amr ibn al-As | Fustat (Cairo), Egypt | 641 to 642 | Sure as a foundation date; the building has been rebuilt many times |
| Great Mosques of Basra and Kufa | Iraq | 635 to 638 | Sure as foundation dates; nothing of the first buildings survives |
| Great Mosque of Kairouan (Uqba Mosque) | Kairouan, Tunisia | 670 | Founded by Uqba ibn Nafi. The present building is mostly 9th century, among the oldest standing in the Muslim world |
| Umayyad Mosque | Damascus, Syria | 705 to 715 | Sure: built by the caliph al-Walid I; much of the original structure survives |
Claims for "the oldest mosque in Africa" or "in Asia" outside Arabia are best read this way: the foundation tradition is old and loved, but the earliest firm evidence is usually later. Masjid al-Sahabah in Massawa, Eritrea, and the mosque of Negash in Ethiopia are linked by tradition with the Companions who made the first Hijrah to Abyssinia in 615, but there is no firm date for either building.
The first mosques in the United States
Muslims reached America long before any mosque was built. Historians estimate that a significant minority of the Africans brought as slaves were Muslim. Some left writings in Arabic, such as Omar ibn Said in North Carolina, whose autobiography is dated 1831, and Bilali Muhammad on Sapelo Island, Georgia, whose Arabic manuscript survives. They prayed where they could, but no mosque buildings from that time are known.
| Year | Mosque | Place | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | Albanian Muslim congregation | Biddeford, Maine | The earliest known mosque congregation in the US, according to the Pluralism Project at Harvard |
| 1921 (some sources: 1923) | Highland Park Mosque | Highland Park, Michigan | An early mosque in the Detroit area, serving Muslim workers drawn by the car factories |
| c. 1929 (some sources: 1920) | Ross Mosque | Ross, North Dakota | Usually called the first purpose-built mosque in the US, built by Syrian and Lebanese homesteaders. It was torn down in 1979 and a new one was built on the site in 2005 |
| 1934 | Mother Mosque of America | Cedar Rapids, Iowa | The oldest purpose-built mosque still standing in the US. It is on the National Register of Historic Places |
| 1957 | Islamic Center of Washington | Washington, DC | Dedicated with President Eisenhower present |
Sources disagree on several of these dates, mostly over what counts as a mosque: a rented room where a community prayed, or a building made for prayer. We give the most widely cited year and note the others.
The first mosques in Canada, the UK and the UAE
- Canada: the Al Rashid Mosque in Edmonton, Alberta, opened in 1938, is the oldest mosque in Canada. It was moved to Fort Edmonton Park in 1992 to save it from demolition.
- United Kingdom: the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking, Surrey, built in 1889, is the first purpose-built mosque in Britain. In the same year, Abdullah Quilliam opened the Liverpool Muslim Institute in a converted terraced house.
- United Arab Emirates: the Al Bidya Mosque in Fujairah is the oldest known mosque in the UAE. Archaeologists have dated it to around the 15th century; the year 1446, often quoted, comes from radiocarbon dating, and some estimates are later. It is still used for prayer.
Find the prayer times for your city on our prayer times pages, and the dua for entering the masjid on our mosque dua page.
Questions
What is the oldest mosque in the world?
In Islamic belief, al-Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, then al-Aqsa in Jerusalem (Sahih al-Bukhari 3366). The first mosque the Prophet ﷺ built was Quba, near Madinah, in 622 CE.
What was the first mosque in the US?
The first known mosque congregation met in Biddeford, Maine, in 1915. The first purpose-built mosque was in Ross, North Dakota, around 1929. The oldest still standing is the Mother Mosque of America in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (1934).
What is the oldest mosque in America still standing?
The Mother Mosque of America in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, completed in 1934 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
What was the first mosque built by the Prophet ﷺ?
Masjid Quba, on the edge of Madinah, built when he arrived on the Hijrah in 622 CE. Masjid al-Nabawi in Madinah followed soon after.
Is the Huaisheng Mosque in China from the time of the Companions?
Local tradition says so, but the story is not found in early sources. Historians date it to the Tang or Song dynasty, so several centuries later.
Sources
- Quran 3:96, 9:108. Translation by Sahih International.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 892, 1193, 3366; Sahih Muslim 520, 1399. Sunan Ibn Majah 1412, graded sahih by al-Albani.
- Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, on the founding of Quba and the Prophet's Mosque.
- Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair, Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture (Oxford, 2009), on Kairouan, Damascus, Fustat, Basra and Kufa. Encyclopaedia of Islam (Brill), entry Masdjid.
- The Pluralism Project, Harvard University, Early American Mosques; Mother Mosque of America, History; US National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Mother Mosque.
- Sylviane Diouf, Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas (NYU Press, 1998, 2013), on Omar ibn Said and Bilali Muhammad.
- Fort Edmonton Park, Al Rashid Mosque. Historic England, Shah Jahan Mosque, Woking. Fujairah Tourism and Antiquities Authority, Al Bidya Mosque.
The dates and facts on this page come from the sources listed. Where historians differ, we say so. The religious content is pending review by the scholars on our team.