Jawatha Mosque

{{Short description|Mosque in Saudi Arabia}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Jawatha Mosque | native_name = {{langx|ar|مَسْجِد جَوَاثَا}} | native_name_lang = | image = jawatha1.jpg | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = | map_type = Saudi Arabia | map_size = 250 | map_alt = | map_relief = yes | map_caption = | coordinates = {{Coord|25|28|11|N|49|40|43|E|type:landmark_region:SA|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_footnotes = | religious_affiliation = Sunni Islam | locale = | location = Al-Ahsa, Eastern Province | country = Saudi Arabia | deity = | rite = | sect = | tradition = | festival =  | cercle = | sector = | municipality = | district = | territory = | prefecture = | state = | province = | region = | administration = | consecration_year = | organisational_status = Mosque | functional_status = Active | heritage_designation = | ownership = | governing_body = | leadership = | bhattaraka = | patron = | religious_features_label = | religious_features = | architect = | architecture_type = {{nowrap|Mosque architecture}} | architecture_style = | founded_by = | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | year_completed = {{ubl|{{AH|7}} to {{AH|16}};|2007 {{small|(restoration)}}}} | groundbreaking = | established = | construction_cost = | date_demolished =  | facade_direction = | capacity = | length = | width = | width_nave = | interior_area = | height_max = | dome_quantity = | dome_height_outer = | dome_height_inner = | dome_dia_outer = | dome_dia_inner = | minaret_quantity = | minaret_height = | spire_quantity = | spire_height = | site_area = | temple_quantity = | monument_quantity = | shrine_quantity = | inscriptions = | materials = | elevation_m =  | elevation_footnotes = | nrhp = | designated = | added = | refnum = | designation1 = World Heritage Site | designation1_type = Cultural | designation1_criteria = iii, iv, v | designation1_date = 2018 | designation1_parent = Al-Ahsa Oasis, an Evolving Cultural Landscape | designation1_number = 1563-009 | footnotes = <ref name="JafariyaNews 08-2005"/><ref name="wa-al-MatāḥifWood1975"/> | website = }}

The '''Jawatha Mosque''' ({{langx|ar|مَسْجِد جَوَاثَا|Masjid Jawāthā}}), also incorrectly spelled ''Al-Jawan'', is a Sunni Islam mosque, located in the historic Jawatha area, about {{convert|12|km|mile|abbr=on}} northeast of Hofuf, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. It was the earliest known mosque built in eastern Arabia. Most of the original structure fell into ruins.<ref name="wa-al-MatāḥifWood1975">{{cite book |title=Saudi Arabia: Idārat al-Āthār wa-al-Matāḥif |author=Wood, Roger |chapter=An introduction to Saudi Arabian antiquities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5d4JAQAAIAAJ&q=jawatha |access-date=18 October 2010 |year=1975 |publisher=Dept. of Antiquities and Museums, Ministry of Education, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |page=151}}</ref> However, it was restored in 2007 by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, using a design similar to that of Masmak Fort in Riyadh.<ref name="madain">{{cite web |title=Jawatha Mosque |url=https://madainproject.com/jawatha_mosque |website=Madain Project |access-date=15 November 2023}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=November 2023|certain=y|reason=Madain is not a scholarly source and some of its pages copy content from Wikipedia. Some information there may be based on unsourced or poorly-sourced content previously in this article}}

==Construction== Sources give the date of the mosque's original construction as either {{AH|7}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Zami |first=M. Sharif |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GWJmAQAAQBAJ&dq=jawatha+mosque&pg=PA189 |title=Vernacular Heritage and Earthen Architecture: Contributions for Sustainable Development (Proceedings of CIAV 2013) |publisher=CRC Press |year=2014 |isbn=9781138000834 |editor-last=Correia |editor-first=Mariana |pages=189–193 |language=en |chapter=Conservation of architectural heritage in Saudi Arabia: The case study of Jawatha Mosque |editor-last2=Carlos |editor-first2=Gilberto |editor-last3=Rocha |editor-first3=Sandra}}</ref><ref name="JafariyaNews 08-2005" /> or {{AH|16}}.<ref name="wa-al-MatāḥifWood1975"/><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Peterson |first=J. E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nanODwAAQBAJ&dq=jawatha+mosque&pg=PR26 |title=Historical Dictionary of Saudi Arabia |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-5381-1980-8 |pages=xxvi, 35 |language=en}}</ref> It was built by the Bani Abd al-Qays tribe, which lived there before and during the early Islamic period.<ref name="JafariyaNews 08-2005" /><ref name=":0" /> This mosque is believed to be the first mosque built in Eastern Province and where the second Friday congregation prayer in Islam was offered, the first being held in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina.<ref name="JafariyaNews 08-2005">{{citation |author=Abdul-Ali |url=http://www.jafariyanews.com/2k5_news/aug/24jawatha_mosque.htm |title=Jawatha Mosque in danger of going down |publisher=Jafariya News |location=Al-Ahsa |date=August 24, 2005}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> According to legend, when the Hajr Al-Aswad (Black Stone) was stolen from Mecca by the Qarmatians, it was kept in this mosque for nearly 22 years.<ref name="madain"></ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=November 2023|certain=y|reason=Madain is not a scholarly source and some of its pages copy content from Wikipedia. Some information there may be based on unsourced or poorly-sourced content previously in this article}}

Before the 2007 restoration, most of the mosque's original structure had fallen apart, with only a small number of its arches surviving. These remains include two pointed keel arches from one arcade of the mosque and a part of the ''qibla'' wall consisting of three keel-arch niches, and probably dated to the 9th century CE.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> The central niche of the ''qibla'' wall is larger than the other two and acts as the mihrab, which projects from the outer side of the wall.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=King |first=Geoffrey R. D. |title=The historical mosques of Saudi Arabia |publisher=Longman |year=1986 |isbn=0582783925 |language=en|pages=168–169}}</ref>

== See also == {{stack|{{Portal|Saudi Arabia|Islam}}}} * Islam in Saudi Arabia * List of mosques in Saudi Arabia * Al-Ahsa Oasis * List of the oldest mosques

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:636 establishments Category:7th-century mosques Category:History of Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in the 630s Category:Sunni mosques in Saudi Arabia