THE visiting worshippers to Madinah are enamored by the view of the ten minarets of the Prophet's Mosque, which is considered an Islamic architectural landmark.

Worshippers are guided by these minarets to the mosque, which can be seen from all angles due to their heights.

Through history these minarets were the outlet to carry the adhan, the call for prayer, since Bilal Bin Rabah (Allah be pleased with him), the first muezzin in the days of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

The Prophet’s Mosque has undergone many developments in history, but since the reign of the Saudi state it has witnessed huge improvements at various levels to accommodate more worshippers whose numbers are increasing annually.

The late King Abdul Aziz made the first improvements in the Saudi era between 1370 and 1375 AH, and kept the two minarets in the southern corner of the mosque and demolished the other three to build instead two new minarets at the northern corner. Each of the minarets is 70 meters high.

Each minaret consists of four floors, the first is in a square shape and goes all the way up to the roof and ends with a balcony in a square shape. The second is designed in an octagon form and the walls are built high to the ceiling ending with triangles and attached by a balcony as well. The third is designed in a way that can carry a circle shaped balcony at the top, while the fourth is designed in a circle shape carrying pillars decorated by triangles at the top end and above it a balcony.

The expansion of the Prophet’s Mosque continued during 1406 to 1414 AH and six minarets with height of 104 meters were added taking their number to 10. The new minarets were designed in harmony with the existing ones during the first expansion works. Four of these minarets are lined on the northern side; the fifth on the southern east side of the extension of the mosque and the sixth is located at the southwestern corner of the mosque.

The Prophet’s Mosque continued to undergo more expansions especially in 1434 AH where the mosque underwent a major expansion, increasing its capacity to reach 2 million worshipers at the end of the project, which is considered the largest in the history of the mosque, and the most prominent Islamic event in all parts of the globe.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman continued the process of giving in the service of the two holy mosques.

He stressed his keenness to follow up the work on the major expansion project of the Prophet's Mosque and related projects, which aim to serve Islam and Muslims from all over the world. It also seeks to serve the people of Madinah and its visitors by a continuous follow-up by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman and the direct supervision of Madinah Emir Prince Faisal Bin Salman. — Al-Arabiya English