The Mosque of Umar ibn al-Khattab (مسجد عمر بن الخطاب) [1] is located in the historic town of Dumat al-Jandal (دُومَة ٱلْجَنْدَل,) [2]. The mosque, with its minaret, and the surrounding historical site rdiate age and history. I immediately fell in love with this complex, and then there's Qasr Marid, which I'll describe separately. It is one of the oldest mosques in the world; it was built between 634 and 644. “The importance of the mosque lies in its design because it represents the continuity of the design pattern of the first mosques. It is reminiscent of the design of the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina in its early stages.” [3]
It was assumed that Umar ibn al-Khattab had the mosque built while on his way to Jerusalem, hence its name, but the architecture does not support this. King [4] describes the minaret as completely different from any minarets he had encountered in Saudi Arabia. He suggests that this type of minaret dates back to a much earlier period than the third century CE. Charloux [5] points out that Dumat al-Jandal was already mentioned in Assyrian annals. There are pre-Islamic necropolises as well as proto-Islamic ones. He emphasizes that urgent cataloging work is needed, as thefts have already occurred.
Let's go down into the mosque. The north wall—and since that sounds like mountaineering—the qibla wall overlooks Qasr Marid Castle. Like all the buildings in the city, the mosque is made of drystone. There is a main prayer hall with the qibla and niches for the Qur'an; there is also a separate prayer room for women. Access to the mosque is through a door near the minaret. The prayer hall is formed by three rows of stone pillars [6].
A very important destination on a trip through Saudi Arabia!
Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar_ibn_al-Khattab_Mosque
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumat_al-Jandal
[3] https://madainproject.com/omar_ibn_alkhattab_mosque
[4] King, Geoffrey. “A Mosque Attributed to ‘Umar B. al-Khaṭṭāb in Dūmat al-Jandal in al-Jawf, Saudi Arabia.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, no. 2, 1978, pp. 109–23. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25210953. Accessed 1 Dec. 2025. Contains lots of old pictures.
[5] Charloux, Guillaume. “Known and Unknown Archaeological Monuments in the Dūmat Al-Jandal Oasis in Saudi Arabia: A Review.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, vol. 42, 2012, pp. 41–55. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41623627. Accessed 1 Dec. 2025.
[6] https://www.archnet.org/sites/3796
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