The doors of the Grand Mosque have received the attention of rulers and wealthy people, as they bore the decorations, inscriptions and writings of the beautiful and wonderful verses of the Qur’an and gave names to them that were related to the location of the door and its relationship with the surrounding environment or the name of one of the rulers or sultans. The doors of the Grand Mosque began with the beginning of the construction of Makkah around the honorable Kaaba, where the houses surrounded the Sacred House from all sides. There were left between them lanes or roads that eventually ended with openings to enter it, which the sources named the doors. What is meant by naming the doors is the area in which the door is located. "

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Expansions of the Grand Mosque

The number of doors of the Grand Mosque and their names throughout history

Expansions of the Grand Mosque

The Grand Mosque continued, which is an area surrounding the honorable Kaaba, accessed by its pilgrims through roads and paths until the expansion of Caliph Omar bin Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, where he built a wall around the square and made doors for the mosque that lead to the paths and roads linking it to Makkah Al-Mukarramah. In the year 17 AH, the Commander of the Faithful, Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, came after hearing the torrent of Umm Nahshal. To the Grand Mosque, the area of ​​the Grand Mosque after the expansion became 3613 square meters, and during the era of the Rightly-Guided Caliph Othman bin Affan, may God be pleased with him, the second increase of the Grand Mosque was after nine years of the first expansion, where the narrowness of the Grand Mosque appeared on the holy worshipers and the holy people. Al-Haram was taken to enter the mosque, and the corridors of the mosque were taken and added 869 m2 to make the total area of ​​the Sacred Mosque 482 m2, and that was in the year 26 AH-646AD.

In the year 90 AH - 709 AD, Al-Waleed bin Abdul-Malik bin Marwan increased 805 square meters in the area of ​​the Grand Mosque, bringing the total area to 10. 270 m2, so he brought marble slabs from Egypt, and he decorated the walls and covered the floors with marble

And Abu Jaafar Al-Mansour added 5. 221 square meters for the area of ​​the Holy Mosque, bringing the total area to 15. 491 m2 on the northern and western side of the mosque

Then came the expansion of the Abbasid Mahdi in the year 160 AH - 776 AD, and work continued until the year 169 AH - 785 auctions in the area of ​​the Grand Mosque 12512 m 2, bringing the total area to 28,003 m 2. The Sacred Mosque was made rectangle in it and it was completed

The center of the glorified Kaaba in it and added five doors to the northern side. This expansion was distinguished by the marble columns and the treatment of the Wadi Ibrahim stream by diverting it from the Grand Mosque.

Then came the increase of Caliph Al-Mu'tadid, which was in the year 281 AH - 894 AD, where an increase of 1. 339 m2 on the northern side of the Grand Mosque, in the direction of Dar al-Nadawa

In the year 306 AH - 921 AD, the Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadir ordered an expansion of the Grand Mosque, which was from the western side, where he established a large door for expansion called Bab Ibrahim To know the most famous mosques in Makkah, continue here

The number of doors of the Grand Mosque and their names throughout history

What was meant by naming the doors of the Grand Mosque before the advent of Islam was the area in which the door was located, not the door itself.

The doors of the Grand Mosque in the early Islamic era were named after the bellies of Quraysh, who used to live next to them. Then the names developed with the development of the construction of the neighboring areas, so they were named after the names of the most important and famous landmarks that were built or found in those areas.

The door that the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, entered into the Sacred Mosque when the Quraysh disagreed over who would have the honor of placing the Black Stone in its place when they rebuilt the Kaaba was the gate of Banu Shaybah, and it is the same door through which the Messenger entered.

May God’s prayers and peace be upon him at the conquest of Mecca in the year 8 AH / 629 AD, and at the Farewell Pilgrimage in the year 631 AH / 10 AD.

The gate through which the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, exited after his farewell pilgrimage to Safa was known as Bab Bani Makhzoum, and it was not known as Bab al-Safa until after the Farewell Pilgrimage.

The doors to the Grand Mosque during the time of the Messenger, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, consisted of openings between the houses of Makkah al-Mukarramah, uncovered from the top.

The architectural composition of the doors of the Grand Mosque began to take shape with the expansion of the Caliph Omar bin Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, to the Grand Mosque in the year 17 AH / 638 AD.

The increase in the number of pilgrims, Umrah performers and worshipers in the first Hijri century (7 AD) led to several increases in the area of ​​the Grand Mosque, in order to find a sufficient internal space to perform prayer and rituals, which resulted in an increase in the number of doors of the Grand Mosque, to facilitate the movement of entry and exit

He made the Bani Shaybah gate in the eastern wall the main gate of the Grand Mosque because it is linked to the entry of the Messenger, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, from it. The door of the Masjid al-Haram, which faces the alley of the perfumers, was called the Gate of the Prophet, because the Messenger, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, was taking this alley on his way to the house of Lady Khadija bint Khuwaylid, the wife of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him. Ali bin Abi Talib) on the eastern wall during the second expansion of the Abbasid Caliph Muhammad al-Mahdi of the Grand Mosque. It was taken into account that it should be spacious and with three openings, the same sizes as the door of the tailors or the hankers, which was built to deny the expansion in the western wall from the exit of Ali bin Abi Talib. The Hanatin Gate (The Tailors) without or affecting the construction of the Holy Kaaba or the construction of the Grand Mosque The number of doors of the southern wall was increased, as this wall was the only one that overlooked the entire street, a path extending south of the Holy Mosque without the presence of buildings adjacent to it. The seven doors of the southern wall took their names in the Caliph Muhammad al-Mahdi's second expansion of the mosque, deprived of the names of the owners of the houses that were demolished in those

Some of the doors of the Grand Mosque were called the names of funerals or coffins, where he used to pray over them, or pass through them to pray over them at the Kaaba

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The main doors of the Grand Mosque

By delving into how many gates of the Great Mosque of Mecca are, knowing their number leads to the conclusion of the main gates of them, which are important due to their location, function and ability to serve pilgrims and worshipers and bring them inside the sanctuary in the easiest way and with the largest number of them. The important gates are represented in five gates, namely:

The door number 79, which is the door that bears the name of King Fahd Gate and is located in the western courtyard

Gate number 62, which bears the name Bab al-Umrah and is located in the northern courtyard

The door number 45, which is called Bab Al-Fath, is also located in the northern courtyard

Bab Al-Safa, which is the door with the number 11, which is located in the direction of the Masaa’

Gate number one, which is the door called the King Abdul Aziz Gate, which is located in the western square

North side doors

The doors of the Sacred Mosque can be categorized according to the side in which they are located to the Sacred House, and the famous northern doors are the following:

The court door to which this name is applied, as it was leading to the Sharia court

The Sulaymaniyah Gate, a gate attributed to the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman Khan the Magnificent

Bab al-Qutbi was given this name because the Qutb al-Din al-Hanafi school is close to it

Al-Saddah Gate, which is called the Old Gate, due to its proximity to the house of Ibn Ateeq

As well as the door of the Zamma school, Bab Al-Dariba, and Bab Al-Basitiya

South side doors

By searching for the doors of the Grand Mosque, what may come to the minds of Muslims is how many doors are from the southern side of the Grand Mosque, and what are those doors, and the most famous doors on the southern side of the Great Mosque are the following:

Bab al-Rahma or what is known as the Mujahideen Gate, and in the modern era it is called Bab Ajyad because it is opposite Ajyad Street

Bab Makhzoom or Bab al-Safa, and it was named after the Makhzoum Gate because the people of Makhzoom lived on its side.

Bab Bazan, which has many names, as it is called Bab al-Hamidiyah after the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid, and was named after Bab Sufyan.

There is also the door of Bani Tamim or the door of the school of honor, Ajlan, and the door of Ajyad Al-Sagheer and other doors

East side doors

The most famous gates of the Great Mosque of Mecca from the east can be identified as follows:

Bab Bani Hashem or what is known as Bab Ali bin Abi Talib and Bab Al Batha.

Gate of Sultan Qaitbay, which is the door that faces Al-Masaa Street.

The door of Al-Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib, which is opposite the house of Al-Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib, may God be pleased with him.

Bab al-Salaam or Bab Shaybah, which is a door through which pilgrims enter to perform the Tawaf of Advent. It is called Bab al-Nabi.

West side doors

Also, the search for the number of gates of the Great Mosque of Mecca leads to the search for the most famous gates on the western side of the Grand Mosque, which are:

The door of Umrah and from it enter the pilgrims and exit from Al-Tan’im.

Bab Al-Hazoura, which is the name of a market that overlooked it and is known by different names such as Bab Al-Wadaa and Bab Al-Baqala.

Bab Ibrahim was named after a man who used to work for him, and his name was Ibrahim Al-Khayyat.

As well as the door of the school of Daoudia and the door of the school of Sharif Ghaleb.

The most important doors in the Great Mosque of Mecca

The gates of the Great Mosque of Mecca are all important, and they all perform their function by facilitating the movement of pilgrims and facilitating their entry and exit to the sanctuary, but entry and exit may increase from one of the gates rather than others, due to several factors of its location or the place it leads to, and so on. Among the most important gates in the sanctuary are the following:

Bab Al-Safa has been designated to enter funerals for ease of traffic from the location

15 doors of the mosque’s doors have been designated for people with special needs, namely, King Abdulaziz Gate, New Ajyad Gate, Bab Hanin, Bab Al-Safa, Al-Marwa stair lifts, Bab Al-Marwa, Murad stair lifts, Qarara stair lifts, Bab Al-Qarra, Bab Umrah, Gate 64, Gate 74, gate 84, gate 94

It can be said that the doors that are located on the left side of the King Fahd Gate are among the important doors, which are Gate 64, Gate 70, Gate 72 and 74

Bab al-Salam, Bab Ali and Bab al-Marwa from the east

Also, Bab al-Hudaybiya, Bab al-Quds and Bab al-Faruq from the north

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