The designation of the oldest mosque in the world requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest mosque congregation. Even here, there is the distinction between old mosque buildings that have been in continuous use as mosques, and those that have been converted to other purposes; and between buildings that have been in continuous use as mosques and those that were shuttered for many decades. In terms of congregations, they are distinguished between early established congregations that have been in continuous existence, and early congregations that ceased to exist.
To be listed here a site must:
Building | Image | Location | Country | First Built | Denomination | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quba Mosque | Medina | Saudi Arabia | 622 | Sunni | Oldest mosque site, but building largely rebuilt in 20th century | |
Al-Masjid al-Nabawi | Medina | Saudi Arabia | 622 | Islam | Site of pilgrimage. Contains Muhammad's tomb. Largely rebuilt. | |
Masjid al-Qiblatain | Medina | Saudi Arabia | 623 | Sunni | Mosque of the two Qiblas | |
Jawatha Mosque | Al-Kilabiyah | Saudi Arabia | 629 | n/a | (defunct) | |
Masjid al-Haram | Mecca | Saudi Arabia | 638 | Islam | Site of pilgrimage, rebuilt in 1571 | |
Great Mosque of Kufa | Kufa | Iraq | 639 | Shia | ||
Mosque of Uqba | Kairouan | Tunisia | 670 | Sunni | rebuilt in 800s | |
Cheraman Juma Masjid | Kodungallur | India | Sunni | Locally considered to be the first mosque of India; reliability of sources unclear | ||
Imam Hussain Mosque | Karbala | Iraq | 680 | Shia | reconstructed several times, including in 1016 | |
Al-Aqsa Mosque | Jerusalem | 705 | Sunni | |||
Al-Zaytuna Mosque | Tunis | Tunisia | 709 | Sunni | ||
Umayyad Mosque | Damascus | Syria | 715 | Shia, Sunni | National Mosque | |
Great Mosque of Xi'an | Xi'an, Shaanxi | China | 742[1] | Although remains date mostly from the 18th century,[2] the Mosque was founded in 742[3] |