The house
- A modest home of palm branches and mud bricks, on the east side of the mosque, made up of a room and a small cubicle. Its door opened onto the Rawdah.
- Here the Prophet ﷺ received revelation, lived with his family, and chose to be nursed in his last illness.
The three graves
- When the Prophet ﷺ passed away in Aishah's room, Abu Bakr related that he had heard him say a prophet is buried where he dies — so he was buried there, in the southern part of the chamber.
- With Aishah's permission, Abu Bakr was later buried behind him, his head near the Prophet's shoulders, and after him Umar.
Visiting
- The chamber itself is closed; visitors do not go inside.
- Visitors greet the Prophet ﷺ and his two companions at the designated place in front of the chamber. No booking is needed for this; the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah notes the greeting there is for men.
- Move with the flow, keep your voice low and follow the staff's directions.
Through history
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 17 AH | Umar ibn al-Khattab replaced the palm-frond walls with a wall. |
| Umayyad era | The chamber became part of the mosque in al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik's expansion; Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz rebuilt it in black stone inside a five-sided wall, so that it would not resemble the Ka'bah. |
| 1162 CE | Sultan Nur al-Din had a trench dug around the chamber and filled with molten lead, according to tradition, to stop anyone tunnelling to it. |
| 678 AH | Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun built the first dome — of wood, unpainted. |
| 886 AH | After a great fire, Sultan Qaitbay rebuilt the base in brick and covered the dome with lead. |
| 1233 AH (1818 CE) | Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II built the present dome. |
| 1253 AH (1837 CE) | The dome was first painted green — hence the Green Dome. |
| Saudi era | Since King Abdulaziz, the old structure has been preserved; the chamber is inspected and maintained and the dome repainted regularly. |
Source: Visit Madinah — The Prophet's Chamber · Saudi Gazette — the Sacred Chamber · Arab News — the Sacred Chamber · Saudipedia — The Prophet's Mosque · Wikipedia — Green Dome · Ministry of Hajj and Umrah FAQ · official page: General Authority — The Prophet's Chamber