The Awe of the Sliding Domes at Masjid an-Nabawi


If you’ve ever stood inside Masjid an-Nabawi and watched the sliding domes open, you’ll know why people still gasp in awe. The movement is almost silent — and suddenly sunlight streams in, flooding the marble floors and faces of worshippers below. It feels as if the heavens themselves have opened just a little wider.

Installed during King Fahd’s 1980s–1990s expansion, the 27 domes were designed by German architect Mahmoud Bodo Rasch to bring light and ventilation. Yet they do more than that — they inspire.

Even today, when those domes glide open, hundreds of pilgrims raise their phones to capture the moment. But truly, no picture can match the feeling of standing beneath that moving sky of Madinah — a perfect harmony of faith, light, and wonder.


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