The Prophet’s prayer in the house of Saʿd ibn Khaythamah
The Prophet ﷺ and Abū Bakr first stayed in the house of Kulthūm ibn al-Hidm (may Allah be pleased with him). Then the Prophet’s family and the family of Abū Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them) came down: among them were Sawdah bint Zamʿah and ʿĀ’ishah, their mother Umm Rumān, and her sister Asmā’ bint Abī Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them all).
Asmā’ gave birth to ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr in Qubā’, and he was the first child born to the Muhājirīn in Madinah.
His (Kulthūm’s) house was in front of Masjid Qubā’, next to the house of Saʿd ibn Khaythamah (may Allah be pleased with him). It is reported that the Prophet ﷺ would sometimes stay in the house of Saʿd and pray there. Ibn Shabbah narrates from Abū Umāmah ibn Sahl that the Prophet ﷺ lay down to rest in the room that is in the house of Saʿd ibn Khaythamah at Qubā’.
Ibn Zabālah states that the Prophet ﷺ entered the house of Saʿd ibn Khaythamah at Qubā’ and sat in it. He also narrates that the Prophet ﷺ prayed in the mosque that was in the house of Saʿd ibn Khaythamah (may Allah be pleased with him) at Qubā’ and sat there.
The first Friday prayer in the house of Saʿd ibn Khaythamah
What shows the importance of this house in our glorious history is that the Muslims performed the first Friday prayer (Jumuʿah) there before the arrival of the Prophet ﷺ in Madinah. Ibn Saʿd relates, with his chain, that Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr wrote to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ asking permission to gather the people for Jumuʿah. He ﷺ gave him permission and wrote to him:
“Look for the day on which the Jews make public their Sabbath; when the sun has passed the zenith, draw near to Allah with two rakʿahs and deliver a sermon to them.”
So Muṣʿab gathered them for Jumuʿah in the house of Saʿd ibn Khaythamah (may Allah be pleased with him). They were forty men, and no one was urged to attend except that he responded. Thus the first Jumuʿah in Islam was held.
