the original use for the mosque was as a place for Muslims to gather. they meet there to pray together, social and educational activities. the word mosque derives from the Arabic masjid meaning a place of prostration, where five times a day Muslims can bow their the act of the ground, thus making the act of submission in prayer to Allah that is required by their faith.
the house of the Prophet in Madinah, built in 622, was the prototype for early mosques. Worshippers gathered in large numbers in its enclosed courtyard. the early courtyard mosques were based on this pattern: a flat-roofed prayer hall led to a salut, or an open courtyard, which generally had arcades at the sides. in the centre of the courtyard was often a fountain at which worshippers performed ritual ablutions. a mihrab, or niche,in one wall indicated the direction of the Kaabah shrine in Makkah must face when praying . gates or doorways other cut in any of the three walls, contained the mihrab.
tall towers called minarets were added to the mosque in the late 7th century. among the first were the four built at the Great Mosque in the Umayyad Caliph al-Walid i. the minarets were initially watchtowers in which lighted torches were kept minaret derives from the Arabic , meaning lighthouse but they became elevated positions from which the muezzin sent out the five dailycalls to prayers.