out_ the area of the mosque, to provide, that is to say, a central place of assembly for the people. To it the khalif repaired on his accession and the governor on his appointment, and the discourses which they pronounced on these occasions were political rather than religious.[385] Thither, too, they summoned the people when questions of importance were to be discussed, or weighty tidings to be communicated.[386] Muḥammad’s house at Medînah, which was to play so influential a part in the architectural history of Islâm, consisted of a courtyard 100 ells square (_circa_ 60 metres) enclosed by a wall, the lower part of which was stone and the upper of sun-dried brick. The qiblah, the direction in which the worshippers turned in prayer, was towards Jerusalem, i.e. it lay to the north; there was, however, no niche to mark it, and the word ‘qiblah’ did not carry with it any architectural connotation, but merely the sense of a moral order. That the congregation might be protected from the burning sun, this side of the court was covered by a roof of woven palm-leaves, supported on columns made of palm-trunks. The roof was so low that a man could touch it with his hand. On the east side, two rooms, for the two wives, Saudâ and ‘A’ishah, were placed outside the wall at its southern extremity. In the opposite corner (the south-west) a primitive lodging was provided for the poorest of those who had followed the Prophet in his flight. It was covered by a roof (ṣuffah) similar to that of the qiblah, and those who inhabited it were known as the Aṣḥâb al-Ṣuffah, the people of the portico. There were three doors into the courtyard. That which lay to the south was the principal entrance; a subsidiary door was placed on the west side, and on the east side was the door used by the Prophet. At a subsequent date, owing to quarrels with the Jews, the qiblah was turned away from Jerusalem and placed in the direction of Mekkah. This necessitated the closing of the south door and the opening of a door in the north wall. Moreover, the Aṣḥâb al-Ṣuffah were moved to the north-east angle of the court and their roof was re-erected there.[387] In addressing those who were present, the Prophet was accustomed to lean against the trunk of a palm-tree, but in the year seven or eight of the Hidjrah he caused a wooden minbar to be erected. It consisted of two steps and a seat. On or before it he conducted the prayers.[388] The khalif ‘Umar enlarged the mosque at Medînah, but the new building scarcely exceeded the old in architectural pretension. The wall was of sun-dried brick, the columns of palm-trunks (or according to one account of sun-dried brick also) supporting a palm-leaf roof. It is not clear whether this roof was carried all round the court or was confined to the south side. The court, which in Muḥammad’s day was without any kind of pavement, was given by ‘Umar a floor of pebbles beaten into the ground.[389] Further