The city of Janad is located in southern Yemen close to Ta'izz. As a settlement it prospered due to its position on the caravan trade route that extended up to the Mediterranean from Southern Arabia, and also as a post on the Muslim, Aden-to-Mecca pilgrimage road. Accordingly, its mosque is an important landmark in the region. The original mosque at the site was constructed sometime in the early seventh century, during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad, by one of his companions, Mu'adh Bin Jabal. The mosque that stands today however, was built in stages by a succession of rulers beginning probably in the tenth century.

Rectangular in plan, the mosque is organized around a central courtyard and features a minaret that dates to Ottoman rule in the seventeenth century. Its exterior walls are crenellated and constructed with whitewashed rubble stone. Inside, thick columns characteristic of the eighth and ninth centuries support the arcades that surround the court.

Sources:

Republic of Yemen National Center for Information. "Taiz Governorate." Accessed February 14, 2007. http://www.yemen-nic.net/English%20site/SITE%20CONTAINTS/Tourism/Touristic%20sites/TAIZ/TAIZ.htm.

Wald, Peter. Yemen, translated by Sebastian Wormell, 176-178. London: Pallas Athene, 1996.

Williams, John A.. Early Islamic Architecture of the Yemen: the early Islamic period, 10-11. Santa Barbara: Visual Education, Inc., 1977.

Yemen Times Online. "Holy Shrines: Prime Tourist Destinations." Accessed June 6, 2004; inaccessible October 16, 2013. http://www.yementimes.com/98/iss49/culture.htm.