Madinah

Medinah Overview

Medinah is a city in western Saudi Arabia. In the center of the city, the sprawling Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (Prophet’s Mosque) is an important Islamic pilgrimage site. Its striking Green Dome towers over the tombs of the Prophet Muhammad and the early Islamic leaders Abu Bakr and Umar. Masjid al-Qiblatain (Qiblatain Mosque) is known as the place where Prophet Muhammad received the order to change the direction of prayer to Mecca.

Medina is generally considered the “cradle of Islamic culture and civilization”.The city is considered the second holiest of the three key cities in the Islamic tradition, with Mecca and Jerusalem serving as the holiest and third holiest cities, respectively. Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (lit. “The Prophet’s Mosque”) has special significance in Islam, serving as the burial place of the last Islamic prophet, Muhammad, who built the mosque in 622 AD. Observant Muslims usually visit his tomb, or rawdhah, ata  least once in their lifetime during pilgrimage known as Ziyarat, although it is not obligatory. The original name of the city before the advent of Islam was Yathrib, and it is referred to by this name in Chapter 33 of the Qur’an. After Muhammad’s death, it was renamed Madīnat an-Nabī (lit. “The City of the Prophet” or “City of the Prophet”) and later al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (lit. “The Enlightened City”) before being simplified and shortened. to its modern name, Madinah (lit.   ‘city’), from which the English-language spelling “Medina” is derived. Saudi road signs use Medina and al-Madinah al-Munawwarah interchangeably.

The city existed more than 1,500 years before Muhammad’s migration from Mecca, known as the Hijra. Medina was the capital of the rapidly growing Muslim Caliphate under Muhammad’s leadership, serving as its base of operations and as the cradle of Islam, where Muhammad’s Ummah (lit. “[Muslim] community”)—made up of Medinan citizens (Ansar) as well as those who immigrated with Muhammad (Muhajirun) who were collectively known as the Sahabah – gained enormous influence. Medina is home to three prominent mosques, namely al-Masjid an-Nabawi, Masjid Qubaʽa and Masjid al-Qiblatayn, with Masjid Quba’a being the oldest in Islam. The greater part of the Qur’an was revealed in Medina unlike the earlier Meccan surahs.

Like most of the Hejaz, Medina experienced numerous changes of power during its relatively short existence. The region was under the control of Judeo-Arab tribes (until the 5th century AD), the ʽAws and Khazraj (until Muhammad’s arrival), Muhammad and the Rashidun (622–660), the Umayyads (660–749), the Abbasids (749–1254), Mamluks of Egypt (1254–1517), Ottomans (1517–1805), First Saudi State (1805–1811), Muhammad Ali Pasha (1811–1840), Second Ottomans (1840–1918), Sharifate of Mecca under the Hashemites (1918–1925 ) and finally in the hands of the present-day Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1925–present).

In addition to visiting the Ziyarah, tourists come to visit other prominent mosques and monuments in the city that have religious significance, such as Mount Uhud, Al-Baqiʽ Cemetery, and the Seven Mosques. More recently, after Saudi Arabia’s conquest of the Hejaz, the Saudis demolished several tombs and domes in and around the region because of their Wahhabi belief in Sunni Islam.