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Medina
المدينة
City
al-Madinah al-Munawwarah
ٱلْمَدِيْنَة ٱلْمُنَوَّرَة
Some photos of Medina
Some photos of Medina
Medina is located in Saudi Arabia
Medina
Medina
Medina in Saudi Arabia
Coordinates: 24°28′12″N 39°36′36″E / 24.47000°N 39.61000°E / 24.47000; 39.61000
Country Saudi Arabia
RegionHejaz
ProvinceMedina
Government
 • MayorFahad Al-Belaihshi
Area
 • Total589 km2 (227 sq mi)
Population
 (April 28, 2010)
 • Total1,100,093
 • Density1,868/km2 (4,840/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+03:00 (SAST)
Area code109223
WebsiteOfficial website

Medina[a], officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah, is a city in the Hejaz region of Arabia. The city contains al-Masjid al-Nabawi (lit. 'the Prophet's Mosque'), which is the burial place of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and is the second-holiest city in Islam after Mecca. The city is the capital of the Medina Province in Saudi Arabia.

The city existed for over 1,500 years before Muhammad's migration from Mecca under the name Yathrib. Under Muhammad's leadership, the city became the capital of a rapidly expanding Muslim state. It served as the center of Islam in its first century where the early Muslim community developed, becoming the capital of the Rashidun Caliphate under caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, until Ali, who changed it to Kufa. Medina is home to the three oldest mosques, namely the Quba Mosque, Prophet's Mosque,[1] and Masjid al-Qiblatayn (lit. '"the mosque of the two qiblas"'). Muslims believe that the last-written surahs (chapters) of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad in Medina. These are called the Medinan surahs unlike the earlier Meccan surahs.[2][3]

Only Muslims are permitted enter the sacred core of Medina or the center of the city.[4][5][6] In addition to going for Ziyarah (visiting the prophet), tourists usually visit other mosques and landmarks in the city that have religious importance, such as Mount Uhud, Al-Baqi' cemetery and the Seven Mosques. The Saudi government has carried out the destruction of historical sites in both Medina and Mecca.[7]

Names

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Yathrib

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Before the rise of Islam, the city was known as Yathrib (Arabic: يَثْرِب, romanised: Yaṯrib; pronounced [ˈjaθrɪb]). The word Yathrib appears in an inscription found in Harran of the Babylonian king Nabonidus as well as later writings.[8][9] The name has also been recorded in āyah (verse) 13 of surah (chapter) 33 of the Qur'an.[Quran 33:13] and is known to have been the name of the city until the Battle of the Trench. According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad later forbade calling the city by this name.[10]

Taybah and Tabah

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A bit after the battle, Muhammad renamed the city Taybah (the Kind or the Good) (Arabic: طَيْبَة)[11] and Tabah (Arabic: طَابَة).[12] Taybah is sometimes used as a nickname for the city today, and both names are put together to make another name for the city, Taybat at-Tabah (lit. 'the Kindest of the Kind').

Madinah

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The modern name for the city is Al-Madinah (lit. 'The City'), which is mentioned in some hadiths.[13] The names al-Madīnah an-Nabawiyyah (ٱلْمَدِينَة ٱلنَّبَوِيَّة) or Madīnat un-Nabī ("City of the Prophet" or "The Prophet's City") and al-Madīnah ul-Munawwarah ("The Illuminated City") all come from this word. al-Madīnah ul-Munawwarah is the official and most commonly accepted modern name of the city, used in official documents and road signs in Saudi Arabia along with 'Madinah'.[source?]

Overview

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Medina currently has a population of more than 1,300,000 people (2006)[needs update]. Medina is one of the three holiest cities of Islam, after Mecca and before Jerusalem.[14]

Importance in Islam

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The Green Dome at the Prophet's mosque in Medina

Medina is the second holiest site in Islam after Mecca. That is why Medina is very important to Muslims.[15] This is because Prophet Muhammad is buried in a mosque known as 'Masjid-e-Nabawi' or 'The Mosque of The Prophet' located in Medina. The mosque was built on a site next to Muhammad's home. Muslims believe [source?] that Prophets must be buried at the very same place that they die. So Muhammad was buried in his house. The tomb later became part of the mosque when it was expanded by the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I. The first mosque of Islam is also in Medina. It is known as Masjid Quba, (the Quba Mosque).

Like Mecca, the city of Medina only permits Muslims to enter. The haram (area closed to non-Muslims) of Medina is much smaller than that of Mecca, though. Many facilities on the outskirts of Medina are open to non-Muslims. In Mecca the area closed to non-Muslims extends well beyond the limits of the built-up area. Both cities' many mosques are the destination for large numbers of Muslims on their annual pilgrimage. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims come to Medina each year to visit the Tomb of Prophet and to worship at mosques in a unified celebration. Muslims believe that praying once in the Mosque of the Prophet is equal to praying at least 1000 times in any other mosque.[16]

References

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  1. ↑ "Masjid Quba' – Hajj". Saudi Arabia: Hajinformation.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Khan, A.M. (2003). Historical Value Of The Qur An And The Hadith. Global Vision Publishing House. p. 26. ISBN 978-81-87746-47-8.
  3. ↑ Al-Laithy, Ahmed (2005). What Everyone Should Know about the Qurʼan. Garant. p. 61. ISBN 978-90-441-1774-5.
  4. ↑ Esposito, John L. (2011). What everyone needs to know about Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-19-979413-3. Mecca, like Medina, is closed to non-Muslims
  5. ↑ Sandra Mackey's account of her attempt to enter Mecca in Mackey, Sandra (1987). The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-0-393-32417-4.
  6. ↑ Cuddihy, Kathy (2001). An A To Z Of Places And Things Saudi. Stacey International. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-900988-40-7.
  7. ↑ "Wahhābī (Islamic movement)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Edinburgh: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 9 June 2020. Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020. Because Wahhābism prohibits the veneration of shrines, tombs, and sacred objects, many sites associated with the early history of Islam, such as the homes and graves of companions of Muhammad, were demolished under Saudi rule. Preservationists have estimated that as many as 95 percent of the historic sites around Mecca and Medina have been razed.
  8. ↑ C. J. Gadd (1958). "The Harran Inscriptions of Nabonidus". Anatolian Studies. 8: 59. doi:10.2307/3642415. JSTOR 3642415. S2CID 162791503. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  9. ↑ "A Pre-Islamic Nabataean Inscription Mentioning The Place Yathrib". Islamic Awareness. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  10. ↑ <>. Ibn Ḥanbal, ʻAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad, 828–903. 'Amman: Bayt al-Afkar al-Dawliyah. 2003. ISBN 9957-21-049-1. OCLC 957317429.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. ↑ Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj al-Qushayrī, approximately 821–875. (26 November 2019). Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim : with the full commentary by Imam al-Nawawi. Nawawī, ‡d 1233–1277., Salahi, Adil. London. ISBN 978-0-86037-786-3. OCLC 1134530211.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʻAsqalānī, Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī, 1372-1449.; ابن حجر العسقلاني، أحمد بن علي،, 1372–1449. (2017). Fatḥ al-Bārī : victory of the Creator. Williams, Khalid, Waley, M. I. [U.K.] ISBN 978-1-909460-11-9. OCLC 981125883.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʻAsqalānī, Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī, 1372-1449.; ابن حجر العسقلاني، أحمد بن علي،, 1372–1449. (2017). Fatḥ al-Bārī : victory of the Creator. Williams, Khalid, Waley, M. I. [U.K.] ISBN 978-1-909460-11-9. OCLC 981125883.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ However, an article in Aramco World[permanent dead link] by John Anthony states: "To the perhaps parochial Muslims of North Africa in fact the sanctity of Kairouan is second only to Mecca among all cities of the world." Saudi Aramco’s bimonthly magazine's goal is to broaden knowledge of the cultures, history and geography of the Arab and Muslim worlds and their connections with the West; pages 30-36 of the January/February 1967 print edition Archived 2004-06-24 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ Abdullah (6 July 2016). "The Prophet's Mosque: An insight into Islam's second-holiest site". al arabiya.
  16. ↑ Abdul, Latef (25 April 2013). "The rewards of praying at the 3 Sacred Mosque". Word Press. Retrieved 16 October 2023.

Other websites

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  1. ↑ /məˈdiːnə/ (listenⓘ); Arabic: ٱلْمَدِيْنَة ٱلْمُنَوَّرَة, al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah, "the radiant city"; or ٱلْمَدِيْنَة, al-Madīnah (acw), "the city"
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