Medina Governorate,[a] officiallyAl-Madinah al-Munawwarah (Arabic:المدينة المنورة,romanized: al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah,lit. 'The Luminous City',Hejazi Arabic pronunciation:[al.maˈdiːnaal.mʊˈnawːara]) and also commonly simplified asMadīnah orMadinah (المدينة,al-Madina) and known in pre-Islamic times asYathrib (يَثْرِب), is the capital ofMedina Province in theHejaz region of westernSaudi Arabia. It is one of the oldest and most important places inIslamic history. One of themost sacred cities in Islam, the population as of 2022 is 1,411,599, making it thefourth-most populous city in the country. Around 58.5% of the population are Saudi citizens and 41.5% are foreigners.[4] Located at the core of the Medina Province in the western reaches of the country, the city is distributed over 589 km2 (227 sq mi), of which 293 km2 (113 sq mi) constitutes the city's urban area, while the rest is occupied by theHejaz Mountains, empty valleys,agricultural spaces and older dormantvolcanoes.
Between 1904 and 1908, the Ottoman Empire constructed the Hejaz Railway, connecting Damascus to Medina. This project aimed to facilitate the pilgrimage journey and strengthen Ottoman control over the region[11]
Before the advent of Islam, the city was known as Yathrib (Arabic:يَثْرِب,romanized: Yaṯrib;pronounced[ˈjaθrɪb]). The wordYathrib appears in an inscription found in Harran, belonging to the Babylonian kingNabonidus (6th century BCE)[12] and is well attested in several texts in the subsequent centuries.[13] The name has also been recorded inĀyah (verse) 13 ofSurah (chapter)33 of theQur'an.[Quran33:13] and is thus known to have been the name of the city up to theBattle of the Trench. According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad later forbade calling the city by this name.[14]
8th century rock inscription discovered in Madinah, refers to the city as 'Taybah'
Sometime after the battle, Muhammad renamed the cityTaybah (the Kind or the Good) (Arabic pronunciation:[ˈtˤajba];طَيْبَة)[15] andTabah (Arabic:طَابَة)[16] which is of similar meaning. This name is also used to refer to the city in the popular folk song, "Ya Taybah!" (O Taybah!). The two names are combined in another name the city is known by,Taybat at-Tabah (the Kindest of the Kind).
The city has also simply been called Al-Madinah (i.e. 'The City') in someahadith[16]. The namesal-Madīnah an-Nabawiyyah (ٱلْمَدِيْنَة ٱلنَّبَوِيَّة) andMadīnat un-Nabī (both meaning "City of the Prophet" or "The Prophet's City") andal-Madīnat ul-Munawwarah ("The Enlightened City") are all derivatives of this word. This is also the most commonly accepted modern name of the city, used in official documents and road signage, along with Madinah.
Medina is home to several distinguished sites and landmarks, most of which are mosques and hold historic significance. These include the three aforementioned mosques, Masjid al-Fath (also known as Masjid al-Khandaq), the Seven Mosques, theBaqi' Cemetery where the graves of many famous Islamic figures are presumed to be located; directly to the southeast of the Prophet's Mosque, theUhud mountain, site of the eponymousBattle of Uhud and the King Fahd Glorious Qur'an Printing Complex where most modern Qur'anicMus'hafs are printed.
The situation changed after the arrival of two newArab tribes, the'Aws or Banu 'Aws and theKhazraj, also known as the Banu Khazraj. At first, these tribes were allied with the Jewish tribes who ruled the region, but they later revolted and became independent.[19]
17th century bronze token depictingprophet's Mosque, the inscription below reads 'Madinah Shareef' (Noble City)
Toward the end of the 5th century,[20] the Jewish rulers lost control of the city to the two Arab tribes.
Most modern historians accept the claim of the Muslim sources that after the revolt, the Jewish tribes became clients of the 'Aws and the Khazraj.[21] However, according to Scottish scholar,William Montgomery Watt, the clientship of the Jewish tribes is not borne out by the historical accounts of the period prior to 627, and he maintained that the Jewish populace retained a measure of political independence.[19]
Early Muslim chroniclerIbn Ishaq tells of an ancient conflict between the lastYemenite king of theHimyarite Kingdom[22] and the residents of Yathrib. When the king was passing by the oasis, the residents killed his son, and the Yemenite ruler threatened to exterminate the people and cut down thepalms. According toIbn Ishaq, he was stopped from doing so by tworabbis from the Banu Qurayza tribe, who implored the king to spare the oasis because it was the place "to which a prophet of theQuraysh would migrate in time to come, and it would be his home and resting-place." The Yemenite king thus did not destroy the town and converted toJudaism. He took therabbis with him, and inMecca, they reportedly recognized theKa'bah as a temple built byAbraham and advised the king "to do what the people of Mecca did: tocircumambulate the temple, to venerate and honor it, to shave his head and to behave with all humility until he had left its precincts." On approaching Yemen, tells Ibn Ishaq, the rabbis demonstrated to the local people a miracle by coming out of a fire unscathed and the Yemenites accepted Judaism.[23]
Eventually the Banu 'Aws and the Banu Khazraj became hostile to each other and by the time of Muhammad'sHijrah (emigration) to Medina in 622, they had been fighting for 120 years and were sworn enemies[24] The Banu Nadir and the Banu Qurayza were allied with the 'Aws, while the Banu Qaynuqa sided with the Khazraj.[25] They fought a total of four wars.[19]
Their last and bloodiest known battle was theBattle of Bu'ath,[19] fought a few years prior to the arrival of Muhammad.[17] The outcome of the battle was inconclusive, and the feud continued.'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, one Khazraj chief, had refused to take part in the battle, which earned him a reputation for equity and peacefulness. He was the most respected inhabitant of the city prior to Muhammad's arrival. To solve the ongoing feud, concerned residents of Yathribmet secretly withMuhammad in 'Aqaba, a place outsideMecca, inviting him and his small group of believers to come to the city, where Muhammad could serve a mediator between the factions and his community could practice its faith freely.
Muhammad built theQuba'a Masjid upon his arrival at Medina and is said to have visited the mosque every Saturday afternoon.
In 622, Muhammad and an estimated 70 MeccanMuhajirun left Mecca over a period of a few months for sanctuary in Yathrib, an event that transformed the religious and political landscape of the city completely; the longstanding enmity between the Aus and Khazraj tribes was dampened as many of the two Arab tribes and some local Jews embraced the new religion of Islam. Muhammad, linked to the Khazraj through his great-grandmother, was agreed on as the leader of the city. The natives of Yathrib who had converted to Islam of any background—pagan Arab or Jewish—were called theAnsar ("the Patrons" or "the Helpers").
According toIbn Ishaq, all parties in the area agreed to theConstitution of Medina, which committed all parties to mutual cooperation under the leadership of Muhammad. The nature of this document as recorded by Ibn Ishaq and transmitted byIbn Hisham is the subject of dispute among modern Western historians, many of whom maintain that this "treaty" is possibly a collage of different agreements, oral rather than written, of different dates, and that it is not clear exactly when they were made. Other scholars, however, both Western and Muslim, argue that the text of the agreement—whether a single document originally or several—is possibly one of the oldest Islamic texts we possess.[26] In Yemenite Jewish sources, another treaty was drafted between Muhammad and his Jewish subjects, known asKitāb Dimmat al-Nabi, written in the 3rd year of theHijra (625), and which gave express liberty to Jews living in Arabia to observe theSabbath and to grow-out their side-locks. In return, they were to pay thejizya annually for protection by their patrons, while the Muslims would pay theZakat tax.[27][6]
Mount Uhud, with the oldMosque of the Leader of Martyrs (جامع سيد الشهداء), named after Muhammad's uncle,Hamza ibn Abdul Muttalib, in the foreground. The mosque was demolished in 2012 and a new, larger mosque with the same name was built in its place.[28]
In the year 625,Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, a senior chieftain of Mecca who later converted to Islam, led a Meccan force against Medina. Muhammad marched out to meet theQurayshi army with an estimated 1,000 troops, but just as the army approached the battlefield, 300 men under'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy withdrew, dealing a severe blow to the Muslim army'smorale. Muhammad continued marching with his now 700-strong force and ordered a group of 50 archers to climb a small hill, now calledJabal ar-Rummaah (The Archers' Hill) to keep an eye on the Meccan'scavalry and to provide protection to the rear of the Muslim's army. As the battle heated up, the Meccans were forced to retreat. The frontline was pushed further and further away from the archers and foreseeing the battle to be a victory for the Muslims, the archers decided to leave their posts to pursue the retreating Meccans. A small party, however, stayed behind; pleading the rest to not disobey Muhammad's orders.
Seeing that the archers were starting to descend from the hill,Khalid ibn al-Walid commanded his unit to ambush the hill and his cavalry unit pursued the descending archers were systematically slain by being caught in the plain ahead of the hill and the frontline, watched upon by their desperate comrades who stayed behind up in the hill who were shooting arrows to thwart the raiders, but with little to no effect. However, the Meccans did not capitalize on their advantage by invading Medina and returned to Mecca. The Madanis (people of Medina) suffered heavy losses, and Muhammad was injured.[29]
Three of theSeven Mosques at the site of theBattle of the Trench were combined into the modern Masjid al-Fath, here pictured with Jabal Sal'aa in the background and a shop selling local goods in the foreground.
In 627,Abu Sufyan led another force toward Medina. Knowing of his intentions, Muhammad asked for proposals for defending the northern flank of the city, as the east and west were protected by volcanic rocks and the south was covered withpalm trees.Salman al-Farsi, aPersianSahabi who was familiar with Sasanian war tactics recommended digging a trench to protect the city and Muhammad accepted it. The subsequent siege came to be known as the Battle of the Trench and the Battle of the Confederates. After a month-long siege and various skirmishes, the Meccans withdrew again due to the harsh winter.
During the siege, Abu Sufyan contacted the Jewish tribe ofBanu Qurayza and formed an agreement with them, to attack the Muslim defenders and effectively encircle the defenders. It was however discovered by the Muslims and thwarted. This was in breach of theConstitution of Medina and after the Meccan withdrawal, Muhammad immediately marched against the Qurayza and laid siege to their strongholds. The Jewish forces eventually surrendered. Some members of the Aws negotiated on behalf of their old allies and Muhammad agreed to appoint one of their chiefs who had converted to Islam,Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, as judge. Sa'ad judged that all male members of the tribe should be killed and the women and children enslaved.[30][31] This action was conceived of as a defensive measure to ensure that the Muslim community could be confident of its continued survival in Medina. The French historian Robert Mantran proposes that from this point of view it was successful—from this point on, the Muslims were no longer primarily concerned with survival but with expansion and conquest.[32]
In the ten years following thehijra, Medina formed the base from which Muhammad and the Muslim army attacked and were attacked, and it was from here that hemarched on Mecca, entering it without battle in 630. Despite Muhammad's tribal connection to Mecca, the growing importance of Mecca in Islam, the significance of theKa'bah as the center of the Islamic world, as the direction of prayer (Qibla), and in the Islamic pilgrimage (Hajj), Muhammad returned to Medina, which remained for some years the most important city of Islam and the base of operations of the earlyRashidun Caliphate.[6]
The city is presumed to have been renamedMadinat al-Nabi ("City of the Prophet" inArabic) in honor of Muhammad's prophethood and the city being the site of hisburial. Alternatively, Lucien Gubbay suggests the name Medina could also have been a derivative from theAramaic wordMedinta, which the Jewish inhabitants could have used for the city.[33]
Under the first three caliphsAbu Bakr,Umar, andUthman, Medina was the capital of a rapidly increasing Muslim Empire. During the reign of'Uthman ibn al-Affan, the third caliph, a party of Arabs from Egypt, disgruntled at some of his political decisions, attacked Medina in 656 and assassinated him in his own home.Ali, the fourth caliph, changed the capital of the caliphate from Medina toKufa inIraq for being in a more strategic location. Since then, Medina's importance dwindled, becoming more a place of religious importance than of political power. Medina witnessed little to no economic growth during and after Ali's reign.[6]
Afteral-Hasan, the son of 'Ali, ceded power toMu'awiyah I, son ofAbu Sufyan, Mu'awiyah marched intoKufa, Ali's capital, and received the allegiance of the local 'Iraqis. This is considered to be the beginning of the Umayyad caliphate. Mu'awiyah's governors took special care of Medina and dug the 'Ayn az-Zarqa'a ("Blue Spring")spring along with a project that included the creation of undergroundducts for the purposes of irrigation. Dams were built in some of thewadis and the subsequent agricultural boom led to the strengthening of the economy.
TheGold dinar ofUmar II, also known as 'Umar ibn Abdulaziz or the Fifth of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.
Following a period of unrest during theSecond Fitna in 679, Husayn ibn 'Ali was martyred atKarbala and Yazid assumed unchecked control for the next three years. In 682,Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr declared himself Caliph of Mecca and the people of Medina swore allegiance to him. This led to an eight-year-long period of economic distress for the city. In 692, the Umayyads regained power and Medina experienced its second period of huge economic growth. Trade improved and more people moved into the city. The banks of Wadi al-'Aqiq were now lush with greenery. This period of peace and prosperity coincided with the rule of'Umar ibn Abdulaziz, who many consider to be the fifth of theRashidun.[6]
Abdulbasit A. Badr, in his book,Madinah, The Enlightened City: History and Landmarks, divides this period into three distinct phases:[6]
Tomb ofSalahuddin al-Ayyubi, who started a tradition of greatly funding Medina and protecting pilgrims visiting the holy city.The Medina sanctuary andGreen Dome, photographed in 1880 byMuhammad Sadiq. The dome was built during the Mamluk period, but given its signature color by the Ottomans nearly 600 years later.
Badr describes the period between 749 and 974 as a push-and-pull between peace and political turmoil, while Medina continued to pay allegiance to the Abbasids. From 974 to 1151, theSharifate of Medina was in a liaison with the Fatimids, even though the political stand between the two remained turbulent and did not exceed the normal allegiance. From 1151 onwards, Medina paid allegiance to theZengids, and theEmir Nuruddin Zengi took care of the roads used by pilgrims and funded the fixing of the water sources and streets. When he visited Medina in 1162, he ordered the construction of a new wall that encompassed the new urban areas outside the old city wall. Zengi was succeeded bySaladin, founder of theAyyubid dynasty, who supportedQasim ibn Muhanna, the Sharif of Medina, and greatly funded the growth of the city while slashing taxes paid by the pilgrims.[6] He also funded theBedouins who lived on the routes used by pilgrims to protect them on their journeys. The later Abbasids also continued to fund the expenses of the city. While Medina was formally allied with the Abbasids during this period, they maintained closer relations with the Zengids and Ayyubids. The historic city formed an oval, surrounded by a strong wall, 30 to 40 ft (9.1 to 12.2 m) high, dating from this period, and was flanked with towers. Of its four gates, theBab al-Salam ("The Gate of Peace"), was remarked for its beauty. Beyond the walls of the city, the west and south were suburbs consisting of low houses, yards, gardens and plantations.[6]
After the fall of Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Empire, to the Mongols, the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo took over the Egyptian governorate and effectively gained control of Medina.[6] In 1258, Medina was threatened bylava from theHarrat Rahat volcanic region but was narrowly saved from being burnt after the lava turned northward.[6][34][35] During Mamluk reign, theMasjid an-Nabawi caught fire twice. Once in 1256, when the storage caught fire, burning the entire mosque, and the other time in 1481, when the masjid was struck bylightning. This period also coincided with an increase in scholarly activity in Medina, with scholars such asIbn Farhun,Al-Hafiz Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi,Al Sakhawi and others settling in the city.[6] The striking iconicGreen Dome also found its beginnings as a cupola built under Mamluk Sultanal-Mansur Qalawun as-Salihi in 1297.[6]
In 1517, the firstOttoman period began withSelim I's conquest of Mamluk Egypt. This added Medina to their territory and they continued the tradition of showering Medina with money and aid. In 1532,Suleiman the Magnificent built a secure fortress around the city and constructed a strong castle armed by an Ottoman battalion to protect the city. This is also the period in which many of theProphet's Mosque's modern features were built even though it was not painted green yet.[36] These suburbs also had walls and gates. The Ottoman sultans took a keen interest in the Prophet's Mosque and redesigned it over and over to suit their preferences.
Muhammad Ali, who kept Medina in the hands of the Ottoman Empire for around 30 years after taking it from theFirst Saudi State.
As the Ottomans' hold over their domains broke loose, the Madanis pledged alliance toSaud bin Abdulaziz, founder of theFirst Saudi state in 1805, who quickly took over the city. In 1811,Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Ottoman commander andWali of Egypt, commanded two armies under each of his two sons to seize Medina, the first one, under the elder Towson Pasha, failed to take Medina. But the second one, a larger army under the command ofIbrahim Pasha, succeeded after battling a fierce resistance movement.[6]
After defeating his Saudi foes, Muhammad Ali took over governance of Medina and although he did not formally declareindependence, his governance took on more of asemi-autonomous style. Muhammad's sons, Towson and Ibrahim, alternated in the governance of the city. Ibrahim renovated the city's walls and the Prophet's Mosque. He established a grand provision distribution center (taqiyya) to distribute food and alms to the needy and Medina lived a period of security and peace.[citation needed] In 1840, Muhammad moved his troops out of the city and officially handed the city to the central Ottoman command.[6]
Four years in 1844, after Muhammad Ali's departure,Davud Pasha was given the position of governor of Medina under the Ottoman sultan. Davud was responsible for renovating the Prophet's Mosque on SultanAbdulmejid I's orders. WhenAbdul Hamid II assumed power, he made Medina stand out of the desert with a number of modern marvels, including aradio communication station, apower plant for the Prophet's Mosque and its immediate vicinity, a telegraph line between Medina andConstantinople, and theHejaz railway which ran fromDamascus to Medina with a planned extension to Mecca. Within one decade, the population of the city multiplied by leaps and bounds and reached 80,000. Around this time, Medina started falling prey to a new threat, theHashemiteSharifate of Mecca in the south. Medina witnessed the longest siege in its history during and afterWorld War I.[6]
The Sharif of Mecca,Husayn ibn Ali, first attacked Medina on 6 June 1916, in the middle ofWorld War I.[6] Four days later, Husayn held Medina in a bitter 3-year siege, during which the people faced food shortages, widespread disease and massemigration.[6]Fakhri Pasha, governor of Medina, tenaciously held on during theSiege of Medina from 10 June 1916 and refused to surrender and held on another 72 days after theArmistice of Moudros, until he was arrested by his own men and the city was taken over by the Sharifate on 10 January 1919.[6][37] Husayn largely won the war due to his alliance with theBritish. In anticipation of the plunder and destruction to follow, Fakhri Pasha secretly dispatched theSacred Relics of Muhammad to the Ottoman capital,Istanbul.[38] As of 1920, theBritish described Medina as "much more self-supporting than Mecca."[39] After the Great War, the Sharif of Mecca,Sayyid Hussein bin Ali was proclaimed King of an independentHejaz. Soon after, the people of Medina secretly entered an agreement withIbn Saud in 1924, and his son, PrinceMohammed bin Abdulaziz conquered Medina as part of theSaudi conquest of Hejaz on 5 December 1925 which gave way to the whole of theHejaz being incorporated into the modernKingdom of Saudi Arabia.[6]
TheKingdom of Saudi Arabia focused more on the expansion of the city and the demolition of former sites that according to them violatedIslamic principles andIslamic law such as thetombs at al-Baqi. Nowadays, the city mostly only holds religious significance and as such, just like Mecca, has given rise to a number of hotels surrounding theAl-Masjid an-Nabawi, which unlike theMasjid Al-Ḥarām, is equipped with an underground parking. The old city's walls have been destroyed and replaced with the threering roads that encircle Medina today, named in order of length, King Faisal Road, King Abdullah Road and King Khalid Road. Medina's ring roads generally see less traffic overall compared to the four ring roads of Mecca.
An international airport, named thePrince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International Airport, now serves the city and is located on Highway 340, known locally as the Old Qassim Road. The city now sits at the crossroads of two major Saudi Arabian highways, Highway 60, known as the Qassim–Medina Highway, and Highway 15 which connects the city toMecca in the south and onward andTabuk in the north and onward, known as the Al Hijrah Highway or Al Hijrah Road, after Muhammad's journey.
Though the city's sacred core of the old city is off limits to non-Muslims, theHaram area of Medina itself is much smaller than that of Mecca and Medina has recently seen an increase in the number of Muslim and Non-Muslim expatriate workers of other nationalities, most commonlySouth Asian peoples and people from other countries in theGulf Cooperation Council. Almost all of the historic city has been demolished in the Saudi era. The rebuilt city is centered on the vastly expandedal-Masjid an-Nabawi.
Saudi Arabia upholdsWahhabism as its religious ideology,[10] which is hostile to any reverence given to historical or religious places of significance for fear that it may give rise toshirk (idolatry). As a consequence, under Saudi rule, Medina has suffered from considerable destruction of its physical heritage including the loss of many buildings over a thousand years old.[10][40] Critics have described this as "Saudi vandalism" and claim that 300 historic sites linked to Muhammad, his family or companions have been lost in Medina andMecca over the last 50 years.[41] The most famous example of this is thedemolition of al-Baqi.[10]
Mount Uhud at night. The mountain is currently the highest peak in Medina and stands at 1,077 m (3,533 ft) of elevation.
Medina is located in theHejaz region which is a 200 km (120 mi) wide strip between theNafud desert and theRed Sea.[6] Located approximately 720 km (450 mi) northwest ofRiyadh which is at the center of the Saudi desert, the city is 250 km (160 mi) away from thewest coast of Saudi Arabia and at an elevation of approximately 620 m (2,030 ft)above sea level. It lies at 39º36' longitude east and 24º28' latitude north. It covers an area of about 589 km2 (227 sq mi). The city has been divided into twelve districts, 7 of which have been categorized as urban districts, while the other 5 have been categorized as suburban.
Like most cities in the Hejaz region, Medina is situated at a relatively high elevation. Almost two times as high as Mecca, the city is situated at 620 m (2,030 ft) above sea level. Mount Uhud is the highest peak in Medina and is 1,077 meters (3,533 feet) tall.
Medina is adesert oasis surrounded by theHejaz Mountains and volcanic hills. The soil surrounding Medina consists of mostlybasalt, while the hills, especially noticeable to the south of the city, arevolcanic ash which dates to the firstgeological period of thePaleozoic Era. It is surrounded by a number of famousmountains, most notablyJabal Al-Hujjaj (The Pilgrims' Mountain) to the west, Sal'aa Mountain to the north-west,Jabal al-'Ir or Caravan Mountain to the south andMount Uhud to the north. The city is situated on a flat mountain plateau at the tripoint of the three valleys (wadis) ofWadi al 'Aql,Wadi al 'Aqiq, andWadi al Himdh, for this reason, there are large green areas amidst a dry deserted mountainous region.[6]
Under theKöppen climate classification, Medina falls in ahot desert climate region(BWh). Summers are extremely hot and dry with daytime temperatures averaging about 43 °C (109 °F) with nights about 29 °C (84 °F). Temperatures above 45 °C (113 °F) are not unusual between June and September. Winters are milder, with temperatures from 8 °C (46 °F) at night to 25 °C (77 °F) in the day. There is very little rainfall, which falls almost entirely between November and May. In summer, the wind is north-western, while in the spring and winters, is south-western.
Medina's importance as a religious site derives from the presence of two mosques,Masjid Quba'a andal-Masjid an-Nabawi. Both of these mosques were built byMuhammad himself. Islamic scriptures emphasize the sacredness of Medina. Medina is mentioned several times in the Quran; two examples areSurahAt-Tawbah (verse 101) andAl-Hashr (verse 8).Medinan suras are typically longer than their Meccan counterparts and they are also larger in number.Muhammad al-Bukhari recorded inSahih Bukhari thatAnas ibn Malik quoted Muhammad as saying:
"Medina is a sanctuary from that place to that. Its trees should not be cut and no heresy should be innovated nor any sin should be committed in it, and whoever innovates in it an heresy or commits sins (bad deeds), then he will incur the curse of God, the angels, and all the people."
According toIslamic tradition, a prayer in The Prophet's Mosque equates to 1,000 prayers in any other mosque except theMasjid al-Haram[45] where one prayer equates to 100,000 prayers in any other mosque.[45] The mosque was initially just an open space for prayer with a raised and coveredminbar (pulpit) built within seven months and was located beside Muhammad'srawdhah (residence, although the word literally means garden) to its side along with the houses ofhis wives. The mosque was expanded several times throughout history, with many of its internal features developed over time to suit contemporary standards.
The modern Prophet's Mosque is famed for theGreen Dome situated directly above Muhammad'srawdhah, which currently serves as the burial site forMuhammad,Abu Bakr al-Siddiq andUmar ibn al-Khattab and is used in road signage along with its signature minaret as an icon for Medina itself. The entire piazza of the mosque is shaded from the sun by 250 membrane umbrellas.
Panoramic view of the Prophet's Mosque, from the east at sunset.
It isSunnah to performprayer at the Quba'a Mosque. According to ahadith, Sahl ibn Hunayf reported that Muhammad said,
"Whoever purifies himself in his house, then comes to the mosque of Quba' and prays in it, he will have a reward like the Umrah pilgrimage."[14][45]
and in another narration,
"Whoever goes out until he comes to this mosque – meaning the Mosque of Quba' – and prays there, that will be equivalent to 'Umrah."[14]
It has been recorded byal-Bukhari andMuslim that Muhammad used to go to Quba'a every Saturday to offer tworak'ahs of Sunnah prayer. The mosque at Quba'a was built by Muhammad himself upon his arrival to the old city of Medina. Quba'a and the mosque has been referred in the Qur'an indirectly inSurahAt-Tawbah, verse 108.
Masjid al-Qiblatayn is another mosque historically important to Muslims. Muslims believe that Muhammad was commanded to change his direction of prayer (qibla) from praying towardJerusalem to praying toward theKa'bah at Mecca, as he was commanded inSurahAl-Baqarah, verses 143 and 144.[46] The mosque is currently being expanded to be able to hold more than 4,000 worshippers.[47]
Three of these historic six mosques were combined recently into the larger Masjid al-Fath with an open courtyard.[6] Sunni sources contend that there is nohadith or any other evidence to prove that Muhammad may have said something about the virtue of these mosques.
"The people will leave Medina in spite of the best state it will have, and none except the wild birds and the beasts of prey will live in it, and the last persons who will die will be two shepherds from the tribe of Muzaina, who will be driving their sheep towards Medina, but will find nobody in it, and when they reach the valley of Thaniyat-al-Wada'h, they will fall down on their faces dead."[48] (al-Bukhari, Vol. 3, Book 30, Hadith 98)
"Yemen will be conquered and some people will migrate (from Medina) and will urge their families, and those who will obey them to migrate (to Yemen) although Medina will be better for them; if they but knew. Sham will also be conquered and some people will migrate (from Medina) and will urge their families and those who will obey them, to migrate (to Sham) although Medina will be better for them; if they but knew. 'Iraq will be conquered and some people will migrate (from Medina) and will urge their families and those who will obey them to migrate (to 'Iraq) although Medina will be better for them; if they but knew."[48] (al-Bukhari, Vol. 3, Book 30, Hadith 99)
Protection from plague and ad-Dajjal (the False Messiah)
"The terror caused byAl-Masih Ad-Dajjal will not enter Medina and at that time Medina will have seven gates and there will be two angels at each gate guarding them."[48] (al-Bukhari, Vol. 3, Book 30, Hadith 103)
by Abu Hurairah:
"There are angels guarding the entrances (or roads) of Medina, neither plague nor Ad-Dajjal will be able to enter it."[48] (al-Bukhari, Vol. 3, Book 30, Hadith 104)
As of 2018, the recorded population of Medina province was 2,188,138,[49] with a growth rate of 2.32%.[50] Being a destination ofMuslims from around the world, Medina witnesses illegal immigration after performingHajj orUmrah, despite the strict rules the government has enforced. However, the Central Hajj CommissionerPrince Khalid bin Faisal stated that the numbers of illegal staying visitors dropped by 29% in 2018.[51]
As with most cities in Saudi Arabia, Islam is the religion followed by the majority of the population of Medina.
Sunnis of different schools (Hanafi,Maliki,Shafi'i andHanbali) constitute the majority, while there is a significantShia minority in and around Medina, such as theNakhawila. Outside theharam, there are significant numbers of Non-Muslim migrant workers and expats.
Similar to that ofMecca, Medina exhibits across-cultural environment, a city where people of manynationalities andcultures live together and interact with each other on a daily basis. This only helps theKing Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran. Established in 1985, the biggest publisher ofQuran in the world, it employs around 1100 people and publishes 361 different publications in many languages. It is reported that more than 400,000 people from around the world visit the complex every year.[52][53] Every visitor is gifted a free copy of the Qur'an at the end of a tour of the facility.[53]
The Al Madinah Museum has several exhibits concerning the cultural and historical heritage of the city featuring different archeological collections, visual galleries and rare images of the old city.[54] It also includes theHejaz Railway Museum. The Dar Al Madinah Museum opened in 2011 and it uncovers the history of Medina specializing in the architectural and urban heritage of the city.[55] There is no archeology or architecture from the time of Mohammed, except what remains of a few stone defensive towers[56] The Holy Qur'an Exhibition houses rare manuscripts of the Quran, along with other exhibitions that encircle the Masjid an-Nabawi.[57]
Madinah Arts Center
The Madinah Arts Center, founded in 2018 and operated by the MMDA's Cultural Wing, focuses onmodern andcontemporary arts. The center aims to enhance arts and enrich the artistic and cultural movement of society, empowering artists of all groups and ages. As of February 2020, before the implementation ofsocial distancing measures andcurfews, it held more than 13 group and solo art galleries, along with weekly workshops and discussions. The center is located in King Fahd Park, close toQuba Mosque on an area of 8,200 square meters (88,000 square feet)[58]
In 2018, the MMDA launched Madinah Forum of Arabic Calligraphy, an annual forum to celebrateArabic calligraphy and renowned Arabic calligraphers. The event includes discussions about Arabic calligraphy, and a gallery to show the work of 50 Arabic calligraphers from 10 countries.[59] The Dar al-Qalam Center for Arabic Calligraphy is located to the northwest of the Masjid an-Nabawi, just across theHejaz Railway Museum. In April 2020, it was announced that the center was renamed the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Center for Arabic Calligraphy, and upgraded to an international hub for Arabic Calligraphers, in conjunction with the "Year of Arabic Calligraphy" event organized by theMinistry of Culture during the years 2020 and 2021.[60]
Other projects launched by the MMDA Cultural Wing include the Madinah Forum of Live Sculpture held at Quba Square, with 16 sculptors from 11 countries. The forum aimed to celebratesculpture as it is an ancient art, and to attract young artists to this form of art.[61]
Historically, Medina's economy was dependent on the sale ofdates and other agricultural activities. As of 1920, 139 varieties of dates were being grown in the area, along with othervegetables.[62]Religious tourism plays a major part in Medina's economy, being the second holiest city in Islam, and holding many historical Islamic locations, it attracts more than 7 million annual visitors who come to performHajj during the Hajj season, andUmrah throughout the year.[63]
The Ministry of Education is the governing body of education in theal-Madinah Province and it operates 724 and 773 public schools for boys and girls respectively throughout the province.[67] Taibah High School is one of the most notable schools in Saudi Arabia. Established in 1942, it was the second-largest school in the country at that time. Saudi ministers and government officials have graduated from this high school.[68]
Medina is served by thePrince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport located off Highway 340. It handles domestic flights, while it has scheduled international services to regional destinations in theMiddle East. It is the fourth-busiest airport in Saudi Arabia, handling 8,144,790 passengers in 2018.[73] The airport project was announced as the world's best byEngineering News-Record's 3rd Annual Global Best Projects Competition held on 10 September 2015.[74][75] The airport also received the firstLeadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certificate in theMENA region.[76] The airport receives higher numbers of passengers during theHajj.
A government-run bus in Medina at Salam Rd. Station
In 2015, theMMDA announced Darb as-Sunnah (Sunnah Path) Project, which aims to develop and transform the 3 km (1.9 mi) Quba'a Road connecting the Quba'a Mosque to the al-Masjid an-Nabawi to an avenue, paving the whole road for pedestrians and providing service facilities to the visitors. The project also aims to revive theSunnah where Muhammed used to walk from his house (al-Masjid an-Nabawi) to Quba'a every Saturday afternoon.[77]
The city of Medina lies at the junction of two of the most important Saudi highways, Highway 60 and Highway 15. Highway 15 connects Medina toMecca in the south and onward andTabuk andJordan in the north. Highway 60 connects the city withYanbu, a port city on theRed Sea in the west andAl Qassim in the east. The city is served by threering roads: King Faisal Road, a 5 km ring road that surroundsAl-Masjid an-Nabawi and the downtown area, King Abdullah Road, a 27 km road that surrounds most of urban Medina and King Khalid Road is the biggest ring road that surrounds the whole city and some rural areas with 60 km of roads.
The bus transport system in Medina was established in 2012 by theMMDA and is operated by SAPTCO. The newly established bus system includes 10 lines connecting different regions of the city toMasjid an-Nabawi and the downtown area, and serves around 20,000 passengers on a daily basis.[78][79] In 2017, theMMDA launched the Madinah Sightseeing Bus service.Open top buses take passengers on sightseeing trips throughout the day with two lines and 11 destinations, including Masjid an-Nabawi,Quba'a Mosque andMasjid al-Qiblatayn and offers audio tour guidance with eight different languages.[80] By the end of 2019, theMMDA announced its plan to expand the bus network with 15BRT lines. The project was set to be done in 2023.[81] In 2015, theMMDA announced a three-linemetro project in extension to the public transportation master plan in Medina.[82]
^abc<>. Ibn Ḥanbal, ʻAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad, 828–903. 'Amman: Bayt al-Afkar al-Dawliyah. 2003.ISBN9957-21-049-1.OCLC957317429.Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved24 June 2020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^abIbn 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.]ISBN978-1-909460-11-9.OCLC981125883.Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved24 June 2020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Firestone 118. For opinions disputing the early date of the Constitution of Medina, see e.g., Peters 116; "Muhammad", "Encyclopaedia of Islam"; "Kurayza, Banu", "Encyclopaedia of Islam".
^Shelomo Dov Goitein,The Yemenites – History, Communal Organization, Spiritual Life (Selected Studies), editor: Menahem Ben-Sasson, Jerusalem 1983, pp. 288–299.ISBN965-235-011-7
^Esposito, John L. "Islam." Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, edited by Thomas Riggs, vol. 1: Religions and Denominations, Gale, 2006, pp. 349–379.
^Ibn Ishaq (1955),The Life of Muhammad (Sirat Rasul Allah), translated by A. Guillaume, Oxford University Press, pp. 461–464,ISBN978-0-19-636033-1
^Bosworth,C. Edmund: Historic Cities of the Islamic World, p. 385 – "Half-a-century later, in 654/1256, Medina was threatened by a volcanic eruption. After a series of earthquakes, a stream of lava appeared, but fortunately flowed to the east of the town and then northwards."
^Peters, Francis (1994).Mecca: A Literary History of the Muslim Holy Land. PP376-377. Princeton University Press.ISBN0-691-03267-X
^Mohmed Reda Bhacker (1992).Trade and Empire in Muscat and Zanzibar: Roots of British Domination. Routledge Chapman & Hall. P63: Following the plunder of Medina in 1810 'when the Prophet's tomb was opened and its jewels and relics sold and distributed among the Wahhabi soldiery'. P122: the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II was at last moved to act against such outrage.
^Prothero, G.W. (1920).Arabia. London: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 103.Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved12 September 2013.
^ab"About King Fahd Complex".King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran.Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved10 February 2020.
Badr, Abdulbasit A. (2013).Madinah, The Enlightened City: History and Landmarks. Medina: Al-Madinah Al Munawwarah Research & Studies Center.ISBN978-603-90414-7-4
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