Medina
Madinah
المدينة | |
|---|---|
| al-Madinah al-Munawwarah المدينة المنورة | |
Nicknames:
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 Interactive map of Madinah | |
  Madinah Location of Medina  Madinah Madinah (Middle East)  Madinah Madinah (Asia) | |
| Coordinates: 24°28′12″N 39°36′36″E / 24.47000°N 39.61000°E | |
| Country |  Saudi Arabia |
| Province | Medina |
| Region | Hejaz |
| First settled | 9th century BC (as Yathrib) |
| Hijrah | 622 CE (1 AH) |
| Saudi conquest of Hejaz | 5 December 1925 |
| Named after | Muhammad |
| Government | |
| • Type | Development Authority / Municipality |
| • Body |
|
| • Mayor | Fahd Al-Balayeshi[1] |
| • Governor | Salman bin Sultan |
| Area | |
| 589 km2 (227 sq mi) | |
| • Metro | 22,900 km2 (8,800 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 620 m (2,030 ft) |
| Highest elevation | 1,077 m (3,533 ft) |
| Population (2022 census)[2] | |
| 1,411,599 | |
| • Rank | 4th |
| • Density | 2,400/km2 (6,210/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 1,477,047 (Medina Governorate) |
| Demonym(s) | Madani مدني |
| GDP (PPP, constant 2015 values) | |
| • Year | 2023 |
| • Total (Metro) | $46.7 billion[3] |
| • Per capita | $48,800 |
| Time zone | UTC+03:00 (SAST) |
| Website | www visitmadinahsa |
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Medina,[a] officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah,[b] also known as al-Madinah an-Nabawiyyah and Taybah,[c] is the capital and administrative centre of Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia. It is the second holiest city in Islam after Mecca, and one of the oldest and most important places in Islamic history. The population as of 2022 is 1,477,023, making it the fourth-most populous city in the country. Around 58.5% of the population are Saudi citizens and 41.5% are foreigners.[4] The city joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2024. [5] 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 the Hejaz Mountains, empty valleys, agricultural spaces, and older dormant volcanoes.
Medina is generally considered to be the "cradle of Islamic culture and civilization".[6] The city is considered to be the second-holiest of three key cities in Islamic tradition, with Mecca and Jerusalem serving as the holiest and third-holiest cities respectively. Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (lit. 'The Prophet's Mosque') is of exceptional importance in Islam and serves as burial site of the prophet Muhammad, by whom the mosque was built in 622 CE (first year of the Hijrah). Observant Muslims usually visit his tomb, or rawḍah, at least once in their lifetime during a pilgrimage known as Ziyarat, although this is not obligatory.[7] The original name of the city before the advent of Islam was Yathrib (Arabic: يَثْرِب), and it is referred to by this name in Chapter 33 (Al-Aḥzāb, lit. 'The Confederates') of the Quran. It was renamed to Madīnat an-Nabī (lit. 'City of the Prophet' or 'The Prophet's City') after and later to al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (lit. 'The Enlightened City') before being simplified and shortened to its modern name, Madinah (lit. 'The City'), from which the English-language spelling of "Medina" is derived. Saudi road signage uses Madinah and al-Madinah al-Munawwarah interchangeably.[7]
The city existed for over 1,500 years before Muhammad's migration from Mecca,[8] known as the Hijrah. Medina was the capital of a rapidly increasing Muslim caliphate under Muhammad's leadership, serving as its base of operations and as the cradle of Islam, where Muhammad's ummah (lit. 'nation')—composed of Medinan citizens (Ansar) as well as those who immigrated with Muhammad (Muhajirun), who were collectively known as the Sahabah—gained huge influence. Medina is home to three prominent mosques, namely al-Masjid an-Nabawi, Quba Mosque, and Masjid al-Qiblatayn, with the Quba Mosque being the oldest in Islam. A larger portion of the Qur'an was revealed in Medina in contrast to the earlier Meccan surahs.[9][10]
Much like most of the Hejaz, Medina has seen numerous exchanges of power within its comparatively short existence. The region has been controlled by Jewish-Arabian tribes (up until the fifth century CE), the ʽAws and Khazraj (up until Muhammad's arrival), Muhammad and the Rashidun (622–660), the Umayyads (660–749), the Abbasids, the Fatimids, the Ayyubids, the Mamluks of Egypt (1254–1517), the Ottomans (1517–1805), the First Saudi State (1805–1811), Muhammad Ali of Egypt (1811–1840), the Ottomans for a second time (1840–1918), the Sharifate of Mecca under the Hashemites (1918–1925) and finally is in the hands of the present-day Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1925–present).[7]
In addition to visiting for Ziyarah, tourists come to visit the other prominent mosques and landmarks in the city that hold religious significance such as Mount Uhud, Al-Baqi' cemetery and the Seven Mosques among others. The Saudi government has also carried out the destruction of several historical structures and archaeological sites, both in Medina and Mecca.[11]
Names
[edit]Yathrib
[edit]Before the advent of Islam, the city was known as Yathrib (Arabic: يَثْرِب, romanised: Yaṯrib; pronounced [ˈjaθrɪb]). The word Yathrib appears in an inscription found in Harran, belongs to the Babylonian king Nabonidus (6th century BCE)[12] and is well attested in several texts in the subsequent centuries.[13] The name has also been recorded in Āyah (verse) 13 of Surah (chapter) 33 of the Qur'an.[Quran 33:13] and is thus known to have been the name of the city up to the Battle of the Trench. According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad later forbade calling the city by this name.[14]
Taybah and Tabah
[edit]
Sometime after the battle, Muhammad renamed the city Taybah (the Kind or the Good) (Arabic pronunciation: [ˈtˤajba]; طَيْبَة)[15] and Tabah (Arabic: طَابَة)[16] which is similar in 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).
Madinah
[edit]The city has also simply been called Al-Madinah (i.e. 'The City') in some ahadith.[16] The names al-Madīnah an-Nabawiyyah (ٱلْمَدِينَة ٱلنَّبَوِيَّة) and Madīnat un-Nabī (both meaning "City of the Prophet" or "The Prophet's City") and al-Madīnat ul-Munawwarah ("The Illuminated 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.[citation needed]
History
[edit]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, the Baqi' Cemetery where the graves of many famous Islamic figures are presumed to be located; directly to the southeast of the Prophet's Mosque, the Uhud mountain, site of the eponymous Battle of Uhud and the King Fahd Glorious Qur'an Printing Complex where most modern Qur'anic Mus'hafs are printed.
Early history
[edit]Medina has been inhabited at least 1500 years before the Hijra, or approximately the 9th century BCE.[8] By the fourth century, Arab tribes began to encroach from Yemen, and there were three prominent Jewish tribes that inhabited the city around the time of Muhammad: the Banu Qaynuqa, the Banu Qurayza, and Banu Nadir.[17] Ibn Khordadbeh later reported that during the Persian Empire's domination in Hejaz, the Banu Qurayza served as tax collectors for the Persian Shah.[18][full citation needed]
The situation changed after the arrival of two new Arab tribes, the 'Aws or Banu 'Aws and the Khazraj, 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]
Under the 'Aws and Khazraj
[edit]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 chronicler Ibn Ishaq tells of an ancient conflict between the last Yemenite king of the Himyarite 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 the palms. According to Ibn Ishaq, he was stopped from doing so by two rabbis from the Banu Qurayza tribe, who implored the king to spare the oasis because it was the place "to which a prophet of the Quraysh 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 to Judaism. He took the rabbis with him, and in Mecca, they reportedly recognised the Ka'bah as a structure built by Abraham and advised the king "to do what the people of Mecca did: to circumambulate the structure, 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's Hijrah (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 the Battle 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 Yathrib met secretly with Muhammad in 'Aqaba, a place outside Mecca, 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.