Medina is home to several distinguished sites and landmarks, most of which are mosques and hold historic significance. 3, Book 30, Hadith 103), "There are angels guarding the entrances (or roads) of Medina, neither plague nor Ad-Dajjal will be able to enter it. Definition of Medina (Entry 2 of 2) 1 \ mə- ˈdē- nə \ or Arabic Al Madīnah \ ˌäl- mä- ˈdē- nə \ city in western Saudi Arabia population 1,100,000 The city has been divided into twelve (12) districts, 7 of which have been categorised as urban districts, while the other 5 have been categorised as suburban. verse 8. According to Islamic tradition, a prayer in The Prophet's Mosque equates to 1,000 prayers in any other mosque except the Masjid al-Haram[34] where one prayer equates to 100,000 prayers in any other mosque. It is Sunnah to perform prayer at the Quba'a Mosque. While Medina was formally allied with the Abbasids during this period, they maintained closer relations with the Zengids and Ayyubids. A Mosque in the area of Medina, possibly: This page was last edited on 24 November 2020, at 14:16. Medina witnessed the longest siege in its history during and after World War I. 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". Islamic scriptures emphasise the sacredness of Medina. [3], The city is presumed to have been renamed Madinat al-Nabi ("City of the Prophet" in Arabic) in honour of Muhammad's prophethood and the city being the site of his burial. The tomb of Aaron is located on the highest point of Mount Uḥud. Similar to that of Mecca, Medina exhibits a cross-cultural environment, a city where people of many nationalities and cultures live together and interact with each other on a daily basis. A larger portion of the Qur'an was revealed in Medina in contrast to the earlier Meccan surahs. "[31] After the Great War, the Sharif of Mecca, Sayyid Hussein bin Ali was proclaimed King of an independent Hejaz. of which constitutes the city's urban area, while the rest is occupied by the Hejaz mountain range, empty valleys, agricultural spaces, older dormant volcanoes and the Nafud desert. Muhammad's sons, Towson and Ibrahim, alternated in the governance of the city. In addition the city is also the site of the Islamic University, established in 1961. It is situated c.110 mi (180 km) inland from the Red Sea in a well-watered oasis where fruit, dates, vegetables, and grain are raised. The modernization of Medina has not been so rapid as that of Jiddah, Riyadh, and other Saudi towns. Despite Muhammad's tribal connection to Mecca, the growing importance of Mecca in Islam, the significance of the Ka'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 early Rashidun Caliphate. This name is also used to refer to the city in the popular folk song, "Ya Taybah!" [2] Located at the core of the Madinah Province in the western reaches of the country, the city is distributed over 589 square kilometers (227 square miles), 293 km2 (117 sq. Other mosques commemorate where he donned his armour for that battle; where he rested on the way thither, and where he unfurled his standard for the Battle of the Ditch (Al-Khandaq); and the ditch itself, dug around Medina by Muhammad, in which the rubble of the great fire during the reign (1839–61) of Sultan Abdülmecid I was dumped. Drinking water is supplied by an aqueduct from a spring at the southern end of the oasis. Black Friday Sale! [51] 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 perform Hajj during the Hajj season, and Umrah throughout the year. When he visited Medina in 1162 CE (557 AH), he ordered the construction of a new wall that encompassed the new urban areas outside the old city wall. [53] The Knowledge Economic City (KEC) is a Saudi Arabian joint stock company founded in 2010. definition: the sacred writings of Islam revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad during his life at Mecca and Medina significance: Basis of the Islamic faith. This is also the period in which many of the Prophet's Mosque's modern features were built even though it wasn't painted green yet. After a series of earthquakes, a stream of lava appeared, but fortunately flowed to the east of the town and then northwards. In Morocco, medina simply means “city”. Today, the Medina surname is most frequently found in use in Argentina and Spain according to the World Names Public Profiler. Ḥusayn later came into conflict with Ibn Saud, and in 1925 the city fell to the Saʿūd dynasty. The mosque at Quba'a was built by Muhammad himself upon his arrival to the old city of Medina. Pop. [24] This action was conceived of as a defensive measure to ensure that the Muslim community could be confident of its continued survival in Medina. [11] Ibn Khordadbeh later reported that during the Persian Empire's domination in Hejaz, the Banu Qurayza served as tax collectors for the Persian Shah.