Medina

What is Medina

Medina is a city in western Saudi Arabia. In the city center, the vast Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (Prophet’s Mosque) is a major Islamic pilgrimage site. Its striking Green Dome rises above the tombs of the Prophet Muhammad and early Islamic leaders Abu Bakr and Umar. The Masjid al-Qiblatain (Qiblatain Mosque) is known as the site where the Prophet Muhammad received the command to change the direction of prayer to Mecca.

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For other uses, see Medina (disambiguation).
“Madina” redirects here. For other uses, see Madina (disambiguation).
“Madinah” redirects here. For other uses, see Madinah (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Mdina.

Medina المدينة المنورة (Al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah)
Yathrib يثرب
The Radiant City

Medina (/məˈdiːnə/; Arabic: المدينة المنورة‎‎, al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah, “the radiant city”; or المدينة, al-Madīnah (Hejazi pronunciation: [almaˈdiːna]), “the city”), also transliterated as Madīnah, is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia that is also the capital of the Al Madinah Region. The city contains al-Masjid an-Nabawi (“the Prophet’s Mosque”), which is the burial place of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and is the second-holiest city in Islam after Mecca.

Medina was Muhammad’s destination after his Hijrah from Mecca, and became the capital of a rapidly increasing Muslim Empire, first under Muhammad’s leadership, and then under Ali. It served as the power base of Islam in its first century where the early Muslim community developed. Medina is home to the three oldest mosques, namely the Quba Mosque, al-Masjid an-Nabawi, and Masjid al-Qiblatayn (“the mosque of the two qiblas”). Muslims believe that the chronologically final surahs of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad in Medina, and are called Medinan surahs in contrast to the earlier Meccan surahs.

Similar to Mecca, non-Muslims are forbidden from entering the sacred core of Medina (but not the entire city) or the city centre by the national government.

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