Place:Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia

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NameAl Madinah
Alt namesMedinasource: Wikipedia:Medina
TypeProvince
Located inSaudi Arabia
Contained Places
Inhabited place
Al-Madīnah
Badr
Yanbu' al Bahr


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The Medina Province is a province (minṭaqah) of Saudi Arabia, located on the country's western side, along the Red Sea coast. It has an area of and a population of 2,132,679 (2017 Census) subdivided into seven Muḥafaẓat (Governorates):

Governorate Population
Medina 995,619
Al Hunakiyah 52,549
Mahd Al Thahab 53,687
Al-'Ula 57,495
Badr 58,088
Yanbu Al Bahar 249,797
Khaybar 45,489

The regional capital is Medina, the second-holiest city in Islam. Other cities in the province include Yanbu' al Bahr and Badr Hunayn. It also contains Mada'in Saleh, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Medina, officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah, is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the Medina Province of Saudi Arabia. , the estimated population of the city is 1,488,782, making it the fourth-most populous city in the country. Located at the core of the Medina Province in the western reaches of the country, the city is distributed over , of which 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". 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 is of exceptional importance in Islam and serves as burial site of the last Islamic prophet, Muhammad, by whom the mosque was built in 622 CE. Observant Muslims usually visit his tomb, or rawdhah, at least once in their lifetime during a pilgrimage known as Ziyarat, although this is not obligatory.[1] The original name of the city before the advent of Islam was Yathrib, and it is referred to by this name in Chapter 33 (Al-Aḥzāb) of the Quran. It was renamed to after Muhammad's death and later to before being simplified and shortened to its modern name,, from which the English-language spelling of "Medina" is derived. Saudi road signage uses and interchangeably.[1]

The city existed for over 1,500 years before Muhammad's migration from Mecca, 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—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, Masjid Qubaʽa, and Masjid al-Qiblatayn, with the Masjid Quba'a being the oldest in Islam. A larger portion of the Qur'an was revealed in Medina in contrast to the earlier Meccan surahs.

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 5th century CE), the ʽAws and Khazraj (up until Muhammad's arrival), Muhammad and the Rashidun (622–660), the Umayyads (660–749), the Abbasids (749–1254), the Mamluks of Egypt (1254–1517), the Ottomans (1517–1805), the First Saudi State (1805–1811), Muhammad Ali Pasha (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).[1]

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-Baqiʽ cemetery and the Seven Mosques among others. Recently, after the Saudi conquest of Hejaz, the Saudis carried out a demolition of several tombs and domes in and around the region because of their Wahhabi beliefs within Sunni Islam.

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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Al Madinah. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Medina. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.