Medina

Islam’s second holiest city after Mecca, located in western Saudi Arabia. Medina welcomed Muhammad and his followers when they fled persecution in Mecca, becoming the first Islamic community (ummah) and the base from which Islam spread throughout Arabia. The Prophet’s Mosque (Al-Masjid an-Nabawi) contains Muhammad’s tomb, making it a site of pilgrimage.

Originally called Yathrib, the city was home to both Arab tribes (Aws and Khazraj) and several Jewish tribes. In 622 CE, tribal leaders from Yathrib invited Muhammad to mediate their ongoing conflicts, offering him protection. This migration (hijra) of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Yathrib marks year one of the Islamic calendar and represents a pivotal turning point—from a persecuted minority to an established political community. The Quran references this journey: “If you do not aid the Prophet—Allah has already aided him when those who disbelieved had driven him out [of Mecca] as one of two, when they were in the cave and he said to his companion, ‘Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us’” (Quran 9:40).

Upon arrival, Muhammad immediately built a mosque (the first Prophet’s Mosque) and established the Constitution of Medina, a pioneering document defining relationships between Muslims, Jews, and other groups in the city. He renamed the city Al-Madinah (literally “The City”), reflecting its new status as the City of the Prophet. From Medina, Muhammad organized the early Muslim community, received much of the Quran’s revelation, and led military campaigns that eventually resulted in Mecca’s peaceful conquest in 630 CE.

Muhammad lived in Medina for the final ten years of his life (622-632 CE), building it into Islam’s administrative and spiritual center. When he died in 632 CE, he was buried in his house adjacent to the mosque, where his tomb remains today beneath the mosque’s green dome. Though the Islamic capital later moved to Damascus and then Baghdad, Medina retained its sacred status as the Prophet’s city. Muslims worldwide seek to visit both the Prophet’s Mosque and the Quba Mosque (Islam’s first mosque, built on Muhammad’s arrival), making Medina the second most visited pilgrimage site after Mecca.