Medina

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Saudi Arabian city, about 355 km/220 mi north of Mecca; population (2004) 918,900. It is the second holiest city in the Islamic world after Mecca, and contains the tomb of Muhammad, a focus for Muslim pilgrims during the hajj (annual pilgrimage).

History
In ancient times, Medina was known as Yathrib. In the early Christian centuries it was a centre for Arab Jews. Nothing but their religion distinguished them from the tribes around them.

In AD 622, when Mecca became too dangerous for Muhammad, a group of his followers from Yathrib invited him to take refuge in their town. His flight from Mecca to Yathrib is known as the Hijrah. Muhammad was made welcome and built a mosque, and the town took the name of Medina. Renowned for his wisdom and kindness, Muhammad became the ruler of Medina, and made it the capital of the new Islamic state.

Fighting and unrest continued between Mecca and Medina, until in 627, at the Battle of the Ditch near Medina, Muhammad defeated the Meccans and their allies and forced them to recognize Medina as the leading centre of the new Muslim faith. He died in Medina in 632. Medina remained the capital of the Islamic state until the first Umayyad caliph removed the government to Damascus in 661. After that, Medina became a centre of religious learning and, with Mecca, a centre of commerce.

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