the Prophet (S.A.W)," is in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia.
It was to Medina city that Muhammad (S.A.W) fled when he was initially
driven out of Mecca, and the place where he attracted his first
followers.Medina currently has a population of about 600,000 people
and is the home of "The Prophet's Mosque." The long form of the Arabic
name for Medina(Madinat Rasul Allah) means "City of the Prophet of
Allaah", while the short form (al-Madina) just means "the City".
Muslims always add salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam ("peace be upon him")
after mentioning the Prophet Muhammad, so the full form of the name is
commonly given as "Madinat Rasul Allah salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam."
Medina is the second holy city of Islam, after Mecca. It's importance
as a religious site derives from the presence there of the Masjid al
Nabawi, the Mosque of the Prophet (S.A.W), which was built on the site
of Muhammad's home and is where he is buried. The first mosque of
Islam is also located in Medinah and is known as Masjid al-Quba, the
Quba Mosque. In 622, Medina became the seat of Muhammad's (S.A.W)
growing movement after the Hijra. In 622 Muhammad (S.A.W) was invited
to come and live in Yathrib (the old name of Medina) and act as a sort
ofgovernor. Medina in those times was a divided city. Different clans
and religions were eternally quarreling and bickering and Muhammad
brought unity to the city. All parties agreed to a pact drawn up by
Muhammad (S.A.W) and his followers. He invited all people in the city
to followthe new religion of Islam. However, he had trouble convincing
the Jewish population (which was actually quite large) that Islam was
the true version of Judaism. In the ten yearsfollowing the Hijra,
Medina formed the base from which Muhammad (S.A.W) attacked and was
attacked and it was from here that he marched on Makkah, becoming its
ruler without battle. Even when Islamic rule was established Medina
remained for some years the most important city of Islam and the de
facto capital of the Caliphate. Under the first four Caliphs, known as
the Righteous Caliphs, the Islamic empire expanded rapidly and came to
include centres of learning such as Jerusalem and Damascus. After the
death of Ali, the fourth caliph, Mu'awiyya transferred the capital to
Damascus and the importance of Medina dwindled and became of a
religious more than a political nature. In 1924 the city, which had
been in Ottoman hands for centuries, fell to Ibn Saud, whose empire
later became Saudi Arabia.