Biography

Medina (; 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 the Arabian Peninsula and administrative headquarters of the Al-Madinah Region of Saudi Arabia. At the city's heart is al-Masjid an-Nabawi ('The Prophet's Mosque'), which is the burial place of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, and it is the second-holiest city in Islam after Mecca. Medina was Muhammad's destination of his Hijrah (migration) from Mecca, and became the capital of a rapidly increasing Muslim Empire, under Muhammad's leadership. 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.Just like Mecca, the city center of Medina is closed to anyone who is considered a non-Muslim, including members of the Ahmadiyya movement, by the national government; however, other parts of the city are not closed.