Medina summary

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Prophet's MosqueProphet's Mosque, Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Medina, Arabic Al-Madīnah ancient Yathrib, City (pop., 2004: 918,889), western Saudi Arabia, north of Mecca. It developed from an oasis settled by Jews c. 135 ce. In 622 the Prophet Muhammad fled from Mecca to Medina (see Hijrah). It served as capital of the Islamic state until 661. It was held by the Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1804, when it was seized by the Wahhābiyyah. An Ottoman-Egyptian force retook it in 1812. Ottoman rule ceased during World War I (1914–18), and in 1925 it fell to the forces of Ibn Saʿūd. The second holiest city of Islam, it is often visited by Muslims in conjunction with the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. Among its many mosques is the Prophet’s Mosque, containing the tomb of Muhammad.

pilgrimage Summary

Pilgrimage, a journey undertaken for a religious motive. Although some pilgrims have wandered continuously with no fixed destination, pilgrims more commonly seek a specific place that has been sanctified by association with a divinity or other holy personage. The institution of pilgrimage is

Saudi Arabia Summary

Saudi Arabia, arid, sparsely populated kingdom of the Middle East that in the 20th century became one of the world’s largest oil-producing countries in terms of output. It is ruled by the Saud family, which in the 18th century entered an alliance with the austere and conservative Wahhābī Islamic

Muhammad Summary

Muhammad was the founder of Islam and the proclaimer of the Qurʾān. He is traditionally said to have been born in 570 in Mecca and to have died in 632 in Medina, where he had been forced to emigrate to with his adherents in 622. The Qurʾān yields little concrete biographical information about the