User:Striver/Sandbox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 24°28′N 38°36′E
Holy City of Al Madina Al Monawara المدينة المنورة
Location in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Province	Al Madinah Province
Government
- Prince	Abdul Majeed bin Abdul Aziz
Area
- City	? km² (Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?" sq mi)
- Land	? km² (Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?" sq mi)
- Water	? km² (Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?" sq mi)
Population (2006)
- City	1,300,000

This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. For other uses, see Striver/Sandbox (disambiguation).

Medina /mɛˈdiːnə/ (Arabic: المدينة المنورة‎ IPA: [ælmæˈdiːnæl muˈnɑwːɑrɑ] or المدينة IPA: [ælmæˈdiːnæ]; also transliterated into English as Madinah) is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia.

[edit] Overview

It currently has a population of +1,300,000 (2006). Medina is located at 24.28° N 39.36° E. Medina was originally known as Yathrib, but later the city's name was changed to Madīna al-Nabī (ﻣﺩﯾﻨﺔ ﺍﻟﻨﺒﻲ IPA: [mæˈdiːnæt æˈnːæbiː] "city of the prophet") or Al Madīnah al Munawwarah ("the enlightened city" or "the radiant city"), while the short form Medina simply means "city". Medina is the second holiest city of Islam, after Mecca (Makkah). ^[1]

Its importance as a religious site derives from the presence there of the shrine of Muhammad by Masjid al-Nabawi (or the Mosque of the Prophet) containing Muhammad's tomb, famously known as Qubbat al-Nabi, Prophet's Dome or Green Dome, which was built on a site adjacent to Muhammad's home. His home later became part of the mosque when it was expanded by the Umayyad caliph al-Waleed ibn AbdelMalek. The first mosque of Islam is also located in Medinah and is known as Masjid Quba, (the Quba Mosque).

Like Mecca, the city of Medina only permits Muslims to enter. Both cities' numerous mosques are the destination for large numbers of Muslims on their annual pilgrimage. Hundreds of Muslims come to Medina annually to worship at these mosques in a unified celebration.

[edit] History

[edit] 2nd Millenia BCE

Map showing Hejaz within Saudi Arabia

According to Arabic tradition, the original inhabitants of the Hejaz and Yathrib were the Amalekites, and that they were displaced by the Israelites ^[2].

Different accounts date this under Moses (mid 2nd century BC) ^[3]; some, under Joshua (around 1200 BCE); and some, under David (c. 1011 BCE – 971 BCE), who it is stated resided in the Hijaz during Absalom's rebellion ^[2].

[edit] 1st Millenia BCE

Jewish Encyclopedia state that Jews may have settled in the Hijaz after the sack of Jerusalem (597 BC) by Nebuchadrezzar II (605 BC-562 BC) ^[2].

[edit] 1st Millenia CE

Jewish Encyclopedia further writes that it is probable that the Jews came to the Hijaz in successive colonies, e.g., after Pompey's attack upon Judea (64 BC), after Titus' conquest of Jerusalem (70 CE), and again after Hadrian's persecution of the Jews (in 136 CE) ^[2].

[edit] 1st century CE

It was an important trading town and its pagan inhabitants would make yearly pilgrimages to the shrines in Mecca, being that the chief god of both cities was Manat. It was also notable as a center of Arab Jews, who were only distinguished from their fellow citizens by their religion.

The oasis of Yathrib was first settled by three Jewish tribes: the Banu Qaynuqa, the Banu Qurayza, and Banu Nadir ^[2]. However it must be noted that there is no conclusive evidence whether the Banu Qurayza were ethnically Jewish - as the tribes indeed claimed to be - or Arab converts to Judaism, as their Arab names, some Arab customes and their intermarriage with Arabs suggests ^[4].

Jewish Encyclopedia writes:

“

Although the settlement of the Jews did not extend further south than the town of Medina, the spread of their religion was not confined to that district. The accounts of this are rather fantastic and include the following: When Abu Karîb, the last of the Tobba kings ^[5] of Yemen, besieged Yathrib (the ancient name of Medina), he was persuaded by two rabbis (to whom later sources give the names of Ka'ab and Asad) not only to raise the siege, but also to adopt the Jewish creed. Taking the two rabbis with him, he converted his army and subsequently his people; but it was not till the time of Dhu Nuwas (sixth century) that Judaism was more widely spread in Yemen. ^[2]

”

Ibn Khordadbeh later reported that during the Persian domination in Hijaz, the Banu Qurayza served as tax collectors for the shah.^[6]

[edit] 4th century

In the early 4th century CE, two tibes from Yemen named Banu Aus and Banu Khazraj moved into the city ^[2]^[7]. At first, these tribes were clients of the Jews, but later they revolted and became independent.^[8]

[edit] 6th century

Jewish Encyclopedia writes:

“

It was in the last-named place that Jews lived in large numbers, forming three tribes, viz., the powerful Banu Kainuka, in the north of the town, where they possessed a market named after them; the Banu al-Nadhir, who were their neighbors, and the Banu Ḳuraiza, who occupied the eastern suburbs. The last two tribes claimed their descent from the family of Aaron, and therefore styled themselves Al-Kahinan (the two Priests). Besides building villages, all three tribes constructed a number of forts, which afforded them protection during the numerous feuds of the Arab tribes. Through recent discoveries of inscriptions the names of several "kings" of tribes have been unearthed, and Glaser has arranged them chronologically in the following order: Talmay, Hanaus (Al-Aus), Talmay, Lawdan, Talmay. ^[7]

”

Ibn Ishaq tells of a conflict between the last Yemenite Himyar king ^[5] and the residents of Yathrib. When the king was passing by the oasis, the residents killed his son, and the Yemenite ruler threatened to exterminate the people and cut down the palms. According to ibn Ishaq, he was stopped from doing so by two rabbis from the Banu Qurayza, who implored the king to spare the oasis because it was the place "to which a prophet of the Quraysh would migrate in time to come, and it would be his home and resting-place". The Yemenite king thus did not destroy the town and converted to Judaism. He took the rabbis with him, and in Mecca, they reportedly recognized Kaaba as a temple built by Abraham and advised the king “to do what the people of Mecca did: to circumambulate the temple, to venerate and honor it, to shave his head and to behave with all humility until he had left its precincts.” On approaching Yemen, tells ibn Ishaq, the rabbis demonstrated to the local people a miracle by coming out of a fire unscathed and the Yemenites accepted Judaism.^[9]

In the 6th century CE The Jews lost control of the city to Banu Aus and Banu Khazraj ^[2]. Jewish Encyclopedia states:

“

Like the Jews, the intruders built a number of castles for themselves and sought to insure their own safety by making allies of the former. Peaceful times had, however, gone forever. The Arab historians—the sole source regarding these events—consider the acts of violence committed by one of the Jewish tribes to be the cause of the outbreak of hostilities; but this is only natural. Following their report it is learned that part of the Banu al-Khazraj had settled in Syria under the sovereignty of the Ghassanide prince Abu Jubaila. Malik, chief of the Medinian Khazrajites, invoked his aid against the Jewish oppressors. Glad of the opportunity, he marched with an army toward Medina, whereupon the Jews retired to their castles. Pretending to be engaged in an expedition against Yemen, he assured them of his peaceful intentions, and invited them to a banquet in his camp. Those who availed themselves of the invitation were assassinated, and the murderers seized their wives and children. The fate of the unhappy victims was bewailed in elegies by the Jewess Sarah and by another poet, whose name is not known.

The only revenge taken by the Jews was to manufacture an uncouth effigy of the traitor, which they are said to have placed in their synagogue—a most unlikely place—where they showered blows and curses on it. This, if true, would enable one to form some idea of their intellectual status, and would seem to show that, in spite of their religious views, they shared their neighbors' belief in magic. That Arabs regarded such punishment as effective can be proved by occurrences which took place even in Islamic times; but compare Haman in Rabb. Lit. ^[7]

”

Most modern historians accept the claim of the Muslim sources that after the revolt, the Jewish tribes became clients of the Aws and the Khazraj.^[10] According to William Montgomery Watt, the clientship of the Jewish tribes is not borne out by the historical accounts of the period prior to 627, and maintained that the Jews retained a measure of political independence.^[8]

[edit] 7th century

Eventualy, Banu Aus and Banu Khazraj became hostile to each other and by the 7th century, they had been fighting for one hundred and twenty years and were the sworn enemies of each other.^[11].

The Banu Nadir and the Banu Qurayza were allied with the Aus, while the Banu Qaynuqa sided with the Khazraj.^[12] They fought a total of four wars.^[8]

Their last and bloodiest was the Battle of Bu'ath ^[8] that was fought a few years before the arrival of Muhammad ^[13]. The outcome of the battle was inconclusive, and the feud continued. Abdallah ibn Ubayy, one Khazraj chief, had refused to take part in the battle, which earned him a reputation for equity and peacefulness. Until the arrival of Muhammad he was the most respected inhabitant of Yathrib.

[edit] 622: Muhammad's arrival

In 622, Muhammad and the Muslims had a hard time in Mecca. They had been subjected to a boycott that forced them into starvation, and Muhammad's wife had died together with his clan leader and protector in what became known as the Year of Sorrow.

Muhammad was invited to live in Yathrib and act as a sort of mediator between the tribes, an event that would transform the political landscape completely. At that time, all Meccan leaders combined their efforts into an assassination attempt that Muhammad narrowly escaped, and thus was forced to leave Mecca.

According to Islamic tradition, the Aws and Khazraj tribes got word of Muhammad in Mecca and decided to allow him to resolve their conflict. Muhammad was linked to the Khazraj through his great grandmother. Muhammad and his followers agreed to move to Yathrib (Arabic: Hijra), which eventually became known as al-Madinah al-Nabi, the city of the Messenger.

When Muhammad reached medina, the longstanding enmity between the Aws and Khazraj tribes was dampened as many of the two tribes embraced Islam. The city became the seat of Muhammad's growing movement after the Migration. Upon entry Muhammad drafted the Constitution of Medina ^[14] making him the leader of the city. The charter drew up an alliance between the Muslim, pagan and Jewish communities. The communities were to remain economically and socially separate, but militarily and politically one unit. Treachery and breach in trust was strictly forbidden. The Muslim converts of Yathrib became united the under the name "Ansar" (the Helpers).

According to Ibn Ishaq, the Muslims and Jews of the area signed the Constitution of Medina. However, the nature of this document as recorded by Ibn Ishaq and transmitted by ibn Hisham is the subject of dispute among modern historians many of whom maintain that this "treaty" is possibly a collage of agreements, oral rather than written, of different dates, and that it is not clear when they were made or with whom.^[15]

[edit] 623: Skirmish in Rabigh

In January of 623 Muhammad dispatched Obeida ibn Harith Obeida, son of Harith to lead another raiding party against a caravan passing along the Syria-to-Mecca trade route. As the caravan (led by Abu Sufyan) was watering in the valley of Rabigh Muhammad's men fired volleys of arrows from a distance but did not inflict any damage. Obeida was given the honor of "he who shot the first arrow for Islam" as Abu Sufyan altered course to flee the highwaymen. In retaliation for this attack Abu Sufyan requested an armed force from Mecca who came and engaged in the Battle of Badr.

Throughout the winter and spring of 623 other raiding parties were sent by Muhammad from Medina but, while troublesome, were not particularly effective or destructive.

[edit] Battles — 624-625

The treaty, however, soon broke down. After the Battles of Badr and Uhud, Muhammad expelled the Jewish tribes of Banu Nadir and Banu Qaynuqa for their treachery in the battles.

[edit] Battle of the trench — 627

In 627, the army of Mecca once again attacked Medina under the command of Abu Sufyan. Unable to defeat Muslim on the front lines, Abu Sufyan asked the Jewish Banu Qurayza tribe to attack the Muslims from behind the lines. The Jewish tribe agreed, in a clear breach of the Medina charter, and hostilities between them and Muslims broke out. After the defeat of Meccans, the tribe unconditionally surrendered, and agreed to the appointment of Sa'ad ibn Mua'dh as judge. However he judged them by their own laws and judged that all male members of the tribe were executed. The women and children were sold into slavery. That was the end of the Jews of Medina.

[edit] Capital city — 627 - 630

In the ten years following the Hijra, Medina formed the base from which Muhammad attacked and was attacked and it was from here that he marched on Mecca, 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.

[edit] First four Caliphs — 630 - 661

Under the first four Sunni Caliphs, known as the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the Islamic empire expanded rapidly and came to include historical centres of learning such as Jerusalem and Damascus, and Baghdad. After the death of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph, Mu'awiyya transferred the capital to Damascus and the importance of Medina dwindled and became more of a religious site than a political site.

[edit] 661 - 2006

City map of Medina

In 1256 Medina was threatened by lava flow from the last eruption of Harrat Rahat.

In 1924 Medina, which had been in Ottoman hands for centuries, fell to Ibn Saud, who later became the first King of Saudi Arabia.