Mecca - Medina - Dome of the Rock (Encyclopedia Entries)

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DOME OF THE ROCKThe famous octagonal Dome of the Rock has been considered a symbol of Jerusa-lem for the past 13 centuries. Built after the death of the Prophet, it is one of the earliest Muslim buildings remaining in its original shape. This gives the Dome of the Rock its unique status in Muslim architecture.

First Building

It is known among historians that it was the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan (d. 703 CE) who gave the order to build the dome around 685 CE. Seven years later in 692, the building was completed. Although some historians attribute this building to Al-Walid Ibn Abd al-Malik (d. 715), there is strong evidence that counters this claim, most important that Al-Walid did not become caliph until 705. However, it can be argued that Al-Walid, crown prince at that time, could have been sent to Jerusalem by his father to supervise the project. This is possible, as it is known that Al-Walid had special interest in building. Many of major Umayyad buildings around the Middle East today are attributed to Al-Walid, such as the grand mosques of Damascus and Aleppo.

The Dome of the Rock was planned by two architectures: Raja’ Ibn H ayat al-Kindi (d. 730) and Yazid Ibn Salam (d. Unknown). The first was a well-known tabi’i (i.e., successor of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad), and the sec-ond was a mawali (i.e., originally non-Arab).

After finishing the building, a substantial amount of money—it is said more than 100,000 golden dinars—was left. The caliph ordered this money to be granted to the two architects. They refused, and therefore the caliph ordered these dinars

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem. (Brian Negin/iStockPhoto.com)

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to be turned into golden plates and used to cover the dome, thus producing the famous golden dome.

Renovations and Changes

The Dome of the Rock was renovated numerous times. One of the most important renovations was that of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma’mun (d. 833). During the Egyp-tian Fatimid dynasty, the Dome of the Rock was covered with lead instead of gold.

During the Crusades, the Dome of the Rock was turned into a church. Yet Salah al-Din (d. 1193) restored the building as a Muslim shrine when he took over the city of Jerusalem in 1187. The Dome of the Rock has been renovated numerous times since then. Another important renovation was accomplished in 1561 by the Ottoman caliph Sulayman the Magnificent (d. 1566). This renovation marked sig-nificant changes to the outer decorations of the building. The Umayyad mosaic was replaced by Persian and Turkish faience tiles. The Jordanian authorities also did two major renovations to the building, the first in 1961, during which the golden color of the dome itself was restored by segments of copper. The second one was in 1995, in which the golden dome was covered again with gold-plated segments of aluminum and copper.

Reasons for and Controversies of Building the Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock was built most likely to compete with the Byzantine build-ings in Christian Jerusalem. One of the most important buildings to mention in this context is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with its leaded dome, almost the same size of the golden Dome of the Rock.

Al-Ya’qubi (1883, 2:311) (d. 897) claims that ’Abd al-Malik built the Dome of the Rock as an alternative to the Ka’bah in Mecca during the revolution of ’Abdul-lah Ibn al-Zubayr (d. 692), who took power over Mecca. This claim was taken as a fact by some Muslim authors, such as Ibn Kathir (1998, 12:41) (d. 1373). Goldzi-her (1889, 2:35–36) (d. 1921 CE) relies on this theory in understanding the moti-vations for building the Dome of the Rock. However, it has never been mentioned in historical sources that Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca had stopped during the re-volt of Ibn al-Zubayr. In fact, al-Tabari (1960–1969, XX:XXX–XXX) (d. 923 CE) mentions that the camps of the Umayyads took part in Mecca during the pilgrim-age beside those of Ibn al-Zubayr. Al-Ya’qubi could have forged his claim against the Umayyads due to his Shiite beliefs, as Goitien (1950) explains.

Architectural Theories

The origin of the design and shape of the Dome of the Rock has always been subject to studies and discussion among historians; the odd octagonal shape of the building marked a new era in Muslim architecture. Mosques are usually rectangular of square to be directed toward the qibla (i.e., the direction of prayer toward Mecca). The idea of constructing an octagonal-shaped building was unique in Islamic architecture.


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Priscilla Soucek (XXXX, XXX–XXX) “possible Solomonic references in the building’s ornamentation.” John Wilkinson (1981) argues that the shape of the Dome of the Rock was a result of Byzantine ideas that evolved throughout time, while C. Mauss (1888) argues that the shape of the building was copied from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. These arguments neglect the fact that there are significant differences between the shape of the Dome of the Rock and Jewish, Byzantine, and Christian buildings. The Dome of the Rock at-tracted historians to theorize about the origin of the building. Seven theories emerged to explain the architectural design and dimensions of the Dome of the Rock:

C. Mauss based his theory on the idea of overlapping circles.Ahmad Fikri based his theory on the idea of overlapping squares.Muhammad ’Uthman based his theory on the idea of using a string to draw an octagonal shape.Doron Chen based his theory on geometric ratio.John Wilkinson based his theory on the Byzantine designs of religious buildings.David Jacobson based his theory originally on the work of Wilkinson and expanded it.Haithem Al-Ratrout based his theory on the Islamic idea of both overlapping squares and circumambulation around an axis.

These theories try to explain the way the Umayyads designed the shape and the dimensions of the Dome of the Rock. However, ’Uthman and Al-Ratrout based their theories on Islamic ideas of building. It could be argued that the main shape that assisted the architectures in drawing the shape of the Dome of the Rock was originated from the Ka’ba, being the main square shrine in Islam.

Philosophy of the Building

Many Islamic ideas can be found in the Dome of the Rock. For example, eight pil-lars hold the building and its dome. This could refer to the number of angels who hold the throne of God, according to Islamic belief. This could explain the reason why the “verse of the Throne” (i.e., Q 2:255) is written on the top of the golden dome from inside.

Building the Dome of the Rock over a rock has an important significance. According to Islamic belief, it is from the top of this rock that the Prophet Muhammad was ascended to Heaven during the Night Journey. Muslims believe that this rock was considered the main qibla for the Bani Isra’il (Children of Israel). However, it cannot be argued that the Muslim interest in the rock is related solely to biblical roots. Muslim sources mainly attribute the importance of this rock to the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey rather than being the location of the Temple of Solomon.

It cannot be argued that the building itself was built as a mosque due to its oc-tagonal shape. Rather, it served as a dome for the al-Aqsa Mosque, which is be-lieved by Muslims to be the area called today al-Haram al-Sharif (i.e., the Noble Sanctuary). The Dome of the Rock lays in the center of this area.


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Mosaic and Decorations

The mosaic of the Dome of the Rock is unique and rich in ideas. The walls of the Dome of the Rock are covered with small stones that shape beautiful pictures and writings. Every square meter can contain up to 40,000 small mosaic stones.

It is forbidden by Islamic law to draw human or animal shapes in worship buildings; therefore, the shapes and decorations in the Dome of the Rock show plants. Pictures of olive trees, palm trees, pomegranates, pears, and grapes can be found in the Dome of the Rock. Also, the Dome of the Rock contains some of the earliest Arabic calligraphy in Kufic. Most of these writings concentrate on mono-theism, the Prophet Muhammad, Jesus, and Moses. This shows that the Muslim calligraphers aimed to introduce some basic Islamic ideas that address the Chris-tian population of the city of Jerusalem, who were the majority.

The name Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan was originally mentioned in the mosaic writings in the Dome of the Rock, but the name was removed during the renova-tion of the mosque during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma’mun, and the name of al-Ma’mun was written instead. However, the calligrapher who forged this did not change the year of completion, allowing the forgery to be discovered. It is interesting to note that each unit of the Umayyad decorations in the Dome of the Rock is unique in that none of them are duplicated in any other corner of the building.

Abdallah Marouf Omar

See also: Archaeology; Architecture; Mosque; Night Journey; West, Influence of Islamic Civilization on the

Further Readingal-Maqdisi, Shams al-Din Mohammad Ibn Ahmad. Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Ma’rifat al-Aqali.

2nd ed. Leiden: Brill, 1906.al-Ratrout, Haithem. Naz ariyyah Jadidah Li Tafsir al-Tas mim wa al-Takht it al-Handasi Li

Qubbat al-Sakhrah. Dundee: Islamic Research Academy, 2002.al-Tabari, Muhammad Ibn Jarir. Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk. 10 vols. Cairo: dar al-Ma’arif,

1960–1969.al-’Ulaymi, Mujir al-Din. Al-Uns al-Jalil Bitarikh al-Quds wa al-Khalil. Najaf: Manshurat al-

Sharif al-Radiy, 1966.al-Ya’qubi, Ahmad Ibn Abi Ya’qub. Tarikh al-Ya’qubi. 2 vols. Leiden: Brill, 1883.Goitien, Shelomo Dov. “The Historical Background of the Erection of the Dome of the

Rock.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 70(2) (April–June 1950): 104–108.Goldziher, Ignaz. Muhammedanische Studien. 2 vols. Halle-Saale: Max Niemeyer,

1889–1890.Grabar, Oleg. The Dome of the Rock. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006.Ibn Kathir, ’Imad al-Din Isma’il. Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah.XX vols. Cairo: Dar Hajar, 1998.Mauss, C. “Note Sur la Méthode Employée Pour Tracer le Plan De La Mosquée D’omar et

de la Rotonde Du Saint-Sépulcer a Jérusalem.” Revue Archéologique, Troisième Série 12 (July–December 1888): 1–31.

Rabbat, Nasser. “The Meaning of the Umayyad Dome of the Rock.” Muqarnas 6 (1989): 12–21.


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Katz, Marion Holmes. The Birth of the Prophet Muhammad: Devotional Piety in Sunni Islam. Culture and Civilization in the Middle East. London: Routledge, 2007.

Kemikli, Bilal, and Osman Çetin, eds. Yazılısın 600: Yılında bir Kutlu Dog um Saheseri; Uluslararası Mevlid Sempozyumu. Ankara: Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı Yayınları, 2010.

Kleinmichel, Sigrid. Die Geburt des Propheten Muhammad: Drei Dichtungen aus Mittelasien. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2009.

Köksal, M. Fatih. Mevlid-name. Ankara: Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı Yayınları, 2011.Mouradgea d’Ohsson, Ignatius. Tableau général de l’Empire othoman, divisé en deux parties,

dont l’une comprend la législation mahométane: L’autre l’histoire de l’Empire Othoman. Paris: Impr. de Monsieur [F. Didot], 1788.

Pekolcay, Necla, ed. Süleyman Çelebi: Mevlid (Vesîletü’n-necat). Istanbul: Dergah, 1980.Petrosyan, I. Ye. “The Mawlid-i Nabi by Süleyman Çelebi and Its Two Versions.” Manuscripta

Orientalia 4 (1998): 16–23.Rubin, Uri. The Eye of the Beholder: The Life of Muhammad as Viewed by the Early Muslims;

A Textual Analysis. Princeton, NJ: Darwin, 1995.Rubin, Uri. “Pre-existence and Light: Aspects of the Nur Muhammad.” Israel Oriental Studies

5 (1975): 62–119.Tapper, Nancy, and Richard Tapper. “The Birth of the Prophet: Ritual and Gender in Turkish

Islam.” Manuscripta Orientalia 22 (1987): 69–92.Timurtas, Faruk Kadri. Süleyman Çelebi: Mevlid [Vesîlet-ün-necat]. Istanbul: Kültür Bakanlıg ı,

1980.Ünver, I

·smail. “Ahmedî’nin I

·skendername’sindeki Mevlid Bölümü.” Türk Dili Arastırmaları

Yıllıg ı Belleten (1978): 355–411.

MeccaMecca and Medina are considered the first and second holiest places in Islam. Mecca is considered the holiest city in Islam and the sanctuary of God. Medina is considered the first Islamic political capital city in history and the site of the grave and the mosque of the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims believe in three holy places in Islam: Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. The strong bond among these three cities according to Islamic belief is due to philosophical understanding of the idea of God, prophets, and human beings. Mecca represents God’s sanctuary, Medina rep-resents the Prophet, and Jerusalem represents human beings. However, the impor-tance of Mecca and Median in particular is due to their central role in the political life of the Prophet Muhammad and their direct link to his activities. Jerusalem is linked more to the Night Journey, being a spiritual experience that is linked more to the philosophy of the relation with the previous religions and prophets.

Establishment

There are no archaeological records of the first human existence in Mecca. This is due to certain practical constraints attached to Mecca, being a place of pilgrimage and worship for Muslims. This makes it almost impossible to apply archaeological excavations near the Ka’ba. In addition, Mecca is not mentioned in any historical sources before the rise of Islam. This could be due to the location of Mecca in the heart of the desert, which made it far from other human civilizations. However,

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being the center of Islam and the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad brought it to the center of attention. Therefore, the most important sources to give account of Mecca’s history are the Muslim historical sources.

According to Muslim understanding, the region where Mecca is located is men-tioned in the Old Testament as Paran in reference to the statement “The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; He shone forth from Mount Paran; He came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand” (Deut. 33:2). The Old Testament mentions that Ishmael, who lived in Mecca according to Muslim sources, lived in the desert of Paran: “While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt” (Gen. 21:21). How-ever, it should be noted that the Old Testament does not clarify the exact location of Paran. Associating Paran with Mecca is a Muslim understanding that does no rely on the Old Testament’s phrases. Rather, it relies on the narrations of the Prophet Muhammad, who clarifies that Ishmael was raised up, lived in, and died in Mecca.

The most ancient known building in Mecca is the Ka’ba, a cubic building at-tributed to Abraham and Ishmael. The Qur’an describes the building process of the Ka’ba by Abraham and Ishmael: “And remember when Abraham and Ishmael raised the foundations of the House [praying:] ’Our Lord, accept from us; for Thou are the All-Hearing, the All Knowing’” (Q 2:127). Some Muslim scholars believe that the Ka’ba was first built by Adam and then was destroyed by the Great Flood

Jahiliyya: The Pre-Islamic Period

Before the message of the Qur’an was brought to the Arabs of the Hejaz (the western coastal area of Saudi Arabia), the inhabitants lived in what was later termed the Age of Ignorance, or Jahiliyya, referring to a lack of guidance from God among the people. The term jahiliyya is more indicative of a style of living rather than a specific time period. It was an age of tribalism, polytheism, anarchy, and barbarism. The term jahiliyya is found four times in the Qur’an (Q 3:154, 5:50, 33:33, and 48:26). Many of the legal and ethical suras in the Qur’an aim to rectify the oppressive and exploita-tive practices of the Jahiliyya. For example, before Islam limited the number of wives a man may have to four, Arab men were free to marry and divorce as many women as they desired. There was no legally binding protection for divorced women and their children—they were left to the mercy of the tribe. It would not have been unheard of for a baby (usually daughters) to be buried alive in the desert or left to the elements.

The Qur’an expressly forbids these practices and sets up limits to behaviors that are exploitative to women, children, the poor, the elderly, and those who lack higher social standing in the tribe. Although Islam does not free slaves, it makes doing so a virtuous act and sets up limits to their mistreatment by their owners. Some scholars have pointed out that the Jahiliyya was not completely void of virtues. Tribal norms did serve as checks on total anarchy, poetry was a well-honed and valued skill, and even today Jahiliyya poetry is regarded as some of the best poetry in the Arabic language.


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during the time of Noah. Abraham, according to this understanding, rebuilt the Ka’ba along with his first son, Ishmael (see al-Tabari 2000, 10:231).

The Prophet Muhammad mentions the beginning of human life in Mecca. He states in a long hadith, narrated by al-Bukhari (d. 870 CE) in his book al-Sahih (The Authentic), that Hagar and her only infant, Ishmael, were the first to inhabit Mecca (see al-Bukhari, 4:142). The hadith says that Abraham brought Hagar and Ishmael into Mecca when no one and no water was there. Hagar started to look for water for her son. That was when the angel Gabriel dug the ground and a spring of water came out, called Zamzam. This spring was the only one in Mecca until today.

The existence of water brought the first Arab tribe to settle in Mecca. Jurhum, an Arab tribe originally from Yemen, settled with Hagar and Ishmael in Mecca. Ishmael learned Arabic from them, and he even married one of their women. The Ka’ba was built years later by Abraham and Ishmael during one of Abraham’s visits to his son Ishmael. Then the Ka’ba became the center of pilgrimage for Arab tribes for centuries.

Mecca under the Leadership of the Quraysh

It is unknown when exactly a tribe called the Khuza’ah (descendants of Ishmael) was able to take full power of Mecca and expel Jurhum. This incident took place most likely before the birth of Christ, yet its date is unrecorded. It is said that Jurhum covered and hid the well of Zamzam before leaving the city. One of the leaders of Khuza’ah, namely ’Amr Ibn Luhay, introduced the first idol in Mecca, namely Hubal, and started most of the pagan rituals in the Arabian Peninsula (see al-Bukhari, 6:55). This caused Arabs to gradually move from monotheism to paganism. Sometime later, and through their strong leader, namely Qusay, the tribe Quraysh, one of the descendants of the Khuza’ah, took power over Mecca until the time of the Prophet Muhammad.

By the time of the Prophet Muhammad, Mecca was considered the main com-mercial and religious hub in the Arabian Peninsula. Banu Hashim, the family of the Prophet Muhammad, was responsible for serving water and food for pilgrims, which was considered a great honor. It was their leader and the grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad, Abd al-Muttalib, who rediscovered the well of Zamzam. Thus, he was considered the savior of Mecca and became its greatest leader.

Dawn of Islam

In 570 CE Muhammad was born in Mecca, and in 610 he received his first revela-tion through the angel Gabriel, according to Islamic thought. Muhammad’s call to go back to the roots of Abrahamic monotheism was strongly rejected by the Quraysh. They fought the new religion and its followers until Muhammad and his followers migrated to Yathrib (Medina) in the year 622. Muhammad started a series of military campaigns and battles with the Quraysh that ended with the peaceful surrender of Mecca in 630, turning it to the heart of Islamic faith.


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Mecca experienced generally peaceful periods under Islamic rule. This was interrupted numerous at times, such as during the revolt of Abdullah Ibn al-Zubayr (d. 692) against the Umayyad Caliphate. The Umayad leader, al-Hajjaj (d. 714), invaded into Mecca in 692 and took it by force, killing Abdullah Ibn al-Zubayr. In addition, the Qarmatians attacked Mecca in 930 and killed many pilgrims.

Present History

In 1942 Mecca came under Saudi rule. The Saudi regime reformed Mecca and demolished many of its historical sites to expand the Sacred Mosque of Mecca and create more room for expanding numbers of pilgrims. The situation in Mecca un-der Saudi rule has been generally calm except the incident of November 20, 1979. Hundreds of militants, under the leadership of Juhayman al-’Utaybi, attacked the Sacred Mosque of Mecca and took tens of thousands of pilgrims hostage, calling for a revolt against the Saudi regime. The siege lasted for two weeks, ending violently with tens of casualties. Juhayman was caught and beheaded two months later.

Philosophy of Mecca and Medina

Islam presents Mecca and Medina as being part of its philosophical view as to the nature of Islamic life and its vision. Islam views relationships in a Muslim person’s life as being related to God, the Prophet, and humanity. In this context, it can be argued that Mecca, on one hand, represents the first kind of relationship. Mecca is the location of the Ka’ba, the first house of worship ever to be built, according to Islamic belief. The Ka’ba therefore represents man’s relationship with God. This is

The Ka’ba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the most sacred site in Islam, colored engraving, nineteenth century. (Tarker/Corbis)


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why Muslims are asked to perform circumambulation around the Ka’ba. The name of this mosque is Masjid al-Haram (Sacred Mosque), which refers to the idea of the personal property of God.

Medina, on the other hand, represents the relationship between a Muslim and the Prophet Muhammad. This is why the grand mosque of Medina is called Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophetic Mosque), which refers to the mosque of the Prophet. Nam-ing the mosque after the Prophet shows the representation of the relationship with the Prophet Muhammad in Muslim minds.

Jerusalem, in this context, represents the relationship with the rest of humanity. This is why Muslims believe that leading all the prophets in the Night Journey, by the Prophet Muhammad, took place in Jerusalem. This is related to the Islamic philosophical view of the role of a prophet as the leader of people in life and in the hereafter.

However, despite this relationship among the three cities, clearer bonds be-tween Mecca and Medina in particular can be noted. They are physically closer to each other than Jerusalem, whose mosque is called for this reason Masjid al-Aqsa (Furthest Mosque). The centrality of Mecca and Medina is shown in many aspects, such as calling both of them haram (sanctuary). This concept refers to special juristic rules that are only applicable in these two cities. Specific rules such as banning the cutting of trees, banning animal hunting, and other similar rules are not applicable anywhere except in Mecca and Medina.


See also: Medina; Mosque; Night Journey

Further Reading

al-Tabari, XXXXXXXXXX. XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX. XXXXXXXXXX: XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX, 2000.

Gad, C. J. “The Harran Inscriptions of Nabonidus.” Anatolian Studies 8 (1958): 35–92.Ibn Hisham, Abu Muhammad ’Abd al-Malik. Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah. Beirut: Dar al-Jil,

1975.Ibn Khaldun, ’Abd al-Rahman. Tarikh Ibn Khaldun. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 2000.Hegghammer, T., and S. Lacroix. “Rejectionist Islamism in Saudi Arabia: The Story of

Juhayman al-’Utaybi Revisited.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 39(1) (2007): 103–122.

Medicine, prophetic See Prophetic Medicine

MedinaIt is unknown when Yathrib (the pre-Islamic name for Medina) was first estab-lished. However, some scholars argue that Yathrib was mentioned in the Assyrian Nabonidus Chronicle as “Iatribu.” However, some Muslim sources argue that the first tribe to reside Yathrib was called al-’Amaliq, before handing it to the Yemeni Kingdom of Ma’in. Yet the origin of al-’Amaliq is still unknown, although


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why Muslims are asked to perform circumambulation around the Ka’ba. The name of this mosque is Masjid al-Haram (Sacred Mosque), which refers to the idea of the personal property of God.


Jerusalem, in this context, represents the relationship with the rest of humanity. This is why Muslims believe that leading all the prophets in the Night Journey, by the Prophet Muhammad, took place in Jerusalem. This is related to the Islamic philosophical view of the role of a prophet as the leader of people in life and in the hereafter.



See also: Medina; Mosque; Night Journey

Further Reading

al-Tabari, XXXXXXXXXX. XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX. XXXXXXXXXX: XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX, 2000.

Gad, C. J. “The Harran Inscriptions of Nabonidus.” Anatolian Studies 8 (1958): 35–92.Ibn Hisham, Abu Muhammad ’Abd al-Malik. Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah. Beirut: Dar al-Jil,

1975.Ibn Khaldun, ’Abd al-Rahman. Tarikh Ibn Khaldun. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 2000.Hegghammer, T., and S. Lacroix. “Rejectionist Islamism in Saudi Arabia: The Story of

Juhayman al-’Utaybi Revisited.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 39(1) (2007): 103–122.

Medicine, prophetic See Prophetic Medicine

MedinaIt is unknown when Yathrib (the pre-Islamic name for Medina) was first estab-lished. However, some scholars argue that Yathrib was mentioned in the Assyrian Nabonidus Chronicle as “Iatribu.” However, some Muslim sources argue that the first tribe to reside Yathrib was called al-’Amaliq, before handing it to the Yemeni Kingdom of Ma’in. Yet the origin of al-’Amaliq is still unknown, although


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the Kingdom of Ma’in could have had relations with this city. This is due to the location of the city on the commercial route in the Arabian Peninsula. The Jews migrated from the Levant on the eve of the Roman-Jewish wars in Palestine in the second century CE. Three Jewish tribes are known to have arrived in Yathrib: the Banu Qaynuqa, the Banu Nadir, and later followed by the Banu Qurayza.

Two Yemeni Arab tribes arrived in Yathrib later in the second or third century after the destruction of the dam of Ma’rib in Yemen. The Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj became the Arab neighbors of the Jews in Yathrib. However, a long war erupted between the two Arab tribes that lasted for centuries until the time of the Prophet Muhammad.

Medina under Islamic Rule

The Prophet Muhammad arrived in Yathrib in 622, making significant changes in the nature of the city. He changed the name of the city from Yathrib to Medina and united the Arab tribes of Medina into one community, named Ansar (Advocates).

During the war between Muhammad and the Quraysh of Mecca, the Jews of Medina assisted the Quraysh in numerous occasions, which resulted in expelling them from Medina and, in the case of the Banu Qurayza, execution. Medina became the first Muslim political capital city during the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the four orthodox caliphs who ruled after him. However, at the beginning of the Umayyad dynasty in 662, the first Umayyad caliph, Muawiyah b. Abi Sufyan (d. 680), moved his capital to Damascus, where most of his supporters were. Medina played a significant rule in the uprising against the Umayyad Caliphate, which caused Yazid Ibn Muawiyah (d. 683) to send an army led by Muslim Ibn ’Uqbah (d. 683) to attack Medina and restore it to Umayyad rule in 683. Ever since, Medina has remained generally free of political disturbances.

By the end of the Ottoman Empire and during World War I, Medina suffered from the longest siege in its history. Hussein Ibn Ali (d. 1931), the Hashemite sharif of Mecca, led a revolt against the Ottomans and besieged Medina from 1916 until 1919, when Medina fall under the rule of the Hashemites. Yet in 1924, Medina became one of the cities of the Saudi state, which later became the King-dom of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi regime demolished most of the Muslim historical monuments in Medina to expand the mosque of the Prophet Muhammad. The city witnessed significant and major developments during the 20th century and is now consid-ered one of the most developed cities in Saudi Arabia.

Philosophy of Mecca and Medina

Islam presents Mecca and Medina as being part of its philosophical view as to the nature of Islamic life and its vision. Islam views relationships in a Muslim person’s life as being related to God, the Prophet, and humanity.

In this context, it can be argued that Mecca, on one hand, represents the first kind of relationship. Mecca is the location of the Ka’ba, the first house of worship


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ever to be built according to Islamic belief. The Ka’ba therefore represents the rela-tionship with God. This is why Muslims are asked to perform circumambulation around the Ka’ba. The name of this mosque is Masjid al-Haram (Sacred Mosque), which refers to the idea of the personal property of God.


Jerusalem, in this context, represents the relationship with the rest of humanity. This is why Muslims believe that leading all the prophets in the Night Journey by the Prophet Muhammad took place in Jerusalem. This is related to the Islamic philosophi-cal view of the role of a prophet as the leader of people in life and in the hereafter.



See also: Mecca; Mosque

View of Medina and mosque of the Prophet Muhammad, eighteenth century. (The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin/The Bridgeman Art Library)


380 Messianic references in the Qur’an

Further Reading

Al-Bukhari, Muhammad Ibn Isma’il. Sahih al-Bukhari. Jeddah: Dar Tawq al-Najat, 2001.Al-Tabari, Muhammad Ibn Jarir. Jami’ al-Bayan fi Ta’wil al-Qur’an. Riyadh: Mu’assasat

al-Risalah, 2000.Gad, C. J. “The Harran Inscriptions of Nabonidus.” Anatolian Studies 8 (1958): 35–92.Hegghammer, Thomas and Stéphane Lacroix. “Rejectionist Islamism in Saudi Arabia: The

Story of Juhayman al-’Utaybi Revisited.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 39(1) (2007): 103–122. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0020743807002553.

Ibn Hisham, Abu Muhammad ’Abd al-Malik. Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah. Beirut: Dar al-Jil, 1975.

Ibn Khaldun, ’Abd al-Rahman. Tarikh Ibn Khaldun. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 2000.Ibn Zabalah, Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan. Akhbar al-Madinah. Edited by Salah Salamah.

Medina: Markiz Buhuth wa Dirasatal-Madinah, 2003.

Messianic references in the Qur’an See Apocalyptic and Messianic References in the Qur’an

MiraclesOne of the most noticeable features of the Qur’an is the stories of prophets who preceded Muhammad. All the major figures are associated with miracles that prove their prophetic status, yet Muhammad himself is not, and when he asks for a miracle it is denied. The Qur’an affirms that it itself is the miracle by which Muhammad’s genuineness is known, its excellence of language proving that it is superior to anything that humans, or even jinn, could produce. Throughout Islamic history, the Qur’an has been regarded as the inimitable proof of the divine origins of the faith and the guarantee of Muhammad’s vocation as messenger of God. Nevertheless, from very early times, and probably under criticism from non-Muslims as well as Muslims themselves that Muhammad did not have divine warrant, miracles were credited to him, and references to some of these were iden-tified in the Qur’an. Muhammad gradually emerged as a worker of miracles with unrivaled powers, and some of his feats were seen as indications not only of prophetic status but also of unique favor by God.

Miracles in the Qur’an

Prophets whose stories are told at any length in the Qur’an are each given miracles as part of their office. Abraham is saved from the flames when his idolatrous people try to burn him for destroying their images (Q 21:69), Moses’s staff is turned into a serpent when he throws it to the ground (Q 28:31), Solomon is given the ability to understand the language of birds and to command the wind (Q 27:16, 21:81), and Jesus heals the sick, raises the dead, and makes clay birds fly (Q 3:49). But impressive as they are, the value of these signs is not beyond question, because the people to whom prophets were sent often ridiculed them, despite the miraculous feats they performed (Q 6:10). Similarly, people who are disposed to reject


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