Madinah al-Munawwarah

Where Madinah is

Madinah sits in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, roughly 340 km (210 miles) north of Makkah — close enough that the two cities have been linked by pilgrim routes for over 1,400 years, far enough that the journey between them, on foot or by camel, took the earliest Muslims over a week. Today it's a short flight or a few hours' drive.

From Yathrib to Madinah al-Munawwarah

Before Islam, the city was called Yathrib, home to a mix of Arab tribes (notably Aws and Khazraj) and Jewish tribes. In 622 CE, after years of persecution in Makkah, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his companions migrated there — the Hijrah, the event that marks year 1 of the Islamic calendar (see the Isra and Mi'raj and Islamic History Timeline pages for what led up to it). The city was never the same again: it became al-Madinah ("the city," understood as *the* city, the Prophet's city), and the Prophet ﷺ forbade referring to it by its old name.

Alongside Madinah, the city carries other names in the hadith literature, most commonly Taybah ("the good, the pure"):

The city of the Prophet ﷺ

Madinah is where the Prophet ﷺ spent the last ten years of his life, where the first Muslim community (ummah) took organised shape as a self-governing society, and where he ﷺ is buried, inside Masjid an-Nabawi. The Quran itself singles out the people of Madinah for their loyalty and sacrifice alongside him:

Masjid an-Nabawi

The Prophet's Mosque was built shortly after the Hijrah, expanded many times since, and is today the second holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Makkah. A prayer there carries an extraordinary reward:

Inside the mosque, the area between the Prophet's ﷺ former house (now his grave) and his minbar (pulpit) is known as Ar-Rawdah ("the garden") — a small, densely-visited space many pilgrims try to pray in specifically:

Visiting Madinah

Visiting Madinah isn't a pillar of Islam and isn't a rite of Hajj or Umrah itself — but many pilgrims extend their trip to include it, given its history and the reward of praying in Masjid an-Nabawi. For a practical, step-by-step guide to what to see and how to plan the visit — including Masjid Quba, Jannat al-Baqi, and the other significant sites in the city — see the Ziarah guide on the DIY Umrah page.