Medina, preferably spelled Madinah by
Muslims, is a city in
Saudi Arabia. Its original name was
Yathrib and its current full name is: 'al-madinatul-munawwara. Medina is the arabic word for "city", so the literal meaning is the "glowing city". It is so called because
Muhammad, the prophet of
Islam, moved there in 622AD in an incident called the
Hijra; his presence brought peace (after a massive feud between two tribes: the 'Aws and Khazraj), stability and justice to the city, hence it became glowing. It is in Medina that
Muhammad established an Islamic state where he was not only the religious leader, but also the political and social leader.
Its original name was Yathrib. Currently, there are about 500,000 residents, but this fluctuates wildly as Muslims visit the city at different times of the year. It is the second holiest place for Muslims after Mecca. Muhammad is buried in Madinah, as are several of his closest friends and early leaders of the Muslim community after Muhammad's death. The city has wonderful weather and is nice and flat, which is very different to Mecca, which is extremely hilly and also very hot.
Currently, only Muslims are allowed in the city. However, this is not part of divine injunction (as compared to Mecca, where non-Muslims are not allowed by divine order).