Editing Medina (section)

==History==
Medina is home to several distinguished sites and landmarks, most of which are mosques and hold historic significance. These include the three aforementioned mosques, Masjid al-Fath (also known as Masjid al-Khandaq), the Seven Mosques, the [[Baqi Cemetery|Baqi' Cemetery]] where the graves of many famous Islamic figures are presumed to be located; directly to the southeast of the Prophet's Mosque, the [[Mount Uhud|Uhud mountain]], site of the eponymous [[Battle of Uhud]] and the King Fahd Glorious Qur'an Printing Complex where most modern Qur'anic [[Mus'haf]]s are printed.

===Early history and Jewish control===
Medina has been inhabited at least 1500 years before the Hijra, or approximately the 9th century BCE.<ref name=":3" /> By the fourth century, Arab tribes began to encroach from [[Yemen]], and there were three prominent [[Jewish tribes of Arabia|Jewish]] [[Arabian tribes that interacted with Muhammad|tribes]] that inhabited the city around the time of Muhammad: the [[Banu Qaynuqa]], the [[Banu Qurayza]], and [[Banu Nadir]].<ref name="jewishencyclopedia 1">[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=326&letter=M Medina] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918092258/http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=326&letter=M |date=18 September 2011 }}</ref> [[Ibn Khordadbeh]] later reported that during the [[History of Iran|Persian Empire]]'s domination in Hejaz, the Banu Qurayza served as [[tax collector]]s for the Persian [[Shah]].<ref>Peters 193</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2023}}

The situation changed after the arrival of two new [[Arab]] tribes, the [[Banu Aws|'Aws]] or Banu 'Aws and the [[Khazraj]], also known as the Banu Khazraj. At first, these tribes were allied with the Jewish tribes who ruled the region, but they later revolted and became independent.<ref name="Medina">"Al-Medina." ''[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]''</ref>
[[File:'Madinah Sharif' Indian token.jpg|alt=17th century CE bronze token the inscription below reads 'Madinah Shareef' (Noble City)|thumb|17th century bronze token depicting [[Al-Masjid an-Nabawi|prophet's Mosque]], the inscription below reads 'Madinah Shareef' (Noble City)]]

===Under the 'Aws and Khazraj===
Toward the end of the 5th century,<ref>for date see "J. Q. R." vii. 175, note</ref> the Jewish rulers lost control of the city to the two Arab tribes. 

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.<ref>See e.g., Peters 193; "Qurayza", ''[[Encyclopaedia Judaica]]''</ref> However, according to Scottish scholar, [[William Montgomery Watt]], the clientship of the Jewish tribes is not borne out by the historical accounts of the period prior to 627, and he maintained that the Jewish populace retained a measure of political independence.<ref name="Medina" />

Early Muslim chronicler [[Ibn Ishaq]] tells of an ancient conflict between the last [[Yemen]]ite king of the [[Himyarite Kingdom]]<ref>Muslim sources usually referred to Himyar kings by the dynastic title of "[[Tubba']]".</ref> 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 [[Arecaceae|palms]]. According to [[Ibn Ishaq]], he was stopped from doing so by two [[rabbi]]s from the Banu Qurayza tribe, 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 [[rabbi]]s with him, and in [[Mecca]], they reportedly recognized the [[Kaaba|Ka'bah]] as a structure built by [[Abraham]] and advised the king "to do what the people of Mecca did: to [[Circumambulation|circumambulate]] the structure, 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.<ref>Guillaume 7–9, Peters 49–50</ref>

Eventually the Banu 'Aws and the Banu Khazraj became hostile to each other and by the time of Muhammad's [[Hijra (Islam)|Hijrah]] (emigration) to Medina in 622, they had been fighting for 120 years and were sworn enemies<ref name="balagh.net">Subhani, ''The Message'': [http://www.balagh.net/english/ahl_bayt/the_message/27.htm The Events of the First Year of Migration] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524053521/http://www.balagh.net/english/ahl_bayt/the_message/27.htm |date=24 May 2012}}</ref> The Banu Nadir and the Banu Qurayza were allied with the 'Aws, while the Banu Qaynuqa sided with the Khazraj.<ref>For alliances, see Guillaume 253</ref> They fought a total of four wars.<ref name="Medina" />

Their last and bloodiest known battle was the [[Yawm al-Buath|Battle of Bu'ath]],<ref name="Medina" /> fought a few years prior to the arrival of Muhammad.<ref name="jewishencyclopedia 1" /> The outcome of the battle was inconclusive, and the feud continued. [[Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy|'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy]], one Khazraj chief, had refused to take part in the battle, which earned him a reputation for equity and peacefulness. He was the most respected inhabitant of the city prior to Muhammad's arrival. To solve the ongoing feud, concerned residents of Yathrib [[Aqaba pledge of allegiance|met secretly]] with [[Muhammad]] in 'Aqaba, a place outside [[Mecca]], inviting him and his small group of believers to come to the city, where Muhammad could serve a mediator between the factions and his community could practice its faith freely.

===Under Muhammad and the Rashidun===
{{Main|Hijrah|Constitution of Medina|First Islamic state}}
[[File:Quba Mosque SA.jpg|thumb|[[Muhammad]] built the [[Quba Mosque|Quba'a Masjid]] upon his arrival at Medina and is said to have visited the mosque every Saturday afternoon.]]
In 622, Muhammad and an estimated 70 Meccan [[Muhajirun]] left Mecca over a period of a few months for sanctuary in Yathrib, an event that transformed the religious and political landscape of the city completely; the longstanding enmity between the Aus and Khazraj tribes was dampened as many of the two Arab tribes and some local Jews embraced the new religion of Islam. Muhammad, linked to the Khazraj through his great-grandmother, was agreed on as the leader of the city. The natives of Yathrib who had converted to Islam of any background—[[Pre-Islamic Arabia|pagan Arab]] or Jewish—were called the ''[[Ansar (Islam)|Ansar]]'' ("the Patrons" or "the Helpers").

According to [[Ibn Ishaq]], all parties in the area agreed to the [[Constitution of Medina]], which committed all parties to mutual cooperation under the leadership of Muhammad. The nature of this document as recorded by Ibn Ishaq and transmitted by [[Ibn Hisham]] is the subject of dispute among modern Western historians, many of whom maintain that this "treaty" is possibly a collage of different agreements, oral rather than written, of different dates, and that it is not clear exactly when they were made. Other scholars, however, both Western and Muslim, argue that the text of the agreement—whether a single document originally or several—is possibly one of the oldest Islamic texts we possess.<ref>Firestone 118. For opinions disputing the early date of the Constitution of Medina, see e.g., Peters 116; "Muhammad", "Encyclopaedia of Islam"; "Kurayza, Banu", "Encyclopaedia of Islam".</ref> In Yemenite Jewish sources, another treaty was drafted between Muhammad and his Jewish subjects, known as ''Kitāb Dimmat al-Nabi'', written in the 3rd year of the [[Hijri year|Hijra]] (625), and which gave express liberty to Jews living in Arabia to observe the [[Sabbath]] and to grow-out their side-locks. In return, they were to pay the [[jizya]] annually for protection by their patrons, while the Muslims would pay the [[Zakat]] tax.<ref>Shelomo Dov Goitein, ''The Yemenites – History, Communal Organization, Spiritual Life'' (Selected Studies), editor: Menahem Ben-Sasson, Jerusalem 1983, pp. 288–299. {{ISBN|965-235-011-7}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Badr |first=Abdulbasit A. |title=Madinah, The Enlightened City: History and Landmarks |year=2015 |isbn=9786039041474 |location=Madinah}}</ref>

====Battle of Uhud====
{{Main|Battle of Uhud}}
[[File:Mount Uhud.JPG|thumb|right|[[Mount Uhud]], with the old ''Mosque of the Leader of Martyrs'' ({{Lang|ar|جامع سيد الشهداء}}), named after Muhammad's uncle, [[Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib|Hamza ibn Abdul Muttalib]], in the foreground. The mosque was demolished in 2012 and a new, larger mosque with the same name was built in its place.<ref name="madainjameh">{{cite web |title=Jameh Syed al-Shohada Mosque |url=https://madainproject.com/jameh_syed_al_shohada |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506143705/https://madainproject.com/jameh_syed_al_shohada |archive-date=6 May 2020 |access-date=6 May 2020 |website=Madain Project}}</ref>|300x300px]]

In the year 625, [[Abu Sufyan ibn Harb]], a senior chieftain of Mecca who later converted to Islam, led a Meccan force against Medina. Muhammad marched out to meet the [[Quraysh]]i army with an estimated 1,000 troops, but just as the army approached the battlefield, 300 men under [[Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy|'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy]] withdrew, dealing a severe blow to the Muslim army's [[morale]]. Muhammad continued marching with his now 700-strong force and ordered a group of 50 archers to climb a small hill, now called ''[[Al Romat Mountain|Jabal ar-Rummaah]]'' (The Archers' Hill) to keep an eye on the Meccan's [[cavalry]] and to provide protection to the rear of the Muslim's army. As the battle heated up, the Meccans were forced to retreat. The frontline was pushed further and further away from the archers and foreseeing the battle to be a victory for the Muslims, the archers decided to leave their posts to pursue the retreating Meccans. A small party, however, stayed behind; pleading the rest to not disobey Muhammad's orders.

Seeing that the archers were starting to descend from the hill, [[Khalid ibn al-Walid]] commanded his unit to ambush the hill and his cavalry unit pursued the descending archers were systematically slain by being caught in the plain ahead of the hill and the frontline, watched upon by their desperate comrades who stayed behind up in the hill who were shooting arrows to thwart the raiders, but with little to no effect. However, the Meccans did not capitalize on their advantage by invading Medina and returned to Mecca. The Madanis (people of Medina) suffered heavy losses, and Muhammad was injured.<ref>Esposito, John L. "Islam." Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, edited by Thomas Riggs, vol. 1: Religions and Denominations, Gale, 2006, pp. 349–379.</ref>

====Battle of the Trench====
{{Main|Battle of the Trench}}
[[File:Madina trip 104.jpg|thumb|Three of the [[The Seven Mosques|Seven Mosques]] at the site of the [[Battle of the Trench]] were combined into the modern Masjid al-Fath, here pictured with Jabal Sal'aa in the background and a shop selling local goods in the foreground.]]
In 627, [[Abu Sufyan ibn Harb|Abu Sufyan]] led another force toward Medina. Knowing of his intentions, Muhammad asked for proposals for defending the northern flank of the city, as the east and west were protected by volcanic rocks and the south was covered with [[Arecaceae|palm trees]]. [[Salman the Persian|Salman al-Farsi]], a [[Sasanian Empire|Persian]] [[Sahabi]] who was familiar with Sasanian war tactics recommended digging a trench to protect the city and Muhammad accepted it. The subsequent siege came to be known as the Battle of the Trench and the Battle of the Confederates. After a month-long siege and various skirmishes, the Meccans withdrew again due to the harsh winter.

During the siege, Abu Sufyan contacted the Jewish tribe of [[Banu Qurayza]] and formed an agreement with them, to attack the Muslim defenders and effectively encircle the defenders. It was however discovered by the Muslims and thwarted. This was in breach of the [[Constitution of Medina]] and after the Meccan withdrawal, Muhammad immediately marched against the Qurayza and laid siege to their strongholds. The Jewish forces eventually surrendered. Some members of the Aws negotiated on behalf of their old allies and Muhammad agreed to appoint one of their chiefs who had converted to Islam, [[Sa'd ibn Mua'dh|Sa'd ibn Mu'adh]], as judge. Sa'ad judged that all male members of the tribe should be killed and the women and children enslaved.<ref name="Oxford University Press">{{citation |author=Ibn Ishaq |title=The Life of Muhammad (Sirat Rasul Allah) |pages=461–464 |year=1955 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-636033-1 |translator=A. Guillaume}}</ref><ref name="WattProphetStatesman">Watt, ''Muhammad, Prophet and Statesman'', p. 172-173</ref> This action was conceived of as a defensive measure to ensure that the Muslim community could be confident of its continued survival in Medina. The French historian Robert Mantran proposes that from this point of view it was successful—from this point on, the Muslims were no longer primarily concerned with survival but with expansion and conquest.<ref name="mantran">Robert Mantran, ''L'expansion musulmane'' Presses Universitaires de France 1995, p. 86.</ref>

In the ten years following the [[hijra (Islam)|hijra]], Medina formed the base from which Muhammad and the Muslim army attacked and were attacked, and it was from here that he [[Conquest of Mecca|marched on Mecca]], entering it without battle in 630. Despite Muhammad's tribal connection to Mecca, the growing importance of Mecca in Islam, the significance of the [[Kaaba|Ka'bah]] as the center of the Islamic world, as the direction of prayer ([[Qibla]]), and in the Islamic pilgrimage ([[Hajj]]), Muhammad returned to Medina, which remained for some years the most important city of Islam and the base of operations of the early [[Rashidun Caliphate]].<ref name=":5" />

The city is presumed to have been renamed ''Madinat al-Nabi'' ("City of the Prophet" in [[Arabic]]) in honor of Muhammad's prophethood and the city being the site of his [[Burial site|burial]]. Alternatively, Lucien Gubbay suggests the name Medina could also have been a derivative from the [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] word ''Medinta'', which the Jewish inhabitants could have used for the city.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Jews of Arabia |url=http://www.dangoor.com/71page33.html |work=dangoor.com |access-date=25 August 2007 |archive-date=10 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810123722/http://www.dangoor.com/71page33.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Under the first three caliphs [[Abu Bakr]], [[Umar]], and [[Uthman]], Medina was the capital of a rapidly increasing Muslim Empire. During the reign of [[Uthman|'Uthman ibn al-Affan]], the third caliph, a party of Arabs from Egypt, disgruntled at some of his political decisions, attacked Medina in 656 and assassinated him in his own home. [[Ali]], the fourth caliph, changed the capital of the caliphate from Medina to [[Kufa]] in [[Iraq]] for being in a more strategic location. Since then, Medina's importance dwindled, becoming more a place of religious importance than of political power. Medina witnessed little to no economic growth during and after Ali's reign.<ref name=":5" /> [[File:Green dome, Masjid e Nabawi, Medina, KSA.jpg|thumb|The [[Green Dome]] was built in 1297 over Muhammad's ''rawdhah'' (residence) and [[Burial|site of burial]].]]

===Under subsequent Islamic regimes===

====Umayyad Caliphate====
After [[Hasan ibn Ali|al-Hasan]], the son of 'Ali, ceded power to [[Muawiyah I|Mu'awiyah I]], son of [[Abu Sufyan ibn Harb|Abu Sufyan]], Mu'awiyah marched into [[Kufa]], Ali's capital, and received the allegiance of the local 'Iraqis. This is considered to be the beginning of the Umayyad caliphate. Mu'awiyah's governors took special care of Medina and dug the 'Ayn az-Zarqa'a ("Blue Spring") [[Spring (hydrology)|spring]] along with a project that included the creation of underground [[Aqueduct (water supply)|ducts]] for the purposes of irrigation. Dams were built in some of the [[wadi]]s and the subsequent agricultural boom led to the strengthening of the economy.
[[File:Gold dinar of Umar II.jpg|thumb|The [[Gold dinar]] of [[Umar II]], also known as 'Umar ibn Abdulaziz or the Fifth of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.]]
Following a period of unrest during the [[Second Fitna]] in 679, Husayn ibn 'Ali was martyred at [[Battle of Karbala|Karbala]] and Yazid assumed unchecked control for the next three years. In 682, [[Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr]] declared himself Caliph of Mecca and the people of Medina swore allegiance to him. This led to an eight-year-long period of economic distress for the city. In 692, the Umayyads regained power and Medina experienced its second period of huge economic growth. Trade improved and more people moved into the city. The banks of Wadi al-'Aqiq were now lush with greenery. This period of peace and prosperity coincided with the rule of [[Umar II|'Umar ibn Abdulaziz]], who many consider to be the fifth of the [[Rashidun]].<ref name=":5" />

====Abbasid Caliphate====
Abdulbasit A. Badr, in his book, ''Madinah, The Enlightened City: History and Landmarks'', divides this period into three distinct phases:<ref name=":5" />
[[File:Salahadin's Tomb, Umayyad Mosque, Damascus 001 (4931142474).jpg|thumb|Tomb of [[Saladin|Salahuddin al-Ayyubi]], who started a tradition of greatly funding Medina and protecting pilgrims visiting the holy city.]]
[[File:Khalili Collection Hajj and Arts of Pilgrimage Arc.pp-0254.11.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The Medina sanctuary and [[Green Dome]], photographed in 1880 by [[Muhammad Sadiq (photographer)|Muhammad Sadiq]]. The dome was built during the Mamluk period, but given its signature color by the Ottomans nearly 600 years later.]]
Badr describes the period between 749 and 974 as a push-and-pull between peace and political turmoil, while Medina continued to pay allegiance to the Abbasids. From 974 to 1151, the [[Sharifate of Medina]] was in a liaison with the Fatimids, even though the political stand between the two remained turbulent and did not exceed the normal allegiance. From 1151 onwards, Medina paid allegiance to the [[Zengid dynasty|Zengids]], and the [[Nur ad-Din (died 1174)|Emir Nuruddin Zengi]] took care of the roads used by pilgrims and funded the fixing of the water sources and streets. When he visited Medina in 1162, he ordered the construction of a new wall that encompassed the new urban areas outside the old city wall. Zengi was succeeded by [[Saladin]], founder of the [[Ayyubid dynasty]], who supported [[Qasim ibn Muhanna]], the Sharif of Medina, and greatly funded the growth of the city while slashing taxes paid by the pilgrims.<ref name=":5" /> He also funded the [[Bedouin]]s who lived on the routes used by pilgrims to protect them on their journeys. The later Abbasids also continued to fund the expenses of the city. While Medina was formally allied with the Abbasids during this period, they maintained closer relations with the Zengids and Ayyubids. The historic city formed an oval, surrounded by a strong wall, {{cvt|30|to|40|ft|abbr=out}} high, dating from this period, and was flanked with towers. Of its four gates, the ''Bab al-Salam'' ("The Gate of Peace"), was remarked for its beauty. Beyond the walls of the city, the west and south were suburbs consisting of low houses, yards, gardens and plantations.<ref name=":5" />

====Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo====
After the fall of Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Empire, to the Mongols, the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo took over the Egyptian governorate and effectively gained control of Medina.<ref name=":5" /> In 1258, Medina was threatened by [[lava]] from the [[Harrat Rahat]] volcanic region but was narrowly saved from being burnt after the lava turned northward.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{cite gvp |vn=231070 |title=Harrat Rahat}}</ref><ref>Bosworth,C. Edmund: Historic Cities of the Islamic World, p. 385 – "Half-a-century later, in 654/1256, Medina was threatened by a volcanic eruption. After a series of earthquakes, a stream of lava appeared, but fortunately flowed to the east of the town and then northwards."</ref> During Mamluk reign, the [[Masjid an-Nabawi]] caught fire twice. Once in 1256, when the storage caught fire, burning the entire mosque, and the other time in 1481, when the masjid was struck by [[lightning]]. This period also coincided with an increase in scholarly activity in Medina, with scholars such as [[Ibn Farhun]], [[Al-Hafiz Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi]], [[Al-Sakhawi|Al Sakhawi]] and others settling in the city.<ref name=":5" /> The striking iconic [[Green Dome]] also found its beginnings as a cupola built under Mamluk Sultan [[Al-Mansur Qalawun|al-Mansur Qalawun as-Salihi]] in 1297.<ref name=":5" />

===Ottoman rule===

====First Ottoman period====
In 1517, the first [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] period began with [[Selim I]]'s conquest of Mamluk Egypt. This added Medina to their territory and they continued the tradition of showering Medina with money and aid. In 1532, [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] built a secure fortress around the city and constructed a strong castle armed by an Ottoman battalion to protect the city. This is also the period in which many of the [[Al-Masjid an-Nabawi|Prophet's Mosque]]'s modern features were built even though it was not painted green yet.<ref>{{cite book |last=Somel |first=Selcuk Aksin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jGZQL41tg_oC&q=medina+mamluks+ottoman&pg=PA172 |title=Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire |date=13 February 2003 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810866065 |via=Google Books |access-date=5 October 2020 |archive-date=21 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621181432/https://books.google.com/books?id=jGZQL41tg_oC&q=medina+mamluks+ottoman&pg=PA172 |url-status=live}}</ref> These suburbs also had walls and gates. The Ottoman sultans took a keen interest in the Prophet's Mosque and redesigned it over and over to suit their preferences.
[[File:ModernEgypt, Muhammad Ali by Auguste Couder, BAP 17996.jpg|thumb|[[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali]], who kept Medina in the hands of the Ottoman Empire for around 30 years after taking it from the [[First Saudi State]].]]

====First Saudi insurgency====
As the Ottomans' hold over their domains broke loose, the Madanis pledged alliance to [[Saud Al Kabeer bin Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Faisal Al Saud|Saud bin Abdulaziz]], founder of the [[First Saudi dynasty|First Saudi state]] in 1805, who quickly took over the city. In 1811, [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt]], Ottoman commander and [[Wali (administrative title)|Wali]] of Egypt, commanded two armies under each of his two sons to seize Medina, the first one, under the elder Towson Pasha, failed to take Medina. But the second one, a larger army under the command of [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt|Ibrahim Pasha]], succeeded after battling a fierce resistance movement.<ref name=":5" />

====Muhammad Ali's era====
After defeating his Saudi foes, Muhammad Ali took over governance of Medina and although he did not formally declare [[independence]], his governance took on more of a [[semi-autonomous]] style. Muhammad's sons, Towson and Ibrahim, alternated in the governance of the city. Ibrahim renovated the city's walls and the Prophet's Mosque. He established a grand provision distribution center (taqiyya) to distribute food and alms to the needy and Medina lived a period of security and peace.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} In 1840, Muhammad moved his troops out of the city and officially handed the city to the central Ottoman command.<ref name=":5" />

====Second Ottoman period====
[[File:Wadi Rum railway track, Hejaz railway, Jordan.jpg|thumb|The [[Hejaz railway]] track near [[Wadi Rum]] in [[Jordan]]. Jordan uses the railway today for transporting [[phosphate]].]]
Four years in 1844, after Muhammad Ali's departure, [[Davud Pasha (governor of Medina)|Davud Pasha]] was given the position of governor of Medina under the Ottoman sultan. Davud was responsible for renovating the Prophet's Mosque on Sultan [[Abdulmejid I]]'s orders. When [[Abdul Hamid II]] assumed power, he made Medina stand out of the desert with a number of modern marvels, including a [[radio communication station]], a [[Power station|power plant]] for the Prophet's Mosque and its immediate vicinity, a telegraph line between Medina and [[Constantinople]], and the [[Hejaz railway]] which ran from [[Damascus]] to Medina with a planned extension to Mecca. Within one decade, the population of the city multiplied by leaps and bounds and reached 80,000. Around this time, Medina started falling prey to a new threat, the [[Hashemites|Hashemite]] [[Sharifate of Mecca]] in the south. Medina witnessed the longest siege in its history during and after [[World War I]].<ref name=":5" />

===Modern history===

====Sharifate of Mecca and Saudi conquest====
The Sharif of Mecca, [[Sharif Husayn|Husayn ibn Ali]], first attacked Medina on 6 June 1916, in the middle of [[World War I]].<ref name=":5" /> Four days later, Husayn held Medina in a bitter 3-year siege, during which the people faced food shortages, widespread disease and mass [[emigration]].<ref name=":5" /> [[Fakhri Pasha]], governor of Medina, tenaciously held on during the [[Siege of Medina]] from 10 June 1916 and refused to surrender and held on another 72 days after the [[Armistice of Moudros]], until he was arrested by his own men and the city was taken over by the Sharifate on 10 January 1919.<ref name=":5" /><ref>Peters, Francis (1994). ''Mecca: A Literary History of the Muslim Holy Land''. PP376-377. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-03267-X}}</ref> Husayn largely won the war due to his alliance with the [[British Empire|British]]. In anticipation of the plunder and destruction to follow, Fakhri Pasha secretly dispatched the [[Relics of Muhammad|Sacred Relics of Muhammad]] to the Ottoman capital, [[Istanbul]].<ref>Mohmed Reda Bhacker (1992). ''Trade and Empire in Muscat and Zanzibar: Roots of British Domination''. Routledge Chapman & Hall. P63: Following the plunder of Medina in 1810 'when the Prophet's tomb was opened and its jewels and relics sold and distributed among the Wahhabi soldiery'. P122: the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II was at last moved to act against such outrage.</ref> As of 1920, the [[British people|British]] described Medina as "much more self-supporting than Mecca."<ref name="Prothero103">{{cite book |last=Prothero |first=G.W. |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11767/view/1/103/ |title=Arabia |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |year=1920 |location=London |page=103 |access-date=12 September 2013 |archive-date=22 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622165406/https://www.wdl.org/en/item/11767/view/1/103/ |url-status=live}}</ref> After the Great War, the Sharif of Mecca, [[Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca|Sayyid Hussein bin Ali]] was proclaimed King of an independent [[Kingdom of Hejaz|Hejaz]]. Soon after, the people of Medina secretly entered an agreement with [[Ibn Saud]] in 1924, and his son, Prince [[Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud|Mohammed bin Abdulaziz]] conquered Medina as part of the [[Saudi conquest of Hejaz]] on 5 December 1925 which gave way to the whole of the [[Hejaz]] being incorporated into the modern [[Saudi Arabia|Kingdom of Saudi Arabia]].<ref name=":5" />

====Under the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia====
The [[Kingdom of Saudi Arabia]] focused more on the expansion of the city and the demolition of former sites that according to them violated [[Fiqh|Islamic principles]] and [[Sharia|Islamic law]] such as the [[Demolition of al-Baqi|tombs at al-Baqi]]. Nowadays, the city mostly only holds religious significance and as such, just like Mecca, has given rise to a number of hotels surrounding the [[Al-Masjid an-Nabawi]], which unlike the [[Al-Masjid Al-Ḥarām|Masjid Al-Ḥarām]], is equipped with an underground parking. The old city's walls have been destroyed and replaced with the three [[ring road]]s that encircle Medina today, named in order of length, King Faisal Road, King Abdullah Road and King Khalid Road. Medina's ring roads generally see less traffic overall compared to the four ring roads of Mecca.

An international airport, named the [[Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Airport|Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International Airport]], now serves the city and is located on Highway 340, known locally as the Old Qassim Road. The city now sits at the crossroads of two major Saudi Arabian highways, Highway 60, known as the Qassim–Medina Highway, and Highway 15 which connects the city to [[Mecca]] in the south and onward and [[Tabuk, Saudi Arabia|Tabuk]] in the north and onward, known as the Al Hijrah Highway or Al Hijrah Road, after Muhammad's journey. [[File:Medina from ISS 2017.jpg|thumb|Medina from [[International Space Station]], 2017. Note that North is to the right.]]The old Ottoman railway system was shut down after their departure from the region and the old railway station has now been converted into a [[museum]]. The city has recently seen another connection and mode of transport between it and Mecca, the [[Haramain high-speed railway]] line connects the two cities via [[King Abdullah Economic City]] near [[Rabigh]], [[King Abdulaziz International Airport]] and the city of [[Jeddah]] in under 3 hours.

Though the city's sacred core of the old city is off limits to non-Muslims, the [[Haram (site)|Haram area]] of Medina itself is much smaller than that of Mecca and Medina has recently seen an increase in the number of Muslim and Non-Muslim expatriate workers of other nationalities, most commonly [[South Asia]]n peoples and people from other countries in the [[Gulf Cooperation Council]]. Almost all of the historic city has been demolished in the Saudi era. The rebuilt city is centered on the vastly expanded ''al-Masjid an-Nabawi''.

====Destruction of heritage in Medina====
{{Main|Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites in Saudi Arabia}}
[[Saudi Arabia]] upholds [[Wahhabism]] as its religious ideology,<ref name="Britannica"/> which is hostile to any reverence given to historical or religious places of significance for fear that it may give rise to [[Shirk (Islam)|''shirk'']] (idolatry). As a consequence, under Saudi rule, Medina has suffered from considerable destruction of its physical heritage including the loss of many buildings over a thousand years old.<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name=":4">{{cite news |last=Howden |first=Daniel |date=6 August 2005 |title=The destruction of Mecca: Saudi hardliners are wiping out their own heritage |work=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-destruction-of-Mecca-saudi-hardliners-are-wiping-out-their-own-heritage-8023992.html |url-status=live |access-date=17 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004230517/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-destruction-of-mecca-saudi-hardliners-are-wiping-out-their-own-heritage-8023992.html |archive-date=4 October 2012}}</ref> Critics have described this as "Saudi vandalism" and claim that 300 historic sites linked to Muhammad, his family or companions have been lost in Medina and [[Mecca]] over the last 50 years.<ref>[http://www.islamicpluralism.org/764/islamic-heritage-lost-as-Makkah-modernises ''Islamic heritage lost as Makkah modernises''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622111459/http://www.islamicpluralism.org/764/islamic-heritage-lost-as-makkah-modernises |date=22 June 2018 }}, Center for Islamic Pluralism</ref> The most famous example of this is the [[demolition of al-Baqi]].<ref name="Britannica"/> [[File:Sacred Relics Train.jpg|thumb|The train which [[Fakhri Pasha]] used to transport the [[Sacred Relics (Topkapı Palace)|Sacred Relics]] from Medina to [[Istanbul]].]]