Historical Note

Before the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Madinah was known as Yathrib. centered on a fertile oasis, Yathrib had some importance as a trading town. In pre-Islamic times Makkah was a place of pilgrimage for those who followed pagan religions and the people of Yathrib would make annual pilgrimages to Makkah where, amongst other deities, they would worship Manat, the goddess of Fate or Destiny and the chief goddess of both cities. The Arab tribes of Aws and Khazraj were the main occupants of the oasis in the centuries immediately before the Islamic era. The Hijra (the Prophet's migration to Madinah) is the date from which the Islamic calendar runs (commonly transliterated Hegira), marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar. For a brief period, the city became the administrative capital of the steadily growing Muslim state until, in 661 CE, the seat of Muslim power moved to Damascus, the capital of the Umayyad caliphs. Thereafter Madinah's primary significance has been its position as the second most holy city in the Muslim world.