Medina is a historically important city. After Hijra, Medina was the first city where Muslims ruled. Many important events of Muslim history took place in this city. We visited 3 important historical sites with relatives who live in Medina.
The first site we visited was Masjid-e-Quba. Masjid-e-Quba marks the place where The Prophet (S.A.W) first arrived and stayed in Medina. It was the first mosque of the Muslim history. According to the mafhoom of a Hadith, offering two raka’at nafil at Masjid-e-Quba is equivalent to performing one Umrah.
The second place we visited is, again, of great historical importance; the Masjid-e-Qiblatain. Initially Muslims used to pray facing Jerusalem , which is also called Qibla-e-awwal. The muslims were ordered through wahi to turn towards Ka’aba in Makkah. Muslims were offering prayer in the mosque at the time, and during prayers they turned towards Makkah. Masjid-e-Qiblatain is in such a position that Jerusalem and Makkah are exactly opposite to each other.
The third site was the site of Uhad that we visited. The Uhad mountain is the site of battle of Uhad. There is a small part of the mountain, which is said to be the part where Muslims were ordered to be vigilant, but some of them were negligent of their duty and the enemy was able to overcome Muslims , benefiting from the negligence. The enemy was being led by Khalid bin Walid , who had not yet accepted Islam. This negligence was setback for Muslims, but on the other hand, it was a great historical lesson as well.
Now when we visit the site of Uhad, we see a small bazar set up surrounding the parking, selling everything from bags to shoes to dry fruits to icecream. A boundary wall encloses the graves of the shuhada of the Battle of Uhad.
While traversing through the city to visit the three sites, we saw the many changes in the cityscape that have happened in over 20 years. Medina has modernized. International food franchises has popped up here and there. The city itself is adorned with many architectures. One of them is a beautiful waterfall.
After Ziyaraat, our next step was date shopping and general shopping. And that requires another post.
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