Unlike Makkah and Al Quds, Madinah was not simply renamed after its conversion to Islam; its old name was completely eradicated on the orders of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). When he and his followers migrated to what was then a small town - with scattered encampments of largely pagan Arab tribes mixing with small numbers of people from other faiths, mainly Jews – his message was emphatically clear. According to his companion Abu Hirairah, the Prophet declared : "I have been ordered to go to a town that engulfs other towns. They say it is 'Yathrib', but it is Al Madinah, which purifies people as the smith's bellows purifies iron.” In another tradition he also called it “Taibah” (virtue or goodness) because, he said, "it is Taibah that expels sins as fire expels the dross from silver."

Madinah was thus the first city to enter Islam, to become a Muslim city and, as the Prophet started outlining its shape, it set an early example of what an Islamic city should look like. Socially, the Prophet performed an astonishing early act of social cohesion whereby the newcomers - those who accompanied him from Makkah, known as Muhajirun or immigrants became 'brothers' with the people of Madinah, who became known as Ansar, or backers. According to that act the Muhajirun were welcomed into the houses of Ansar, sharing with them their livelihood until the newcomers could settle in their own homes. Indeed the Prophet himself stayed in the house of one of the Ansar until a home was built for him.

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1) This article derived information from various sources, yet it mainly depended on the two volumes devoted to al-Madinah in Musua't Al-Mamlakah Al-Arabiayyah Assadiyyah (the Encyclopedia of Saudi Arabia) (11 volumes) (Riyadh : King Abdulaziz Public Library, 2008), as well as Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah : Tarikh wa Ma'alim (Madinah : Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasal Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, 1434 H.