618 – ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zayd ibn ʿĀṣim (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Abraham declared Mecca a sanctuary and prayed for its people. I have declared Medina a sanctuary just as Abraham declared Mecca, and I have asked that its saʿ and its mudd receive a blessing twice as great as the one Abraham invoked for the people of Mecca.” Agreed upon (1).

619 – ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stated: “Medina is a sanctuary between ʿAyr and Thawr.” Related by Muslim (2).

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Vocabulary of the ḥadith

• Haram of Mecca: a haram is something made inviolable by divine legislation or rational necessity. The Sacred Precinct received this name because Allah has prohibited within it many things that are lawful elsewhere.

• ʿAyr: pronounced with an open ʿayn, followed by a quiescent yāʾ and a rāʾ. It is a long, black-reddish mountain stretching east–west and overlooking Medina from the south. At its northern foot runs Wādī al-ʿAqīq, in which lies the well of ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, still famous today.

• Thawr: a small, rounded, reddish mountain located to the north of Medina, behind Mount Uḥud. When one travels from the city toward the airport and draws level with Mount Uḥud, Thawr appears on the left exactly as described.

Because the Mount Thawr of Medina is little known and not renowned—whereas the famous mountain bearing that name is