Constitution of Medina

(noun)

A formal agreement between Muhammad and all of the significant tribes and families of Medina, including Muslims, Jews, Christians, and pagans, that formed the basis of the first Islamic state.

Related Terms

Examples of Constitution of Medina in the following topics:

  • Islam Ascendant

    • Upon his arrival in Medina, Muhammad unified the tribes by drafting the Constitution of Medina, which was a formal agreement between Muhammad and all of the significant tribes and families of Medina, including Muslims, Jews, Christians, and pagans.
    • This constitution instituted rights and responsibilities and united the different Medina communities into the first Islamic state, the Ummah.
    • An important feature of the Constitution of Medina is the redefinition of ties between Muslims.
    • This was an important event in the development of the small group of Muslims in Medina to the larger Muslim community and empire.
    • Abu Sufyan, the leader of the ruling Quraysh tribe, gathered an army of 3,000 men and set out for an attack on Medina.

  • Flight from Mecca to Medina

    • A delegation from Medina, consisting of the representatives of the twelve important clans of Medina, invited Muhammad as a neutral outsider to serve as the chief arbitrator for the entire community.
    • Muhammad instructed his followers to emigrate to Medina until nearly all of them left Mecca.
    • Among the first things Muhammad did to ease the longstanding grievances among the tribes of Medina was draft a document known as the Constitution of Medina, "establishing a kind of alliance or federation" among the eight Medinan tribes and Muslim emigrants from Mecca.
    • The community defined in the Constitution of Medina, Ummah, had a religious outlook, also shaped by practical considerations, and substantially preserved the legal forms of the old Arab tribes.
    • This was followed by the general acceptance of Islam by the pagan population of Medina, with some exceptions.

  • Arabian Cities

    • Cities like Mecca and Medina acted as important centers of trade and religion in pre-Islamic Arabia.
    • Along with the port of Jidda, Medina and Mecca thrived through years of pilgrimage.
    • Medina is celebrated for containing the mosque of Muhammad.
    • Medina is 210 miles (340 km) north of Mecca and about 120 miles (190 km) from the Red Sea coast.
    • According to Ibn Ishaq, the local pagan Arab tribes, the Muslim Muhajirun from Mecca, the local Muslims (Ansar), and the Jews of the area signed an agreement, the Constitution of Medina, which committed all parties to mutual cooperation under the leadership of Muhammad.

  • The Constitution of 1790

  • The Chilean Constitution of 1988

  • The Nomadic Tribes of Arabia

    • One of the major cultures that dominated the Arabian Peninsula just before the rise of Islam was that of the nomadic Bedouin people.
    • The first mention of Jews in the areas of modern-day Saudi Arabia dates back, by some accounts, to the time of the First Temple.
    • Immigration to the Arabian Peninsula began in earnest in the 2nd century CE, and by the 6th and 7th centuries there was a considerable Jewish population in Hejaz, mostly in and around Medina.
    • Before the rise of Islam, there were three main Jewish tribes in the city of Medina: the Banu Nadir, the Banu Qainuqa, and the Banu Qurayza.
    • Approximate locations of some of the important tribes and Empire of the Arabian Peninsula before the dawn of Islam.

  • Dates and Calendars

    • A great number of Hellenic calendars were developed in Classical Greece and influenced calendars outside of the immediate sphere of Greek influence.
    • The Islamic calendar determines the first year in 622 CE, during which the emigration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijra, occurred.
    • Dionysius Exiguus of Scythia Minor introduced the AD system in AD 525, counting the years since the birth of Christ.
    • This calendar era is based on the traditionally recognized year of the conception or birth of Jesus of Nazareth, with AD counting years after the start of this epoch and BC denoting years before the start of the era.
    • The first year was the Islamic year beginning in AD 622, during which the emigration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijra, occurred.

  • Muhammad's Successors

    • Muhammad united the tribes of Arabia into a single Arab Muslim religious polity in the last years of his life.
    • After a series of successful campaigns, Abu Bakr's general Khalid ibn Walid defeated a competing prophet and the Arabian peninsula was united under the caliphate in Medina.
    • Muslim armies conquered most of Arabia by 633, followed by north Africa, Mesopotamia, and Persia, significantly shaping the history of the world through the spread of Islam.
    • The followers of Ali later became the Shi'a minority sect of Islam, which rejects the legitimacy of the first three caliphs.
    • Muawiyah, a relative of Uthman and governor (Wali) of Syria, became one of Ali's challengers, and after Ali's assassination managed to overcome the other claimants to the caliphate.

  • Early Life of Muhammad

    • Muslims and Bahá'ís believe he is a messenger and prophet of God.
    • Muhammad's life is traditionally defined into two periods: pre-hijra (emigration) in Mecca (from 570 to 622 CE) and post-hijra in Medina (from 622 until 632 CE).
    • Muhammad was born around the year 570 CE to the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe, one of Mecca's prominent families.
    • He then came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of Banu Hashim.
    • The leaders of Mecca could not agree on which clan should have the honor of setting the Black Stone back in its place.

  • Expansion Under the Umayyad Caliphates

    • The Umayyad Caliphate, the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad, expanded the territory of the Islamic state to one of the largest empires in history.
    • Eventually, supporters of the Banu Hashim and the supporters of the lineage of Ali united to bring down the Umayyads in 750.
    • The Abbasid victors desecrated the tombs of the Umayyads in Syria, sparing only that of Umar II, and most of the remaining members of the Umayyad family were tracked down and killed.
    • The caliph's palace, Medina Azahara, was on the outskirts of the city, and had many rooms filled with riches from the East.
    • Interior of the Mezquita (Mosque), one of the finest examples of Umayyad architecture in Spain.