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The merit of Medina after the Hijra: the faith that retreats to it, the city that devours the cities, Prophet Muhammad’s supplication on leaving Mecca and the scholars’ judgment on the preference between Medina and Mecca, from al-Bukhari, Mouslim, Malik and al-Bayhaqi.
Updated on 07 September 2026 at 11:07 PM
Medina was likewise honored by his Hijra (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to it: it became the refuge of Allah’s allies and His righteous servants, the stronghold and impregnable fortress of the Muslims, the home of guidance for the worlds. The hadiths on its merit are very many: they have their place elsewhere, where we shall cite them Allah willing.
It is established in the two Sahihs, through the chain of Khubayb ibn Abd ar-Rahman, from Hafs ibn Asim, from Abu Hurayra: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Faith retreats to Medina as the viper retreats to its hole.” Mouslim also related it, from Muhammad ibn Rafi, from Shababa, from Asim ibn Muhammad, from his father, from Ibn ’Oumar, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in a similar manner.
In the two Sahihs likewise, from Malik, from Yahya ibn Said, that he heard Abu al-Habab Said ibn Yassar say, from Abu Hurayra: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “I was commanded a city that devours the other cities: they call it Yathrib, and it is Medina: it expels the people as the furnace expels the impurities of iron.” Imam Malik alone, among the four imams, preferred Medina over Mecca.
al-Bayhaqi related, from Abu Hurayra, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “O Allah, You made me leave the land I love most: settle me in the land You love most.” Allah settled him in Medina. This hadith is very rare in its chain.
It is established from the majority of the scholars that Mecca is preferable to Medina, except the spot where the body of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) rests. They relied on proofs whose detail belongs to the book of rites: the most famous is what Imam Ahmad related, from az-Zuhri, that Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman informed him, from Abdallah ibn Adi ibn al-Hamra, that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), standing at al-Hazwara in the market of Mecca, say: “By Allah, you are the best of Allah’s earth and the most beloved of Allah’s earth to Allah; had I not been driven out of you, I would not have left.”
Ahmad related it also through the chain of Ya’qoub ibn Ibrahim, from his father, from Salih ibn Kaysan, from az-Zuhri; likewise at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasaï and Ibn Majah, from al-Layth, from Uqayl, from az-Zuhri. at-Tirmidhi said: hassan sahih. Younous related it too, from az-Zuhri, and Muhammad ibn Amr, from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman, from Abu Hurayra; and az-Zuhri’s version is the soundest in my view.
Imam Ahmad also related, from Abd ar-Razzak, from Ma’mar, from az-Zuhri, from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman, from Abu Hurayra: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stopped at al-Hazwara and said: “I know that you are the best of Allah’s earth and the most beloved of Allah’s earth to Allah, and had my people not driven me out of you, I would not have left.” an-Nasaï related it likewise from Ma’mar; but al-Bayhaqi noted that this is an error of Ma’mar, and that some related it from Muhammad ibn Amr, from Abu Salama, from Abu Hurayra, which is also an error: the correct version is that of the group. Ahmad related further, from Ibrahim ibn Khalid, from Rabah, from Ma’mar, from Muhammad ibn Moussa az-Zuhri, from Abu Salama, from some of them, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, in the market of al-Hazwara: “By Allah, you are the best of Allah’s earth and the most beloved of Allah’s earth to Allah; had I not been driven out of you, I would not have left.” And at-Tabarani related it, from al-Humaydi, from ad-Darawardi, from az-Zuhri’s nephew, from az-Zuhri, from Muhammad ibn Jubayr ibn Mut’im, from Abdallah ibn Adi ibn al-Hamra. Such are the chains of this hadith, and the soundest is what has preceded: Allah is most knowing.