i went to the city of medina, the second holiest city in islam. it is famous for being where the prophet muhammad is buried. until very recently, it had been haram (prohibited) for non-muslims to even enter the city limits, a regulation which was stringently enforced. while this policy was never officially changed, i had seen a few reports of non-muslims visiting without repercussions, so i thought i’d give it a try, and all went smoothly!
the city of about 1.5 million people is centered around the green-domed al masjid al nabawi – the prophet’s mosque – beneath which the prophet is buried. after mecca, this is the second most important pilgrimage site in islam, and countless massive hotels ring the area around the mosque and its huge courtyard, which can hold up to 1 million people at a time.
i stayed at the hilton hotel, and even got upgraded to a “mosque-view” room! non-muslims are still not allowed to enter the mosque courtyard, but can walk around the outskirts. as with elsewhere in the muslim world, the busiest time to be out and about is at about 2am. there are people there from all over the world, which is fascinating. one night i chanced upon a museum/exhibition on the life of muhammad, called the “international fair and museum of the prophet’s biography and islamic civilization,” an impressive new cutting edge audio-visual display, through which there was an english tour led by a smooth-talking saudi in a kaffiyeh. the tour was attended by multiple men from around the muslim world, and was punctuated by multiple tense theological debates between them. the entire tour was also live streamed and loudly over-narrated by a man who i can only presume is an aspiring muslim social media influencer. it was fascinating to hear this all play out in english!
