Saudi Arabia

Medina is celebrated for containing the mosque of Muhammad, and so ranks as the second holiest city of Islam, after Mecca. It was also the place where Muhammad and his followers left after attacks against them in Mecca, now known as the Hijrah.

The city is revered by Muslims for containing the holiest site of Islam, the Grand Mosque of Mecca. A pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, a sacred duty that is required of all able-bodied Muslims who can afford to go, at least...