Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 216
216 Badr and up to Medina the road winds in and out of, and around, bare hillocks. There are many places of historical interest in and around Medina. There is the mosque at Quba, the hamlet where the Prophet stayed for a few days on his first arrival from Mecca. There is the mosque in which the Prophet was leading the service when the revelation came which changed the qibla ⎯ direction toward which worshippers face during the service ⎯ from Jerusalem to Mecca (2:145). There is the graveyard where most of the early Muslims are buried, including Uthman, the third Khalifa; Haleema, the foster mother of the Prophet; Ibrahim, the Prophet’s little son; several members of the Prophet’s family and many of his companions. There is the battlefield of Uhud, a few miles east of Medina, where the second battle with the Meccans took place, the one in which the Prophet himself was wounded, and was at one time thought to have been killed, and in which his uncle, Hamza, was killed. Hamza and those Muslims who were killed during the battle are buried at Uhud. Those who were wounded were taken to Medina, and the ones who later died from their wounds are buried in the graveyard at Medina. But of course the focal point of interest is the Prophet’s mosque, in the center of Medina. The Prophet was buried in the chamber in which he died, and the mosque was later extended to include the