Exposing Islam

🏛️ “Hijrah to Where? The Missing Medina and the Phantom Constitution”

Medina’s Role in Early Islam Is a Retroactive Invention

The Hijrah is said to mark Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina, initiating the first Islamic polity. But archaeology, geography, and critical historical scrutiny undermine Medina’s existence as a major 7th-century settlement. The so-called Constitution of Medina also fails basic tests of authenticity: it is anachronistic, self-serving, and only preserved in late Abbasid-era sources. The Hijrah’s true destination may have been further north — in Nabataean or Byzantine lands, not a historically silent oasis in central Arabia.

🧭 1. No Archaeological Evidence for 7th-Century Medina

Despite its alleged centrality:

No coins, inscriptions, or material artifacts from Medina dated to the early 600s exist.
Unlike Jerusalem, Petra, or Damascus — all well-documented cities — Yathrib/Medina leaves no contemporary footprint in:
- Byzantine records
- Persian records
- Christian-Arabic sources

📍 Mecca and Medina: A “Ghost Pair”

Neither city appears in any pre-Islamic maps or geographies.
Ptolemy's famous Geography (2nd century) mentions no settlement resembling either.
Medina becomes visible only centuries later, in Islamic texts compiled under Abbasid rule.

📜 2. The “Constitution of Medina” Is an Abbasid-Era Forgery

Claimed Source:

The Constitution of Medina is preserved only in Ibn Ishaq’s Sīra, written 120+ years after Muhammad’s death.
No earlier mention exists. No external corroboration. No independent Jewish source mentions it — despite its supposed importance to Jewish tribes of Medina.

Internal Contradictions:

Terms like “ummah”, “Muslims”, and “Qur’an” are used anachronistically, as these were not formalized until decades later.
The document favors Muhammad politically, creating a proto-Islamic state with him as arbiter — an obvious retrospective idealization.

If genuine, it would be the earliest known political charter in Arabia. Yet it survives only in one partisan source, quoted without isnad (chain of transmission), centuries after the fact.

🧭 3. Hijrah Does Not Fit the Mecca–Medina Trajectory

Geographic and Strategic Illogic:

The Quraysh let Muhammad flee from Mecca, despite the alleged “hostility” — implausible for a man forming an opposition bloc.
Medina (Yathrib) is only ~340 km north — yet this short journey is described with exaggerated drama in Islamic lore.
If Muhammad was truly seeking asylum and power, why stop in a small oasis town with no strategic value?

Logical Alternative:

Petra, Bosra, or another Nabataean city further north make more sense:
- Closer to Byzantine frontiers
- Centers of literacy, administration, and Arab-Christian dialogue
- Better matching the Qur'an’s complex legal and theological content

🧠 4. The Qur’an Itself Does Not Mention Medina by Name

Surprisingly:

The word “Medina” (city) appears generically, not as a proper noun.
The Hijrah is never described as "Mecca to Medina."
The Prophet’s destination is often just called “the land” or “the people who welcomed him” — vague descriptors likely added narrative flexibility.

If Medina were truly central, why the textual ambiguity?

🏰 5. Political Necessity Created Medina Retroactively

Abbasid Needs:

The Abbasid dynasty (750+) required a foundational myth centered on:
- A just Prophet-politician
- A sacred constitution
- A city of refuge symbolizing moral rebirth

Hence:

Medina becomes the Islamic “City on a Hill” — an ideological Jerusalem for Muslims
The Constitution of Medina acts as the Islamic Magna Carta, used to retro-legitimize political and theological authority

But Historically:

It’s a fabrication, not a fact.

🧩 6. Jewish Tribes of Medina? Missing from Jewish History

The Constitution claims:

Muhammad created a coalition with Jewish tribes: Banu Qaynuqa, Banu Qurayza, Banu Nadir.

But:

No Jewish sources ever record:
- A Prophet in Arabia
- Massacres of Jewish tribes by Arabs
- Such named tribes

Key Problem:

Jewish history is well-preserved across the diaspora. The absence of corroboration is damning.
These stories likely retroject Jewish resistance and betrayal tropes to create a narrative of Islamic triumph and purification.

🔚 Conclusion: Medina Is a Mythologized Refuge, Not a Historical Reality

The Hijrah was likely not to “Medina” but to a real, politically significant city like Petra or Bosra. The “City of the Prophet” was invented later to ground Islamic origins in an Arab-centric, isolated locale, divorced from the Christian and Jewish influence of the north.

The Constitution of Medina, too, is a late-stage backfill — a political charter posing as history.