Medina vs Hanoi

Informations

Medina, officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (Arabic: المدينة المنورة‎, romanized: al-Madinat al-Munawwarah, lit. 'The Enlightened City'), commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah, is one of the three holiest cities in Islam and the capital of the Medina Region of Saudi Arabia. The 2020 estimated population of the city is 1,488,782, making it the fourth-most populous city in the country. Located at the core of the Madinah Province in the western reaches of the country, the city is distributed over 589 square kilometers (227 square miles), 293 km2 (117 sq. mi.) of which constitutes the city's urban area, while the rest is occupied by the Hejaz mountain range, empty valleys, agricultural spaces, older dormant volcanoes and the Nafud desert. The city is considered to be the second-holiest of three cities in Islamic tradition, the other two being Mecca and Jerusalem. The Masjid al-Nabawi ('Prophet's Mosque') built by Muhammad in 622 CE, is of exceptional importance in Islam and is the site of burial of the last Islamic prophet. Muslims visit his rawdhah in what is known as Ziyarat at least once in their lifetime, although this is not obligatory. The original name of the city before the advent of Islam was Yathrib and it is referred to by the same name in the Qur'an in Chapter 33, al-Ahzab (The Confederates). It was renamed Madīnat an-Nabī (City of the Prophet or The Prophet's City) after Muhammad's death and later al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (The Enlightened City), before being simplified and shortened to its modern name, Madinah (The City), written in English as Medina. Saudi Arabian road signage uses Madinah and al-Madinah al-Munawwarah interchangeably.The city is known to have existed for over 1500 years before Muhammad's migration from Mecca, otherwise known as the Hijrah.

Medina was the capital of a rapidly increasing Muslim caliphate under Muhammad's leadership, serving as its base of operations and as the cradle of Islam, where Muhammad's Ummah (Community), composed of the citizens of Madinah, known as the Ansar and those who immigrated with Muhammad, known as the Muhajirun, collectively known as the Sahaba, gained huge influence. Medina is home to three prominent mosques, namely al-Masjid an-Nabawi, Masjid Quba'a, and Masjid al-Qiblatayn, with the masjid at Quba'a being the oldest in Islam. A larger portion of the Qur'an was revealed in Medina in contrast to the earlier Meccan surahs.Much like most of the Hejaz, Medina has seen numerous exchanges of power within its comparatively short existence. The region is known to have been controlled by Arabian Jewish tribes (up to the 5th century CE), the 'Aws and Khazraj (up to Muhammad's arrival), Muhammad and the Rashidun (622–660 CE), Umayyads (660–749 CE), Abbasids (749–1254 CE), the Mamluks of Egypt (1254–1517 CE), the Ottomans (1517–1805 CE), the First Saudi State (1805–1811 CE), Muhammad Ali Pasha (1811–1840 CE), the Ottomans for a second time (1840–1918), the Hashemite Sharifate of Mecca (1918–1925 CE) and finally is in the hands of the modern-day Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1925–present CE).In addition to visiting for Ziyarah, tourists come to visit the other prominent mosques and landmarks in the city that hold religious significance such as Mount Uhud, Al-Baqi' cemetery and the Seven Mosques among others. Recently, after the Saudi conquest, the Saudis carried out a demolition of several tombs and domes in and around the region fearing these might become sites of association of others in worship beside Allah (shirk).

Source: Wikipedia

Informations

Hanoi (UK: ha-, hə-NOY or US: hah-NOY; Vietnamese: Hà Nội [hàː nôjˀ] (listen)) is the capital city of Vietnam. It covers an area of 3,358.6 km2 (1,296.8 sq mi). It is the second largest city in Vietnam, with over eight million residents within the city proper and an estimated population of 20 million within the metropolitan area. Located in part of the Red River Delta, Hanoi is the commercial, cultural, and educational centre of Northern Vietnam. Having an estimated nominal GDP of US$32.8 billion as of 2018, it is the second most productive economic area of Vietnam, after Ho Chi Minh City. The city is a settlement along the banks of the Red River. In 257 B.C, under the rule of king An Dương Vương, the citadel of Cổ Loa, nowaday Đông Anh district of Hanoi, was constructed and served as the capital of Âu Lạc. After the fall of Âu Lạc, the city was renamed to Tống Bình and ultimately Đại La. In 1010, emperor Lý Thái Tổ moved the capital to Đại La, renaming it Thăng Long (literally "Ascending Dragon"). Thăng Long would remain the political and cultural centre of the state of Đại Việt until 1802, when the Nguyễn dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of Vietnam, moved the capital to Huế.

The city renamed to Hanoi in 1831, and was the capital of French Indochina from 1883 to 1945. On 6 January 1946, the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam designated Hanoi as the capital of the newly-independent country, which would last during the First Indochina War (1946–1954) and the Vietnam War (1955–1975). Hanoi has been the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam since 1976. Historically it had Chinese, French and Russian influences. It hosts various venerable educational institutions and cultural venues of significance, including the Vietnam National University, the Mỹ Đình National Stadium, and the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts. On 16 July 1999, the UNESCO presented the title "City for Peace" to Hanoi. Hanoi joined UNESCO's Network of Creative Cities as a Design City on 31 October 2019 on the occasion of World Cities' Day.

Source: Wikipedia