The city of Medina in Western Arabia is best known as the sanctuary of the exiled Meccan prophet Muḥammad, were he founded the religious polity that would go on to become both the Arab empire and the religion of Islam. The city was originally called Yaṯrib, but from the time of Muḥammad onward it was … Continue reading The Meaning of the nisbah “al-Madīnī”: A Note on the Geography of Hadith Transmitters