Madyan (Arabic: مَدْیَنَ) was the living town of Madyan tribe[1], for guiding whom Prophet Shu'ayb (a) was chosen[2].

Madyan (city)
Coordinate24°30′13″N 39°36′43″E / 24.50361°N 39.61194°E / 24.50361; 39.61194
FeatureThe living town of Madyan tribe
CountryJordan or Saudi Arabia
RaceArab


This city is considered to be a developed and green town[3], on the east coast of the Gulf of Aqaba[4]. This city was near Tabuk region[5], near the city of Lot nation[6]. Al-Shaykh al-Saduq considered Madyan a small village which had no more than forty houses[7].

Some researchers considered this city among the cities of Syria[8]; and considered it possible that the present city of Ma'an in Jordan[9] is built over it[10]. Some others believe that Madyan was in the present Saudi Arabia[11].

God chose Prophet Shu'ayb (a) for Madyan nation in the city of Madyan[12]. After escaping from Egypt, Prophet Moses (a) went to Madyan and was a shepherd for Shu'ayb's (a) sheep for several years[13]. Residents of this city are considered to be from Arab race[14].

The word "Madyan" is mentioned ten times in the Qur'an[15], some cases of which refer to the city of Madyan[16] .

In this city, the people of Madyan lived and the name of the city was adopted from them[17]. There are different views about the ancestor of Madyan tribe and they are considered from the lineage of Madyan b. Abraham (a)[18] or Prophet Isma'il (a)[19].

Notes

  1. Yaqut Hamawi, Mu'jam al-buldan, vol. 5, p. 77.
  2. Qur'an 7: 85.
  3. Dehkhoda Dictionary, under the word Madyan.
  4. Makarim Shirazi, Tafsir nimuna, vol. 9, p. 200.
  5. Yaqut Hamawi, Mu'jam al-buldan, vol. 1, p. 291.
  6. Ibn al-Kathir, al-Bidaya wa al-nihaya, vol. 1, p. 184.
  7. Al-Shaykh al-Saduq, Kamal al-din, vol. 1, p. 220.
  8. Makarim Shirazi, Tafsir nimuna, vol. 6, p. 249.
  9. Qurashi, Qamus al-Qur'an, vol. 6, p. 245.
  10. Balaghi, Hujjat al-tafasir, vol. 1, p. 267.
  11. Dehkhoda Dictionary, under the word Madyan.
  12. Qur'an 7: 85.
  13. Tayyib, Atyab al-bayan, vol. 9, p. 32.
  14. Balaghi, Hujjat al-tafasir, p. 267.
  15. Qurashi, Qamus al-Qur'an, vol. 6, p. 245.
  16. For instance, see: Qur'an 11:84.
  17. Yaqut al-Hamawi, Mu'jam al-buldan, vol. 5, p. 77.
  18. Ibn al-Kathir, al-Kamil, vol. 1, p. 158.
  19. Makarim Shirazi, Tafsir nimuna, vol. 9, p. 200.

References

  • Shaykh al-Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Kamal al-din wa tamam al-ni'ma. Edited by Ali Akbar Ghaffari. Second edition. Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyah, 1395 AH.
  • Athīr, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Kāmil. Beirut: Dar Sadir, 1965.
  • Balāghī , Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ḥujjat. Ḥujjat al-tafasīr wa balāgh al-iksīr. Qom: Hikmat Publications, 1386 AH.
  • Dehkhoda, ʾAlī Akbar. Dehkhodā Dictionary.
  • Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, Ismaʾīl b. ʾUmar. Al-Bidāya wa al-nihāya. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1407 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr nimuna. First edition. Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyah, 1374 Sh.
  • Muṣtafawī, Ḥasan. Al-Taḥqīq fī kalamat al-Qurʿān al-karīm. Tehran: The Institute for Translation and Publication, 1360 Sh.
  • Qurashī, Sayyid ʿAlī Akbar. Qāmūs-i Qur'an. Sixth edition. Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyah, 1371 Sh.
  • Ṭayyib, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Atyab al-bayan fi tafsir al-Qur'an. Second edition. Tehran: Islam Publications, 1378 Sh.
  • Yaqūt al-Ḥamawī, Shihāb al-Dīn. Muʿjam al-Buldan. Second edition. Beirut: Dar Sadir, 1995.