Malik related to me that Yahya ibn Said said, "I heard Abu'l-Hubab Said ibn Yasar say that he heard Abu Hurayra say that he heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'I was ordered to a town which will eat up towns. They used to say, 'Yathrib,' but it is Madina. It removes the bad people like the blacksmith's furnace removes impurities from the iron.' "
Muwatta Malik Book 45, Hadith 5
← Previous Hadith Yahya related to me from Malik from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir from Jabir ibn Abdullah that a Bedouin took an oath of allegiance in Islam with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. A fever befell the Bedouin at Madina. He came to the Messenger of Allah, and said, "Messenger of Allah, release me from my pledge." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, refused. Then he came to him again and said, "Release me from my pledge." The Messenger of Allah may Allah bless him and grant him peace, refused. Then he came again and said, "Release me from my pledge." He refused. Then he came again and said, "Release me from my pledge." He refused. The Bedouin left and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Madina is like the blacksmith's furnace. It removes the impurities and purifies the good."

Muwatta Malik Book 45, Hadith 4 Next Hadith → Malik related to me from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "No one leaves Madina preferring to live elsewhere, but that Allah will give it better than him in place of him ."

Muwatta Malik Book 45, Hadith 6