[6] On 18 January 1964 Al Madinah was banned by the Lebanese Information Ministry due to its reports which were considered to be harmful to Lebanon's reputation and national consciousness.
However, Al Madina publishes critical coverage of non-political local news, such as social, health and educational issues and has relatively critical columnists, despite restraint in reporting or commenting on national politics.
For instance, writing in April 2010, Basma bint Saud said that she could not find Qur'anic, or other Islamic historical, basis for a state institution undertaking to promote virtue and prevent vice and that the arrests and beatings by religious policemen contribute to incorrect impressions about Islam.
[13] Al Madina's article about Avicenna dated 1964 caused a diplomatic crisis between Saudi Arabia and the Imperial Iran due to the fact that he was described by the paper as an Arab thinker.
It went on to call on Arab nations to end their hypocrisy, in which they "maintain relations" with Israel but "don’t want anybody to know about them".