Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
10. The Prophet in Makkah
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10. THE PROPHET IN MAKKAH
There are two main periods of the Prophet
Muhammad’s life: the Makkan and the Madinan,
these names being derived from the towns of
Makkah and Madinah. Place names tend to assume
historical significance over and above their literal
meaning, and Makkah and Madinah are no
exceptions. They may originally have been just
place names, but now they have become symbolic
of the two faces of the Islamic coin—two aspects of
the process by which Islam has come to the world.
On the one hand, Makkah is symbolic of
“dawah,”
or calling people to the faith, while, on the other
hand, Madinah is symbolic of revolution. One can
put this another way and say that Makkah was the
place where the
“dawah
power” of Islam was first
activated, while Madinah was the place where this
power actually achieved supremacy. This verse of
the Qur’an tells the whole story of both Makkan
and Madinan Islam:
Muhammad is God’s Messenger. Those who
are with him are hard on the unbelievers but
merciful to one another. You see them bow
