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Medinan Period History
The history of the Medinan period can be split into four stages:
The Hijrah
Consolidation and Constitution of Medina
Conflict with the Quraysh
Expansion into the Arabian Peninsula
1. The Hijrah (622)
The Medinan period began in 622, when the Prophet Muhammad made the 200 mile journey north from his hometown of Mecca to the city of Medina. This journey became known as the Hijrah, and was so important to the early Muslim community that the Islamic calendar bases its start date from the date of the Hijrah. This means that the year 622 in the Gregorian calendar (the calendar Westerners use) is the year 0 in the calendar of Islam.
Why did the Prophet Muhammad migrate to Mecca?
Muhammad preached that there was no God but Allah. This infuriated the leaders of Mecca, the Quraysh tribe, who believed in many different deities. Therefore, they began to persecute Muhammad and his followers. Initially, Muhammad's clan protected him from physical harm, but when leadership of this clan changed hands in 619, Muhammad's life was in danger. Therefore he decided to migrate to Medina where he would be safe.
2. Consolidation and the Constitution of Medina (622-624)
One of the Prophet Muhammad's first actions when he arrived in Medina was to create a document to determine how the Muslim emigrants from Mecca, the Arab tribes in Medina and the Jews of Medina would get along with one another peacefully. This document became known as the Constitution of Medina.
In the Constitution of Medina, the Prophet Muhammad created a new political community which he called the 'Umma'. The Umma was a revolutionary idea in the region because it said that membership to the Umma was based not on which tribe you were born into, but whether you believed in one God and agreed to 'follow' Muhammad.
3. Conflict with the Quraysh (624-630)
The majority of the Medinan period was spent in continuous conflict between the Muslims and the Quraysh tribe of Mecca.
It was not until 629-630 that the Prophet Muhammad finally defeated the Quraysh. Then the Quraysh were forced to submit to Muhammad and the Muslims, and they converted to Islam. The historian Fred Donner writes that:
One of the puzzles of Muhammad's life is to explain how, after failing so utterly in his native city, he was able to subdue the Quraysh in such a relatively short time once he had moved to Medina."1
- Historian Fred Donner, 1977
There are no easy answers to this puzzle. One convincing explanation by Fred Donner is that Muhammad's strategy of raiding trade caravans from the northern Arabian peninsula and Syria enabled him to control the food supply to major cities. This tactic was so effective that Muhammad caused a severe famine in Mecca, which severely weakened the Quraysh.
4. Expansion into the Arabian Peninsula (630-632)
After conquering Mecca in 630, the last two years of the Medinan period was spent extending Islam into the rest of the Arabian peninsula. There were two major campaigns during this time:
The Eastern Expedition: The Muslims won a decisive victory against the Hawazin and Thaqif tribes in the Battle of Hunayn in 630. This extended their influence to the east of the Arabian peninsula.
The Northern Expedition: The Muslim force went north to engage with the Byzantines and Ghassanids. They didn't actually meet any enemy forces but Muhammad used the opportunity to ally with many of the local chiefs in the northern territories.
The green arrows on the map highlight the Prophet Muhammad's conquests and battles to the north, south and east of Medina. The black arrows represent the conquests under the first four leaders of the Islamic community after Muhammad's death.
Medinan Period Events
Here is a short table highlighting the key events of the Medinan period.
Date | Event | Importance |
622 | Hijrah | Enabled the Prophet Muhammad and his followers to move from a place of weakness and persecution to a place of strength and safety with allies. |
Early in the Medinan Period (exact date unknown) | Constitution of Medina | Founded the Umma, which changed the basic unit of society from tribes to religion. Created Islam as a political community. |
624 | Battle of Badr | The Prophet Muhammad won a significant victory against the Quraysh at Badr. |
625 | Battle of Uhud | The Quraysh won a victory against the Muslims at the mountain of Uhud. However, they failed their main objective which was to wipe out the Muslims completely. This made the Quraysh look weak. |
627 | Siege of Medina/Battle of the Trench | The Quraysh failed to besiege Medina. This greatly increased the Muslims' prestige. |
628-9 | Famine of Mecca | Muhammad's control of the food supplies to Mecca meant that the Quraysh were severely weakened. It also made other tribes more likely to ally with the Muslims. |
628 | Treaty of Hudaybiyya | The Prophet Muhammad and the Muslims agreed to to a ten year ceasefire in the conflict. This included a ceasefire between their allies. This showed that the Muslims were now equals of the Quraysh rather than their victims. |
630 | Conquest of Mecca | The Prophet Muhammad led a campaign against Mecca after some Quraysh allies fought with the Muslims' allies - breaking the terms of the Treaty of Hudaybiyya. He conquered Mecca and the Quraysh converted to Islam. This made the Muslims the definitive regional power of western Arabia. |
630 | Battle of Hunayn | The Muslims won an important battle in Hunayn. This expanded their influence to eastern Arabia. |
631 | Expedition of Tabuk | The Muslims extended their influence to northern Arabia. This gave them even more control over the food and trade routes. Many Arab tribes submitted to the Muslims. Most of Arabia was now under Muslim control or influence. |
632 | The Prophet Muhammad died | The end of the Medinan era. |
Characteristics of Medinan Period
What were the major characteristics of the Medinan period?
Growth
The dominant characteristic of the Medinan period was the rise of Islam. The Muslim community grew in strength, in allies, in military success, in territorial conquest, and in political power throughout this period.
Transition
Accordingly, another significant characteristic of the Medinan period was transition. As Islamic scholar Dr Ibrahim Syed argues:
...the migration was a transitional line between the two major eras regarding to the message of Islam: the era of [Mecca] and the era of [Medina]. In its essence, this signified a transition from one phase to another."2
- Former Islamic Research Foundation President, Ibrahim Syed.
Some of these changes included:
Transformation of Islam from a small, persecuted minority to a powerful political community with allies.
Transformation of Islam from an informal group of family and friends to a political unit with a constitution.
Transformed focus within Islam from converting the Quraysh of Mecca to all the people in the Arabian peninsula, and possibly even further to the rest of the world.
3. Violence
It is hard to escape that this decade was marked by continual violence between the Muslims at Medina and other groups. There were two main groups on the receiving end of Muslim military action.
1. Quraysh
As we have already noted, the Medinan period was marked by continual fighting between the Muslims and their greatest enemy, the Quraysh of Mecca. Significant battles included the Battle of Badr (624), the Battle of Uhud (625), the Siege of Medina (627) and the Conquest of Mecca (630).
2. The Jewish tribes of Medina
Between 624 and 627, the Prophet Muhammad successively turned on the three major Jewish tribes of Medina: the Banu Qaynuqa, the Banu Nadir, and the Banu Qurayza.
The first two tribes were expelled from Medina in 624 and 626 respectively. However, the worst violence was unleashed on the Banu Qurayza. When Muhammad learned that they had assisted the Quraysh at the Siege of Medina, he ordered that every Jewish male who was not willing to convert to Islam would be executed. The result was a massacre in which nearly all of the men of the Banu Qurayza were killed. The women and children were enslaved.
Medinan Surah
Surah
A chapter of the Qur'an - the holy book of Islam.
The Medinan Surahs were the chapters of the Qur'an which the Prophet Muhammad taught while he was in Medina. In this way they are distinct from the Meccan Surahs, which are the teachings that the Prophet Muhammad gave while he was in Mecca. This table outlines some of the differences:
Meccan Surahs | Medinan Surahs |
Set at the end of the Qur'an | Set at the beginning and middle of the Qur'an |
Short chapters | Long chapters |
Major themes: Belief in Allah Day of Judgement Heaven and Hell Stories about Adam and Satan Commands to prostrate to Allah | Major themes: Jihad (holy war) Laws governing political community, family, money, international law and acts of worship 'People of the Book' - Jews The Islamic community |
Main enemy: polytheists | Main enemy: Munafiq |
Who were the Munafiq?
The Munafiq refers to 'false' Muslims who acted piously on the outside, but who rejected Islam on the inside and worked to bring down the community from within. They were held to be worse compared to non-Muslim enemies of the Muslims in the Medinan Surahs.
Differences between Meccan and Medinan Periods
As we saw from the quote by Ibrahim Syed earlier, the Muslim community sees a sharp divide between the Meccan and Medinan periods. There is no doubt that there were many distinctive features that made these two periods different eras within the beginning of Islam. Let's take a look at some of these differences in this table.
Meccan Period | Medinan Period |
Muhammad wrestled with what his divine purpose was - for example, he had to be encouraged by his wife and a Christian friend that he was a prophet, and he delayed preaching his revelations for three years after his first vision. | Muhammad called himself the Prophet and Messenger of Allah in the Constitution of Medina and the Medinan Surahs. |
The Muslims were a weak and persecuted minority in Mecca. | The Muslims grew into a powerful regional force with allies, and by the end of the Medinan Period they ruled almost the entire Arabian Peninsula. |
Muhammad was focused on converting the polytheistic Quraysh of Mecca. He did not consider going elsewhere to preach. | Muhammad focused on spreading Islam to the entirety of the Arabian Peninsula and beyond. |
The Muslims were an informal group of friends and family. | The Muslims became an official political community with a constitution. |
The Medinan period represented Muhammad's incredible rise to power. It saw the transformation of the Muslims from a small and persecuted minority into a force to be reckoned with.
Medinan Period - Key takeaways
- The Medinan period refers to the ten years the Prophet Muhammad spent at Medina from 622 to his death in 632.
- The Medinan period comprised of four stages: the Hijrah, the Constitution of Medina, the Conflict with the Quraysh and the Expansion into the Arabian Peninsula.
- The three major characteristics of the Medinan Period were growth of the Muslim community, transitions from weakness to strength and violence.
- The main two groups who engaged in or received violence from the Muslims during this period were the Quraysh of Mecca and the Jewish tribes of Medina.
- Islam became a powerful force for the first time during the Medinan period.
References
- 1. Fred McGraw Donner, 'Mecca's Food Supplies and Muhammad's Boycott' in Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 20, (1977), p.255.
- 2. Dr Ibrahim Syed, The Significance of the Hijrah (622C.E.), History of Islam, The Significance of the Hijrah (622 CE) – History of Islam [accessed 28/06/22].
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Frequently Asked Questions about Medinan Period
What is the Medinan period?
The Medinan period refers to the ten years which Muhammad spent at Medina from 622 to 632. It was an important period in the history of Islam because it saw the sudden rise of Islam as a political community and as a powerful regional force within the Arabian Peninsula.
What is the important event during the Medinan period?
There were many important evenings during the Medinan period, but the most defining moment of this period was the Conquest of Mecca in 629-630. This was when Muhammad definitively won his long conflict against the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. From this point onwards, no tribe was powerful enough to resist the Muslims.
What are the main differences between the Meccan and the Medinan period?
There were three main differences between the Meccan and Medinan periods. The first was that the Muslims went from being a weak, persecuted minority in Mecca to a powerful force with allies in Medina. The second is that the Muslims went from being an informal group of family and friends who followed Muhammad to a political community with a consitution. The third difference was that Muhammad broadened his horizons to focus on spreading Islam everywhere rather than just in his locality.
What are the characteristics of Medinan period?
The defining characteristic of the Medinan period was growth. The Muslims grew in numbers, military strength, wealth and prestige, and political power while they were based at Medina. Another characteristic was violence against the pagan Quraysh tribe and the Jews of Medina, and a third characteristic was that it was a period of transition from weakness to strength.
How many years did Prophet Muhammad stay in Medina?
The Prophet Muhammad stayed in Medina for ten years, between 622 and 632C.E.
When did Prophet Muhammad entered Medina?
The Prophet Muhammad entered Medina in 622, having migrated from Mecca to escape persecution. This journey was known as the Hijrah. The people of Medina welcomed Muhammad because they wanted him to arbitrate between the tribes of Medina which had suffered from severe in-fighting for many years.
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