74 THE MECCAN PERIOD

God's attributes of omnipotence, omniscience and unity; with vivid pictures of the pains of hell and of the joys of Paradise, with legendary stories of preceding prophets and strong self-assertions of Muhammad's claims, and with its own divine nature. The positive precepts are still very limited; the times of prayer, certain rules about food,1 and prohibitions regarding certain ancient and indecent rites connected with the circumambulation of the Ka'ba, 2 but the ritual is not yet elaborated. The social system and the laws of Islam are not as yet fixed in their rigidity. The Madina Suras address the Muslims less on dogma than on the laws which should guide them in their daily lives. The Qur'an, as a whole, is not formed on any fixed plan, but just follows the needs and suggestions of the day and the circumstances of the hour. The fervid eloquence of the preacher is now absent, and the dictates of the practical administrator takes its place. The Prophet deals now with questions of social life, domestic details, peace and war. It may be called by contrast the legal section of the Qur'an. The style, generally speaking, is that of the third Meccan period and with a few exceptions is not rhetorical. The Suras are long and probably consist of shorter exhortations and statements made on different occasions, and then afterwards arranged in a Sura, but apparently on no definite plan or system.3
1 Sura Ta-Ha (xx) 130, Sura Ar-Rum (xxx) 17, Sura Hud (xi) 111, Sura Al-An'am (vi) 146-7 and Sura An-Nahl (xvi) 119, but this last may be a Madina verse.
2 Sura Al-A'raf (vii) 27-33.
3 For an account of the recensions of the Qur'an and its 'various readings' see Sell, Recension of the Qur'an (C.L.S.), pp. 1-10, 15-19.
75

CHAPTER II

THE MADINA PERIOD

IN the year A.D. 622, probably in the month of June, Muhammad made his public entry into Madina, 1 accompanied by about one hundred and fifty persons. The people were willing to receive him though they were not at one as regards his claim to be a prophet. Owing to their clannish spirit and the tribal feuds existing among them, Muhammad wisely held himself aloof from all their parties and selected, under divine guidance it is said, an isolated neutral spot for his future abode. 2 He also soon erected a mosque in this same place, which thus became the centre of Islam and from which proceeded in due course many political and military orders.

The Muslim community was made up of two parts, one consisted of the Immigrants from Mecca, called the Muhajirun ; the other of the first Madina converts, who were called the Ansar or Helpers.

The Muhajirun are said to be referred to in Sura An-Nahl (xvi)3, 43, 111:—

As to those who when oppressed have fled their country for the sake of God, we will surely provide them
1 In after years, the Imam Malik and others maintained that Madina was superior to Mecca. See Ibn Khaldun, vol. ii, p. 270.
2 The Ansar seized the bridle of his camel and entreated him to stay and reside with them. He said: 'Let the camel go on, for she Will obey the order of God.' Mas'udi, Muruju'dh-Dhahahab, vol. iv, p. 139.
3 This Sura, however, is a late Meccan one, so if the reference is correct these verses must have been placed in it after the Hijra; those
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