Why is Muhammad’s life often divided between Mecca and Madina?
The first reason is because Muhammad’s move from Mecca to Madina in 622 is taken by Muslims as year one of their calendar. The second reason is because the move to Madina marks a dramatic change in his life. In Mecca he was opposed, ridiculed, and his followers were persecuted. In fact there was a complicated plot to assassinate him. In Madina he was accepted as the leader of the community, and in place of failure he experienced almost unbroken success. The number of his followers multiplied. Thirdly there is a difference apparent between those parts of the Qur’an which come from Mecca and those parts which come from Madina. In the Meccan period the emphasis was on warning Meccans of the folly of idolatry, and setting out the new teaching of the One God. In Madina the emphasis is more on the affairs of the new Muslim community. The Meccan chapters are generally short, emotive, poetic, while the Madinan chapters are lengthy, involved and seem to be laboured. Fourthly, in Mecca Muhammad
