MECCA AND MADINA SURAHS

                   NEW QURANIC DIMENSION

WHAT ARE MAKKAH AND MADEENA SURAHS?

WHY LEAVING [HIJRAH] MAKKAH AND RESIDING IN MADEENA IS IMPORTANT?

WHY THE BOOK QURAN IS DIVIDED INTO TWO PARTS; MAKKI AND MADANI?

Best emigration is to leave what Allah dislikes

Mecca and Madeena are not two holy cities in the context of Islamic theology. They are two important state of thinking mind, one is the state of Makkah [unsettle state of mind] and other is the state of Madeena [sound state of mind]. A thinking mind always yearn to leave [Hijrah] from the state of agitated mind [Makkah] and seek to move [Hijrah] towards secure, peace and tranquil state of mind [Madeena]. This happens by the virtue of the continuous but wavering flow of thought process that continuously inspires [wahi] the two states of mind, ultimately it reaches its destination [manzil], that is the state of safety / security from the state of fear and anxiety. This path or the movement of thoughts in the Quranic terminology is called هَاجَرُواْ فِي اللّهِ / يُهَاجِرْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ - leaving or cutting off [Hijrah] all the relations from our previous fear, anxiety, negative emotions and moving towards the sound / secure belief in the path of system of consciousness [Allah]. The book Quran always emphasizes about Hijrah in the way/path of Allah it never discusses Hijrah between path of two cities. The History or Hadith of Hijrat must be understood in the context of the Quran and not vice versa. 

Hijrah [هجرة] in the Quranic context is always from the restricted / fearful state of mind [Makkah] towards the liberated state of enlightenment or illumination [Madeena Munawwra] for the well being of our own mind or consciousness [Allah / Rabb]. The book Quran never discusses about the physical aspects of names, places, objects or personalities but it thoroughly discusses how the state of human mind behaves in different circumstances. The word Naas ناس generally translated as man or people, actually signifies the wavering state of human mind. Lexically Naas means to move to and fro, state of commotion or agitation. That's the reason chapters that has the phrase of ياأيها الناس [O Agitated Mind] are classified as Meccan Surahs. Makkah Surahs does not have the phrase يأيها اللذين آمنوا because this phrase O you who believe always occurs in Madina surahs. According to traditionalists chapter 22 is Madeena surah, but I strongly believe the chapter 22 is also a Makki Surah, as it is addressed to ياأيها الناس [O Agitated Mind].  

What will be the gravity of our discernment if we assume the idea of Makkah and Madeena as the two geographical location of revelation of the book Quran? Is it fair to fix the immemorial message of the book Quran into circumstances of two fabled ancient cities? Are we not suppressing the living message of the Quran by comprehending it in the light of those doubtful / fabricated narratives of history? Are we not confining / regressing the vibrant message of the book Quran to the political situation of two cities back in 1442 C.E? Are we not fastening the message of Noble Quran to the condition of the people of those two cities and the life of Rev. Mohammed bin Abdullah [570 CE - 632CE]? Are we not instrumental in paralyzing or freezing the living message of the Noble Quran?

If the message of the book Quran is divided into the events of two cities (Mecca and Madina) happened some 1442 A.H before, then the vibrant message of the Quran is defunct in current situations. And we are overlooking a very important segregation done by the earlier scholars of Makki and Madni verses on the basis of our two states of mind. 

If Hijrah is considered as escape of Rev. Mohammed bin Abdullah [PBUH] from Mecca to Madina that means we are missing a invaluable instruction and essence of Hijrah in the Quranic context.

Let's see some of the meaning of derivatives of مَكَّة in Modern Arabic - إلكترون مكوكي = Electron shuttling, سفينة مكّوكية = shuttle vessel, حاملة مكوكية - shuttle carriage - the essence of the word mekkah is that which keeps on moving or that never settles at one place.

Meaning of Makkah in Classical Arabic.

Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab لسان العرب لابن منظور

معروفة، البلد الحرام، قيل: سميت بذلك لقلة مائها، وذلك أَنهم – ومَكَّةُ  

كانوا يَمْتَكُّون الماء فيها أي يستخرجونه، وقيل: سميت مكة لأنها كانت

تَمُكُّ من ظَلَم فيها وأَلْحَدَ أي تهلكه؛ قال الراجز:

يا مَكَّة، الفاجِرَ مُكِّي مَكَّا

My rough translation: According to Ibn Manẓūr, [d.1311 C.E] Lisān al-ʿArab لسان العرب لابن منظور - Makkah is recognized as the forbidden / restricted / inviolable state that is wanting in intelligence, it was so called because of its scarcity / lack of water / epiphany / knowledge, and that is what they are. And Makkah always possess the water / epiphany in it, which can be clearly subjugated, and it was said: Makkah was named because it holds those who wronged it and the one who has wronged it, that it perishes; Al-Rajz said in Majzūʾ al-Rajzمجزوء الرجز – a classical Arabic poetry.

Al-Fajir makki – My unsettled state that is on the verge of breakthrough - يا مَكَّة، الفاجِرَ مُكِّي مَكَّا

And according to Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī, al-Nihāya fī Gharīb al-Ḥadīth wa-l-Athar (d. 1210 CE) النهاية في غريب الحديث والأثر لأبي السعادات ابن الأثير الجزري – 

المَكَّةَ - Makkah is the phase of learning and absorbing of all the knowledge like the last drop of milk is sucked from the udder of the camel. This phase must be without teaching / preaching / arguing / insisting upon or controlling your adversaries, rival and enemy.

المَكَّةَ المكرمة - The word with Makkah is al-Mukarramah which means productive, fertile or can be manured, preserved, honored, noble ... so from the meaning of Mukarramah we can also deduce that Makkah is a place of growing of new ideas and when the new idea grows we must keep quite and meditate on those new ideas. 

Geographically the city Mecca is hot desert mountainous region with almost no fresh water except brackish water from zam zam well. So linguistically we cannot called that region as al-Mukarramah since the region is not conducive to productive growth. It can only be termed as al-Mukarramah if it is fertile and conducive to growth. But the later generation think because the house of Allah is situated in Mecca that why epithet al-Mukarramah is used along with the name Mecca.       

Makkah is a shuttling state of mind, thoughts come and go in this state. In the state of Mecca it is not advisable to take crucial decisions as our thoughts are not steady. In Meccan or Makki [مُكِّي] state we must follow restriction [ihram] on our own self as our mind is not stable and lacks knowledge to take decisions. In this state we are forbidden to live a carefree life, its a period of observation, absorption, learning, tolerance,...The word "Mecca" in English has come to be used to refer to any place that draws large numbers of people and in Islamic context it is a house of meditation الْبَيْتَ where throng of thoughts assemble to devote, remain humble, contemplate and bow لِلطَّائِفِينَ وَالْعَاكِفِينَ وَالرُّكَّعِ السُّجُودِ - to the thinking which is important or prominent [Kabah] 

Makkah is the place of development of our commonsense [Mohammed]. In the state of Mecca our thoughts heat up / ignites [Ramadan] and the Quran / Furqan / Hudan is revealed [not the physical book but our own part of the script [Al-Kitab]. Makkah is not a geographical place but is a birthplace of our common sense [Mohammed] i.e the beginning of the journey of our own commonsense along with the struggle with its adversaries. The entire message of the book Quran runs parallel to our own common sense, personified as Mohammedun Rasul Allah, who is present in every generation [3:81].

المدينة المنورة‎ - Al Madinah Al Munawwarah : The word Madeena is the derivative of word Deen [دين] - The basic meaning of Deen is to become obedient or submissive. Madeena is the state of submission to the authority of Mohammed, our common sense. The state of Madeena is always ruled my our common sense [Mohammed] in the atmosphere of enlightenment and illumination. Madeena does not mean the state of blind submission but it is submission to the knowledge of enlightenment. It is the state of a believer of knowledge; a non believer of knowledge cannot attain this state. Madeena is a sound state of peace and tranquility of mind. That's the reason Madeena surah are often addressed by the phrase يأيها اللذين آمنوا  - A believing or a trusting or a submissive mind is must for achieving the state of Madeena.

Once we have conquered the state of Makkah and proceeded towards the state of Madeena we can still go back to the state of Mecca again but only as a pilgrim with certain restrictions. For the state of security, tranquility and peace we have to permanently stay in the state of Madeena ruled by our enlightened common sense know as Mohammed in Quranic terminology. When we remain in the enlightened state of Madeena, we achieve the title of Muslim and Momin and we are recognized as Mohammedi محمدي‎ [my Mohammed / my common sense] or a misnomer Mohammedans in English as we are the consumer of our own common sense.. 

Mohammedi محمدي‎ are followers of their own common sense, not worshipers of Mohammed bin Abdullah. The reason Muslims conquered all the great empires of that era was they were followers of Mohammed [common sense] under the legendary slogan  لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ‎ • (lā ʾilāha ʾillā llāhu muḥammadun rasūlu llāhi) meaning - There is NO GOD / god except the System of Consciousness [Allah] and Common Sense [Mohammed] is the Voice of Allah. 

   

But unfortunately this masterpiece Arabian literature [Quran] became the victim of sectarian history and the timeless message was linked with the selective histories of the respective sects; thus the process of destruction the revolutionary message of the book Quran began and it is continuous till date. This same people are searching Mohammed in Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem, Jordan and Syria but they don't realize that the real Mohammed is in their souls. They keep on fighting in the name of God whereas the basic purpose of Mohammed bin Abdullah and the book Quran was to wipe out Gods of various religions.  

You take care of your Allah and Allah will take care of you, its that simple, you give loan to Allah and He will return it to you. You give trouble to Allah and you will get back the trouble multiplied many times. The only condition is that you have to take the initiative first. Allah helps those who help themselves. Be careful of your system of consciousness. It gives back what we have given it. This is the essence of Deen. Hijrah is for Allah, i.e from unsettle state of Makkah to well established state of mind Madeena; Peaceful State of Mind - [DEEN - E - ISLAM].                                                                                                                                                                                    

What is Surah? The basic lexical meaning of sur سور is leaped or sprang towards or upon him overpowering influence, intoxication, to rise to ascend, overpowering influence upon the head - Surah -  سورة -  Eminence or notable influence revealed or sent down with clear sign so that we remember or take heed - [24:1] - surah has a strong influence on us by the virtue of which we are ready for action.

In the context of the book Quran Surah signifies the influence / impact /  we receive because of our inclination towards our goal [qibla] thus the inspiration [wahi] on our heart through Gibrael [A faculty of mind which decodes the unknown]. The balance of man's mind hangs between stable and unstable state; that is within Makkah and Madeena state. The book Qurah is divided into Makkah and Madeena state of mind that's why the surahs are categorized into two parts, one is Makki [مُكِّي] and the other one is Madani [مدنی] surahs. Literally مُكِّي means my Makkah - مدنی means my Madeena and الهجري means my migration or my journey, between the two states of mind because it made influence on self. In short in the context of the Book Quran, Surah is a sur [influence that makes an impact] we receive from any poem, melody, tune, verse or statement.

Every abstract word of the book Quran is given physical image so that the masses hooked on to it firmly and to retrieve the original meanings becomes a hurricane task for the researchers.

The word Mecca in the Quran does not mean the city of Saudi Arabia,

The word Yathrib does not signify the Modern city of Madeena of Saudi Arabia

The word Musalla in Quran does not represent prayer-mat

The word Maqame Ibrahim is fabricated as foot print of Ibrahim

The word Safaa and Marwa are misconceived as hillocks in “Mecca”

The word Arafat is wrongly inferred as a gathering at granodiorite hill about 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Mecca in the Makkah Province of Saudi Arabia

The list is very long …

Same way the word Masjid in the Quran does not represent Mosque…

The conspirators against the Quran succeeded in replacing / converting and establishing the vibrant words of the Quran to the accounts of history.

NOTE THESE ARE MY PERSONAL UNDERSTANDING BASED ON ARABIC LEXICONS, ISLAMIC THEOLOGY, QURANIC CONTEXT AND COMMON SENSE. ITS A FOOD FOR THOUGHT FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO EXPLORE OTHER DIMENSION OF ISLAM. I AM JUST TRYING TO CONNECT THE DOTS OF ISLAMIC THEOLOGY WITH MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE BOOK QURAN.