to Mecca.

The period in which the term is used most often is within the third Meccan period, followed by the Medinian period. The extensive use of the term during both time periods indicates that Muhammad had begun to arrive at the concept of the ummah to specify the genuinely Muslim nation. Furthermore, the early Meccan passages generally equate ummah as religion, but in the Medinan passages refer more specifically to the relations of ummah and religion. The final passage that refers to ummah in