that in the Meccan period of Mu™ammad’s prophet-
hood, a majority of the converts to Islam were
women. In fact, the first person to accept Mu™am-
mad’s call to Islam was his wife Khadìja who
played an instrumental role in supporting Mu™am-
mad and reassuring him in times of doubt and
hardship. Women converts to Islam also played a
central role in spreading the teachings of the new
religion, gaining new converts, and protecting the
young and vulnerable community of Muslims. For
example, the early sources provide accounts of the
role Muslim women played in subverting, and
eventually lifting a Meccan siege and boycott of
the BanùHàshim (Mu™ammad’s clan) quarter of
Mecca. Thus, women were not just included in the
new Muslim community, but they played a vital
role in constituting this community and securing its
survival.
The dichotomy between the communal and reli-
gious notions of ummain the Qur±ànic use of the
term has parallels in ™adìthliterature. In several tra-
ditions attributed to Mu™ammad, the term “my
umma” is used to refer to his kinship group and not
to those related to him by religion. Nonetheless,
™adìthliterature provides the concept of ummawith
its precise and focused meaning. Besides the Qur±àn,
the earliest extant source of Islamic provenance is a
set of documents written by Mu™ammad shortly
after his arrival at Medina. These documents, com-
monly referred to in modern scholarship as the
“constitution of Medina,” comprise several practi-
cal provisions designed to regulate social and polit-
ical life in Medina under Islam. The main purport of
the “constitution” is political and not religious. It
defines treaty relations between the different groups
living in Medina and its environs, including the
Muslim tribes of Medina, Muslims who emigrated
from Mecca, and Jews. The constitution starts with
the pronouncement that all these groups constitute
“one distinct community (umma) apart from other
people.” In the 47 clauses of the constitution, the
term ummaappears only in one other instance when
the Jews of Banù≠Awf are said to constitute “an
ummawith the believers.” The same clause goes on
to state that the Jews have their religion and the
Muslims have theirs. The meaning of the term
ummain the constitution is clearly not synonymous
with religion. The constitution also delineates rela-
tions of mutual aid between the different con-
stituent tribal groups, actions to be taken against
those who violate the terms of the agreement, and
actions to be taken against criminals belonging to
the incipient community in Medina. Rather than
supplanting or abolishing the tribal bonds, the con-
stitution regulates the relations within tribes, and776 umma
between them and the outside world, on the basis of
the higher order of umma. Ummahere is a concept
of daily life that also stands for a certain kind of
identity and defines a social unit.
While the “constitution of Medina” sanctions
diversity within the Islamic umma, the Qur±àn
further sanctions differentiation between various
ummas as a norm decreed by God. Sùra 10:19
reads, “People were once a single umma; but they
differed (and followed different ways). Had it not
been for the word proclaimed by your lord before,
their differences would have been resolved” (see
also 2:213, 5:48, 11:118, 16:93, and 42:8). To some
extent, therefore, the Qur±ànic concept of umma
refers to an ideal collective order, an original all-
encompassing unity which is always invoked, but
never completely recovered. This rudimentary con-
cept of the umma, however, is complemented by the
narrower concept of the ummaof believers. This
is the “medium umma” (2:143) which is further
qualified in the Qur±àn as: “the best ummaevolved
for mankind, enjoining what is good, forbidding
what is wrong, and believing in God” (3:110; see
also 4:41 and 16:89). This specific umma, or the fol-
lowers of Mu™ammad, is further differentiated
from the followers of earlier messengers and
prophets; whereas the latter’s sphere of influence is
restricted to particular peoples, the former’s scope
is all of humanity. When referring to prophets
before Mu™ammad, the Qur±àn says, “To every
ummaWe have sent an apostle [saying:] Worship
God” (16:36; see also 10:47); in reference to
Mu™ammad, however, the Qur±àn adds: “Say: O
people, I am verily the apostle of God to you all”
(7:158). The universality of Mu™ammad’s mission
was thereby asserted, and the “medium umma”
played the central role in the fulfillment of this
mission after him. Once again, this medium umma
is not specified along gender lines, and no differ-
entiation is made between men and women in its
constitution.
The concept of umma underwent substantial
developments immediately after Mu™ammad’s
death. Different circumstances accompanied the
selection of each of the first four caliphs after
Mu™ammad, yet in each of these cases the appoint-
ment was conferred by the majority of the umma,
thereby investing ultimate political authority in the
umma and its consensus. Other developments
sharpened the conceptions of ummaand its theo-
retical authority. For example, many early leaders
and religious authorities argued that, to preserve its
unity, the ummaneeds a leadership unified in the
person of one imam. According to this view, there-
fore, the interests of the ummaprovided the justifi-