The Excellent Exemplar - Muhammad — Page 35
THE EXCELLENT EXEMPLAR — MUHAMMAD 35 The principal conditions were that the internal affairs of each section would be regulated according to its own laws and customs, but that if the security of Medina were threatened from outside all sections would co - operate with each other in its defense. No section would enter into any separate treaty relations with any outside tribe, nor would any section be compelled to join in any fighting which should take place outside Medina. The final determination of disputes would be referred to the Prophet, and his decision would be accepted and carried out. This became, as it were, the Charter of Medina. Thus was the Republic of Medina set up. Abdullah bin Ubayy was deeply chagrined at the loss of a crown, which, before the arrival of the Prophet, he had thought was assured for him. He became the leader of the disaffected party in Medina, This party was a source of constant worry and insecurity for the Prophet and the Muslims. It is referred to in the Quran, at various places, as “the hypocrites. ” (see chapter 63) The Jews, on their part, were not disposed to let the Prophet remain in peace at Medina. They were, it is true, eagerly awaiting the advent of a Prophet foretold in their Scriptures (Deut. 18: 18), but they felt that to accept an Arab as the fulfillment of that prophecy would raise the prestige of the Arabs above that of the Jews in the religious and spiritual spheres and this, as Jehovah’s chosen people, they were not prepared to tolerate. The Quran states that the Beni Israel, i. e. , the descendants of Jac ob, were the recipients of God’s favors (2:48, 123), but it also recites some of the causes that had led to their fall from grace, e. g. , their breaking of their covenant with God, their denial of the Signs of God, their seeking to kill the prophets who wer e sent to them, their disbelief