The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 3
I - Early Establishment of Madīnah and Foundation of the Islāmic Government 3 at a distance from one another in the surroundings of Madīnah. Trade was the general occupation of the Jews, but some of them were also involved in agriculture. The people of Banū Qainuqā‘ were mostly skilled-labourers. Since the Jews were more civilized, well-mannered, and educated than the people around them; they began to develop influence among the people around them, and quickly attained a great deal of power. It was at this time that two tribes from the Banū Qaḥṭān, who were referred to as the Aus and Khazraj, emigrated from Yemen to settle in Madīnah. These tribes were from the progeny of an individual named Ḥārith bin Tha‘labah, who had two sons, i. e. , Aus and Khazraj, and they lived together in great harmony and love. In the beginning, they lived in isolation from the Jews, but later became allies due to their strength and power. After this, the Aus and Khazraj also began to spread and develop strength. They began to be on a par with the Jews, but in addition to being more intelligent, civilised, and influential; the Jewish people also had the upper hand in education and religious matters. The Aus and Khazraj were merely idol-worshippers and were generally uneducated. Hence, the Aus and Khazraj were deeply impressed by the Jews, so much so, that whenever an individual from the Aus or Khazraj was unable to give birth to a male child, he would vow that if a son was born to him, he would make him a Jew. As such, many people became Jews in this manner, and their strength grew day by day, to the extent that in the vanity of their power, the Jews began to inflict an array of cruelties upon the Aus and Khazraj. Due to this, relations between the Jews deteriorated substantially with the Aus and Khazraj. Eventually, on account of their frustration, the latter tribes had the eminent leaders from among the Jews cunningly murdered with the assistance of the leader of the state of Ghassān. The inevitable outcome of this was that the Jews lost their strength, and the Aus and Khazraj attained supremacy in the city. However, another outcome which slowly but surely began to manifest itself after the Jews lost their strength, was that the Aus and Khazraj, who, until then had lived together in peace and harmony, due to their opposition of the Jews, now began to fight and quarrel amongst themselves. Ultimately, these civil wars took on such a vast and horrific state, that on account of being relentlessly slaughtered at the hands of one another, both tribes became very weak. The Jews - who were probably responsible for igniting the fire of this civil war - found another opportunity to gain strength. The outcome was that the Aus and Khazraj,