Muhammad and The Jews — Page 71
THE FAILURE OF THE CONFEDERACY lesson that the Muslims had adopted a new strategy, and their atam had ceased to provide security against the new method of Muslim warfare. The Apostle went with his companions and laid siege till they surrendered. This is more or less the standard version of the incident as reported by Ibn Isl). aql, al-Waqidi2 and Ibn Sa"'d 3 with slight variations in details. These are the facts as they emerge from the Muslim sources. There is no corroborative evidence from the Jewish or Christian sources. The condemnation of the B. Quray:?ah, however, as reported by Ibn Isl). aq and other maghazr-writers, does not stand to reason and it is at variance with the Qur. ,an. Before we analyse the various accounts of the conflict with the B. Quray:?ah it is interesting to examine lbn Isl). aq's treatment of the pre-Islamic reports concerning this tribe. We are first introduced to the Banii Quray:?ah, when two of their rabbis advised the Tubba"' (5th century A. D. ) not to destroy Yathrib because "Yathrib was the place where a prophet of the Quraysh would seek refuge in future and it would become his abode and a resting place. " 4 The report is obviously written in the spirit of latter day history. The B. Qurayμh are mentioned for the second time when, after the Apostle's arrival, the Jewish rabbis, including those of the B. Quray'. ?'. ah, told the polytheist Quraysh "your religion is better than his and you are on a better path than he and those who follow him". 5 The third reference is to the arbitration referred to the Apostle by the B. al-Nagir and the B. Quray:?ah. The B. al-Nagir used to pay half of the normal blood wit instead of the full 100 wasaq of grains to the B. Quray:?ah, but the Apostle "awarded the bloodwit in equal shares". 6 These three references which precede the main account of events connected with the affair of the B. Quray:?ah show that Ibn Isl). iiq might have been swayed by the contemporary ideas about the Jews: they knew or at least their rabbis knew even before the birth of the 1 Ibn Hisham, pp. 669-713. 2 Al-Waqidi, Vol. II, pp. 496-531. s Ibn Sa"d, Vol. II, p. 65-78. 4 Ibn Hishiim, pp. 13-15. 5 Ibn Hishiim, p. 391. 6 Ibn Hisham, p. 396. Ibn Kathir explains that the B. al-Na(jir did not treat the B. Quray;i:ah as their equals. If in a dispute a man of the B. Quray;i:ah killed a man from the B. al-Na<_lir he paid 100 wasaq of grain, but if the B. al-Na(jir killed a man of the B. Quray{'. ah he paid only 50 wasaq. (Vol. II, p. 60). 71