Muhammad and The Jews — Page 116
Apostle later repeated the Qur?anic injunction of "no compulsion", making it clear that the invitation to Islam was not compulsory. The new ummah needed reassurance. A hostile people only 90 miles from Medina posed a great danger to the new community. The Apostle, on the other hand, as a good general, could foresee the dangers of a siege. Located on a high mountainous plateau and surrounded by heavily cultivated valleys and malarial swamps the Khaybar fortifications covered a wide area. This was one location which defied siege. Discussing the nature of sieges Belfield observes: For those attacking, the first essential is to seal off the besieged place from the outside world. This is always a laborious and often lengthy undertaking, and thus no government will embark upon a major siege without considerable thought, nor will it do so unless there seems to be encouraging prospects of a relatively rapid success. . . To assess the strength of the natural and the prepared defensive features of any well-fortified place is a very complex matter. Here history abounds in expensive mistakes. . . In general, natural fortresses, such as Malta and Gibraltar, nearly always seem to defeat the attacker, or cause terrible losses before being taken. 1 The Apostle took the field as a last resort. It did not seem to be a conclusive battle, though Muslim historians have tried to depict it as such. Ultimately a peace was negotiated, but it was afte. r a great loss of life in battle. Half of the dates which were offered to the Ghatafan were now annually given to the Muslims as tribute. "This practice, far from being considered at that time a sign of political weakness, was freely indulged in also by the great Byzantine and Persian empires to secure peace from many unruly neighbouring tribes. It was far less expensive than keeping permanent garrisons to stave off raids. By arranging with Mohammad to pay him half of their annual produce, the Khaybar Jews may have thought that they had merely exchanged one recipient for another. " 2 They exchanged the alliance of the Ghatafan with that of the Apostle. The only loser were the Fazarah. As Lammens has pointed out it is not correct to talk of it in terms of Muslim conquest of Khaybar. Later historians have painted it as a victory to justify acts which took place during ""Umar's time. a The Jews of Khaybar had not adopted a condescending attitude towards the Muslims, but they had certainly over-estimated their 1 Belfield, pp. 4-5. Baron, Vol. III, p. 79. 3 Lammens, L'Arabie occidenta/e avant /'Hegire, p. 72. 11'6