Muhammad and The Jews — Page 49
THE PEOPLE OF THE $abifah to the adoption of a modified formula for the purposes of the $abifah. According to Abii eubayd the words used were, "Mul)ammad the Apostle". 1 It does not say whose Apostle. The formulation seems to have been vague enough to be acceptable to the Jews. Though Ibn Isl)aq an earlier authority gives the full formula, "Mul)ammad, the Apostle of Allah", we are inclined to accept Abu eubayd's version. There seems to be no motive, except caution to use a phrase, which was definitely unconventional and awkward. Having accepted a non-dominant position in the ummah, the Jews of Medina probably had no choice but to ·agree to the appellation with the tacit under- standing that it represented the view of the dominant group. Had this understanding not been there they would have not been described as Jews at all. To search for any theoretical basis of the distribution of authority in the ummah would be futile. Whatever authority was needed at this formative period of the community was provided by the Apostle. Mecca was conquered soon after the signing of the $abifah, if we agree to the date we have sought to establish above. This conquest significantly altered the situation. The pagans of Mecca lost control of the KaGbah and they were prohibited from approaching " the Sacred mosque after this year of theirs". 2 In the next verse the Muslims were ordered to fight those from among the people of the Book who believe not in Allah nor in the Last Day, nor hold unlawful what Allah and His messenger had declared to be unlawful, nor follow the true religion, until they pay the jizyah with their own hand and acknowledge their subjection. 3 Under the terms of the $abifah the Jews were not required to pay any tax a nd there was no explicit clause demanding their subjection. With these verses the dominance of the Muslims was formalised, but no other restriction was added. There is nothing in these verses or any other subsequent verses to change the multi- religious character of the ummah. 4 It might be true to say the Jews of Medina, having lost the struggle to retain their dominant character 1 LS'O;JI. . w. . . . Abu "'Ubald al-Qlisim b. Salllim, Kitab al-Amwal (Cairo, 1968) paragraph 517. 2 The Qm 0 an, Al-Taubah, 27. 3 Ibid. , Al-Taubah, 28. ~ Even though the modern concept of a community may militate against the existence of two levels of membership, in the seve nth century this did not appear to have presented any difficulties. 49