Muhammad and The Jews — Page 59
THE JEwiSH SUPPORT TO MEDiNAN OPPOSiTioN non-violence and went to. war when 1!ecessary, but as a principle he avoided unnecessary bloodshed. In any case, in the second year of the Hijrah, even if he had wanted to, he was not in a position to impose a severe punishment. A more acceptable line of reasoning would be to consider the attack on the B. Qaynuqa"" as a lesson to the. munqfiqfm and especially eAbd Allah b. Ubayy, who would have been a direct beneficiary if the B. Qaynuqae had succeeded. ""Ubadah b. al-Samit of al-Qawaqilah, who was also a confederate of the Jews, hastened to renounce his relationship with the B. Qaynuqii"". 1 eAbd Allah b. Ubayy was thus not only exposed and isolated, but also weakened. The Apostle had taught a lesson; there was no need for further action. · lbn lsl;laq's account of the whole affair is short and restrained. He has not reported the incident at the B. Qaynuqae market; it was added by Ibn Hisham. Ibn Isl;laq "begins by reporting the Apostle's address to the B. Qaynuqa"" in their market. But he does not report that the B. Qayhuqae were expelled. The Apostle told "'Abd Allah b. Ubayy "You can have them. " It is al-Waqidi who had added the phrase "and ordered them to be expelled from Medina". 2 Ibn Saed copied his teacher's phrase without investigation. s Evidence seems to support lbn Isl;laq, who did not report their expulsion. Neither · al-Bukhari nor Muslim reported any l;ladith on the Apostle's conflict with the B. Qaynuqae though both of them dealt with the B. al-Nai;lir and the B. Quray~h. The expulsion of the B. Qaynuqa"' has been reported by both of them together with the general expulsion of the Jews from Medina. " No dates are given in these reports, but the name of the B. Qaynuqa. , was mentioned after that of B. al-Na{l. ir and the B. Qurayiah. Both these reports seem to refer to eumar's caliphate. As wehavealreadynoted,theJewswerestill inMedinain the ninth year of the Hijrah and the Apostle's biographies do not mention any general expulsion of the Jews from Medina during his life. 5 Abii Yusuf (113/731-182/798), who deals in his Kitiib al-Khariij with the problems ofland taxation, the legal position ofnon-Muslims and related matters and gives precedents, wherever possible, from the Apostle's time to establish the law according to his Sunnah, makes no reference to the expulsion of the B. Qaynuqae and the _ distribution of their property. I Ibn Hishiim, p. 546. 2 AJ-Wiiqidi, Vol. I, p. 178. s Ibn Sa~d, Vol. II, p. 29. ' Al-Bukhari, Sahib, Vol. V, p. 112; Sal. iih Muslim, Vol. II, Ifadith No. 243. 6 Supra, Chapter II, p. 42. 59