Muhammad and The Jews — Page 107
THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE CONFLICT castles which were built on heights. Within the stronghold of the iifiim there were stores, silos, halls for conferences, schools, synagogues, treasury and armoury. There were springs of fresh water. They provided protection against the raiding Bedouin. The Arab raiders had neither the equipment, nor supplies nor patience for a prolonged siege. Arab warfare itself was more or less like a medieval European tournament. It started with reciprocal insults and panagyrics in self-praise. Hijii. , (satire) was "an element of war just as important as the actual fighting. " 1 The poet reviled his enemies, hurled curses on them and extolled the qualities of his tribe. Though the vendetta was prolonged and the vengeance transmitted from generation to generation, the individual battles themselves were not long and sustained. The wars of Fujar and Bueath for instance were long, but each episode during these wars was short. While a war may erupt at any time and a decisive battle can be fought at short notice, a siege demands an elaborate build-up. It is not easy to assess the strength of any well- fortified place. History abounds in expensive mistakes. The most important and indeed the decisive factor in a siege is the endurance and determination of both the sides. These qualities need to be particularly highly developed in the besieged, who must believe most strongly in the justice of their cause, as well as having faith in the ultimate success of their stand; fear may well play a great part in hardening the defenders' will to resist A siege brings out the best and the worst in those enduring it. 2 It is different from any ordinary warfare, where most of the combatants on both sides are soldiers. But in a siege which is not of a purely garrison nature, the majority of those besieged are non-combatant men, women, and children. As a consequence morale and discipline can easily be undermined. Children and old people suffer the same privations as the soldiers, and are directly affected. In case of defeat they share the same fate. Disease and hunger can easily undermine even the strongest fortress. In all the four major encounters with the Apostle the Jews of the I:Iijaz chose the shelter and protection of their afiim. In a 1 Ignaz Goldziher, "Ober die Vorgeschichte der Higa'-Poesie" in Abhand. zur arab. Philologie, Part I (Leyden, 1896), p. 26. 2 Eversley Belfield, Def. 'v and Endure, (New York, 1967), p. 1-5. 107