Muhammad and The Jews — Page 29
THE JEWS OF ARABIA ON THE EVE OF THE H ijrah almost to the high level of the southern civilization, wh ic h had long earned for Himyar and its vicinity the Roman designation of Arabia Fe/ix. 1 In fact the Jews of Arabia "contributed little or nothing to the religious and cultural development of post-biblical Judaism". 2 As M argoliouth points out they do not "appear to have produced any man whose name was worth preserving". 3 More than twenty Jewish tribes were settled in Medina. 4 Prominent among these were the Banii Qurayi ah, the Banii al-Nac)ir, the Banii Qaynuqa c. , the Banu Tha"labah and the Ba nu Ha d!. The Banu al-Na<;lir and the Banu Quranah claimed to be the descendants of Jewish priests, 'al-Kiihiniin', Kiihin being the Arabic rendering of Hebrew Kohen. Al-Ya "- qubi, who does not give the source of his information, however, sa ys : The Bann al-Na<;lir were a subtribe of the Bann Judham , who embraced Judaism. The Bann Qurayiah were brothers o. the Bann al-Na<;lir and it is said that they embraced Judaism in the days of ""Adiyah the son of Samau"al. 5 According to Al-Ya"qubi, the Banii al-Nac)ir and the Banii Quran. ah had taken their names after the hills on which they first settled. Margoliouth does not consider them Jews, and is inclined "to regard the term of Judaism applied to these Medinese tribes as indicating some form of monotheism" 6. Reissner also does not consider them 'Jews'. He says : Less than a hundred years prior to Muhammad's birth, the Talmud had been com- pleted in Babylon. At that time, there was complete agreement, intrn m11ros et extra, as to who was a Jew and what constituted the essence of Judaism. A Jew was a follower of the Mosaic Law as interpreted by the teachers of the Law in accordance with principles laid down in the Talmud. . . whoever did not conform. . . was discounted. Jf he was Jsraelitic by descent, he could not be deprived of his birthright, viz, to be called Ben Israel, as in Arabia. . . 7 Friedlaender does not agree with Graetz and Reissner. Working on 1 Baron, Vol. Ill , p. 71. 2 Francesco Gabrieli, Muhammad, p. 42. 3 Margoliouth, Relations, p. 71. 4 Al-Samhndi, p. 165. s Al-Ya"qnbi, pp. 49-52. 6 Margoliouth, Relations, p. 71. 7 H. G. Reissner, 'The Ummi Prophet and the Banu lsrail'', The Muslim World, Vol. XXXIX (1949), p. 278, cf. S. D. Goitein, "Bann Jsrii"il", Encyclopaedia of Islam (2), Vol. J, para. 2 of p. 1022. 29