Muhammad and The Jews — Page 105
THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE CONFLICT The loss of influence among the feuding clans of Yathrib was not the only loss. The Jews, who seemed to have dominated the economic life of Yathrib, were challenged by a new trading community, the muhajirun- Quraysh of Mecca-who were active in trade and commerce. When Abu Hurayra was criticised for reporting a large number of Traditions he said : My brethren of the aneiir were occupied in tilling their lands; as for my brethren of the muhajirtln, they were occupied in the markets, whereas I stayed with the Apostle only for food. I was present when they were not and I committed to memory, whereas they forgot. 1 The Jews could not forget that they were the original settlers of Yathrib and represented a superior civilization. Even though their political and economic position was threatened they could not accept the Apostle's invitation to cooperate on the basis of "a word equal between us and you that we worship no one but God. " 2 For the first time in their history they were confronted with a situation in which they were invited to join a wider community, not exactly as equals, but on liberal terms. The collective Jewish memory could think of their slavery in Egypt, their return to Palestine, the destruction of Jerusalem, Bar Kochba's insurrection, the Jewish kingdom of l;:[imyar, the persecution of the Christians of Najran, or their own persecution by Heraclius, their heroic constancy in the face of permanent degradation and their forced conversion to Chris- tianity. 3 They did not know how to react to this new situation. It is unfortunate that at this crucial period the Jews of Yathrib had no leadership of consequence. There was a failure of perception. lf uyayy b. Akh!ab and Kaeb b. Asad represented the bank- ruptcy of their leadership. Not having fully realized that they were losing their position of influence the Jews could not adjust them- selves to group status reversal, from dominant to non-dominant, which the arrival of the Apostle meant. This descent from power, unfortunately, left the Jews irreconcilable and eager to seek revenge and restoration of their paramountcy in Medina by alliance with the Quraysh of Mecca. "If Muhammad succeeded with his plan", Watt observes, "the Jews would have no chance of supreme power, they 1 Sal;il;z Muslim , Fac:Ia"il al-Sal)abah, p. 1591, 160. 2 The Qur'an , Al-"Imriin, 64. 3 Graetz, p. 103. 105