Muhammad and The Jews — Page 114
He had earlier taken a peace initiative and had sent a letter to Khaybar. The Apostle wrote to the Jews of Khaybar : Jn the name of Allah the Compassionate the Merciful from Muhammad the Apostle of Allah, friend and brother of Moses who confirms what Moses brought. Allah says to you, 0 people of the Book, and you will find it in your Book/' Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah, and those with him are hard against the disbelievers, compassionate among themselves. Thou seest them bowing and prostrating themselves seeking grace and acceptance from Allah. The mark of their prostrations is on their foreheads. That is their description in the Torah. And their description in the Gospel is like a seed which sends forth its shoot and strengthens it, and it becomes thick and rises straight upon its stalk, delighting the sowers, that He may cause the disbelievers to burn with rage at (the sight of) them. Allah has promised those who believe and do good works forgiveness and a great reward". 1 I adjure by Allah, and by what He has sent down to you, by the manna and quails He gave as food to your tribes before you, and by His drying the sea for your fathers when He delivered them from Pharaoh and his works, that you tell me, do you find in what He has sent down to you that you believe in Muhammad? If you do not find that in your Book then "there is no compulsion upon you. The right path has become plainly distinguished from error" 2 so I caU you to Alli\h and His Apostle. 3 The letter contains nothing which has not been said before. Both in tone and form it represents the Apostle's approach of identifying his message with that of Moses. Mention of his brotherly relations with Moses was made when he was carried by night to al-Aq~a Mosque for his ascent to heaven. 4 The letter is an invitation to Islam qualified with the formula that there is no compulsion in matters of religion. In the letter there is nothing to attract any doubt about its authenticity, no internal contradiction and no anachronism. The fabrication of such a letter to justify an attack on Khaybar is out of the question; firstly, it contains nothing which even remotely alludes to any provocation from the Jews of Khaybar, and, secondly, Ibn lsl). aq is not in the habit of providing justification for attacking the Jews. We have earlier noticed that lbn lsl). ag did not give any reason to explain the Apostle's warning to the B. Qaynuqa". 5 Likewise the case of the Jewish merchant Ibn Sunaynah who was killed by Mul). ayyi~ah without any provocation. 6 Furthermore the letter is 1 The Qur•an, Al-Fatl;i, 29. 2 Ibid. , Al-Baqarah, 256. 3 Ibn Hishflm, pp 376-7. Italics are mine. ~ Ibid. , p. 270. 5 Supra, Chapter III. 6 Ibn Hisham, pp. 553-54.