Muhammad and The Jews — Page 34
The balance established by the battle of Buc. iith was tenuous and there was every danger that war might break out again. It was in this atmosphere of chaos, suspicion and lawlessness that the Aws and the Khazraj tried to unite under e Abd Alliih b. Ubayy b. Salul al-"'Awfi of the clan of the Banii al-I:IublaJ For the Jews, however, Yathrib had become the centre of a region which Lammens calls a petite patrie ruled by Talmudic Law. 2 Compact and flourishing Jewish communities occupied Fadak, Wadi al-Qura, Tayma" and Khaybar. An examination of both the Arab sources and the results of modern research indicates that the Jews of Arabia were not an isolated people. Irfan Shahid, who is the latest among the scholars who have worked on this period, considers that the relations of the Yathrib Jews with Yusuf Dhii Nuwas "must have been very close indeed". 3 They had incited him to make war against Najriin. 4 The ruler of I;Urah Mundhir III (505-553) had a contingent of Jews in his army and his son Mundhir IV (580-583) married a Jewess, Salmah bint al-Sa"igh, the mother of the last of the Lakhmids, the famous Nuc. man ins (592-604). This was the state of affairs when Islam brought the hope of a new way of life to the quarrelling sons of the Banii Qaylah. Six men of the Khazraj were the first definite converts, who went to Mecca most probably in 620. A year later, five of them returned with four others from the Khazraj and three from the Aws. They pledged themselves solemnly to the Apostle. In June 622 seventy-three men and two women went to Mecca for pilgrimage and on that occasion secretly by night took the pledge not only to obey the Apostle but to fight for him. Kaeb b. Malik, who was present on this occasion has described the significance of that pledge in simple words : The Apostle spoke and recited the Qur•an and invited men to Allah and commended Islam and then said: 'I invite your allegiance on the basis that you protect me as you protect your women and children'. Al-Bara• took his hand and said 'By Him Who sent you with the truth we shall protect you as we protect our women. We give our allegiance and we are men of war possessing arms which have been passed on from father to son'. While Al-Bara• was speaking Abu al-Haytham 1 Ibn Hisham, p. 411. 2 H. Lammens, p. 53. 3 Irfan Shahid, The Martyrs of Najr[m, p. 268. 4 I;Iamzah al-I~fahii. ni , Ta 0 rikh, p. 113, cited by Irfan Shahid, p. 268. 5 Jal;ii?, Kitiib al-Qayawiin, IV, p. 377, cited by Irfan Shahid, p. 272. 34