Muhammad and The Jews — Page 35
1d m NS ul )n 1. 2. di of ~d 10 ib '3 of 1y nt us of ix ~a ur :d :n m ut m ed as im 'Ve ed 1m THE JEWS OF ARABIA ON THE EVE OF THE Hijrah b. al-Tayyihan interrupted him and said, 'O Apostle, we have ties with other men (meaning the Jews), and if we sever them perhaps when we have done that and Allah will have given you victory, you will return to your people and leave us '. The Apostle smiled and said; 'No, your blood is my blood and what is sacred to you is sacred to me. I will fight against them that fight against you and be at peace with those who are at peace with you. l The precise nature of the Apostle's agreement with the Muslims of Medina before he left Mecca is not clear. But two things wollld seem to be certain, some pledge of war must have been involved, and the Jews of Medina were not a party to any agreement before the Hijrah. It is not known exactly what the terms of that pledge were. Before leaving Medina to meet the Quraysh at Badr the Apostle asked for advice. He said 'Give me advice, 0 Men! Ibn Isbilq says by this he meant the An~iir. This is because they were in the majority, and because when they took the oath of fealty at al-. . Aqabah they stipulated that they were not responsible for his safety until he entered their territory, and that when he was there they would protect him as they did their wives and children. So the Apostle was afraid that the AnJiir would not feel it incumbent upon them to go with him against an enemy outside their territory. When he spoke these words Sa. . d b. Mu. . adh said, 'Perhaps you refer to us', and when the Apostle said 'Yes', Sa. . d replied, 'We believe in you, we declare your truth, and we witness that what you have brought is the truth, and we have given you our word and agreement to hear and obey. We now stand by you, whatever you ask us to do. 2 The Battle of Badr took place towards the later part of the second year of the Hijrah. It is, therefore, significant to note that neither the Apostle nor Sa"d b. Mu"iidh even obliquely refer to the document called the Sal:zifah. Had it been signed immediately after the arrival of the Apostle in Medina or even during the first two years of his stay, a reference would not have been made to a penultimate and obviously obsolete agreement reached at al-"Aqabah. As regards the Jews, our sources are contradictory and vague. It is not at all clear if there was a formal agreement with the Jews at all. Ibn Isbilq reports that, when the Apostle reminded the Jews of the condition imposed on them, the Jews-probably the B. al-Na<;lir-- said, "No covenant was ever made with us about Muhammad" 3. This incident is reported before the B. Qaynuqa<- came into conflict 1 Ibn Hisham, pp. 296-97. 2 Ibid. , pp. 434-35. 3 Ibid. , p. 379. 35