Muhammad and The Jews — Page 45
THE PEOPLE OF THE $al;ifah support and help either. The Jews, too, in the first year of the Hijrah, the year normally assigned to the signing of the $abifah, bad done nothing to arouse among the Muslims fear of deceit and duplicity on their part. In pre-Islamic Arab. ia the Jews did not have an unfavourable image. They were known for their skill in professions, for their mastery of the art of writing and their steadfastness. 1 Above aU they were known for their nobility; they did not break their word. Al-Samaw"al's loyalty to his friend Imru "al-Qays was proverbial throughout Arabia. 2 There were Jews like Qays b. Macdikarib, who bad committed acts of treachery, but that was not part of their reputation. Poets talked of al-Samaw"al's fidelity and bospitality. 3 It is, therefore, curious that the word 'treacbery' 4 should have been used in eight articles in the $abifah. Except for Article 40, all the seven articles 5 in which the word is used pertain to the Jews. The logical conclusion would seem to be that the Muslims became wiser after the events, and, having experienced treachery from the B. al-Nac;!ir and the B. Quray:ph, they wished to make clear that treachery would automa- tically cancel all covenants and agreements. The Apostle seemed to be disinclined to suffer the unpleasantness of rejecting intercessions on behalf of the defaulting Jews from the Aws or from the Khazraj. While we agree with the views expressed both by Sergeant6 and Watt 7 that there is much that is bound to remain conjectural and obscure in the existing text of the $abifah, we may be nearer to the facts if the history of the $abifah is reconstructed in the following manner. 1. The first twenty-three articles form part of the original agree- ment between the Apostle and the An~iir at al-cAqabab or shortly after the Hijrah. B 1 Ilse Lichtenstadter, "Some References to Jews in Pre-Islamic Arabic Literature",. fraceedi11gs af the American Academy far Jewish Research, Vol. X (1940), pp. 185-194. 2 The sceptical view taken by D. S. Margoliouth in The Relations between Arabs and Israelites prior to the Rise of Islam, pp. 76-81, in regard to the genuineness of AJ-Samaw'al's verses does not affect his reputation. a Ilse Lichtenstadter, pp. 185-194. • ~I. The numbering of the articles follows Watt, Muhammad at M edina, pp. 221-225. 6 Articles 25, 31, 33, 37, 39, 46 and 47. 6 Sergeant, "The Constitution of Medina", p. 4. 7 Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 228. 8 Ibn Hishiim, p. 342; Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 227, 45