Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 230
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 230 male thereof with the edge of the sword; but the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath g iven thee. As this was the first default on the part of the Jews, the Holy Prophet was not inclined to impose the extreme penalty upon them. On the other hand, it was no longer safe to let such a hostile and treacherous tribe continue in Medina to carry on its design s, particularly at a time when the disaffected, from among Aus and Khazraj, were bent upon mischief inside Medina, and the Muslims in Medina were also exposed all the time to external aggression on the part of hostile Arab tribes. In these circumstances, t he expulsion of Banu Qainuqa’ from Medina was the least penalty that was permissible. Indeed, it was too clement. The main purpose of the Holy Prophet was the security of Medina. Expulsion was not much of a punishment for any Arab tribe, especially when it does not own any land or orchard; as was the case with Banu Qainuqa’. They made their preparations to depart from Medina and to go and settle in Syria. The Holy Prophet appointed Ubadah bin Thamat, who was one of their confederates, to supervise the arran gements in connection with their departure. He accompanied them for several stages and returned to Medina when they were well on their way. They left behind only their arms and the instruments of their profession, which was that of goldsmith. It is reporte d that within a year of their exile, an epidemic broke out among them, which destroyed the whole tribe.