Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 381
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 381 themselves to the notion that he was raised among Arabs. They were thus both jealous and hostile and from the very beginning desired the discomfiture of the Holy Prophet. When Islam began to spread rapidly among Aus and Khazraj, the Jews were chagrined and became apprehensive that the stranger from Mecca might achieve a position of dominance in Medina. Nevertheless, they hoped that this tendency might soon be checked and arrested. When they received intimation that a strong, well - armed force was advancing f rom Mecca towards Medina, and that the Holy Prophet had gone out to meet and check it, the Jews flattered themselves with the hope that the Holy Prophet and the Muslims would meet their doom at the hands of Quraish. The utterly unexpected result of the bat tle came as a shock to them. When, after the battle, the Holy Prophet perceived that Banu Qainuqa were taking up an aggressive attitude, he assembled them in their market and warned them in the following words: ‘Beware lest Allah bring you the vengeance that He brought upon Quraish, a nd embrace Islam. You know that I am a Prophet who has been sent – you will find that in your books and in Allah’s covenant with you. ’ The Jewish response to this appeal was a challenge. They said, ‘Muhammad, you seem to think that we are like your people. Do not deceive yourself because you encountered a people with no knowledge of war and got the better of them; for, by God, if we fight you, you will find we are real men. ’ This reply seemed to foreclose chances of a peaceful accord. There is not the least doubt that at that period the three Jewish tribes, singly as well as collectively, were much stronger in every respect than the Holy Prophet’s followers.