The enmity of the Jews
The victory at Badr removed the threat of invasion by the Meccans but the Islamic community at Medina was still a long way from feeling secure. From the beginning the Muslim emigrants had been obliged to endure the bitter animosity of the Jewish tribes that had settled in and near Medina and, when earlier attempts at conciliation failed, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was forced to resort to stronger measures. Hazrat Ali, as his right-hand man, leading part in all these expeditions.
In order to gain a fuller understanding of the posi- tion it is necessary here to digress, to explain how the Jews came to be in Medina in the first place and what
manner of people they were. At the dawn of history tne Jews, or ‘Hebrews’ or ‘sons of Israel’ had taken by force the country later known as Palestine. From the beginning they were fond of amassing wealth and their habit of lending money to people at exorbitant interest gained them notoriety as the most avaricious race of mankind. As civilisation became more complicated, they gained control of banking in many countries but their greed was to prove their downfall. Actuated partly by motives of nationalism and partly by envy and hatred for the Jews were living off the fat of the land and exploiting the masses other races began a steady process of con- quest and expulsion. As early as 722 B.C. Sargon II is said to have expelled them from their home. Then followed the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C., and of Pompey in 63 B.C., and of Titus in 70 A.D. their final downfall coming after the invasion of Hadrian in 135 A.D. Probably it was the sack of Jerusalem by Titus that compelled the Jewish tribes of the Banu Qainuqa, the Banu Qureiza and the Banu an-Nadir, to seek refuge at Yathrib (or Medina as it was named later on) and settle there. Having settled at Medina, however, the Jews soon wanted to dominate over the local Arab affairs in politics,
religion, economics, and sociology.
This led to a continual warfare between the Jewish tribes of Medina and the local tribes of the Banu Aus and Khazraj. Indeed it was because of their fear of these Jewish raids that the Medinites invited Muhammad ﷺ to come and settle at Medina.
Prophet Muhammad’sﷺ first efforts towards the Jews were conciliatory. He drew up the famous Medina Charter in which the rights of all Jews living in or near the city were safeguarded in the following terms:-
“The Jews who attach themselves to the Islamic Commonwealth shall be protected from all insults, injuries and vexations: they shall have an equal right with our own people to our assistance and good offices: the Jews of the various branches of Auf, Najjar, Harrith, Jashm, Thalaba and all others domiciled in Medina shall form with the Muslims one composite nation; they shall practise their re- ligion as freely as the Muslims: the clients and allies of the Jews shall enjoy the same security and free- dom; the guilty shall be pursued and punished, the Jews shall join the Muslims in defending Medina against all enemies, the interior of Medina shall be a sacred place for all who accept this charter; the clients and allies of the Muslims and the Jews shall be as respected as the patrons, all true Muslims should hold in abhorrence every man, guilty of crime, injustice or disorder: no one shall uphold the culpable, though he were
his nearest of kin.”
But in spite of these concessions, the Jews remained inimical to Nabi Pakﷺ and the Muslims. Nabi Pakﷺ emphatic insistence that he ﷺ was God’s Apostle, the promised Messiah and the Redeemer of mankind irritated the Jews who refused to accept the fact that any one other than a person of their own race could interpret the will of God. The Jewish belief in a theo- cratic government, with their own Prophets as the only legal interpreters of God’s will, had long made them an intolerant people. How far they were prepared to carry
their policy of intolerance had already been demonstrated in their persecution of Jesus Christ and of Paul and they to
were now, some centuries later, equally unwilling leave Nabi Pak ﷺ unmolested. Syed Ameer Ali¹ says of the situation at Medina:- “We have seen with what bitter animosity the Jews dogged Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺfootsteps from the moment of his arrival at Medina. They tried to sow disaffection among his people. They libelled him and his followers. They mispronounced the words of the Qur’an so as to give them an offensive meaning. But this was not all. By their superior education and intelligence, by their union with the party of the “Munafikin” (the hypocrites), and by the general unanimity which prevailed among them (so different from the disunion of the Arabs), the the Jews formed a most dangerous element within federated state which had arisen under the Teacher of Islam. Among unadvanced nations poets occupy the position and exercise the influence of the press in modern time. The Jewish poets by their superior culture na- turally exercised a vast influence among the Medinites; and this influence was chiefly directed towards sowing sedition among the Muslims, and widening the breach between them and the opposing faction.”
The Muslims could not tolerate the satires and lampoons of the Jewish poets, especially those of Asma, daughter of Merwan, a Jewish poetess whose daily output of obscene couplets about Prophet and his com- panions, was on every one’s lips in the streets of Medina. Omeir, a devout Muslim, incensed beyond measure, entered Asma’s apartment one night and stabbed her; Abu Afaq, another Jewish poet, was similarly murdered by a Muslim. This led to an open breach between the Muslims and the Jews..
The “Munafikin”
The Jewish instigation of the “Munafikin”
Military Campaigns
to by Syed Ameer Ali in the preceding passage constitut- ed such a powerful threat to Muhammad that further reference needs to be made to this political party. The “Munafikin” or “Hypocrites” had been amongst the earliest converts to Islam but their conversion had been prompted by self-interest and expediency and they had paid only lipservice to its tenets. Urged on by the Jews, they were now as ready to turn against the Muslims as they had previously been eager to join with them, and their leader, Abdullah bin Ubayy, became, with Jewish support a serious threat to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (may peace be upon him).
Operations against the Banu Qainuqa, February 624 A.D.
The first of the Jewish tribes to break the charter of agreement with the holy Prophet ﷺ were the tribesmen of the Banu Qainuqa, who had settled in a walled strong- hold outside Medina. When Muhammad ﷺ called upon them to respect the alliance, their leader became in- furiated and said, “O Muhammad! Do you take us to be akin to the men of your tribe and race? So far you have only crossed arms in war with the rabble of your own tribe whom you could defeat, dictate and slay. But when you meet us, by the Lord of Israel, you shall know what tough men we are. Even this did not make Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to take the offensive against them, though he told them to take warning.
“Once again “says Col Bodley,” the Jews did not heed the warning. A Muslim girl was seated in the shop of one of the Banu Qainuqa waiting to be served. A light hearted Hebrew youth crept up behind her and pinned her skirt to her bodice. The result was that the young lady walked unsuspectingly into the street with her posterior exposed.The lewd jeers of the practical jokers made her rush back into the shop blushing with shame. At the same time a Muslim who had witnessed the occurrence drew his sword and fell on the laughing Jews and killed one. Before he could kill a second, he was killed himself.”
This exhausted the patience of Nabi Pakﷺ (may peace be upon him). He ﷺ prepared an army and, giving the white banner (under which the Muslims had fought in the Battle of Badr) to Ali AlaihisSalam ordered him to besiege the Jewish stronghold. After a fortnight, starvation drove the men of Banu Qainuqa to lay down their arms in surrender. Some four hundred Jews of the Banu Qainuqa were marched off with their hands tied behind their backs, but Nabi Pak ﷺ with his usual clemency did not have them beheaded. Instead they were banish- ed to migrate eventually to Syria, and their homes and land near Medina were confiscated. In accordance with Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺordinance the booty was shared among all men of the Fraternity. The Prophet’s own share on this occasion was the ancient sword, the bow, and the silver cuirass which Saul had offered to David when he had gone out to fight with Goliath.
1. R.V.C. Bodley-The Messenger, p. 155. Publishers Orientalia, Lahore. Ed. 194.
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 