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The Jews were well-settled in Medina long before the advent
of Islam there. Despite intermarrying and mingling with the Arabs with whom
they had many customs in common, they adhered firmly to their religion. But
mutual business interests bound them close to all the Arab tribes in the
vicinity. They had acquired great wealth and power and were a formidable force.
There were three main Jewish tribes in Medina during the days of the rise of
Islam, Banu Qainuqa, Banu an-Nadir, and Banu Qurayzah.
The Holy Prophet (ﷺ) was quite aware of the importance
of the Jews in Medina and was hopeful of winning them over through peaceful
invitations of Islam which had many things in common with the Jews and the
Christians (both of which were declared by the Quran as the Ahl-al-Kitab, the
People of the Book). With this hope, he included them in the Treaty of Charter
of Medina as an important group of the Muslim community. Both Muslims and Jews
were declared as a single community or Ummah; complete religious freedom was
granted to them, and they were given equal rights (along with their allies)
with the Muslims.
Both communities were required to maintain law and order in
Medina jointly and defend the city collectively. However, not many of the Jews
accepted the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) and those who did were small in
number like Abdullah bin Salam of Banu Qainnuqa. Then there were some other
Jews who had not accepted the Holy Prophet at all and did their best to hinder
his message. The Holy Prophet (ﷺ), in any case, tried his best to
make friends with the Jews, but they remained hostile toward him.
At the time of Hijra, Banu Qainnuqa was in alliance with the
chief of hypocrites Abdullah bin Ubay رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہ,
and both were friendly towards the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) and his followers. They were
bankers and used to lend money to Muslims. They were the first to be attacked
by the Holy Prophet (ﷺ). On his return from Badr, the Holy Prophet renewed his
appeals towards Jews, but to no avail. Then an incident occurred that became
the immediate reason for the expulsion of Banu Qainnuqa. Some Jews of the tribe
played a trick on a Muslim woman, while she was shopping at a Jew's shop, one
Jew fastened her skirt in a way that when she stood up a considerable part of
her person was revealed, and the people around began to jeer.
A Muslim who was there, got enraged and killed the Jew, but
was himself also killed by a group of fellow Jews. When the matter was brought
to the Holy Prophet, he immediately raised an army and laid siege to Banu
Qainnuqa's quarters. The siege lasted for 15 days, and finally, the Jews
surrendered. The Holy Prophet (ﷺ) decided to execute them but then
commuted the punishment into exile at the request of Abdullah bin Ubbay. They
were forced to leave Medina taking their wives and children in three days,
leaving behind their tools, and migrated to Syria.
In 625 AD, Banu Nadir was expelled from Medina. The immediate cause was the incident of Bi'r Mauna and its aftermath. Encouraged by the Muslims' defeat at Uhad, the Bedouin tribe of Banu Sulaym killed 40 Muslims at Bir Ma'una where the Muslims had been invited to preach Islam by the chief of Bani Amir. Two Muslims had survived and one was rushing to Medina when he met two men of Bani Amir. He took them as the enemy and killed them, but they were innocent. When the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) came to know this, he decided to pay the blood money to Banu Amir. Now the Jews of Nadir were a confederate of Bani Amir, and under a fresh treaty, they had signed with the Holy Prophet (ﷺ), they were supposed to share the payment of the blood money.
When he met with some of
the companions to an-Nadir's settlement, they apparently agreed to pay blood
money and asked the Holy Prophet to wait under the wall of their stronghold.
The Holy Prophet noticed something sinister and was divinely informed of the
Jewish designs to kill him by rolling a big stone from above the wall. The
Holy Prophet (ﷺ) went to the Mosque and told his companions about this.
Then he sent an ultimatum asking them to leave Medina within days with their
belongings and receive half of the agricultural produce of their lands.
The Jews at first were inclined to submit to the ultimatum,
but then they received a hint of support from Abdullah bin Ubbay, and they got
divided. The Jews in general then decided to resist, while men like Sallam bin
Mishkam were willing to submit. The Holy Prophet (ﷺ) laid siege to their strongholds.
The siege lasted for about 15 days, but no help came from Abdullah bin Ubay,
and the Jews began to lose hope especially when Muslims began to destroy their
palms. Finally, they gave in, but the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) would now impose less favorable terms. They were to
leave their weapons and have nothing from their lands. They were compelled to
comply with this. Accordingly, they left with a train of 600 camels for Khyber,
and their weapons and lands were distributed among the Muhajirin.
Banu Qurayzah was the last of the Jewish tribes attacked and punished by the Muslims. During the siege of Medina (battle of Trench in April 627 AD), they held negotiations with the Quraish-led Allies, and this greatly endangered the Muslims who were on the defensive. If the negotiations had succeeded the results might have been fatal for the Muslims. They indeed had tried to stab the back of Muslims. The Holy Prophet (ﷺ) was, therefore, compelled to take serious action against them. After the siege was over, the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) marched with his army toward Banu Qurayzah's stronghold and laid siege there.
The siege lasted for about 25 days, and Banu Qurayzah
decided to surrender on the same conditions as did an-Nadir, but the Holy
Prophet asked for unconditional surrender. After the surrender, the Holy
Prophet (ﷺ) appointed Sa'd bin Mu'adh رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہ as
the judge to decide their fate, who decreed that all the men of Banu Qurayzah
be put to death, and their women and children be sold as slaves. Ali and Zubair
carried this out the next morning. A total of 700 men were executed, and their
lands and household articles were divided among the Muslims.
The attitude of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) towards these 'Muslim opponents' underwent a considerable
change with the passage of time. On Holy Prophet's arrival at Medina, Abdullah
bin Ubbay of Banu Khazraj gained prominence, and he strongly wished to become
the chief of the Medinite politics with the help of his Jewish ally Banu
Qainnuqa. He was, therefore, greatly perturbed over the arrival and subsequent
rise of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ). He became the leading and the
most important among the hypocrites. A team of similar lukewarm' Muslims
supported him and most of whom had been the confederates of the Jewish tribe of
Banu Qainnuqa. Therefore on the occasion of the expulsion of Banu Qainnuqa,
they together with Abdullah bin Ubbay رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہ,
wanted a milder punishment for the Jews.
The Quran mentions such people as: "those whose heart is diseased" (5:51). These Hypocrites, mainly during the first five years of the Hijrah, were engaged in weakening the Holy Prophet's position through verbal arguments, by criticizing the Quran, especially some of the more recent revelations. The Holy Prophet (ﷺ) did not take any severe action against them when the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) began his policy of provoking the Quraish, and when circumstances began to lead toward the battle of Badr, these hypocrites were alarmed.
Later, the Holy Prophet's policy of the firm, but gentle handling of the opposition after the victory at Badr prevented any serious attempt aimed at the disunity of the Muslim camp. Then, in the battle of Uhad again the Hypocrite party tried to find excuses for not participating in the battle and deserted the Muslim army with his 300 men, but the Holy Prophet even then did not take any punitive action, though his followers desired so. Taking advantage of the Holy Prophet's lenience, Abdullah bin Ubay began to express his opposition towards the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) more openly, especially after Uhad.
For the next two years, he would be in search of an opportunity to injure
or even destroy the Holy Prophet, but the Holy Prophet again would observe
patience. Some months after the battle of Uhad the Muslims sent an ultimatum to
the Jewish tribe Banu an-Nadir to leave Medina. The hypocritical party asked
them to resist and promised them their support, which, however, never came.
Thus, the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) inflicted yet another defeat on
them by expelling the Jews from Medina.
The nefarious designs of the hypocrites were once again
failed by the Holy Prophet when they tried to sow the seeds of dissension
between Muhajireen and Ansar. This was about a year after the expulsion of Banu
an- Nadir during the expedition of Muraysi against Banu Mustalaq. A minor
dispute was exaggerated by Abdullah bin Ubbay who tried to exploit the
situation but was again unsuccessful. The Holy Prophet (ﷺ) was informed of this, but he refused to take any action
though Ibn Ubbay's son Abdullah bin Ubbay offered to kill his hypocritical
father. Abdullah bin Ubbay even made a malignant effort by scandalizing the
Holy Prophet's wife until her innocence was decided by the Quranic verses, and
the scandal-mongers were flogged.
After this incident, Abdullah bin Ubbay began to retreat,
and when he died, his funeral prayer was offered by the Holy Prophet. On the
whole, it can be seen that the attitude of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) towards the hypocrites was not very strict. It was only
towards the last few years of his life that he began to deal with them,
somewhat, firmly. The major reason for this lenience was that if he had taken
punitive action against them his reputation might have been damaged for turning
against his own people. So, he acted quite wisely to let hypocrites die their
death.
