Medina's society at the Hijra

Al-Rahiq al-Makhtum divides the Medinan period into three stages: the stage of unrest and strife until the Treaty of Hudaybiyya in Dhu al-Qa'da of the sixth year after the Hijra; the stage of truce with the pagan leadership until the conquest of Mecca in Ramadan of the eighth year; and the stage of people entering God's religion in multitudes until the Prophet's death in Rabi' al-Awwal of the eleventh year. ¹

In Medina the Prophet faced three groups: the Companions, the polytheists of the core tribes of Medina, and the Jews. ² The Companions, who had been oppressed and driven out in Mecca, now found their affairs in their own hands, so it was their duty to build a new community in matters of civilisation, economy, politics, and war, and to bring legislation and education together gradually in it. ^{2 3} There were two sections among them: the Ansar, the owners of homes and wealth, and the Muhajirun, who had no refuge and no work, so the pressure of the refugees on the economy of Medina grew. ^{3 4}

Among the polytheists were some who hesitated to abandon the religion of their fathers, some who became Muslim and sincere, and some who concealed enmity and could not oppose the Muslims. ⁴ At the head of these was Abd Allah ibn Ubayy. The Aws and the Khazraj had united under his leadership after the battle of Bu'ath and had strung beads for his coronation, but when the Prophet came, his people turned away from him to the Prophet. He then professed Islam after Badr and remained concealing unbelief, and the chiefs who had been denied the posts they hoped for plotted with him. ⁴

The Jews had settled in the Hijaz, and had taken on the Arab coloration in dress and language, but they kept their tribal solidarity and did not merge. They looked down on the Arabs and called them the unlettered, considered their property lawful, earned through usury and pledges, and incited the tribes against one another. ^{4 5} In Yathrib there were three Jewish tribes: the Banu Qaynuqa', allies of the Khazraj whose homes were inside the city, and the Banu al-Nadir and the Banu Qurayza, allies of the Aws whose homes were in its outskirts, and who had taken part in the battle of Bu'ath. ⁵ The author held that the call of Islam was not pleasing to them, since they feared that it would unite the tribes, so that their activity would fail and their usury would disappear. ⁶

Ibn Ishaq relates from Safiyya bint Huyayy ibn Akhtab that her father and her uncle Abu Yasir went to the Prophet when he alighted at Quba'. They returned weary and dejected. Then her uncle said to her father: "Is he the one?" He said: "Yes." He asked: "What is in your heart about him?" He said: "Enmity, by God, for as long as I live." ^{6 7} Al-Bukhari relates the conversion of Abd Allah ibn Salam: he heard of the Prophet's arrival and came to him asking questions that only a prophet would know, and he believed on the spot. Then he said that the Jews were a people of slander. The Prophet sent for them, and the Jews came; he asked them about Abd Allah, and they said of him: "He is our worst and the son of our worst." Then he asked them about his Islam, and they said: "You have lied." ^{6 8 9}

The author holds that Quraysh were the fiercest enemies. They had tried starvation, boycott, and torture; when the Muslims emigrated, they confiscated their property; then they conspired to kill the Prophet; and after the Muslims' escape, they incited the tribes of the Peninsula against the people of Medina, until it was in a state of near-boycott, with a state of war existing between it and the Muslims. ⁸

• The division into three stages is the author's division. His comment on the Jews reflects his view and the book's own wording; the museum presents it as the book's view.
• The description of the Jews as holding tribal solidarity and disdain for the Arabs is the author's report from al-Ghazali, and it is not used here as a judgement on the whole community.