The Jewish tribes of the Hijaz

Overview

The Jewish tribes who settled in Yathrib (Medina), Khaybar and Tayma after the Jews migrated from Palestine, and who built villages, fortified houses and castles there. ¹ ²

The two migrations

The Sealed Nectar gives two phases of Jewish presence in the peninsula: a migration after Bukhtanasar ruined Palestine in 587 BCE to the north of the Hijaz, and a migration after the Romans occupied Palestine in 70 CE, when many tribes moved to the Hijaz. ¹ The details are in Judaism in the Arabian Peninsula.

The well-known tribes

When Islam came, the best-known Jewish tribes were Khaybar, al-Nadir, al-Mustaliq, Qurayza and Qaynuqa. Al-Samhudi in Wafa al-Wafa says that the number of Jewish tribes exceeds twenty. ¹ ³ Judaism also had a part in the political events that preceded the rise of Islam and occurred in its early days. ¹

Notes for researchers

"Al-Mustaliq" appears in the book's list as it is written. The people of the biography tradition count Banu al-Mustaliq as a branch of Khuza'a, so the mention needs to be checked against another edition of the book.

For young visitors

Before Islam many Jewish tribes lived in Medina, Khaybar and Tayma. The best known were Qurayza, al-Nadir and Qaynuqa.

Judaism in Arabia before Islam

Judaism reached Arabia in at least two stages in al-Raheeq al-Makhtum's account: Jewish migration to northern Hijaz after Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Palestine in 587 BCE, then after the Roman occupation of Palestine in 70 CE, when many tribes settled Yathrib, Khaybar and Tayma and built villages and forts; the well-known Jewish tribes at the coming of Islam were Khaybar, al-Nadir, al-Mustaliq, Qurayza and Qaynuqa, and al-Samhudi counts more than twenty; it entered Yemen through Tuban As'ad Abu Karib.

The Jewish tribes of the Hijaz

At a glance

In space

Overview

The two migrations

The well-known tribes

Notes for researchers

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Judaism in Arabia before Islam