The People of Madinah
Yathrib had been chosen by Allah to shelter the Messenger of God (r) after his emigration
and to bring forth not only the first Islamic Society but also to serve as a focal point for the universal call of Islam.
The great honor accorded to the city makes it necessary to know its distinctive features, its unique physical, social and cultural conditions, like those of the Arab tribes living there and their interactions with one another, the economic and political manipulations of the Jews and their fighting spirit as well as the way of life sustained by its fertile land.
Various religions,cultures and communities flourished in the city in stark contrast to Makkah,
which was dominated by one faith and one cultural pattern. The details given here, albeit briefly, depict the state of affairs in Madinah when the Prophet (r) made his debut in that city.
THE JEWISH PRESENCE
The view preferred by historians about Jewish settlements in Arabia,at large and those in Madinah, in particular, is that they date from the first century A.D.
Dr. Israel Welphenson writes that:
“After Palestine and Jerusalem were laid waste in 70 A.D. and the Jews dispersed to different parts of the world, a number of them made their way to Arabia. This is in accordance with the Jewish historian Josephus, who was himself present at the siege of Jerusalem and had led the Jewish units on several occasions. Arab sources also corroborate his statement.”
Three Jewish tribes, Qaynuqaa’, an-Nadhir and Quraydha, were settled in Madinah. The number of adults belonging to these tribes was over two thousand where Qaynuqaa’ was estimated to have seven hundred combatants, with an-Nadir having almost the same number too, while the adult men of Quraydha were reported to be between seven and nine hundred.
These tribes were not on good terms and very often they are caught in confrontations with one another. Dr. Israel Welphenson says:
“Bani Qaynuqaa’ were set against the rest of the Jews because they had sided with Bani
Khazraj in the battle of Bu’ath in which Bani an-Nadir and Bani Quraydha had inflicted a crushing defeat and massacred Bani Qaynuqaa’ even though the latter had paid bloodwit for
the prisoners of war.
The bitterness among the Jewish tribes continued to persist after the battle of Bu’ath.
When Bani Qaynuqaa’ subsequently fell out with the Ansaar, no other Jewish tribe came to their aid against them (Ansaar).”
The Qur’an also makes a reference to the mutual discord between the Jews:
“And when We made with you a covenant (saying): Shed not the blood of your people nor turn (party of) your people out of your dwellings. Then ye ratified (Our covenant) and ye were witnesses (thereto). “Yet it is you who slay each other and drive out party of your people from their homes, supporting one another against them by sin and transgression – and if they come to you as captives ye would ransom them, whereas their expulsion was itself unlawful for you.[Qur’an 2:84-5]
The Jews of Madinah had their dwellings in their own separate localities in different parts of the city.
When Bani an-Nadir and Bani Quraydha forced Bani Qaynuqaa’ to relocate their settlement in the outskirts of the town, they took up their quarters in a section of the city.
Bani an-Nadir had their habitation in the higher parts,some four or five kilometers from the city towards the valley of Bathan,which houses some of the richest groves and agricultural lands of Madinah.
The third Jewish tribe, Bani Quraydha, occupied vicinity known as Mehzor,which is a few kilometers to the south of the city.
The Jews of Madinah lived in compact settlements where they had erected fortifications
and citadels.
They were however, not independent but lived as confederate clans of the stronger Arab tribes which guaranteed them immunity from raids by the nomads.
Predatory incursions by the nomadic tribes being a perpetual menace, the Jewish tribes had to always seek the protection of one or more chieftains of the powerful Arab tribes.
RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS OF THE JEWS
The Jews considered themselves to be blessed with divine religion and law.
They had their own seminaries, known as Midras which imparted instruction in their religious and secular life, science, law, history and the Talmudic lore.
Similarly, for offering prayers and performing other religious rites, they had synagogues where they normally put their heads together to discuss their affairs.
They observed the laws brought about by the Pentateuch together with the many other rigid and uncompromising customary rules imposed by their priests and rabbis and celebrated Jewish feasts and fasted.
As for example, they commemorate, on the tenth day of the month of Tishri, The Fast of the Atonement. (Banu Israel Fil-Qur’an wal Sunnah, pp. 80-81)
FINANCES
The financial relationship of the Medinan Jews with the other tribes was mainly limited to
lending money on interest or on security or sequestration of personal property upon payment failure.
In an agricultural region like Madinah, there was ample scope for moneylending business since the farmers very often needed capital for purposes of cultivation.
(Banu Israel Fil-Qur’an wal Sunnah, pp. 80-81)
The system of lending money was not limited merely to pledging personal property as security for repayment of the loan, for the lenders very often forced the borrowers to pledge even their women and children. The following incident bears a testimony to the prevailing practices:
“Muhammed b. Maslamah said to K’ab:
“Now, we hope that you will lend us a camel-load or two (of food).
K’ab answered:
I will do so (but) you shall pledge something with me.
[The Muslims] retorted: What do you want? –
(K’ab) replied,
“Pledge your women with me”.
Then they responded,
“How can we pledge our women with you, the most beautiful of the Arabs?
K’ab parried,
“Then pledge your sons with me.
[The Muslims] countered,
“How can we pledge our sons with thee, when later they would be abused on this account, and people would say: “They have been pledged for a camel-load or two (of food)! This would disgrace us! We shall, however, pledge our armor with you.
Such transactions produced naturally, enough hatred and repugnance between the mortgagees and the mortgagors, particularly since the Arabs were known to be sensitive where the honor of their womenfolk is concerned.
Concentration of capital in the hands of the Jews had given them power to exercise economic pressure on the social economy of the city. The markets were at their mercy.
They rigged the market through hoarding, thereby creating artificial shortages and causing the rise and fall in prices.
Most of the people in Madinah detested the Jews owing to such malpractices of usury and profiteering, which were against the substance of the common Arabs.
(Banu Israel Fil-Qur’an wal-Sunnah, p. 79)
The Jews, in their social transactions with the Arab tribes, Aus and Khazraj, spent lavishly,
though judiciously, in creating a rift between the two tribes.
On a number of occasions in the past, they had successfully pitted one tribe against the other, leaving both tribes worn out and economically ruined in the end.
The only objective Jews had set before themselves was how to maintain their economic dominion over Medinah.
An incident related by Ibn Hisham that took place after Madinah became Muslim sheds light upon this strategy.
Sh’ath b. Qays was an old jewish man and he felt bitter against the Muslims.
He passed by a place where a number of the Prophet’s companions from Aus and Khazraj were talking together.
He was filled with rage seeing their amity and unity.
So he asked the Jewish youth who were friendly with the Ansaars to join them and mention the battle of Bu’ath and the preceding battles, and to recite some of the poems concerning those events in order to stir up their tribal sentiments.
The cunning device of Sh’ath was not in vain, for a few years before Islam, the two tribes
had been at daggers with each other.
Their passions were aroused and they started bragging and quarreling until they were about to unsheathe their swords when the Prophet (r) came with some of the Muslim emigrants from Mecca.
He pacified them and appealed to the bonds of harmony brought about by Islam.
Then the Ansaars realized that the enemy had duped them. The Aus and Khazraj wept, embraced and welcomed back one another as if nothing had happened. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, pp. 555-6)
For many centuries, the Jews had been waiting for a redeemer.
This belief of the Jews in the coming Prophet (r), about which they used to talk with the Arabs, had prepared the Aus and the Khazraj to give their faith readily to the Prophet (r). (Dr. Mohammed Syed alTantawi, Banu Israel fil-Qur’an wal-Sunnah, pp. 73-101.)
The Jews of Arabia spoke Arabic although their dialect was interspersed with Hebrew for they had not completely given up their religious aspirations. In regard to the missionary
activities of the Jews, Dr. Israel Welphenson says:
“There is less uncertainty about the opportunities offered to the Jews in consolidating
their religious supremacy over Arabia.
Had they so willed, they could have used their influence to the best advantage. But as it is too prominent among every student of Jewish history, they have never made any effort to invite other nations to embrace their faith, rather, for certain reasons, they have been forbidden to preach this to others.” (Dr. Israel Welphenson; Al-Yahud fi Balad il-‘Arab, p. 72)
Be that as it may, many of the Aus and the Khazraj and certain other Arab tribes had been
Judaized owing to their close social connections with the Jews or ties of blood.
Thus, there were Jews in Arabia, who were of Israelite descent, with a fraction of Arab converts.
The well-known poet K’ab b. Ashraf (often called an an-Nadir) belonged to the tribe of Tayy.
His father had married in the tribe of Bani an-Nadir but he grew up to be a zealous Jew.
Ibn Hisham writes about him: K’ab b. Ashraf who was one of the Tayy of the sub-section of Bani Nabhan whose mother was from the Bani al-Nadir.
There was a custom among the pagan Arabs that if the sons of anybody died in infancy, he
used to declare to God that if his next son remained alive, he would entrust him to a Jew to rear him up on his own religion. A tradition referring to this custom finds place in the Sunan Abu Dawud.
“Ibn ‘Abbaas said: Any woman whose children died used to take the vow that if her next
child remained alive, she would make him a Jew. Accordingly, when Banu an-Nadir were
deported they had the sons of Ansaar with them;
they said, “ We would not forsake our sons”, thereupon the revelation came: “There is no compulsion in religion.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, Kitaab-ul-Jihad, Vol. II).
AUS AND KHAZRAJ
The two great Arab tribes of Madinah, Aus and Khazraj, traced a common descent from the tribe of Azd belonging to Yemen from where successive waves of emigrants inundated the northern regions from time to time. The exodus was brought about by a variety of reasons, some of which were the unstable political conditions in Yemen, Abyssinian aggression and disruption of irrigation system supporting agriculture after the destruction of Ma’rib dam.
However, both the Aus and Khazraj came down to Madinah after the Jews. The Aus settled down in ‘Awali, an area in the south-east of Madinah while the Khazraj occupied the lands in the central and northern parts of it.
With the northern part of the city being low-lying, nothing intervened between the abode of the Khazraj and Harrata Wabrah in the West.
The Khazraj consisted of four clans: Malik, ‘Adiy, Mazin and Dinar, all co-laterals to Banu
Najjaar and also known as Taym Al-Lat.
Banu Najjaar took up residence in the central part of the city where the Prophet (r)’s mosque now stands.
The Aus, who have settled in the fertile, arable lands were the neighbors of the more influential and powerful Jewish tribe.
The lands occupied by Khazraj were comparatively less fertile and they had only Banu Qaynuqaa as their neighbors.
It is rather difficult to reckon the numerical strength of Aus and Khazraj with any amount of certainty, but an estimate can be formed from different battles in which they took part after the Prophet’s (r) departure to Madinah.
The combatants drafted from these two tribes on the occasion of the conquest of Makkah numbered four thousand.
When the Prophet (r) migrated to Madinah, the Arabs were powerful and in a position to play the first fiddle.
The Jews being disunited had taken a subordinate position by seeking alliance either with the Aus or the Khazraj. Their mutual relationship was even worse for they were more tyrannical to their comrades in religion in times of clashes than to the Arabs themselves.
It was due to the antipaYour and bitterness between them that the Bani Qaynuqaa were forced to abandon their cultivated lands and resorted to working as artisans.
Physical and Geographical Conditions
At the time the Prophet (r) migrated to Yathrib,the city was divided into distinct sections
inhabited by the Arabs and the Jews,with a separate district allocated to each clan.
Each division consisted of the residential quarters and the soil used for agricultural purposes
while in another part they used to have their strongholds or fortress-like structures.
They had fifty-nine such strongholds in Madinah. Dr. Israel Welphenson writes about these strongholds:
“The fortresses were of great importance in Yathrib for the people belonging to a clan took shelter in them during raids by the enemy.
They afforded protection to the women and children who retreated to them in times of clashes and forays while the men went out to engage with the enemy.
These strongholds were also utilized as warehouses for the storage of food-grains and fruits as the enemy could easily pilfer them if left in the open places.
Goods and arms were also kept in such citadels and caravans carrying the merchandise used
to stop near them for the markets were usually held along the doors of these fortifications.
The same bulwarks also housed the synagogues and educational institutions known as Midras.
The costly and valuable goods which were stored in the fortresses show that the religious scriptures were also kept in them.” Jewish leaders and chieftains used to assemble in these fortresses for consultations or for taking decisions on important issues which were usually sealed by taking an oath on the scripture”
Defining the word Utum, as these fortresses were called, Dr. Welphenson writes
“The term connotes, in Hebrew, to shut out or to obstruct. When it is used in connection with a wall it denotes such windows as are shut down from outside can be opened from inside.
The word is also reflective of a defensive wall or rampart and with that, it is safe to presume that Utum was the name given by the Jews to their fortresses.
They had shutters which could be closed from the outer side and opened from the inner side.”
Yathrib was, thus, a cluster of such strongholds or fortified suburbs which had taken the shape of a town because of their proximity.
The Qur’an also hints to this peculiar feature of the city in these words:
“That which Allah giveth as spoil unto His messenger from the people of the township.”
[Qur’an 59:7]
Again, another reference of Madinah signifies the same peculiarity.
“They will not fight against you in a body save in fortified villages or from walls.” [Qur’an
59:14]
Lava plains occupy a place of special importance in the physical geography of Madinah.
These plains, formed by the matter flowing from a volcano which cools into rocks of burnt
basalt of dark brown and black color and of irregular shape and size, stretch out far and
wide and cannot be traversed either by foot or even on horses or camels.
Two of these lava plains are more extensive; one is to the east and is known as Harrat Waqim, while the other lies in the west and is called Harrat Wabarah.
Majduddin Firozabadi writes in the Al-Maghanim al-Matabata fi Ma’alim Ut-Tabbah that
there are several lava plains surrounding Medinah.
The two lava plains of the east and west have virtually made the city a fortified refuge that can be attacked only from the north (where ditches were dug on the occasion of the battle of the trenches).
On the southern side, the oases thickets and clumped date-palm groves as well as inter-tied houses of the densely populated area defend the city against incursion by an enemy.
The strategic location of Madinah was one of the factors responsible for its selection as the émigré’s new home.
Harrata Waqim, which is located east of the city and is arrayed with numerous verdant
oases, was more populous than Harrata Wabarah When the Prophet (r) emigrated to Yathrib, the more influential Jewish tribes, like, Banu an-Nadir and Banu Quraydha, were living in Harrata Waqim along with some of the important clans of Aus, such as, Banu ‘Abdul Ash’hal, Banu Haritha and Banu Mu’awiya. The eastern lava plain was thus named Waqim because of a locality which boasts of the same name in the district occupied by Bani ‘Abdul Ash’hal.
Religious and Social Conditions
By and large, the inhabitants of Madinah followed the Quraysh whom they held to be the guardians of the Holy sanctuary and the matrix of their religious creed as well as social ethics.
Pagan like other Arabs, the population of Madinah was, by and large, devotees of the same idols as worshipped by the inhabitants of Hijaz and of Makkah in particular in addition
to a few regional or tribal deities considered to be the personal or private gods of these clans.
Thus, Manat was the oldest and the most popular deity of the populace of Madinah that the Aus and Khazraj honored as the co-partner of God. The idol was set up on the seashore, between Makkah and Madinah, at Mushallal near Qudayd. Al-Lat was the favorite god of the people of Ta’if while the Qurayshites revered al-Uzza as their national deity.
It was so because the people of every place had a particular patron-god to which they used to get emotionally attached. If anybody in Madinah had a wooden replica of an idol, he normally called it Manat, as was the idol kept in his house by ‘Amr b. Jamuh, the chief of Bani Salama in Madinah, a practice that he had cherished before his conversion to Islam.
Ahmad b. Hanbal has related a tradition from ‘Urwa, on the authority of ‘Aisha, which says
that:
“The Ansaar used to cry labbaik (Lit. At Your service) to Manat and worship it near Mushallal before accepting Islam.
And anyone who performed pilgrimage in its (Manat) name did not consider it lawful to round the mounts of Safa and Marwa.
When the peopleonce inquired from the Prophet (r): “O Messenger of Allah, we felt some hesitation during the pagan past in going round Safa and Marwah”; God sent down the revelation:
“Lo! As-Safa and al-Marwah are amongst the indications of Allah.” [Qur’an 2:158]
However, we are not aware of any other idol in Madinah equally glamorized as al-Lat, Manat, al-Uzza and Hubal or venerated like them, nor was there any idol set up in Madinah which was paid a visit by the people from other tribes.
Madinah does not appear to be bristling with idols, unlike Makkah where one used to set up an idol in every house and the vendors offered them for the sake of the pilgrims. Makkah was, all in all, the prototype and symbol of idolatry in Arabia whereas Madinah simply trailed behind in such respect.
In Madinah, the people used to have two days devoted to games alone.
When the Prophet (r) came to Madinah, he said to them, “God has substituted something better for you, the day of sacrifice and the day of breaking the fast.” (Bulugh al-‘Arab)
Certain commentators of the Traditions hold the view that the two festivals celebrated by the people of Madinah were Nawroz and Mehrjan,
which they had perhaps inherited from the Persians. (Saheehain)
Aus and Khazraj descended from a lineage whose nobility was acknowledged even by the
Quraysh.
Ansaars were descendants of Banu Qahtan belonging to the southern stock of ‘Arab ‘Arbah, with whom the Quraysh had marital affinity.
Hashim b. ‘Abdu Manaf had married Salama bint ‘Amr b. Zayd of the Banu Adiy b. al-Najjaar, which was a clan of Khazraj.
Nevertheless, the Quraysh considered their own ancestry to be nobler than those of the Arab clans of Medinah. On the day of the battle of Badr, when ‘Utba, Shayba, and Walid b.
Rabi’a came forward and challenged the Muslims for a single combat, some youths of the
Ansaar stepped forth to face them.
The Qurayshite warriors, however, asked who they were and on coming to know that they belonged to the Ansaar, replied, “We have nothing to do with you.”
Then one of them called out,
“Muhammad, send forth some of your own rank and blood to face us.”
Thereupon the Prophet (r) ordered, “Advance, O ‘Ubayda b. AlHarith; “O Hamza; Advance, O ‘Ali.
When the three were already up at them and had already told their names, the Qurayshite said:
“Yes, these are noble and our peers.”
The self-conceited Quraysh used to look down upon farming, the occupation employed by the Ansaar owing to the physical features of their city.
We find a commensurate display of similar egotism with what Abu Jahl said when he was slain by two Ansaar lads who were sons of ‘Afra. Abu Jahl said to ‘Abdullah b. Mas’ud although he was nearing his end,
“Would that somebody else than a cultivator had slain me!”
Economical and Cultural Conditions
Madinah was a veritable oasis. The soil was conducive to systematic cultivation and hence, its population was given over to farming and gardening.
The main produce of the city consisted of grapes and dates, of which there were numerous groves, trellised and untrellised.
Two or more palm-trees occasionally grew out of a single root. (See Qur’an 141 and 13:4)
Cereals and vegetables of different varieties were cultivated in the farms but the date palm remained the chief item on the menu of the people, especially in times of drought, for the fruit could be stored for sale or exchanged with other necessities.
The date palm was the queen of Arabian trees, the source of prosperity concerning the people of Madinah, providing them with solid food and fodder for the camels. Its stems, barks and leaves were also utilized in the construction of houses and manufacture of other goods for daily use.
Countless varieties of date palm were grown in Madinah where the people had, through experience and experimentation, developed methods to improve the quality and production
of dates.
Among these was the distinction made between the male pollens and female pistils of date palms and the fertilization of ovules which was known as Tabir.
Madinah was a leading agricultural center, it had also a flourishing mercantile business
though not of the same magnitude as that of Makkah.
The barren, rocky valley of Makkah allowed no other occupation save to set out with merchandise caravans regularly during the summer and winter season for their source of livelihood.
Certain industrial pursuits were restricted to the Jews of Madinah.
They had probably brought the expertise to Madinah from Yemen as, for instance, Banu Qaynuqaa practiced the trade of goldsmithy.
Wealthier than other tribes occupying Madinah, the houses of the Jews were flushed with money and abounded in gold and silver.
The soil of Madinah is excessively fertile because of the volcanic matter that made possible the surrounding lava plains.
The town stands at the lower part of the valley where water courses running from the higher altitudes irrigated the agricultural lands and date-palm plantations.
A verdant wadi well supplied with water and laden with gardens and vineyards, then known as ‘Aqiq, was the pleasure spot of Madinah’s residents.
There were many wells scattered all over the town whereby almost every garden had one by which it was irrigated, for underground water was found to be in excess.
The vineyards and date plantations, enclosed by garden walls, were known as ha’yet.
The wells had sweet and plentiful supply of water, which was channeled to the orchards by
means of canals or through lift irrigation.
Barley was the main cereal produced in Madinah with wheat as the second one, but vegetables were grown in abundance.
Transactions of different types were in vogue, some of which were retained by Islam while others were modified or forbidden altogether.
The coins in circulation at Makkah and Madinah were similar to that of the ones mentioned in the section covering Makkah. However,as the inhabitants of Madinah had to transact their business in food grains and fruits, they had more of their dealings with measures of capacity.
These quantitative measures were Mudd, S’a, Faraq, ‘Araq and Wasaq. The measures of weight prevalent in Madinah were dirham, shihaq, danaq, qirat, naqwat ratl, qintar and auqiya.
Madinah had a fertile soil but it was not self-sufficient in food-grains that it had to import
some of the foodstuffs required by it.
Flour, clarified butter and honey were brought from Syria.
At-Tirmidhi relates on the authority of Qatada b. N’uman that the staple diet of the people of Madinah consisted of dates and barley.
But those who were rich used to purchase flour from the Syrian merchants for their own consumption while others had to contend with dates and barley.
This report brings to light the culinary habits as well as the disparity in the standards of living of the well-to-do and the poorer sections of the society in Madinah existing before the migration of the Prophet (r).
In Madinah, the Jews constituted the affluent class while the Arab tribesman, like other naïve and guileless Bedouins, were not bothered about the future and did not even concern
themselves on saving for the rainy days.
Apart from that, generosity was in their blood, which manifested itself in selflessly spending for the entertainment of their guests.
Naturally enough, they were very often forced to borrow money with interest from the Jews by pledging their personal property.
The livestock raised by the people consisted, for the most part, of camels, cows and ewes.
Even then, the camels were also employed for irrigating the agricultural lands wherein they
are finally called as Al-Ibil un-Nawadeh when used in such manner.
Madinah had several pastures, of which the two, Dhoghabata and Ghaba, were more well-known.
Residents of Madinah used to put their flocks for grazing on these pasturelands, while at the same time making such grazing grounds as their source of firewood.
They reared horses as well, though not in the same scale as did the inhabitants of Makkah, for military operations. Banu Sulaym were distinguished for their horsemanship although they used to import their horses from other regions.
Madinah had a number of markets, the most important of which was the one conducted by Bani Qaynuqaa which consisted of silver and gold ornaments, clothes and other handiworks, cotton and silk fabrics.
Varied carpets and curtains with decorative designs were normally available in this market.
Similarly, there were shopkeepers who sold ambergris and quicksilver.
The social and cultural life of the common people in Madinah was, thanks to their elegant
taste, fairly well advanced.
Two-storied houses were common in the region, where some of these had even attached kitchen gardens.
The people were used to drinking sweet water, which had to be often conducted from a distance.
Cushions were used for sitting and the household utensils included bowls and drinking vessels made of stones and glasses.
Lamps were manufactured in different designs. Bags and small baskets were used for carrying commodities of daily use as well as corn from the fields.
The residences of those who were affluent were well-decorated with various other types of furniture.
The jewelry worn by the womenfolk included bracelets, armlets, wristlets, earring circlets, rings, and golden or gem necklaces.
Spinning and weaving were popular domestic endeavors from which women find solace with in their spare-time at Medinah. Sewing and dyeing of clothes, house-building, bricklaying and stone crafts were some of the manual arts already known to the city folks before the Prophet (r) emigrated there
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