Muhammad's Views On Jews - Muhammad and The Jewish Tribes of Medina

Muhammad and The Jewish Tribes of Medina

In the course of Muhammad's proselytizing in Mecca, he viewed Christians and Jews, both of whom he referred to as "People of the Book", as natural allies, sharing the core principles of his teachings, and anticipated their acceptance and support. Muslims, like Jews, were at that time praying towards Jerusalem. During the height of Muslim persecution in Mecca, Muhammad was offered the position of arbitrator in the highly diverse Medina, which had a large Jewish community.

Many Medinans converted to the faith of the Meccan immigrants both before and after Muhammad's emigration, but only a few came from Jewish backgrounds because most of the Jewish community rejected Muhammad's status as a prophet. Their opposition "may well have been for political as well as religious reasons". According to Watt, "Jews would normally be unwilling to admit that a non-Jew could be a prophet." Mark Cohen adds that Muhammad was appearing "centuries after the cessation of biblical prophecy" and "couched his message in a verbiage foreign to Judaism both in its format and rhetoric." As Muhammad taught that his message was identical to those of previous prophets (such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus), the Jews were furthermore in the position to make some Muslims doubt about his prophethood; the Jews, according to Watt, could argue that "some passages in the Qur'an contradicted their ancient scriptures". Watt also states that many of the Jews had close links with Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy, "the potential prince of Medina" who "is said that but for the arrival of Muhammad, had not become" the chief arbitrator of the community. The Jews may have hoped for greater influence if Ubayy had become a ruler. Watt writes that the Islamic response to these criticisms was:

The Qur'an, met these intellectual criticisms by developing the conception of the religion of Abraham. While the knowledge of Abraham came from the Old Testament and material based on that, Abraham could be regarded as the ancestor of the Arabs through Ishmael. It was also an undeniable fact that he was not a Jew or Christian, since the Jews are either to be taken as the followers of Moses or as the descendants of Abraham's grandson, Jacob. At the same time Abraham had stood for the worship of God alone. The Qur'an therefore claimed that it was restoring the pure monotheism of Abraham which had been corrupted in various, clearly specified, ways by Jews and Christians.

Watt states that the charge of altering the scripture may mean no more than giving false interpretations to some passages, though in contemporary Islam it is taken to refer to textual corruption. The corruption of previously revealed books is referred to as tahrif. The Qur'an also stated that there was nothing surprising in Muhammad's rejection by Jews, as that had occurred to other prophets mentioned in Jewish scripture. Watt claims that the Quran "also went on to criticize Jewish exaggerations of their claim to be the chosen people" and argued against the supposed claim of the Jews of Medina "that they alone had a true knowledge of God". The Qur'an also criticized the Jews for believing that Ezra is the Son of God, a claim unattested either in Jewish or other extra-Qur'anic sources. Michael Cook considers the charge of considering Ezra as the Son of God to be petty or obscure. The Encyclopedia Judaica article on Ezra says, "Muhammed claims (Sura 9:30) that in the opinion of the Jews, Uzayr (Ezra) is the son of God. These words are enigma because no such opinion is to be found among the Jews, even though Ezra was singled out for special appreciation (see Sanh. 21b; Yev. 86b)."

In the Constitution of Medina, Jews were given equality to Muslims in exchange for political loyalty. However, after each major battle with the Medinans, there were accusations of Jewish tribal treachery for aiding the enemies of the community in violation of the Constitution of Medina. After Badr and Uhud, the Banu Qainuqa and Banu Nadir, respectively, were expelled "with their families and possessions" from Medina.