What were the relations of the Mohammed with the Jews from 623 to 632 AD?

Answer 1

The story really begins in 622, when Mohammed first arrived in Medina. He signed a treaty with the Jews that they would all respect each other's religions, persons and property, bear their own expenses, and help each other if Medina was attacked by outsiders.

In 623 he meant to be friendly to the Jews. He reasoned they were all monotheists together and the Jews would explain to the pagans about the importance of obeying prophets. Meanwhile, they had a number of friendly debates, in which Mohammed tried to convince the Jews that he was the Messiah.

By 624 it was obvious that the Jews did not believe Mohammed was the Messiah, and this was making Islam look bad among the Pagans. Mohammed broke up the friendly relations. He gave up the Jewish hairstyle, changed the direction of prayer from Jerusalem to Mecca, ensured that Muslim fast days never coincided with Jewish ones, and received a revelation from Allah not to take Jews as close friends. From that point, his teaching no longer centred around Moses (the Jewish prophet) but around Abraham (also the ancestor of the Arabs).

Mohammed told one Jewish tribe, the Qaynuqa, that they must either convert to Islam or hand over their property to him. They protested that this was a breach of the treaty, but in the end, he forced them to leave Medina. The chief of another Jewish tribe, the Nadir, critciised Mohammed's behaviour, so Mohammed had this chief assassinated. This was very shocking in Medina, where freedom to criticise one's leaders had always been allowed. The next day, Mohammed instructed the Muslims: "Kill any Jew who falls into your hands!" The Jewish leaders went to Mohammed to ask what had happened to the treaty. He offered to make a new treaty with them (indirectly admitting that the old one no longer applied). The new terms were that if the Jews did everything Mohammed ordered, the Muslims would stop killing Jews - it was the first contract of dhimmitude (protection).

In 625 Mohammed accused the Nadir tribe of plotting to kill him. His only evidence was "Allah told me," but he said the Nadir tribe must leave Medina. At first they refused to go. Mohammed decided to besiege them. First, though, he besieged their Qurayza allies until (within a matter of hours) they agreed to yet another new treaty. This was that Mohammed would stop attacking them if they remained neutral in his conflicts with other tribes. They did not realise when they agreed to this that Mohammed was already planning to attack the Nadir.

The next day the Muslims besieged the Nadir. At first they resisted, but when he burned down their date trees, they realised there was no point in staying if their livelihood was destroyed. So they surrendered and departed. They had to leave their fields and weapons behind, but they took with them a great deal of personal property and went to live in Khaybar, 100 miles to the north.

In 626 Mohammed was mainly fighting pagans. The Qurayza were the only Jewish tribe left in Medina, so they minded their own business and kept away from Mohammed.

In 627 the exiled Nadir (now free of any kind of treaty with Mohammed) teamed up with the Meccans and several Bedouin tribes to attack Medina in the famous Battle of the Trench. When it became clear that the allies would never starve Medina out, they began to negotiate with the Qurayza, begging them to open their fortress, which was the only non-Muslim entrance into the city. But the Qurayza refused to do this because of their treaty with Mohammed. In the end, the besiegers went home.

Mohammed noticed that the Qurayza had not joined the defending army during the first few days of the siege. This made no difference to the outcome, as there was no actual fighting, but they had effectively remained neutral instead of supporting Mohammed. So Mohammed executed all the Qurayza adult males, enslaved the women and children, and confiscated the property.

Early in 628, Mohammed sent two parties of assassins to Khaybar to get rid of two of the Nadir chiefs. Later that year, he besieged Khaybar and conquered all its fortresses. The Jews who had survived the battle were allowed to remain on the land in return for giving Mohammed half their harvest. Mohammed then besieged the remaining Jewish settlements in Arabia, who surrendered without much of a fight, and also allowed them to remain on their land on the same terms.

Nothing changed in the period 629-632. The surviving Jews in Arabia were allowed to keep their land and their religion provided they paid heavy tribute and did not plot against Mohammed.

After Mohammed's death, however, Omar evicted all the remaining Jews from Arabia.

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When prophet Muhammad settled in Medina after his migration from Mecca (or Makkah), he issued the Medina decree that equates all Medina citizens (including the Jews) in all rights and obligations. The Jews agreed on protecting Muslims and Medina against any outside attacks. However, during the Trench Battle in year 627 AD , the Jews have broken the promise and cooperated with the pagans of Meccas against the Muslims of Medina. Accordingly, after the battle end with Muslims victory they obliged the Jews to leave thew city.

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