THE JEWS OF THE ARABIAN PENINSULA.
Happy condition of the Jews in Arabia--Traditions as to
their original settlements--Yathrib and Chaibar--The
Jewish-Arabic tribes--The Benu-Nadhir, the Benu-Kuraiza,
and Benu-Bachdal--The Benu-Kainukaa--The Jews of Yemen--
Their power and influence--Conversion of Arabian tribes to
Judaism--Abu-Kariba the first Jewish-Himyarite king--Zorah
Dhu-Nowas--Samuel Ibn-Adija--Mahomet--His indebtedness
to Judaism--Mahomet's early friendliness to the Jews and
subsequent breach with them--His attacks on the Jewish tribes
--The War of the Fosse--The position of the Jews under the
Caliphs.
500-662 C. E.
Wearied with contemplating the miserable plight of the Jews in their
ancient home and in the countries of Europe, and fatigued by the
constant sight of fanatical oppression, the eyes of the observer rest
with gladness upon their situation in the Arabian peninsula. Here the
sons of Judah were free to raise their heads, and did not need to look
about them with fear and humiliation, lest the ecclesiastical wrath
be discharged upon them, or the secular power overwhelm them. Here
they were not shut out from the paths of honor, nor excluded from the
privileges of the state, but, untrammeled, were allowed to develop
their powers in the midst of a free, simple, and talented people,
to show their manly courage, to compete for the gifts of fame, and
with practised hand to measure swords with their antagonists. Instead
of bearing the yoke, the Jews were not infrequently the leaders of
the Arabian tribes. Their intellectual superiority constituted them
a power, and they concluded offensive and defensive alliances, and
carried on feuds. Besides the sword and the lance, however, they
handled the ploughshare and the lyre, and in the end became the
teachers of the Arabian nation. The history of the Jews of Arabia in
the century which precedes Mahomet's appearance, and during the period
of his activity, forms a glorious page in the annals of the Jews.
The first immigration of Jewish families into the free peninsula is
buried in misty tradition. According to one account, the Israelites
sent by Joshua to fight the Amalekites settled in the city of Yathrib
(afterwards Medina), and in the province of Chaibar; according to
another, the Israelite warriors, under Saul, who had spared the
beautiful young son of the Amalekite king, and had been repudiated by
the nation for their disobedience, returned to the Hejas (northern
Arabia), and settled there. An Israelite colony is also supposed to
have been formed in northern Arabia during the reign of David. It is
possible that under the powerful kings of Judah, seafaring Israelites,
who navigated the Red Sea on their way to Ophir--the land of
gold--established trading stations, for the trade with India, in Mariba
and Sanaa (Usal), the most important commercial towns of southern
Arabia (Yemen, Himyara, Sabea), and planted Jewish colonies there.
The later Arabian Jews said, however, that they had heard from their
forefathers that many Jewish fugitives had escaped to northern Arabia
on the destruction of the First Temple by Nebuchadnezzar. But there
can be no doubt that the persecution of the Jews by the Romans was the
means of establishing a Jewish population in the Arabian peninsula.
The death-defying zealots who, after the destruction of the Second
Temple, fled in part to Egypt and to Cyrene, in order to continue there
the desperate struggle against the thraldom of Rome, also passed in
straggling bands into Arabia, where they were not compelled to hide
their love of freedom or to abandon their warlike bearing.
From these fugitives sprang three Jewish-Arabic tribes--the
Benu-Nadhir, the Benu-Kuraiza, and the Benu-Bachdal, the first two
of which were descended from Aaron, and therefore called themselves
Cohanim (Al-kahinani). Another Jewish family--the Benu-Kainukaa--were
established in northern Arabia, and their mode of living was different
from that of the Nadhir and Kuraiza. These tribes had their center in
the city of Yathrib, which was situated in a fruitful district, planted
with palms and rice, and watered by small streams. As the Jews were
often molested by Bedouins, they built castles on the elevated places
in the city and the surrounding country, whereby they guarded their
independence. Although originally the sole rulers of this district,
they were afterwards obliged to share their power and the possession of
the soil with the Arabs, for, about the year 300, two related families,
the Benu-Aus and the Chazraj (together forming the tribe of Kaila),
settled in the same neighborhood, and sometimes stood in friendly,
sometimes in hostile relations to the Jews.
To the north of Yathrib was situated the district of Chaibar, which was
entirely inhabited by Jews, who constituted a separate commonwealth.
The Jews of Chaibar are supposed to have been descendants of the
Rechabites, who, in accordance with the command of their progenitor,
Jonadab, the son of Rechab, led a nomadic and Nazarite life; after the
destruction of the First Temple, they are said to have wandered as far
as the district of Chaibar, attracted by its abundance of palms and
grain. The Jews of Chaibar constructed a line of castles or fortresses,
like the castles of the Christian knights; the strongest of them was
Kamus, built upon a hill difficult of access. These castles protected
them from the predatory incursions of the warlike Bedouins, and enabled
them to offer an asylum to many a persecuted fugitive. Wadil-Kora (the
valley of the villages), a fertile plain a day's journey from Chaibar,
was also inhabited exclusively by Jews. In Mecca, where stood the
sanctuary of the Arabs, there probably lived but few Jews.
They were numerously represented, however, in southern Arabia (Yemen),
"the land," its inhabitants boasted, "the very dust of which was gold,
which produced the healthiest men, and whose women brought forth
without pain." But unlike their brethren in Hejas, the Jews of Arabia
Felix lived without racial or political cohesion, scattered among
the Arabs. They nevertheless in time obtained so great an influence
over the Arab tribes and the kings of Yemen (Himyara), that they were
able to prevent the propagation of Christianity in this region. The
Byzantine Christian emperors had their desires fixed upon these markets
for Indian produce. Without actually meditating the subjection of the
brave Himyarites (Homerites), they desired to gain their friendship
by converting them to Christianity; the cross was to be the means of
effecting a commercial connection. It was not until the end of the
fifth or the beginning of the sixth century that the Christian envoys
succeeded in converting to Christianity an Arab prince and his tribe,
whose capital was the commercial town of Najara.--Arabia owned only
half the island of Yotabe (now Jijbân), in the Red Sea (60 miles to
the south of the capital, Aila); a small Jewish free state had existed
there since time immemorial.
In consequence of their Semitic descent, the Jews of Arabia possessed
many points of similarity with the primitive inhabitants of the
country. Their language was closely related to Arabic, and their
customs, except those that had been produced by their religion, were
not different from those of the sons of Arabia. The Jews became,
therefore, so thoroughly Arabic that they were distinguished from the
natives of the country only by their religious belief. Intermarriage
between the two nations tended to heighten the similarity of their
characters. Like the Himyarites, the Jews of southern Arabia applied
themselves more particularly to the trade between India, the Byzantine
empire, and Persia. The Jews of northern Arabia, on the contrary,
led the life of Bedouins; they occupied themselves with agriculture,
cattle breeding, transport by caravan, traffic in weapons, and probably
also the calling of robbers. The Arabian Jews likewise possessed a
patriarchal, tribal constitution. Several families were united under
one name, and led by a chieftain (shaïch), who in times of peace
settled controversies and pronounced judgment, and in war commanded all
the men able to bear arms, and concluded alliances with neighboring
tribes. Like the Arabs, the Jews of the peninsula extended their
hospitality to every one who entered their tents, and held inviolable
faith with their allies; but they shared also the faults of the
original inhabitants of the peninsula, avenging the death of one of
their number with rigorous inflexibility, and hiding in ambush in order
to surprise and annihilate their enemy. It would sometimes happen that
a Jewish tribe, having entered into an alliance with an Arabian clan,
would find itself opposed to a kindred tribe which had espoused another
cause. But even though Jews were at feud with each other, their innate
qualities moderated in them Bedouin ferocity, which never extended
mercy to a foe. They ransomed the prisoners of a kindred tribe with
which they happened to be at war, from the hands of their own allies,
being unwilling to abandon them as slaves to heathens, "because," said
they, "the redemption of such of our co-religionists as are prisoners
is a religious duty." Besides being equal to the Arabs in bravery, the
Jews also contended with them for the palm in poetry. For in addition
to manliness and courage, poetry was cultivated among the Arab nobles;
it was fostered by the chieftains, and richly rewarded by the Arab
kings. Next to the warrior, the poet was the man most honored in
Arabia; for him all hearts and tents opened wide. The Jews of Arabia
were likewise able to speak with elegance the Arabic language, and to
adorn their poetry with rhymes.
The knowledge of their religion, which the Arabian Jews had brought
with them in their flight from Judæa, and that which afterwards came
to them from the academies, conferred upon them superiority over the
heathen tribes, and soon made them their masters. While but few Arabs,
before the latter part of the seventh century, were familiar with the
art of writing, it was universally understood by the Jews, who made
use, however, of the square, the so-called Assyrian characters. As the
few Arabs that succeeded in learning to write generally employed the
Hebrew characters, it would appear that they first acquired the art of
writing from the Jews. Every Jew in Arabia was probably able to read
the Holy Scriptures, for which reason the Arabs called the Jews the
"nation of writing" (Ahl' ul kitab).
In the form in which it was transmitted to them, that is to say, with
the character impressed upon it by the Tanaim and the Amoraim, Judaism
was most holy to the Arabian Jews. They strictly observed the dietary
laws, and solemnized the festivals, and the fast of Yom-Kippur, which
they called Ashura. They celebrated the Sabbath with such rigor that
in spite of their delight in war, and the opportunity for enjoying
it, their sword remained in its scabbard on that day. Although they
had nothing to complain of in this hospitable country, which they
were able to regard and love as their fatherland, they yearned
nevertheless to return to the holy land of their fathers, and daily
awaited the coming of the Messiah. Like all the Jews of the globe,
therefore, they turned their face in prayer towards Jerusalem. They
were in communication with the Jews of Palestine, and even after
the fall of the Patriarchate, willingly subordinated themselves to
the authorities in Tiberias, whence they received, as also from the
Babylonian academies probably, religious instruction and interpretation
of the Bible. Yathrib was the seat of Jewish learning, and possessed
teachers of the Law (Achbâr, Chabar) who expounded the Scriptures in
an academy (Midras). But the knowledge of the Bible which the Arabian
Jews possessed was not considerable. They were acquainted with it only
through the medium of the Agadic exegesis, which had become familiar to
them in their travels or had been brought to them by immigrants. For
them the glorious history of the past coalesced so completely with the
Agadic additions that they were no longer able to separate the gold
from the dross. Endowed with poetical fancy, the Arabian Jews on their
side embellished the Biblical history with interesting legends, which
were afterwards circulated as actual facts.
The Jews of Arabia, enjoying complete liberty, and being subjected to
no restraint, were able to defend their religious opinions without
fear, and to communicate them with impunity to their heathen neighbors.
The Arab mind, susceptible to intellectual promptings, was delighted
with the simple, sublime contents of the Bible, and by degrees certain
Jewish conceptions and religious ideas became familiar and current
in Arabia. The Arabian Jews made their neighbors acquainted with a
calendar-system, without which the latter were completely at sea in the
arrangement of their holy seasons; learned Jews from Yathrib taught the
Arabs to insert another month in their lunar year, which was far in
arrear of the solar year. The Arabs adopted the nineteen-years cycle of
the Jews (about 420), and called the intercalary month Nasi, doubtless
from the circumstance that the Jews were accustomed to receive their
calendar for the festivals from their Nasi (Patriarch).
The Jews even succeeded in instructing the Arabs in regard to their
historical origin, concerning which their memories were void, and in
their credulity the latter accepted this genealogy as the true one. It
was of great consequence to the Jews to be regarded and acknowledged by
the Arabs as their kinsmen, and too many points of social interest were
bound up with this relationship for them to allow it to escape their
attention. The holy city of Mecca (Alcharam), the chief city of the
country, was built round an ancient temple (Kaaba, the Square), or more
properly, round a black stone; for all Arabs it was an asylum, in which
the sword durst not quit the sheath. The five fairs, the most important
of which was at Okaz, could be frequented only in the four holy
months of the year, when the truce of God prevailed. Whoever desired
to take advantage of these periods and to enjoy security of life in
the midst of a warlike people, not over-scrupulous in the matter of
shedding blood, was obliged to establish his relationship to the Arabs,
otherwise he was excluded from these privileges.
Happily, the Arabian Jews bethought them of the genealogy of the Arabs
as set forth in the first book of the Pentateuch, and seized upon it as
the instrument by which to prove their kinship with them. The Jews were
convinced that they were related to the Arabs on two sides, through
Yoktan and through Ishmael. Under their instruction, therefore, the
two principal Arabian tribes traced back the line of their ancestors
to these two progenitors, the real Arabs (the Himyarites) supposing
themselves to be descended from Yoktan; the pseudo-Arabs in the north,
on the other hand, deriving their origin from Ishmael. These points
of contact granted, the Jews had ample opportunity to multiply the
proofs of their relationship. The Arabs loved genealogical tables,
and were delighted to be able to follow their descent and history
so far into hoary antiquity; accordingly, all this appeared to them
both evident and flattering. They consequently exerted themselves to
bring their genealogical records and traditions into unison with the
Biblical accounts. Although their traditions extended over less than
six centuries on the one side to their progenitor Yarob and his sons
or grandsons Himyar and Kachtan, and on the other, to Adnan, yet in
their utter disregard of historical accuracy, this fact constituted no
obstacle. Without a scruple, the southern Arabians called themselves
Kachtanites, and the northern Arabians Ishmaelites. They readily
accorded to the Jews the rights of relationship, that is to say,
equality and all the advantages attending it.
The Arabs were thus in intimate intercourse with the Jews, and the
sons of the desert, whose unpoetical mythology afforded them no matter
for inspiration, derived much instruction from Judaism. Under these
circumstances many Arabs could not fail to develop peculiar affection
for Judaism, and some embraced this religion, though their conversion
had not been thought of by the Jews. As they had practised circumcision
while heathen, their conversion to Judaism was particularly easy.
The members of a family among the Arabs were indissolubly bound to
one another, and, according to their phylarchic constitution, the
individuals identified themselves with the tribe. This brought about,
that when a chieftain became a Jew, his whole clan at once followed
him, the wisest, into the fold of Judaism. It is expressly recorded
about several Arabian tribes that they were converted to Judaism; such
were the Benu-Kinanah, a warlike, quarrelsome clan, related to the
most respected Koraishites of Mecca, and several other families of the
tribes Aus and Chazraj in Yathrib.
Especially memorable, however, in the history of the Arabs is the
conversion to Judaism of a powerful king of Yemen. The princes or kings
of Yemen bore the name of Tobba, and at times ruled over the whole
of Arabia; they traced their historical origin back to Himyar, their
legendary origin to Kachtan. One of these kings, who went by the name
of Abu-Kariba Assad-Tobban, was a man of judgment, knowledge, poetical
endowments, and of valor which incited him to conquest. Abu-Kariba
therefore undertook (about 500) an expedition against Persia and the
Arabian provinces of the Byzantine empire. On his march he passed
through Yathrib, the capital of northern Arabia, and not expecting
treachery from the inhabitants of the town, left his son there as
governor. Hardly, however, had he proceeded further, when he received
the sad intelligence that the people of Yathrib had killed his son.
Smitten with grief, he turned back in order to wreak bloody vengeance
on the perfidious city, and after cutting down the palm trees, from
which the inhabitants derived their principal sustenance, laid siege to
it with his numerous band of warriors. A Jewish poet composed an elegy
on the ruined palm trees, which the Arabs loved like living beings,
and the destruction of which they bewailed like the death of dear
relatives. The Jews rivaled the Chazraj Arabs in bravery in resisting
Abu-Kariba's attack, and finally succeeded in tiring out his troops.
During the siege, the Himyarite king was seized with a severe illness,
and no fresh water could be discovered in the neighborhood to quench
his burning thirst. Two Jewish teachers of the Law from Yathrib, Kaab
and Assad by name, took advantage of Abu-Kariba's exhaustion to betake
themselves to his tent, and persuade him to pardon the inhabitants of
Yathrib and raise the siege. The Arabs have woven a tissue of legend
about this interview, but it is certain that the Jewish sages found
opportunity to discourse to Abu-Kariba of Judaism, and succeeded in
inspiring him with a lively interest for it. The exhortations of Kaab
and Assad raised his sympathy to so high a pitch that he determined to
embrace the Jewish faith, and induced the Himyarite army to do likewise.
At his desire the two Jewish sages of Yathrib accompanied him to Yemen,
in order to convert his people to Judaism. This conversion, however,
was not easy, for a nation does not cast off its opinions, usages and
bad habits at will. There remained as many heathens as Jews in the
land; they retained their temples, and were allowed to profess their
religion unmolested. Altogether the Judaism which the king of Yemen
professed must have been very superficial, and cannot have influenced
to an appreciable extent the customs or the mode of living of the
people. A prince of the noble tribe of the Kendites, a nephew of the
king of Yemen, Harith Ibn-Amru by name, also embraced the Jewish faith.
Abu-Kariba appointed him as viceroy of the Maaddites on the Red Sea,
and also gave him the government of Mecca and Yathrib. With Harith
a number of the Kendites went over to Judaism. The news of a Jewish
king and a Jewish empire in the most beautiful and fertile part of
Arabia was spread abroad by the numerous foreigners who visited the
country for the purpose of trade, and reached the Jews of the most
distant lands. It was asserted that they had settled there before the
destruction of the First Temple and the fall of the Israelite kingdom.
Abu-Kariba's reign did not last long after his adoption of Judaism.
His warlike nature prevented him from maintaining peace, and prompted
him to engage in bold enterprises. It is said that in one of these
campaigns he was slain by his own soldiers, who were worn out with
fatigue and weary marches. He left three sons, Hassan, Amru, and
Zorah, all of whom were minors.
Zorah, the youngest (520-530), was nicknamed Dhu-Nowas (curly-locks) on
account of his fine head of hair. He was a zealous disciple of Judaism,
and for that reason gave himself the Hebrew name Yussuf. But his zeal
for the religion of which his father had also been an enthusiastic
advocate continually involved him in difficulties, and brought
misfortune to him, his kingdom, and the Jews of Himyara. King Zorah
Yussuf Dhu-Nowas had heard how his co-religionists in the Byzantine
kingdom suffered from daily persecution. He felt deeply for them, and
wished therefore by retaliation to force the Byzantine emperors to
render justice to the Jews. When some Roman (Byzantine) merchants were
traveling on business through Himyara, the king had them seized and
put to death. This spread terror among the Christian merchants who
traded with the country whence come the sweet perfumes and the wealth
of India. It also caused the Indian and Arabian trade to decline. In
consequence of this, Dhu-Nowas involved his people in an exhausting war.
A neighboring king, Aidug, who still adhered to heathenism, reproached
the Jewish king for his impolitic step in destroying the trade with
Europe. The excuse Dhu-Nowas made was that many notable Jews in
Byzantium were innocently put to death every year. This, however,
made no impression upon Aidug. He declared war against Dhu-Nowas and
defeated him in battle (521). As the outcome of his victory, Aidug is
said to have embraced Christianity. Dhu-Nowas was not killed in this
battle, as the Christian authorities relate, but made another effort,
and through his impetuosity entangled himself in new difficulties.
Najaran, in Yemen, was inhabited chiefly by Christians; it had, too, a
Christian chief, Harith (Aretas) Ibn-Kaleb, who was a feudatory of the
Jewish-Himyaritic kingdom. Harith probably did not perform his feudal
duties in the war against Aidug, or he may have committed other acts of
insubordination. One account relates that two young Jews were murdered
in Najaran, and that the chief Harith was cognizant thereof. The Jewish
king was therefore much displeased; at any rate, Dhu-Nowas had a
pretext for chastising the ruler of Najaran as a rebel. He besieged the
town, and reduced the inhabitants to such straits that they were forced
to capitulate. Three hundred and forty chosen men, with Harith at their
head, repaired to Dhu-Nowas's camp to sign the terms of peace (523).
There, it is said, the king of Himyara, although he had assured the men
of immunity from punishment, determined either to force them to accept
Judaism or to put them to death. As they refused to renounce their
faith, it is reported that they were executed, and their bodies thrown
into the river. The entire account is so completely legendary that it
is impossible to discover any historical fact. This much is certain:
Dhu-Nowas levied a heavy tribute on the Christians in the kingdom of
Himyara as a reprisal for the persecution of his co-religionists in
Christian countries.
The news of the events in Najaran spread like wildfire; the number
of the victims was exaggerated, and the punishment of the rebels
was stigmatized as a persecution of the Christians on the part of a
Jewish king. An elegy was composed on the martyrs. Simeon, a Syrian
bishop, who was traveling to northern Arabia, did his utmost to rouse
up enemies against Dhu-Nowas. Simeon believed the exaggerated account
which had been circulated. He sent an incisive letter to another bishop
who lived near Arabia, imploring him to set the Christians against the
Jewish king, and to incite the Nejus (king) of Ethiopia to war against
him. He also proposed to imprison the teachers of Judaism in Tiberias,
and to compel them to write to Dhu-Nowas to put a stop for their sake
to the persecution of the Christians. The Emperor Justin the First,
a weak and foolish old man, was also asked to make war on the Jewish
king. But his people were engaged in a war against the Persians, and
he therefore replied, "Himyara is too far from us, and I cannot allow
my army to march through a sandy desert for so great a distance. But I
will write to the king of Ethiopia to send troops to Himyara."
Thus, many enemies conspired to ruin one who had attempted to assist
his co-religionists in every way. Dhu-Nowas's most formidable enemy
was Elesbaa (Atzbaha), the Nejus of Ethiopia, a monarch full of
religious zeal. He beheld with jealousy the crown on the head of a
Jew, and required no persuasion to fight, for the Jewish kingdom had
long been a thorn in his side. Elesbaa equipped a powerful fleet,
which the Byzantine Emperor, or rather young Justinian, his co-regent,
re-inforced with ships from Egypt. A numerous army crossed the narrow
strait of the Red Sea to Yemen. The Christian soldiers were united with
this army. Dhu-Nowas, it is true, took measures to prevent the landing
of the Ethiopian army by barring the landing-places with chains, and
gathering an army on his side. The army of Himyara, however, was
inferior in numbers to that of Ethiopia, but the king relied on his
faithful and courageous cavalry. The first engagement terminated
disastrously for Dhu-Nowas. The town of Zafara (Thafar) fell into
the hands of the enemy, and with it the queen and the treasures. The
Himyaran soldiers lost all courage. Yussuf Dhu-Nowas, who saw that
there was no escape, and who was unwilling to fall into the hands of
his arrogant foe, plunged, with his steed, from a rock into the sea,
his body being carried far away (530). The victorious Ethiopians raged
in Himyara with fire and sword, plundering, massacring, and taking
the unarmed prisoners. They were so enraged at the Jews in Himyara
that they massacred thousands as an atoning sacrifice for the supposed
Christian martyrs of Najaran. Such was the end of the Jewish kingdom of
Himyara, which arose in a night and disappeared in a night.
About this time the Jews of Yathrib fell into strife with the
neighboring tribes of Arabia. The Jews in Yathrib, on account of their
intimate relation with the king of Himyara, whose authority extended
over the province, ruled over the heathen, and a Jewish chief was
governor. The Arabians of the Kailan race (Aus and Chazraj) hated the
rule of the Jews, and seized the opportunity of rebelling when the
Jews could not rely on assistance from Himyara. An Arabian chief of
the Ghassanid race, Harith Ibn Abu Shammir, who was closely related
to the Kailan race, was invited to lead his troops towards Yathrib.
This brave and adventurous prince of Arabia, who was attached to the
Byzantine court, accepted the invitation. In order not to arouse the
suspicions of the Jews, Ibn Abu Shammir gave out that he intended
going to Himyara. He encamped near Yathrib, and invited the Jewish
chiefs to visit him. Many of them came, expecting to be welcomed with
the prince's usual generosity, and to be loaded with presents. But as
they entered the tent of the Ghassanid prince, they were one by one
murdered. Thereupon Ibn Abu Shammir exclaimed to the Arabs of Yathrib:
"I have freed you from a great part of your enemies; now it will be
easy for you to master the rest, if you have strength and courage." He
then departed. The Arabs, however, did not venture to engage openly
with the Jews, but had recourse to a stratagem. During a banquet, all
the Jewish chiefs were killed, as well as Alghitjun or Sherif, the
Jewish prince. Deprived of their leaders, the Jews of Yathrib were
easily conquered by the Arabians, and they were obliged to give up
their strongholds to them (530-535). It was a long time before they
could get over the loss of their power and the sense of defeat. The
insecurity of their lives taught them dissimulation, and they gradually
placed themselves under the protection of one or another tribe, and
so became dependents (Mawâli) of Aus and Chazraj. They hoped for the
coming of the Messiah to crush their enemies.
Harith Ibn Abu Shammir, the Ghassanid prince, on his return from
Yathrib, commenced a feud with a Jewish poet, who thereby became
renowned throughout Arabia. Samuel Ibn-Adiya (born about 500 and
died about 560), whose martial spirit was shown in the attacks of
the Ghassanids, won immortality through his friendship with the most
celebrated poet of Arabia in the time before Mahomet. His biography
gives an insight into the life of the Jews of Arabia of that time.
According to some, Samuel was descended from the heathen race of
the Ghassanids; according to others, he was of Jewish origin, or
to be more correct, he had an Arabian mother and a Jewish father.
Adiya, his father, had lived in Yathrib until he built a castle in
the neighborhood of Taima, which, from its many colors, was called
Al-ablak, and has been immortalized in Arabic poetry. Samuel, the chief
of a small tribe, was so respected in Hejas that the weaker tribes
placed themselves under his protection. Ablak was a refuge for the
persecuted and exiled, and the owner of the castle defended those under
his roof at the risk of his life.
Imrulkais Ibn Hojr, the adventurous son of the Kendite prince, and
at the same time the most distinguished poet of Arabia, was hemmed
in on all sides by secret and open enemies, and could find shelter
nowhere except in Samuel's safe retreat. The Jewish poet, the lord of
the castle, was proud to afford a refuge to Arabia's most celebrated
writer, whose fame and adventures were known throughout the peninsula.
Imrulkais took his daughter and what remained of his retinue to Ablak,
and lived there for some time. As the Kendite prince had no prospect
of obtaining the assistance of the Arabs to avenge the murder of his
father, and to regain his paternal inheritance, he endeavored to
win over Justinian, the Byzantine Emperor. Before starting on his
journey, he charged Samuel with the care of his daughter, his cousin,
and of five valuable coats of mail and other arms. Samuel promised
to guard the persons and the goods entrusted to him as he would the
apple of his eye. But these arms brought misfortune on him. When the
Ghassanid prince was in Hejas he went to Ablak, Samuel's castle,
and demanded the surrender of Imrulkais' arms. Samuel refused to
surrender them according to his promise. Harith then laid siege to the
castle. Finding it impregnable, however, the tyrant had recourse to a
barbarous expedient to compel Samuel to submit. One of Samuel's sons
was taken outside the citadel by his nurse, and Harith captured him,
and threatened to kill him unless Samuel acceded to his request. The
unfortunate father hesitated for only a moment between duty to his
guest and affection for his son; his sense of duty prevailed, and he
said to the Ghassanid prince: "Do what you will; time always avenges
treachery, and my son has brothers." Unmoved by such magnanimity, the
despot slew the son before his father's eyes. Nevertheless, Harith
had to withdraw from Ablak without accomplishing his object. The
Arab proverb, "Faithful as Samuel," used to express undying faith,
originated from this circumstance.
Many blamed him for the sacrifice of his son; but he defended himself
in a poem, full of noble sentiments, courage and chivalrous ideas:--
Oh, ye censurers, cease to blame the man
Who so oft has defied your censure.
You should, when erring, have guided me aright,
Instead of leading me astray with empty words.
I have preserved the Kendite coats of mail;
Another may betray the trust confided him!
Thus did Adiya, my father, counsel me in by-gone days:
"O Samuel, destroy not what I have built up!"
For me he built a strong and safe place, where
I ne'er feared to give defiance to my oppressor.
Before his death (about 560) Samuel could look back with pride on his
chivalrous life and on the protection he had afforded the weak. His
swan-song runs:--
Oh, would that I knew, the day my loss is lamented,
What testimony my mourners would afford me;
Whether they will say "Stay with us! For
In many a trouble you have comforted us;
The rights you had you ne'er resigned,
Yet needed no reminder to give theirs to others."
Shoraich, his son, followed in his father's footsteps. He was a brave
and noble man. On one occasion Maimun Asha, the celebrated Arabic
poet, whose ungovernable temper raised many enemies against him, was
pursued by an adversary, and having been captured, he was, by chance
and without being recognized, taken with other prisoners to Taima, the
castle of Shoraich. Here, in order to obtain his release, he sang a
poem in praise of Samuel:--
Be like Samuel, when the fierce warrior
Pressed heavily around him with his array;
"Choose between the loss of a child and faithlessness!"
Oh, evil choice which thou hadst to make!
But quickly and calmly did he reply:
"Kill thy captive, I fulfil my pledges."
Towards the end of the sixth century, the Jews of Yathrib had nearly
recovered from the oppressive blows dealt them by their neighbors in
Arabia. Their rulers, the Aus and Chazraj, had exhausted themselves in
bloody feuds which lasted twenty years, whilst their allies suffered
less. In consequence of another war between the same tribes, the Jews
again rose to importance in Yathrib.
Judaism not only won over to its side many tribes in Arabia, and taught
the sons of the desert certain indispensable arts, but it also inspired
the founder of a religion, who played an important part in the great
drama of the world's history, and whose influence survives to this
day. Mahomet, the prophet of Mecca and Yathrib, was, it is true, not
a loyal son of Judaism, but he appreciated its highest aims, and was
induced by it to give to the world a new faith, known as Islam, founded
on a lofty basis. This religion has exercised a wonderful influence on
the course of Jewish history and on the evolution of Judaism. In the
peaceful meetings in Mecca, his birthplace, at the public markets, and
on his travels, Abdallah's son heard much spoken of the religion which
acknowledges the belief in one God, who rules the world. He heard much
of Abraham, who devoted himself to the service of God, and of religion
and morality, which gave the disciples of Judaism the advantage
over infidels. Mahomet's mind, at once original and receptive, was
powerfully impressed by all this. Waraka Ibn-Naufal, a celebrated
Meccan, and a descendant of the noble Khoraish race, was a cousin of
Chadija, Mahomet's wife, and he had embraced Judaism and knew Hebrew
well. He certainly imbued Mahomet with a love for the religion of
Abraham.
Mahomet's first doctrines were strongly tinged with Jewish coloring. He
first conceived them when suffering from epilepsy, and he communicated
them to his friends, pretending that they were revealed to him by
the angel Gabriel. First and foremost he proclaimed the simple but
fundamental principle of Judaism: "There is no God but Allah"; later
his pride led him to add as an integral part of the confession of
faith, "and Mahomet is his prophet." Judaism may justly consider
his teachings a victory of its own truths and a fulfilment of the
prophecy that "one day every knee will bend to the only God, and every
tongue will worship Him," for Mahomet taught the unity of God, that
there are no gods beside Him (anti-trinity), and that He may not be
represented by any image. He preached against the dissolute idolatry
which was practised with 300 idols in the Kaaba; he declaimed against
the immorality which was openly and shamelessly practised amongst the
Arabs; he condemned the revolting practice of parents who from fear
or in order to be rid of them drowned their new-born daughters, and
he declared that there was nothing new in all these changes, but that
they were commanded by the faith of the ancient religion of Abraham. A
similar thing had happened at the time when Paul of Tarsus first made
known to the Hellenes the history and principles of Judaism.
The best teachings in the Koran are borrowed from the Bible or the
Talmud. In consequence of the difficulties which Mahomet for several
years (612-633) had to encounter in Mecca on account of these purified
doctrines, there grew around the sound kernel a loathsome husk.
Mahomet's connection with the Jews of Arabia assisted not a little in
determining and modifying the teachings of Islam. Portions of the Koran
are devoted to them, at times in a friendly, at times in a hostile
spirit.
When Mahomet failed in obtaining a hearing in Mecca, the seat of
idolatrous worship in Arabia, and even ran the risk of losing his life
there, he addressed himself to some men from Yathrib, and urged them
to accept his doctrines. These men were more familiar with Jewish
doctrines than the Meccans; they found in Mahomet's revelations a close
analogy to what they had often heard from their Jewish neighbors.
They, therefore, showed themselves inclined to follow him, and caused
him to be invited to Yathrib, where his teachings were likely to be
favorably received on account of the numerous Jews residing there. As
soon as he came there (622, the year of expatriation--Hejira), Mahomet
took care to win over the Jews of Yathrib and to set forth his aims, as
though he desired to bring about the universal recognition of Judaism
in Arabia. When he saw the Jews fasting on the day of Atonement, he
said, "It becomes us more than Jews to fast on this day," and he
established a fast-day (Ashura). Mahomet entered into a formal alliance
for mutual defense with the Jewish tribes, and instituted the custom of
turning towards Jerusalem in prayer (Kiblah). In the disputes between
the Jews and his disciples (Moslems), which were submitted to his
judgment, he behaved leniently to the Jews. For this reason Mahomet's
disciples preferred to bring the matters in dispute before a Jewish
chief, because they expected more impartiality from him than from
Mahomet. Mahomet for a long time employed a Jewish scribe to do his
correspondence, he himself being unable to write. These advances on
the part of a man of so much promise were very flattering to the Jews
of Medina. They looked upon him to some extent as a Jewish proselyte,
and expected to see Judaism through him attain to power in Arabia. Some
of them followed him devotedly and were his faithful allies (Ansar);
amongst them was a learned youth, Abdallah Ibn-Salâm, of the race of
Kainukaa. Abdallah and other Jews assisted Mahomet in propagating the
Koran. The unbelieving Arabs frequently reproached him, saying that
he was an ear (accepted anything as truth), that it was not the angel
Gabriel who was teaching him, but a mortal man. Nevertheless, though
Abdallah Ibn-Salâm and other Jewish Ansars supported him, they were
far from abandoning Judaism on this account, and continued to observe
the Jewish commandments, and Mahomet was at first not offended by this
conduct.
But only a small number of the Jews of Medina joined the band of
believers, particularly when they perceived his selfish efforts, his
haughtiness, and his insatiable love of women. They bore in their
hearts too high an ideal of their ancient prophets to place this
enthusiast, who longed after every beautiful woman, on an equal footing
with them. "See him," said the Jews, "he is not satisfied with food,
and has no other desire than that of being surrounded by women. If he
is a prophet, he should confine himself to his duties as a prophet,
and not turn to women." Other Jews said: "If Mahomet is a prophet, he
should appear in Palestine, for only in that place God appears unto his
elect." The Jews also objected to him, saying, "You pride yourself on
being of Abraham's faith, but Abraham did not use the flesh and milk
of camels." Mahomet's chief opponents on the Jewish side were Pinehas
Ibn-Azura, a man of caustic wit, who seized every opportunity to make
Mahomet appear ridiculous; furthermore, the far-famed Kaab Ibn-Asharaf,
the offspring of an Arab father and a Jewish mother; a poet, Abu-Afak,
an old man more than a hundred years old, who endeavored to arouse hate
against Mahomet amongst the ignorant Arabs; and Abdallah, the son of
Saura, who was looked upon as the most learned Jew in Hejas. Pinehas
is the author of a witty answer to Mahomet's invitation to the Jewish
tribe of Benu-Kainukaa to accept Islam. Mahomet, in his epistle, had
used the words: "Lend yourselves unto God as a beautiful pledge."
Pinehas answered, "God is so poor that He borrows from us!" Thus the
Jewish opponents of Mahomet placed a ridiculous meaning on his sayings
and revelations, and treated him contemptuously, not anticipating
that the fugitive from Mecca, who had come to Medina for assistance,
would shortly humble and in part destroy their tribes, and that he
would control the destiny of many of their co-religionists in times
to come. They relied too much on their own courage and strength, and
forgot that the most dangerous enemy is he whom one disregards too
much. Mahomet, indeed, with sly dissimulation, at first accepted the
contempt bestowed on him by the Jews with apparent equanimity. He
advised his disciples, "Fight only in a becoming manner with the people
who believe in the Holy Writ (Jews), and say: We believe in that which
has been revealed to us and to you. Our God is the same as yours, and
we are faithful to Him." But the mutual discontent made it difficult to
maintain peace permanently. On the one side, the Jews did their best to
alienate Mahomet's followers. They succeeded in prejudicing the first
man in Medina, the Chazrajite Abdallah Ibn-Ubey, against Mahomet, so
that he remained antagonistic to Mahomet to the end of his days. This
man was about to be elected king of his town, but through the arrival
of Mahomet he had been cast into the shade. On the other side, his
followers urged him to declare to what extent he held to Judaism. They
saw that his disciples amongst the Jews still continued to observe the
Jewish laws, and to abstain from camel's flesh, and they said to him,
"If the Torah be a divine book, then let us follow its teachings."
Since Mahomet was thoroughly an Arab, he could not join Judaism, and
he perceived that the Arabs would not conform to religious customs
which were quite strange to them. So it only remained for him to break
with the Jews definitely. He thereupon published a long Sura (called
the Sura of the Cow), full of invectives against the Jews. He altered
the position assumed in prayer, and decreed that the believers should
no longer turn their faces towards Jerusalem, but towards Mecca and
the Kaaba. He discarded fasting on the day of Atonement (Ashura), and
instituted instead the holy month Ramadhan, as had been customary
among the Arabs from very ancient times. He was obliged to withdraw
much of what he had in the beginning given out as God's revelation.
Mahomet now asserted that the Torah had contained many allusions to his
appearance and calling as a prophet, but that the Jews had expunged
the passages. At first he declared that the Jews were possessed of the
true faith; later on he said that they honored Ezra (Ozaïr) as the
son of God, just as the Christians did Jesus, and that the Jews were
consequently to be regarded as infidels. His hatred against the Jews,
who refused to accept his prophecies, and saw through his designs,
continually widened the breach between them and him.
Although he hated the Jews in his innermost heart, yet he did not
venture to provoke them by acts of violence, because his authority
was not sufficiently great, and the Jews outnumbered his followers.
But after the battle at Bedr (in the winter of 624), when the small
body of Mahometans gained a victory over the numerous Koraishites, the
situation changed. Mahomet, whose power was greatly increased through
this victory, exchanged the attitude of a humble prophet for that of
a fanatical tyrant, to whom any measure, even assassination, was a
justifiable means of freeing himself from his enemies. However, he was
prudent enough to avoid becoming involved in disputes with the powerful
Jewish tribes; he began with the weak and defenseless. A poetess, Asma,
daughter of Merwan, who was of Jewish descent, and married to an Arab,
was murdered at night whilst asleep (because she had composed satires
against the false prophet), and he commended the murderer. Thereupon
the Jewish tribe Kainukaa experienced his religious wrath. It was the
weakest of the Jewish-Arabian tribes, and to it belonged that Pinehas
Ibn-Azura, whose sarcastic wit had made Mahomet appear in a ridiculous
light. The pretext was of the slightest kind. A Mahometan had killed a
Jew on account of a poor practical joke, and the Kainukaa avenged his
death. Mahomet thereupon challenged them to profess Islam, or to accept
war as the alternative. They replied: "We are, it is true, for peace,
and would gladly maintain our alliance with you; but since you desire
to make war upon us, we will show that we have no fear." They reckoned
upon the assistance of the tribes of Nadhir and Kuraiza, who were their
co-religionists, and withdrew to their fortresses at Medina. Mahomet
collected his troops, and besieged the Kainukaa. Had the numerous Jews
of northern Arabia, Nadhir, Kuraiza, and those of Chaibar, who, like
the Kainukaa, were threatened, come to their assistance, and had they,
before it was too late, made an offensive and defensive alliance, they
would have been able to crush Mahomet and his straggling followers, on
whose fidelity, moreover, he could not entirely rely. But the Jews,
like the Arabs, were divided, and each tribe had only its own interests
in view. The Kainukaa fought desperately for fifteen days, expecting
re-inforcements from their co-religionists. But as these did not come,
they surrendered to the enemy. Mahomet had all the Jews of Kainukaa put
in chains with the intention of killing them; but a word from Abdallah
Ibn-Ubey, their ally, made him draw back with alarm from his purpose.
Abdallah laid hold of his shirt of mail, and said: "I will not let you
go until you promise me to spare the captives; for they constitute my
strength; they have defended me against the black people and the red
people." To which Mahomet replied: "Let them be free; may God condemn
them, and Abdallah with them!" The Jews of Kainukaa, 700 in number,
were obliged to leave their possessions behind, and they set out for
Palestine in a most destitute condition (February, 624). They settled
in Batanea, whose chief town was Adraat, where they were probably
received in a fraternal manner by their co-religionists, who, at this
time, were free from the Byzantine yoke.
After the victory over the Kainukaa, Mahomet communicated to the
Moslems a revelation against the Jews, which deprived them of every
protection: "O ye believers, choose ye not Jews and Christians as
allies; they may protect themselves. He who befriends them is one
of them; God tolerates no sinful people." This exclusion was less
harmful to the Christians, as they were not numerously represented in
northern Arabia, and generally kept themselves neutral. The Jews, on
the contrary, who were accustomed to independence, and who were full of
warlike courage, became involved in numerous disputes by this act of
outlawry. Their former allies for the most part renounced them, and at
Mahomet's bidding, took spiteful vengeance on them.
With this mutual, deadly hatred existing between Mahomet and the Jews,
it is said that the Benu-Nadhir invited him one day to their castle
of Zuhara with the intention of hurling him from the terraces and
thus ending his life. At that time their chief was Hujej Ibn-Achtab.
Mahomet accepted the invitation, but watched the movements of the
Jews. Suspecting that they desired his death, he stole away and
hastened to Medina. The Jews of Nadhir paid dearly, it is said, for
this treacherous project. Mahomet gave them the choice of quitting
their homes within ten days, or of preparing for death. The Nadhir
were resolved at first to avoid war and to emigrate, but encouraged by
Abdallah, who promised them assistance, they accepted the challenge
which had been thrown down. They, however, waited in vain for the
assistance promised to them. Mahomet commenced operations against them,
and uprooted and burnt the date-trees which supplied them with food.
His own people rebelled at this proceeding, for to these unscrupulous
warriors a palm was holier than a man's life. After several days of
siege, the Nadhir were obliged to capitulate, and the terms were that
they should depart without arms, and that they should take only a
certain portion of their possessions--as much as a camel could carry.
They thereupon emigrated to the number of six hundred, some of them
going to their countrymen in Chaibar, and some settling in Jericho and
Adraat (June-July, 625). The war against the Nadhirites was, later on,
justified by Mahomet through a revelation of the Koran, which read:
"All in the heavens and earth praise God; He is the most honored, the
most wise. He it is who drove out the unbelievers amongst the people of
the Book from their dwelling places (Kainukaa), to send them to those
who had already emigrated. You thought not that they would go forth,
they themselves thought that their strong places would protect them
from God himself, but God attacked them unexpectedly, and threw terror
into their hearts, so that their houses were destroyed with their own
hands, as well as laid waste by believers." The exiled Benu-Nadhir, who
had remained in Arabia, did not accept their misfortune quietly, but
exerted themselves to form a coalition with the enemies of Mahomet in
order to attack him with combined forces. Three respected Nadhirites,
Hujej, Kinanah Ibn-ol-Rabia, and Sallam Ibn Mishkam, incited the
Koraishites in Mecca, in alliance with the mighty tribe of the Ghatafan
and others, to make war against the haughty tyrannical prophet, who was
daily becoming more powerful and more cruel. The enemies of Mahomet in
Mecca, though filled with rage against him, were first incited by the
Jews to join battle with him.
Through the activity of the Nadhirites the Arabian tribes were
induced to join in the war. They found it more difficult, however,
to induce their co-religionists, the Benu-Kuraiza, to take part.
Kaab-Ibn-Assad, the governor of Kuraiza, at first would not receive
the Nadhirite Hujej, who had desired his protection, because his
tribe had made an alliance with Mahomet and the Moslems, and he was
so guileless as to rely on Mahomet's word. Hujej managed to convince
him of the danger which threatened the Jews, and to persuade him that
the victory of so many allies over the less numerous Moslems was
certain. The Benu-Kuraiza yielded to his arguments. Ten thousand of
the allied troops took the field, and intended to surprise Medina.
Mahomet, forewarned by a deserter, would not allow his army, which was
inferior in numbers, to fight a pitched battle. He fortified Medina
by surrounding it with a deep ditch and other defenses. The Arabs,
accustomed to fight in single combat, vainly discharged their arrows
against the fortifications. Mahomet succeeded finally in sowing the
seeds of mutual distrust among the chief allies, viz., the Koraishites,
the Ghatafan and the Jews.
The "War of the Fosse" terminated favorably for Mahomet, and very
unhappily for the Jews, upon whom the whole of his wrath now fell. On
the day after the departure of the allies, Mahomet, with 3000 men,
took the field against Kuraiza, announcing that he was thus obeying
an express revelation. His next step was to arouse the enthusiasm
of his followers in the cause of the war. "Let him that is obedient
offer up his prayers in the neighborhood of Kuraiza," was the formula
with which he exhorted them. The Jews, unable to resist in a battle,
retired to their fortresses, which they put into a state of defense.
Here they were besieged by Mahomet and his troops for twenty-five days
(February-March, 627). Food then began to fail the besieged, and it
became necessary to think of capitulation. They besought Mahomet to
treat them as he had treated their brethren, the Nadhirites, viz.,
allow them to withdraw with their wives, their children, and a portion
of their property. The vindictive prophet, however, refused their
request, and demanded unconditional surrender.
Nearly 700 Jews, amongst them the chiefs Kaab and Hujej, were
ruthlessly slaughtered in the market-place, and their bodies thrown
into a common grave. The market-place was thenceforth called the
Kuraiza Place. And all this was done in the name of God! The Koran
makes reference to it in the following verse: "God drove out of their
fortresses those of the people of the Book [the Jews] who assisted
the allies, and he cast into their hearts terror and dismay. Some of
them you put to flight, some you took captive; he has caused you to
inherit their land, their houses, and their wealth, and a land which
you have not trodden; for God is almighty." The women were bartered for
weapons and horses. Mahomet wished to retain one of the captives, a
beautiful girl, Rihana by name, as his concubine; she, however, proudly
rejected his advances. Only one of the Kuraiza remained alive, a
certain Zabir Ibn-Bata, and he only by the intercession of Thabit, one
of his friends. Full of joy, the latter hastened to the aged Zabir, to
tell him of his fortune. "I thank thee," said the Jewish sage, who lay
in fetters; "but tell me what has become of our leader Kaab?" "He is
dead," answered Thabit. "And Hujej Ibn-Achtab, the prince of the Jews?"
"He is dead," he again replied. "And Azzel Ibn-Samuel, the fearless
warrior?" "He, too, is dead," was his answer again. "Then I do not care
to live," said Zabir. The old man begged that he might die by the hands
of his friend. His wish was granted.
A year later came the turn of the Jews in the district of Chaibar, a
confederacy of small Jewish states. This war, however, was protracted
into a long campaign, because the province had a number of fortresses
which were in a good state of repair, and were well defended. The
exiled Nadhirites in Chaibar roused their comrades to vigorous
resistance. The Arab races of Ghatafan and Fezara had promised
assistance. The leading spirit of the Chaibarites was the exiled
Nadhirite, Kinanah Ibn Rabia, a man who possessed indomitable firmness
and courage. He was called the King of the Jews, and was abetted by
Marhab, a giant of Himyarite extraction. Mahomet, before the beginning
of the war, turned in prayer to God, beseeching him to grant a victory
over the Jews of Chaibar. The war, in which Mahomet employed 14,000
warriors, lasted almost two months (Spring 628).
The war against Chaibar assumed the same character as that which was
waged against the other Jewish tribes. It was begun by the cutting
down of the palm trees, and the siege of the small fortresses, which
surrendered after a short resistance. Mahomet met the most vigorous
resistance at the fortress Kamus, which was built on a steep rock.
The Mahometans were several times beaten back by the Jews. Abu-Bekr
and Omar, Mahomet's two bravest generals, lost their distinction
as unconquered heroes before the walls of Kamus. Marhab performed
wonderful feats of valor, to avenge the death of his brother, who had
fallen earlier in the war.
When Mahomet sent his third general, Ali, against him, the Jewish hero
addressed him thus: "Chaibar knows my valor, I am Marhab the hero,
well armed and tried in the field." He then challenged Ali to single
combat. But his time had come. He fell at the hands of his peer. After
many attempts, the enemy succeeded in effecting an entrance into the
fortress. How the captives fared is not known. Kinanah was captured
and put on the rack in order to force him to discover his hidden
treasures. But he bore pain and even death without uttering a word.
After the fortress had fallen, the Jews lost courage, and the other
fortresses surrendered on condition that the garrisons should be
allowed to withdraw. They were subsequently allowed to take possession
of their lands, and only had to pay as an annual tribute one half
of their produce. The Mahometan conquerors took possession of all
the movable property, and returned home laden with the spoils of the
Jews. Fadak, Wadil-Kora and Taima also submitted. Their inhabitants,
according to agreement, were allowed to remain in their land. The year
628 everywhere was distinguished by fatalities for the Jews. It marks
the victory of Mahomet over the Jews of Chaibar, the decay of the last
independent Jewish tribes, and the persecution of the Jews of Palestine
by the Emperor Heraclius, who had, for a short time, again taken up
arms. The sword which the Hasmoneans had wielded in defense of their
religion, and which was in turn used by the Zealots and the Arabian
Jews, was wrung from the hands of the last Jewish heroes of Chaibar,
and henceforth the Jews had to make use of another weapon for the
protection of their sanctuary.
Mahomet had brought two pretty Jewish women with him from the war at
Chaibar: Safia, the daughter of his inveterate enemy, the Nadhirite
Hujej, and Zainab, the sister of Marhab. This courageous woman
bethought herself of an artifice, whereby she might avenge the murder
of her co-religionists and relatives. She pretended to be friendly
towards him, and prepared a repast for him. Mahomet unsuspectingly ate
of a poisoned dish which she had set before him and his companions.
One of them died from the effects. But Mahomet, who, not having found
the dish to his taste, had scarcely tasted it, was saved alive, but
suffered for a long time, and felt the effects of the poison to the
hour of his death. Questioned as to the reason of her action, Zainab
coolly replied, "You have persecuted my people with untold afflictions;
I therefore thought that if you were simply a warrior, I could procure
rest for them through poison, but if you were really a prophet, God
would warn you in time, and you would come to no harm."
Mahomet thereupon ordered her to be put to death, and commanded his
troops to use none of the cooking utensils of the Jews before they
had been scalded. The rest of the Jews did not even now give up the
hope of freeing themselves of their arch-enemy. They intrigued against
him, and made common cause with some ill-disposed Arabs. The house
of a Jew, Suwailim, in Medina was the appointed meeting-place for
the malcontents, whom Mahomet and his fanatic followers named "the
hypocrites" (Munafikun). A traitor betrayed them, and Suwailim's
house was burnt to the ground. The Jews in Arabia felt real joy at
Mahomet's death (632), because they, like others, believed that the
Arabs would be cured of their false belief that he was a higher being
endowed with immortality. But fanaticism, together with the love of war
and conquest, had already taken possession of the Arabians, and they
accepted the Koran as a whole, alike its revolting features and the
truths borrowed from Judaism, as the irrefragable Word of God. Judaism
had reared in Islam a second unnatural child. The Koran became the
book of faith of a great part of humanity in three parts of the world,
and, being full of hostile expressions against the Jews, it naturally
urged on the Mahometans to acts of hostility against the Jews. This
is paralleled by the effect which the Apostles and the Evangelists
produced upon the Christians. So great was the fanaticism of the second
Caliph, Omar, a man of a wild and energetic nature, that he broke the
treaty made by Mahomet with the Jews of Chaibar and Wadil-Kora. He
drove them from their lands, as he did also the Christians of Najaran,
in order that the holy ground of Arabia might not be desecrated by Jews
and Christians.
Omar assigned the landed property of the Jews to the Mahometan
warriors, and a strip of land near the town of Kufa, on the Euphrates,
was given them in return (about 640). But as no evil in history is
quite devoid of good consequences, the dominion of Islam furthered the
elevation of Judaism from its deepest degradation.