Chapter 41 : The Expulsion of Banu Qaynuqa Flashcards
Regarding The 3 Main Jewish Tribes in Madinah
- The 3 Main Jewish Tribes in Madinah were :-
1) Banu Nadir [ Mostly Agriculture ]
2) Banu Qurayza [ Mostly Agriculture ]
3) Banu Qaynuqa [ Specialized in Military Weapons and Smithing ]
- While most settlements in Madinah thrived on Agriculture, Banu Qaynuqa consisted of Craftsmen and Blacksmiths and their abundance of arms made them the most militarized Jewish Colony in Madinah
Banu Qaynuqa
- Banu Qaynuqa was A powerful Jewish Tribe that was A Party to The Madinan Charter
- They were primarily Gold / Silver Simths [ Not Farmers ]
- Ibn Ishaq mentions that after The Battle of Badr, The Banu Qaynuqa [ And perhaps even the other Jewish Tribes ] were saddened at the Loss of The Quraysh and at The Victory of The Muslims
- Ibn Ishaq has less than A page about The Expulsion of Banu Qaynuqa whereby he briefly states ‘ The Banu Qaynuqa increased in their hostility against Islam. ‘
An Incident Between The Prophet and Banu Qaynuqa
- On one occasion, The Prophet went to the marketplace of The Banu Qaynuqah and he gathered all of The Banu Qaynuqah together and admonished them about their attitude [ They had a lot of enmity against The Muslims especially after The Battle of Badr in which The Muslims defeated The Quraysh ] and reminded them of the clause in The Constitution of Madinah and invited them to Islam
- They scoffed [ Mock or Ridicule ] at his offer and challenged The Muslims to A real fight :-
” O Muhammad ! Do not deceive yourself, you merely fought A party of The Quraysh who were inexperienced at war. But if you want to fight us then know that we are an entire people ! And indeed you have not met up with anyone like us before. “
Why Did The Prophet Visit Banu Qaynuqa After The Battle of Badr
- To determine the truth about what was going on and to avoid letting Banu Qaynuqa to act as they pleased
- The Prophet paid A visit and invited them to ponder The Quraysh’s defeat
- The threatening tone from them confirmed The Prophet’s suspicions
Why Did Banu Qaynuqa Threaten The Prophet
- When The Prophet arrived in Madinah, he established a new economy
- He established his own market which charged No Tax and No Interest on Loans
- While this Tax Free Market eventually became a point of conflict between The Prophet and Banu Qaynuqa, his intention was not to antagonize them but rather to close the gap between The Wealthy and The Poor
The Quran on The Jews of Madinah
- The mockery of Banu Qaynuqa leaves no room for misinterpretation as it clear that The Jews did not consider The Prophet’s Covenant as binding [ Unbreakable ] upon them :-
” And among The People of The Book, there are some such that if you entrust one [ Of Them ] with A heap of wealth, he shall pay it back to you and among them are some such that if you entrust one [ Of Them ] with A Dinar, he shall not pay it back to you except that you remain standing over him, this is because they say ‘ There is not upon us in this matter of the unlearned / gentile [ Non Jewish ] people any way [ To Reproach ] ‘ and they tell A lie against Allah while they know. “
Al Quran [ 3 : 75 ]
- The Verse above indicates 2 things :-
1) Some Orientalist unfortunately pick and choose specific Verses from The Quran and say that Islam is an Antisemitic [ Prejudice / Hatred Against Jewish Religion ] Religion. The Beginning of The Verse above [ And many other Verses ] clearly show that Allah affirms the Piety and Trustworthiness of some people including The Jews [ Allah is impartial and if Allah sees corruption then he will condemn it irrespective of A person’s Creed even if that person is A Muslims as mentioned in some Verses in The Quran ]
2) The Jews believe even today that no Gentile [ Non Jewish ] can have any way against A Jewish [ They even claim that the behaviour was approved by their religion ] which was the reason why they felt that they did not need to follow their agreement with The Prophet [ They feel that they are not morally obligated to honour the terms and conditions between them and A gentile ]
- Surah 5 Verse 82 also states :-
” You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward The Believers [ To Be ] The Jews and those who associate others with Allah and you will find the nearest of them in affection to The Believers those who say ‘ We are Christians ‘. That is because among them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant “
Al Quran [ 5 : 82 ]
- The Verse above is a warning from Allah to the Muslims of Madinah that The Jews in Madinah do not look at The Muslims with the same respect [ As How The Muslims See The Jews ] as they see The Muslims as inferior to The Jews
- We cannot apply this Verse to all of the Jewish Community that we have today, We have to contextualize The Verse with respect to The Jews of Madinah [ Majority of The Jews ]
The Jews Conspiring With The Quraysh
- The Jews in Madinah begin colluding with The Quraysh as A means of obliterating the new religion and restoring the oasis of Yathrib to what it has been in the past [ Where The Jews Had A Monopoly Over The Market ]
- Despite their obvious betrayal, The Prophet ignores the treat
- Surah Al Imran addresses his challengers :-
” [ As For ] those who disbelieve, surely neither their wealth nor their children shall avail them in the least against Allah and those it is who are the fuel of the fire. Like the wont of The People of The Pharaoh and those before them, they rejected Our signs so Allah caught them for their sins and Allah is severe in requiting [ Evil ]. Say to those who disbelieve. You shall be vanquished and gathered to Hell and wretched is [ It As ] The Resting Place. Indeed there was A sign in the two hosts [ Which ] met together in encounter, one party fighting in the way of Allah and the other unbelieving, they [ The Believers ] saw them twice their number with the sight of the eye and Allah aids with His aid whom He pleases, most surely there is A lesson in this for those who have sight. It has been made to seem fair to men, the love of desires of women and sons and hoarded treasures of gold and silver and well bred horses and cattle and tilth, this is the provision of the life of this world and Allah is He with Whom is the best destination. Say ‘ Shall I tell you of what is better than these ? For those who guard [ Against Evil ] are gardens with their Lord beneath which rivers flow to abide in them and pure mates and Allah’s pleasure and Allah sees the servants. ‘ Those who say ‘ Our Lord ! Surely we believe therefore forgive us our sins and save us from the chastisement of the fire. ‘ The patient and the truthful and the devout [ Ones ] and those who spend [ Benevolently ] and those who ask for forgiveness before dawn. Allah bears witness that there is no God but He and [ So Do ] The Angels and those possessed of knowledge, maintaining [ His Creation ] with justice, there is no God but He, The Mighty, The Wise. “
Al Quran [ 3 : 10 - 18 ]
” O you who believe ! Do not take for intimate friends from among others than your own people, they do not fall short of inflicting loss upon you, they love what distresses you, vehement [ Brutal / Ferocious ] hatred has already appeared from out of their mouths and what their breasts conceal is greater still. Indeed We have made the signs clear to you if you would understand. Lo ! You are they who will love them while they do not love you and you believe in The Book [ in ] the whole of it and when they meet you they say ‘ We believe ‘ and when they are alone they bite the ends of their fingers in A rage against you. Say ‘ Die in your rage. ‘ Surely Allah knows what is in the breast. If good befall you, it grieves them and if an evil afflicts you, they rejoice at it and if you are patient and guard yourselves, their schemes will not injure you in any way, Surely Allah comprehends what they do. “
Al Quran [ 3 : 118 - 120 ]
Regarding The Expulsion of Banu Qaynuqa
- After The Makkan Defeat at The Battle of Badr, Ka’b Ibn Ashraf [ Chief of Banu Nadir ] travels to Makkah to recite Incendiary [ Provocative ] Poetry about The Prophet and his followers and Laments [ A passionate expression of grief or sorrow ] The Makkan who died at The Battle of Badr and urges The Quraysh to avenge their humiliating defeat
- In Madinah, Abdullah Ibn Salam [ Jewish Rabbi turned Muslim from Banu Qaynuqa ] informs The Prophet that his clan is plotting against the small Muslim community
- Around the same time, The Prophet receives guidance from Surah Al Anfal :-
” So if you come upon them [ fa-imma tathqafannahum ] in war, use them to scatter those [ fa-sharrid bihim ] who will come after them that they might be reminded. And if you fear treachery from A people then throw back [ Their Covenant ] to them so as to be on equal terms. Allah loves not the treacherous. Let not those who disbelieve think [ yahsabanna ] they shall take the lead [ sabaqu ], they shall thwart nothing [ la yu’jizun ]. Prepare against them [ wa a’iddulahum ] what force [ quwwatin ] you can and horses tethered [ ribat al khayl ] to frighten thereby [ tarhabuna bihi ] the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others beside them whom you do not know. Allah knows them. Whatever you spend in Allah’s way will be paid pack to you fully and you shall not be treated unjustly. If they incline [ janahu ] to peace [ salm ], incline to it and trust in Allah, He is The Hearing, The Knowing. “
Al Quran [ 8 : 57 - 61 ]
- The Verses above means :-
1) This is A command from Allah for The Faithful to fight them, pummel them then harangue [ Lenghty and Aggressive Speech ] them upon victory so that they might think twice about breaking treaties, running amuck in the land and diverging from the word of truth so that they might take heed of the ill consequences [ Verse 57 ]
2) If you make A treaty with A group of people and fear that they will renege [ Fail To Honour ] on it, throw it back at them and let them know that The Treaty has been abolished so you can be on equal footing. It is only fair that you both treat each other the same way. However, if you attack them before the treaty has been abolished, this would be treachery and God does not love traitors [ Verse 58 ]
3) Do not think that those who reject faith will outrace Allah and that Allah shall not reach them. They are not able to incapacitate Allah since he has power over all things [ Verse 59 ]
4) This is A command from Allah for The Faithful to ready your forces against them to strike terror into the hearts of the enemy of Allah and your enemy. This includes the known enemies of the faithful and others beside them [ The Hypocrites ( Those who clad themselves in the Garb of Faith ) + The Kuffar ( Non Believer / Infidel ) ] and whatever that is spent in the way of Allah does not go to waste and is not lost, rather, it is returned back to the spender so that no single person’s right is lost [ Verse 60 ]
5) If they incline towards reconciliation and mutual harmony then incline towards that and trust in Allah about that. Do not worry that they will secretly plot against you while you are heedless and unprepared for Allah is The Hearing and The Knowing and Allah is not unaware of what happens via Natural Causes and Allah is not rendered ineffective by deception. Rather, Allah will aid and suffice you [ Verse 61 ]
An Incident Which Worsened The Relations Between The Jews And The Muslims
- There was one incident in particular that fully ignited these already existing tensions and it involves the harassment of an Ansari Woman
- As she waits for A Jewish Jeweler, another Jewish Man nails her dress to her chair or to A wall behind her
- When she rises, her clothes are stripped off her
- A fellow Muslims who saw what happened kills her Jewish Assailant
- A Mob of Jews then take his life
- The Prophet tries to arbitrate the matter but The Banu Qaynuqa refuse to abide by the terms of their pact with him [ The Constitution of Madinah ] and fortify themselves in their garrison
- With Hamza by his side, The Prophet quickly mobilizes A brigade that surrounds The Jewish Fortress
- The Banu Qaynuqa leaders look for support from their preexisting alliance with Banu Khazraj via Abdullah Ibn Ubayy
- The Banu Qaynuqa’s stronghold is surrounded and after A 2 Week Standoff, The Jewish Tribes surrenders
- In an effort to save face, Abdullah Ibn Ubayy grabs The Prophet by the neck and his coat and publicly demands that he let them go but The Prophet remains steadfast as Surah Al Anfal [ Verse 57 ] had already instructed The Prophet on how to deal with Banu Qaynuqa’s betrayal
- The Banu Qaynuqa are thus banished from Madinah for breaking several terms of the Pact and ultimately resettle near The Syrian Border
What kind of punishment did The Banu Qaynuqa expect
- The Prophet would have been expected t massacre the men and sell the women and children into slavery [ The Traditional Punishment Meted Out To Traitors ] but he showed them clemency [ Mercy / Compassion ] and spared them provided that the whole tribe left Madinah immediately
- The Prophet even allowed them to take most of their property with them
Why didn’t the other Jewish Tribes interven and helped Banu Qaynuqa
- Adil Salahi [ Islamic Scholar ] in his book ‘ Muhammad : Man and Prophet ‘ writes :-
” This, in itself could be taken as evidence of the blatant teachery of The Qaynuqa Jews. The other Jews were no less hostile to Islam than The Qaynuqa Tribe although they did not show it at the time. If the case of treachery was not clear cut, The other Jews would have at least mediated between The Prophet and their cousins. The fact that these tribes remained neutral suggests that The Qaynuqa Jews would have lost their case even if it had been put to A Jewish Jury. “
