The Jews seek a New Leader
The "council of the righteous", i.e. twelve people representing the tribes of the Jews convened at the city of Edessa. When they saw that the Persian troops had departed and left the city unprotected, they closed the gates and fortified themselves. They refused entry to Roman troops. Heraclius gave the order to besiege it. When the Jews realized that they could not resist militarily, they promised to make peace. Opening the city gates, they appeared before Heraclius. Heraclius ordered that they should go and stay in their own place [Yathrib]. So they departed, taking the road through the desert to Tachkastan to Arabia.[1]
The Jews called the Arabs to their aid. Their situation was desperate. They tried to support their arguments through quotes from the Torah. Although the Arabs were agreed that they were similar in faith, they were unable to achieve any commitment on military support, for they were divided from each other by their form of religion.[2] The Romans had blocked all Hagg pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and so many were making the 'Umra, the minor pilgrimage to Mecca instead. The people of Yathrib had traveled to Mecca to ask questions of the Prophet, and a few converts had already been made. During the Hagg pilgrimage of 620 CE, six or seven people of the Judaic tribe of Khazraj had declared allegiance to the Prophet.
During the Hagg pilgrimage of 621 CE, the Edessian[3] "council of the righteous", met with the Prophet together with representatives of the Khazraj and the Aus. The Prophet ordered them all to assemble together and to unite in faith. He set out the principles of religious coexistence between Jew and non-Jew, the seven laws of Noah.[4] As far as Israel and its re-conquest by Rome, he said: "God promised that country to Abraham and to his son after him, for eternity. And what had been promised was fulfilled during that time when [God] loved Israel. Now, however, you are the sons of Abraham, and God shall fulfill the promise made to Abraham and his son on you. Only love the God of Abraham, and go and take the country which God gave to your father, Abraham. No one can successfully resist you in war, since God is with you."[5] So pleased with this response, the council pledged their allegiance to the Prophet in what is called "the first pledge of Al-Aqabah ".
During the Hagg pilgrimage of 622, seventy residents of Yathrib pledged their lives to support the Prophet. This was "the second pledge of Al-Aqabah." They invited the Prophet to Yathrib to be their king. On June 20, fleeing the pro-Persian persecution of the Quraish, the Prophet and Abu Bakr traveled from Mecca southward to the cave of Thaur. On Yom Kippur, September 24, 622CE, the Prophet arrived safely in Yathrib, being announced from the rooftops by a Jew.[6] Being an urban dweller of Mecca, the Prophet kept the lunar calendar of the Sadduceans who did not accept Hillel II's mathematical calendar.[7] When he arrived in Yathrib he was surprized to find the Jews fasting. He ordered his followers to immediately begin to fast, even midday. For 18 months, the Prophet took apon himself the Rabbinite traditions. Not since Dhu Nuwas, had such a Rabbinite ruler tried to unite the diverse tribes of Arabia.
The Prophet was officially elected king of Yathrib (Medina), by the council of elders. The charter of Medinah was drawn up declaring the rights and mutual military obligations of the Jewish and Judaic followers of the Prophet.[8] A Mosque for the Prophet was built on the ruins of an ancient Synagogue.[9] As Heraclius was attacking both Jew and heretic, the economy of Yatrib was strained by Jewish and Christian refugees. The Prophet consolidated the strength of his followers, and the kernel of an Islamic state was formed. The fame of the Prophet had grown, even Shallum ben Hushiel, the brother of Nehemiah, heard of the Prophet's fame as he was picking dates for his slave master in the outskirts of the city.
In general, Arabs trace their roots to one of two major tribes Qahtan (Zealots) and Adnan (Sadduceans). When the two tribes joined in Medina to create what became the first Islamic society led by the Prophet, those related to Qahtan were named al-Ansar (Helpers) who were the residents of Medina at that time; and those from Adnan and their allies who traveled to Medina and were called al-Muhajireen (Immigrants). The Byzantine called them Ishmaelites and Hagarenes.
Meanwhile the Persians were beginning to loose. Heraclius had retaken Judea from Sassanid Persians, and marched as far as Ecbatana, the ancient capital of the Medes. Heraclius had set off quietly for Trabzon from Constantinople via the Black Sea and started preparations to attack Persia from rear.[10]
References
- ↑ "Sebeos' History", Chapter 30
- ↑ Ibid., by this is meant Pharisaic, vs. various forms of Sadducean and pagan
- ↑ The name Edessa, with the letters transposed may be related to the term "Azdite".
- ↑ Sebeos' History, Chapter 30, writes: "In that period a certain one of them, a man of the sons of Ishmael named Muhammad, a merchant, became prominent. A sermon about the Way of Truth, supposedly at God's command, was revealed to them, and [Muhammad] taught them to recognize the God of Abraham, especially since he was informed and knowledgeable about Mosaic history. Because the command had come from On High, Abandoning the reverence of vain things, they turned toward the living God, who had appeared to their father--Abraham. Muhammad legislated that they were not to eat carrion, not to drink wine, not to speak falsehoods, and not to commit adultery." Katib al Wackidi p. 42; Hishami, p. 143 put it these terms: " We will not worship any but the One God; we will not steal, neither will we commit adultery, or kill our children; we will not slander in anywise; and we will not disobey the Prophet,32 in anything that is right."
- ↑ "Sebeos' History", Chapter 30
- ↑ K. Wackidi, 45.
- ↑ See the authors "The Islamic Jewish Calendar"
- ↑ The Jews shall contribute with the Moslems, so long as they are at war with a common enemy. The several branches of the Jews, - those attached respectively to the Bani Auf, Bani Najjar, Bani Aus, etc., are one people with the Believers. The Jews will maintain their own religion, the Moslems theirs. As with the Jews, so with their adherents; excepting him who shall transgress and do iniquity, he alone shall be punished and his family. No one shall go forth but with the permission of Muhammed. None shall be held back from seeking his lawful revenge, unless it be excessive. The Jews shall be responsible for their own expenditure, the Moslems for theirs. Each, if attacked, shall come to the assistance of the other. Medina shall be sacred and inviolable for all that join this Treaty. Strangers, under protection, shall be treated on the same footing as their protectors; but no stranger shall be taken under protection save with consent of his tribe. New questions and doubts, likely to produce evil and danger, shall be referred for decision to God and Muhammed his Prophet. War and Peace shall be made in common [Hishami, 176] Here we propose that the "Jews" are the Cohen-priests of their client Sadducean or Judaic tribes.
- ↑ K. Wackidi 46, 207; Tabari 219
- ↑ Syed Abu-Ala' Maududi in his "The Meaning of the Qur'an"