Jews Of Yathrib

According to the historical sources, Yathrib was inhabited by Jews. I have some questions to ask in this regard:

Q.1) Were these Jews living in Yathrib from the linage of Israel or they were converts?

Q.2) Were these Jews economically very strong in the city because they owned most of the agricultural lands of the oasis? Were they politically dominant entity in the region?

Q.3) According to the Muslim sources these Jews were judges and spiritual leaders in Yathrib. Other communities used to consult them for there social and other problems. Do other sources have different record regarding the Jews of Yathrib ?

I hope my questions are clear.

Regards,

Fahd

Javad Ali says in his book Al-Mufassal Fi Tarikh Al-Arab Qabl Al-Islam that it is not very easy to conclude (for the period before the birth of Christ) what exactly was the story of the Jews who settled in Arabia. At the same time there are some scattered pieces of information available in sources of history, some of which are not consistent.

I try to put together and summarise the information that I managed to extract from the sources that were available to me. These are mainly from the above mentioned book and Tarikh Al-Arab Qabl Al-Islam by Dr. Abd-ul-Azim Salim.

Please allow me to first give an outline of this historical information and then, using it, and briefly answer your specific questions:

Jews of Yathrib can be categorised into two groups:

-Those settled there from a long time ago before the birth of Christ

-Those who fled there from Palestine after a series of defeats in the hands of Romans in 70s A.C.

As for the former, it seems like these were Jews who naturally developed their settling land to the areas neighbouring their original settlements (Palestine). These were the Jews who defeated Amaliqa (a nation from the generation of Sam Ibn Nuh or Haam Ibn Nuh, as reported differently in historical books). There are records that tell us that these Jews were in the army of the king of Babylon, Nabunid in 561 B.C. but we cannot be certain about this. Souzomenos, the historian, says that these Jews looked at Arabs as their cousins who related to them through their father Ibrahim.

On the other hand, the Jews who fled from Palestine in 70s A.C. (among some other places in Arabia, mostly) joined the already settled Jews in Yathrib. In Yathrib and areas surrounding it they chose the most fertile lands to live in. They built castles to protect their families especially when they were out fighting.

Altogether, the Jews were already well established in Yathrib with over 20 tribes and around 60 castles when the Arab tribes of Aus and Khazraj migrated to Yathrib. In other words Jews were in a very healthy political and economical condition when the ancestors of Ansar (Helpers) of Yathrib reached and settled in the centre. Jews were split into a number of tribes, the strongest ones near the time of the Prophet (pbuh) being Banu Qurayza, Banu Nazeer and Banu Qaynuqa. The language of these Jews was a blend of Arabic and Hebrew. These Jews were concerned that despite their power and their population, their neighbouring Arabs might one day try to take away their lands from them and therefore kept making castles and being in guard. They were always conscious of the fact that they needed to remain as the main source of power in Yathrib.

Soon after their settlement in Yathrib, Aus and Khazraj asked the Jews to sign an agreement with them so that they could peacefully interact and do business together. The Jews of Yathrib welcomed the suggestion as they found it inline with their policy of remaining in power in Yathrib and being able to interact with Arabs from a powerful position. They were also found this inline with their decision to take benefit of expertise of Arabs in the areas of agriculture and business.

History reveals, however, that a shift in power occurred in Yathrib. As the number of Arabs in Yathrib grew, the Jews were concerned that they might become too powerful and, therefore, broke their agreement a number of times and attached some of Aus and Khazraj. Overall Jews gradually adopted an oppressing attitude towards Arabs of Yathrib. This motivated Aus and Khazraj to get united and to ask for the help of Abu Jubayla the king of Qassan (part of Syria). With the help of his army they defeated the Jews of Yathrib and from that point on the tribes of Aus and Khazraj remained in power in Yathrib and the Jews continued to live with them in a powerless position. This is when the enmity between Aus and Khazraj started. According to some historians, aiming to reclaim their power, the Jews of Yathrib were the main cause of this enmity between the two tribes. This enmity and the fights that were caused by it continued till when Aus and Khazraj decided to invite the Prophet of Islam to their city. The migration of the Prophet (pbuh) changed the whole scenario in Yathrib which then was renamed as Madina.

Historians write that some of the religious beliefs and verdicts of the Jews of Arabian peninsula was different from that of Jews of Palestine. There are also records of disagreements and occasionally wars taking place between different tribes of Jews in Yathrib. Unlike the Christians of Arabia, Jews did not have that religious influence on Arabs because of their attitude of exclusivity towards religion (i.e. considering Judaism a privilege for themselves only). Having said that, historical books report conversion of some (but not many) Arabs to Judaism.

Now let me answer your specific questions based on the above information:

Q.1) As mentioned above, the Jews who migrated were from Banu Israel. However, there were also some Arabs who converted and joined them.

Q.2) As detailed above, they were strong before the attack of the army of Qassan. After that they lost all their superior power.

Q.3) I did not see any indication of the above in the books that I consulted.

Thanks for the helpful question.