Studying Islam

Post Reply

Username

Invalid Username or Password

Password

Format

Message Icon

Message

- Forum Code is ON
- HTML is OFF

Smilies

[quote]This is unfortunately one of the great misconceptions about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)that he exterminated [url="http://islamonline.net/livedialogue/english/Browse.asp?hGuestID=fCX3qj"]the jews[/url]. When he came to Madinah, there were various tribes of the Jews, almost 7 Jewish tribes. Upon his arrival to Madinah, he established a written constitution for Madinah, which stated that the Jews of Madinah and Muslims were one nation. The constitution guaranteed freedom of belief for them, and they had their synagogue and their own religious school called Al-Midras (an Arabic word similar to school).

Since they are People of the Book, the Prophet (peace be upon him), was keen on gaining the Jews’ hearts and minds because they were aware of heavenly scriptures, and consequently the nearest to Islam.

In Sahih Al-Bukhari, which is considered the most authentic book after the Qur’an, many stories of the Prophet’s kindness and benevolence to the Jews have been narrated. Examples of these stories are:

1.The Prophet’s visit to a Jewish boy who became sick.

2. The Prophet’s standing in respect of a funeral procession of a Jew. When some of his companions found it strange to do that, the Prophet remarked, “Isn’t it a human soul?”

3. A story of Jewish woman who came to ask for food from the Prophet and he gave her food.

And so many other stories.

As for the extermination that is often misrepresented, it goes back to the Prophet’s way of dealing with one specific Jewish tribe, called Banu Quraitha, because they committed an act of high treason that had potential of exterminating all the Muslim community by breaching the covenant of the Madinah and joining a besieging army of the enemy that came from Makkah to fight the Prophet. Having this background in mind, the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not even punish all of Banu Quraitha. According to authentic narrations, he forgave some people who surrendered and gave them protection. Of course, he killed the leaders of the tribe and forgave some of the people from the tribe while punishing others. The Jews who respected the constitution of the Madinah continued to live a peaceful life among Muslims even after the passing away of the prophet, peace be upon him. In Sahih Al-Bukhari we even read that the Prophet died while his armor was pawned to a Jewish trader in return for food.

History did not see a remarkable standard of fairness and justice with the other like that of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). What would have prevented the Prophet while being a political and military leader to take from the Jewish trader what he wanted by force, like what the Babylonians and Romans and the European Medieval kings did with the Jews. What had prevented the Prophet was his conviction in dealing with fairness and justice even with those who are different in faith.[/quote]

Mode

Check here to be notified by email whenever someone replies to your topic

Show Preview