The Jews of Medina were expecting a Prophet (2022-04-15) #

0:00:02 in this episode we hear of many of the
0:00:06 jews who are living in expectation of a
0:00:09 prophet whose time was near and i
0:00:12 continue reading from muhammad his life
0:00:15 based on the earliest sources by martin
0:00:18 ling's chapter 19
0:00:20 owls and khasraj
0:00:23 the tribes of ows and khasraj had
0:00:26 alliances with some of the jewish tribes
0:00:29 who lived beside them in yathrib
0:00:32 but relations between them were often
0:00:35 strained and fraught with ill feeling
0:00:38 not least because the monotheistic jews
0:00:42 conscious of being god's chosen people
0:00:45 despise the polytheistic arabs while
0:00:49 having to pay them a certain respect
0:00:51 because of their greater strength
0:00:55 in moments of acrimony and frustration
0:00:58 the jews have been known to say
0:01:01 the time of a prophet who is to be sent
0:01:04 is now at hand
0:01:06 with him we shall slay you even as ad
0:01:11 imran were slain
0:01:13 and martin ling's leaves a footnote
0:01:16 ancient arab tribes suddenly destroyed
0:01:19 for their refusal to obey the prophets
0:01:22 who were sent to them
0:01:25 and their rabbis and soothsayers when
0:01:28 asked whence the prophet would come had
0:01:31 always pointed in the direction of the
0:01:34 yemen which was also for them the
0:01:37 direction of mecca so when the yathrib
0:01:41 arabs heard that a man in mecca had now
0:01:45 in fact declared himself to be a prophet
0:01:49 they opened their ears
0:01:52 and they were still more interested when
0:01:54 they were told something about his
0:01:56 message for they were already familiar
0:01:59 with many of the principles of orthodox
0:02:02 religion
0:02:04 in more friendly moments the jews often
0:02:07 spoke to them of the oneness of god and
0:02:11 of man's final ends and they would
0:02:15 discuss these questions together
0:02:18 the idea that they would rise from the
0:02:20 dead was especially difficult for the
0:02:23 polytheists to accept
0:02:26 and noticing this
0:02:28 one of the rabbis pointed to the south
0:02:31 and said that thence a prophet was about
0:02:35 to come who would affirm the truth of
0:02:38 the resurrection
0:02:41 but their deepest preparation for the
0:02:44 news for mecca had come
0:02:46 indirectly
0:02:48 from a jew named al hayaban who had
0:02:52 migrated from syria and who on more than
0:02:55 one occasion had saved the oasis from
0:02:58 drought through his prayers for rain
0:03:02 this saintly man had died about the time
0:03:05 that the prophet had received his first
0:03:09 revelation and when he had felt himself
0:03:11 at the point of death
0:03:13 as ours and khazraj was subsequently
0:03:16 told he had said to those about him
0:03:20 oh jews
0:03:22 what was it think ye that maybe leave a
0:03:26 land of bread and wine for a land of
0:03:29 hardship and hunger
0:03:32 thou best knowest they said
0:03:35 i came to this country he answered in
0:03:39 expectation of the coming forth of a
0:03:42 prophet
0:03:43 whose time is near
0:03:46 to this country he will migrate
0:03:50 i had hopes that he will be sent in time
0:03:53 for me to follow him
0:03:56 his hour is close upon you
0:04:00 these words were taken greatly to heart
0:04:03 by some jewish youths who heard them and
0:04:07 who were enabled by them when the time
0:04:10 came to accept the prophet even though
0:04:13 he was not a jew
0:04:17 but generally speaking whereas the arabs
0:04:20 were in favor of the man but against the
0:04:23 message the jews were in favor of the
0:04:26 message but against the man
0:04:29 for how could god send a prophet who was
0:04:32 not one of the chosen people nonetheless
0:04:36 when the pilgrims brought news of a
0:04:38 prophet to yathrib the jews were
0:04:40 interested despite themselves and
0:04:43 eagerly questioned them for more details
0:04:47 and when the arabs of the oasis
0:04:49 sensed this eagerness and when they saw
0:04:53 how the monotheistic nature of the
0:04:55 message increased their interest
0:04:58 increased the interest of the rabbi's
0:05:01 tenfold they could not fail to be
0:05:04 impressed
0:05:05 as were the bearers of the tidings
0:05:08 themselves
0:05:11 apart from such considerations the tribe
0:05:14 of the khasraj was fully aware of its
0:05:18 strong links of kinship with the very
0:05:21 man who now claimed to be a prophet
0:05:25 and who had visited yathrib with his
0:05:28 mother as a child and since then more
0:05:31 than once on his way to syria
0:05:35 as to ours one of their leading men abu
0:05:39 khayes had married a meccan who was the
0:05:43 aunt of warakka and also of khadijah
0:05:48 abu khayez had often stayed with his
0:05:51 wife's family
0:05:52 and he respected waraka's opinion of the
0:05:56 new prophet
0:05:58 all these factors
0:06:00 supplemented by continuous reports of
0:06:03 pilgrims and other visitors from mecca
0:06:07 now began to work upon the people of the
0:06:10 oasis
0:06:12 but for the moment most of their
0:06:15 attention was centered upon the urgent
0:06:17 problems of their own internal affairs
0:06:21 a quarrel ending in bloodshed between
0:06:25 aosite and kazrajit had gradually
0:06:28 involved more and more clans of the two
0:06:32 tribes
0:06:33 even the jews had taken sides
0:06:37 three battles had already been fought
0:06:39 but instead of being decisive these had
0:06:42 inflamed the souls of men still
0:06:46 further and multiplied the needs for
0:06:49 revenge
0:06:51 a fourth battle on a larger scale than
0:06:53 the others seemed inevitable
0:06:56 and it was in view of this that the
0:06:59 leaders of owls had the idea of sending
0:07:02 a delegation to mecca to ask quraish for
0:07:06 their help against khazraj
0:07:10 while they were waiting for an answer
0:07:13 the prophet went to them and asked them
0:07:17 if they would like something better than
0:07:19 what they had come for
0:07:22 they asked what that might be
0:07:25 and he told them of his mission and of
0:07:28 the religion he had been commanded to
0:07:30 preach
0:07:32 then he recited to them some of the
0:07:35 quran
0:07:36 and when he had finished a young man
0:07:39 named ias son of mudda
0:07:43 people
0:07:44 by god this is better than that ye came
0:07:48 for
0:07:51 but the leader of the delegation took a
0:07:53 handful of earth and threw it in the
0:07:56 youth's face saying
0:07:59 let that be all from thee by my life we
0:08:02 have come for other than this
0:08:06 yes relapsed into silence
0:08:09 and the prophet left them
0:08:12 quraish refused their request for help
0:08:17 and they returned to medina
0:08:20 shortly after this yes died and those
0:08:24 who were present at his death
0:08:26 said that they heard him continually
0:08:29 testifying to the oneness of god and
0:08:32 magnifying praising and glorifying him
0:08:36 until the end
0:08:39 he is thus counted as the first man of
0:08:43 yathrib to enter islam
0:08:47 and that's the end of chapter 19.
0:08:51 till next time