DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Medina, Islam's second holiest city, was originally Jewish

**Slonopotam845** · 10-21-2005, 07:00 AM

Well I don't think there is much argument that Jews were living in Medina when Muhammad (SAW) arrived there. What we may dispute is the actions and motivations of those Jews. Guillaume's source for his biography was Ibn Ishaq. And I seriously doubt that Ishaq paints the Prophet as a land hungry tyrant. I don't believe that he was. But I can understand how the Meccans and the Medinans perceived him as a threat both economically and politically. As soon as people stop worshipping the almighty dollar and start to look at the fragile power structure, they become a danger to the status quo. This was the case in his time and it is still the case today.

But the life of Muhammad, like the life of Abraham to the Jews and the life of Jesus to the Christians is more than just history. We use it as a constructive example. If I conceived of the Prophet as you conceive of him, I could never build a constructive life. My interpretation of events guides me in my decisions. In this case, I specify very carefully THOSE Jews of Medina. That way, I am free to interpret the verses in the Qur'an relating to THOSE Jews independantly of any other Jews. According to that reading, the revelations that came were instructive and protective of the then struggling Muslim ummah.

But that reading is justified when we come to the example of the Jews of Mecca. They are treated altogether differently from the Jews of Medina. I'm sure that you have some explanation for the amnesty of the Jews of Mecca. I'd be interested to know what it is. The Qur'an demands that Muslims stop fighting at the point when their enemies stop fighting them. And the Jews of Mecca did not fight the Muslims and were given amnesty.

10-21-2005, 07:00 AM	#1
Slonopotam845 Join Date Jan 2006 Posts 5,251 Senior Member	Well I don't think there is much argument that Jews were living in Medina when Muhammad (SAW) arrived there. What we may dispute is the actions and motivations of those Jews. Guillaume's source for his biography was Ibn Ishaq. And I seriously doubt that Ishaq paints the Prophet as a land hungry tyrant. I don't believe that he was. But I can understand how the Meccans and the Medinans perceived him as a threat both economically and politically. As soon as people stop worshipping the almighty dollar and start to look at the fragile power structure, they become a danger to the status quo. This was the case in his time and it is still the case today. But the life of Muhammad, like the life of Abraham to the Jews and the life of Jesus to the Christians is more than just history. We use it as a constructive example. If I conceived of the Prophet as you conceive of him, I could never build a constructive life. My interpretation of events guides me in my decisions. In this case, I specify very carefully THOSE Jews of Medina. That way, I am free to interpret the verses in the Qur'an relating to THOSE Jews independantly of any other Jews. According to that reading, the revelations that came were instructive and protective of the then struggling Muslim ummah. But that reading is justified when we come to the example of the Jews of Mecca. They are treated altogether differently from the Jews of Medina. I'm sure that you have some explanation for the amnesty of the Jews of Mecca. I'd be interested to know what it is. The Qur'an demands that Muslims stop fighting at the point when their enemies stop fighting them. And the Jews of Mecca did not fight the Muslims and were given amnesty.
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