Banu Qaynuqa

The Banu Qaynuqa (also spelled Banu Kainuka, Banu Kaynuka, Banu Qainuqa, Arabic: بنو قينقاع) were one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. In 624, they were expelled by Muhammad.

Background

In the 7th century, the Banu Qaynuqa were living in two fortresses in the south-western part of the city of Yathrib, now Medina, having settled there at an unknown date. Although the Banu Qaynuqa bore mostly Arabic names, they were both ethnically and religiously Jewish. They owned no land, earned their living through commerce and craftsmanship, including goldsmithery. The Banu Qaynuqa were allied with the local Arab tribe of Khazraj and supported them in their conflicts with the rival Arab tribe of Aws.

Arrival of Muhammad

In September 622, Muhammad arrived at Medina with a group of his followers, who were given shelter by members of the indigenous community known as the Ansar. He proceeded to set about the establishment of a pact, known as the Constitution of Medina, between the Muslims, the Ansar, and the various Jewish tribes of Medina to regulate the matters of governance of the city, as well as the extent and nature of inter-community relations. Conditions of the pact, according to traditional Muslim sources, included boycotting Quraysh, abstinence from "extending any support to them", assistance of one another if attacked by a third party, as well as "defending Medina, in case of a foreign attack".

The nature of this document as recorded by Ibn Ishaq and transmitted by Ibn Hisham is the subject of dispute among modern historians many of whom maintain that this "treaty" is possibly a collage of agreements, oral rather than written, of different dates, and that it is not clear when they were made or with whom.

Expulsion

In March 624, Muslims led by Muhammad defeated the Meccans of the Banu Quraish tribe in the Battle of Badr. Ibn Ishaq writes that a dispute broke out between the Muslims and the Banu Qaynuqa (the allies of the Khazraj tribe) soon afterwards. When a Muslim woman visited a jeweler's shop in the Qaynuqa marketplace, she was pestered to uncover her face. The goldsmith, a Jew, pinned her clothing such, that upon getting up, she was stripped naked. A Muslim man coming upon the resulting commotion killed the shopkeeper in retaliation. The Jews in turn killed the Muslim man. This escalated to a chain of revenge killings, and enmity grew between Muslims and the Banu Qaynuqa.

Traditional Muslim sources view these episodes as a violation of the Constitution of Medina. Muhammad himself regarded this as casus belli. Modern historians, however, do not find in these events the true reasons for Muhammad's attack on the Qaynuqa. According to F.E. Peters, the precise circumstances of the alleged violation of the Constitution of Medina are not specified in the sources. Acording to Fred Donner, available sources do nt elucidate the reasons for the expulasion of the Qaynuqa. Donner argues that Muhammad turned against the Qaynuqa because as artisans and traders, the latter were in close contact with Meccan merchants against whom Muhammad had already commenced hostilities. Weinsinck views the episodes cited by the Muslim historians, like the story of the Jewish goldsmith, as possessing no more than anecdotal value. He writes that the Jews had assumed a contentious attitude towards Muhammad, and as a group possessing substantial independant power, they posed a great danger. Wensinck thus concludes that Muhammad, strengthened by the victory at Badr, soon resolved to eliminate the Jewish opposition to himself. Norman Stillman also believes that Muhammad decided to move against the Jews of Medina after being strengthened in the wake of the Battle of Badr.

Muhammad then approached the Banu Qaynuqa, gathering them in the market place and addressing them as follows,

O Jews, beware lest God bring on you the like of the retribution which he brought on Quraysh. Accept Islam, for you know that I am a prophet sent by God. You will find this in your scriptures and in God's covenant with you.

The tribe replied in manner that, according to Muslim scholars, was considered a declaration of war,

Muhammad, do you think that we are like your people? Do not be deluded by the fact that you met a people with no knowledge of war and that you made good use of your oppurtunity. By God, if you fight us you will know that we are real men!"

Muhammad then besieged the Banu Qaynuqa for fourteen or fifteen days, according to ibn Hisham, after which the tribe surrendered unconditionally. It was certain, according to Watt, that the siege must have been preceded by some sort of negotiations. The Qaynuqa men were bound and feared imminent execution. Abdullah ibn Ubayy, the Muslim chief of the Khazraj, pleaded before Muhammad on the behalf of the Qaynuqa, which were his allies: "Four hundred men without mails and three hundred mailed protected me from mine enemies; would you cut them down in one morning?" Although Muhammad was initially irritated with ibn Ubayy and tried to put him off, but ultimately yielded to Abdullah's insistence and agreed to expel the Qaynuqa. According to Stillman, Abdullah ibn Ubayy earned for himself the title of the leader of hypocrites (munafiqun) in the Muslim tradition because of this interference.

Aftermath

The Banu Qaynuqa left first for the Jewish colonies in the Wadi al-Kura, north of Medina, and from there to Adhriat in Syria, west of Salkhad. In the course of time, they assimilated with the Jewish communities, pre-existing in that area, strengthening them numerically.

Muhammad divided the property of the Banu Qaynuqa, including their arms and tools, among his followers, taking for himself a fifth share of the spoils for the first time. Some members of the tribe chose to stay in Medina and convert to Islam, possibly more out of opportunism than conviction. One man from the Banu Qaynuqa, Abdullah ibn Sailam, became a devout Muslim. Although some Muslim sources claim that he converted immediately after Muhammad’s arrival to Medina, academic scholars give more credence to the other Muslim sources, which indicate that 8 years later, 630, as the year of ibn Salam’s conversion.

See also

• Banu Nadir
• Banu Qurayza
• Jihad
• Muhammad as a general
• Rules of war in Islam

References

• Encyclopaedia of Islam. Ed. P. Bearman et al., Leiden: Brill, 1960-2005.
• Guillaume, A. The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah. Oxford University Press, 1955. ISBN 0-1963-6033-1
• Firestone, Reuven. Jihad: The Origin of Holy War in Islam. Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-512580-0
• Ben-Zvi, Yitzhak. The Exiled and the Redeemed. Jewish Publication Society, 1957
• Peters, Francis E. Muhammad and the Origins of Islam. State University of New York Press, 1994. ISBN 0-7914-1875-8
• Stillman, Norman. The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979. ISBN 0-8276-0198-0
• Watt, W. Montgomery. Muhammad, Prophet and Statesman, Oxford University Press.
• Mubarakpuri, Safi ur-Rahman (1996). Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum. Riyadh: Maktaba Dar-us-Salam.