The Peoples of Madīnah

What was the situation of Madīnah like when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) moved in there? There were five tribes living in Madīnah. Three of them were Jewish, and two of them were Arab. The three Jewish tribes were Banū Qaynuqāʿ, Banū al-Naḍīr, and Banū Qurayẓah. Banū Qaynuqāʿ lived in the center of Madīnah, the marketplace, and they were in the business of jewelry. They used to live in the outskirts of Madīnah in forts, but they were driven out in a war between them and other Jews, so they ended up settling in the middle of Madīnah, in the center of the town. Banū al-Naḍīr and Banū Qurayẓah lived in the outskirts of Madīnah, and they were living in forts — they had about fifty-nine fortresses in which they lived. Their fighting force was about two thousand; these were the men of fighting age, about two thousand. The Arab tribes were al-Aws and al-Khazraj, and their fighting force was about four thousand, and they lived inside Madīnah — one tribe lived in the north, and the other tribe lived in the south. So Madīnah was not really a city in terms of all houses being connected, but it was a collection of small villages that formed Madīnah. So there were living quarters for the Jews and living quarters for the Arabs, and each Jewish tribe was separate, and the two Arab tribes were also separate.

The livelihood of the people of Madīnah was based on agriculture. It was fertile, and they had palm groves. The farmer would need money throughout the year until harvest time would come, so the Jewish tribes would lend the Arabs money, and they would charge them interest, usury, and this caused some conflict and some bitter feelings between the Arabs and the Jews of Madīnah. This is, briefly, the situation that existed prior to the advent of Islam.

Now, when Islam came in, now Madīnah had Muslims, pagan worshippers, and Jews, so there were different faiths and different ethnic groups inside Madīnah, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had to be very careful in dealing with these complications in Madīnah. It was not that it was very easy and everybody just became Muslim and everybody loved the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and it was very easy to rule over Madīnah — it was very difficult. There were people among the Arabs who were not happy that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was there. There were also the Jewish tribes who were not happy that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was there. And then among the Arabs, there were Muslim and non-Muslim, so it was a complicated situation.