Brill Reference Library of Judaism Editors Alan J. Avery-Peck (College of the Holy Cross) William Scott Green (University of Rochester) Editorial Board David Aaron (Hebrew Union College-Jewish. Institute of Religion, Cincinné Herbert Basser (Queen's University) Bruce D. Chilton (Bard College) José Faur (Netanya College) Neil Gillman (Jewish Theological Seminary of America) Mayer I. Gruber (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) Ithamar Gruenweld (Tel Aviv University) Maurice-Ruben Hayoun (University of Strasbourg and Hochschule fuer Juedische Studien, Heidelberg) ‘Arkady Kovelman (Moscow State University) David Kraemer (Jewish Theological Seminary of America) Baruch A. Levine (New York University) ‘Alan Nadler (Drew University) Jacob Neusner (Bard College) Maren Niehoff (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Gary G. Porton (University of Mlinois) ‘Aviezer Ravitzky (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Dov Schwartz (Bar llan University) Giinter Stemberger (University of Vienna) Michael E. Stone (Hebrew Unive Elliot Wolfson (New York Univers VOLUME 38 The Religious and Spiritual Life of the Jews of Medina yy Haggai Mazuz BRILL LEIDEN « BOSTONLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mazz, Haggai, 1980 author. The religious and spiritual life ofthe Jews of Me: brary | by Haggai Mazuz. ISBN $78-90-04-25062-8 (hardback alk paper) — ISBN 978-90-04:26609-4 (e-book) 1. Jews—Saudi Arabia—Medina—History. 2. Medina (Saudi Arabia) Ethnic relations. 1 Tite. S135.4758335 2014 305.89240538—de23 2013048765, conirunicatons om copyright olde so dat the appro Jnfuture editions and to sete oer permission mare This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Bri” typeface, With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek. and Cyrillic this typeface s especialy rutable for use in the ‘humanities. For more information, please see wwwbrllcom/bilsypeface. ISSN 1571-5000 ISBN 978 90-04-25062-8 (hardback) ISBN 978.90-04-26509-4 (ebook) Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands Koninklijke Bill NV incorporates the imprints Bal, Brill Nhof,Globel Oriental and Hotel Publishing All ights reserved. No part ofthis publication may be reproduce, 4 retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means photocopying recording or otherwise, without prior written pet ‘This book is printed on ack-five paper. Dedicated to Professor Dov SchwartzCONTENTS Acknowledgements Abbreviations Transliteration of Arabic Transliteration of Hebrew and Aramaic... Introduction... 1. Religious and Social Leadership 2. Law and Custom 3. Religious Beliefs. 4, External Characteristics Conclusion su. Appendix 1; Possible Reasons for Presenting Early Islam as an ‘Anti-Rabbinic Movement Appendix 2: Reference to the People of Wadi Ginzberg’s Geonic Responsa Harkavy’s Geonica Responsa Appendix 4: Benjamin of Tudela on the Jewish Presence in Northern Arabia nun Bibliography Citation Index Subject IndexACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ‘This book could not have been written without the support and kindness of several teachers, colleagues and friends Lowe a debt of gratitude to Professors David Powers, Michael Lecker, and Ze'ev Safrai who in their kindness agreed to read this manuscript and offered numerous suggestions that improved it considerably. Special thanks to Professor Dov Schwartz, a friend and mentor under whose tutelage I was fortunate enough y his fascinating insights about the Medieval Jewish world and wisdom and intellectual example continue to guide me. I wish to extend my gratitude to Professor Alan Avery-Peck, a friend who aided me whenever needed in numerous ways. I am deeply indebted to Professor Moshe Sharon, my teacher and friend, who has been a source of inspiration to me in the field of Islamic and Middle Eastern studi Profound gratitude is Pavelko and Ms. Julia Berick at Br this project through to its completion. Last but not least, I thank my family for their support and encowragement. to Ms. Judy Pereira, Ms. Jennifer whose kindness and diligence sawGenesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers. Deuteronomy 1 Samuel Jeremiah Hosea Pealms 1 Chronicles U Chronicles Acts of the Apostles Jewish Antiquities ‘Jewish War I Maccabees ABBREVIATIONS Gen. Ex, Lev. Num. Deut. Sam. 1Xgs. IKgs. Is, Jer. Hos. Ps, 1Chr. 1 Chr. Acts. Ant. War. 1 Mac.‘TRANSLITERATION OF ARABIC ‘The following method is used for the transliteration of Arabic words, quo- tations and names. aa” ges go rene GLO er CEOLOR FE GUEEES HEM COL ao gous Beret eneTRANSLITERATION OF HEBREW AND ARAMAIC ‘The following method is used for the transliteration of Hebrew and Ara- maic words, quotations and names. Raa’, bo ab Dm av aon 2g Ds 1 4 ys moh 2p ay af ton zs nob pa vt air yt v sh > kh vw é 2k ntINTRODUCTION On the eve of the emergence of Islam, there was a large area of Jewish settlement in the Hijaz. Beginning in Wadi al-Qura, the Jewish settle- ‘ment spread southward through the oases of Tayma’, Fadak, Khaybar and ‘Yathrib—which later became known as Medina. According to Islamic historiography, there were barely any Jews remaining in Medina by 627 CE, five years after Muhammad's arrival. The Jewish tribes of the Band Qaynugat and Bani al-Nadir had been exiled, while the Banti Qurayza had been massacred and their wives and children were given as spoils to the state that the second Caliph, ‘Umar b. al-Khattab (r, 634-644 CE), obeyed ‘Muhammad and exiled nearly all of the Hijazi Jews? ‘a comprehensive profile of these communities. As a result, we are forced to rely almost exclusively on Islamic sources. ‘Western scholars began studying the Jewish communities of Arabia at a very early stage. However, the Jews were always treated as secondary actors "On the ele of the Bana ayn see Muanmad b. Umar al Wind. Kiab al Meghési, 3 vols. (London: Oxford University ress 196), 1176-180; ‘Abd al ‘ev Hschberg, Israel in Arabia: History of the Jews of Hangar and the ‘jaz from the Destruction ofthe Second Temple tothe Crusades (Tel-Aviv: Bialik Insite, in Hebrew]; Bernard Lewis, The Jews of Iam (Princeton: Princeton University2 INTRODUCTION in the narrative of Muhammad and his Companions (saha as Ihave been able to ascertain, the first scholar to provide the lives of the Jews of Medina was Hartwig Hirschfeld, who described the history of Jews and Khaybar from the arrival of Muhammad xile ofthe Jews of Khaybar (636-¢ nublished a mono, references on the Jews of Arabia from non- 1928, Arent Jan Wensinck published a monograph on ic sources In ame subject ‘ev Hirschberg published a composition entitled Israel e first work covering the entire history of the Jews cient times until the end of the Jewish communities of Medina and Khaybar. Previously, scholars had addressed specific issues regarding the Medinan Jews, but had never constructed a complete his. In 1957, Israel Ben-Ze’ev (Wolfensohn) published a parallel work, The Jews in Arabia, Both Ben-Ze’ev’s and Hirschberg’s books are written in an archaic Hebrew of high literary quality and are quite difficult for most modem Hebrew readers to follow. No ered among the most important and c: Thirty years after the publication by Ber Published A History of the Jews of Arabia. Newby’s w information and offers some new insights about the Some ofthese early scholars used the t rchangeably, perhaps becay in Arabian oases are ‘Arent Jan Wensinck, Mohammed en dejoden te Medina (Leiden: EJ. Bri, 1928) ‘Shiomo Dov Goitein criticized both We id Ben-Ze'e’s books and argued, Jews of Medina, andthe detailed description of Arabian Jewish Ben-de'e’s book, we sill require Leseynsky in ‘order to sketch thetr cultural and social life” See Goitein, The Children of sacl and thet Arguments” 422 n. 14 3 Gordon Darnell Newby, A History ofthe Jews of Arabia: From Ancient Times to their elpse under Islam (Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina 1088). INTRODUCTION a the book discusses the same subjects as its predecessors, greater detail. nitributor to research on the Jewish community of Medina is Michael Lecker. Using Islamic texts, Lecker provides an enormous wealth ‘fnew information about the Jews of Medina, essentially rewriting parts of the familiar narrative previously employed by Westem scholars. In spite of the significant contributions made by each of the above- mentioned scholars, there is still a great deal of research to be conducted on the Jews of Medina. Previous research has neglected certain subjects, such as the religious and spiritual life of the Jews the other Jews of the Hijaz). Our knowledge of th and incomplete and, as such, requires further study. ‘The first scholar to specifically address the religious life of the Jews of Medina and Khaybar was Ignaz Goldziher.™ In an article published {in 1894, Goldziher discusses Muhammad's decree to his followers to dif- ferentiate their customs from those of the Jews (a subject that wall be discussed at length in this bos several of the customs attribute ida wrote the second significant article on the subject, expand- ing e's research.!5 Among the aforementioned scholars who addressed the lives of Jews in northem Arabia, Hirschberg dedicated only eleven pages to the religious and spiritual life of the Jews in the Hijaz® Ben-Ze'ev dedicated a single chapter of similar length to the Jews’ religious and social life. Even within this short half of it addresses Christian influence in the Hijaz prior to the emergence of Islam.” Newby traced some of the beliefs ascribed to 5 Cl Hava Lazarus-Yafeh, Review: A History ofthe Jewe of Arabia by GD. Newby, on Fevish Quarterly Review 82 dna, se Michael Lecker, Jews and Arabs in Arabia ( te Variorur, 1988). Goldather, “Usages jis faprés la itératurereligieuse des Musulmans, Revue res 28 (1894), 75-4 tories (Jerasalem: Abtasa, 1957), Cha Religious, and Politeal Life in the atthe Beginning of the Seventh Century, 95-107 [in Hebrew}.4 INTRODUCTION the Hijazi Jews by identifying partial matches between beliefs credited to these Jews in Islamic sources and those in Apocryphal sources." Within the past several decades, there appears to be only a single work that addresses the subject. In an article published by Meir Jacob Kister and his son Menahem Kister in 1980, the authors attempted to ascertain the nature of the Judaism practiced by the Jews of the Hijaz. In particular, they detailed several instances that they suggest demonstrate a connec- tion between the Jews of the Hijaz. and the Land of Israel. The Kisters ed their position by noting that research into the religious and. of the Jews of Medina remains incomplete: spiritus ‘We can find evidence of their customs the Hijazi Jews) here and there in the Arabic literature. A wider study would probably pro- vide more information about the Hijazi Jews on other matters, but in the Islamic texts these references are obscure and random. We did not attempt to work along these lines, but to shed some light on a few specific ‘issues regarding the place of the Land of Israel and of judaism at the time of Muhammad's emergence, and to show the benefits that might come from such research. Like some of their predecessors, the Kisters acknowledged the difficulty of researching the subject, given the paucity of information in Arab is dificult to find historical evidence of the connection between the ‘Arabian Jews and the Land of Israel, its doubly so in regard to the presence of the Jerusalem (or Babylonian) Talmud amongst the Arabian Jews.The Arab sources on Jewish customs in this period are poor, and scarcely allow us to reach any conclusions on the subject! The foregoing passage provides us with a summary position shared by many of the aforementioned scholars. It is clear that while the subject has been familiar to scholars since the beginning of the Orientalist tradition, none of them has addressed it in sufficient depth. Several scholars have pointed out the need to study the religious and spiritual life of Jews of Medina in greater detail, The first was Charles 3 Newby, The Jews of Arabia, 59-64. 1 ‘Meir Jacob Kister and Menahem Kister, ‘Notes on the Jews of Arabia,” Tarts 48 (0980), 281-47, at 236 [in Hebrew]. INTRODUCTION 5 Shlomo Dov Goitein s of Jews in the Hijz.2* ofthe Arabian Jews that homogeneous, or did some of them pethaps deviate from official Judaism?"2* Elsewhere, he addressed the difficulty of ascertaining the extent to which the Jews of Medina were familiar with Jewish law (halakha): Culter Torrey: Subsequently, in a series of art raised several important questions about the li In particular, Goitein asks, ‘The Quran refers repeatedly to Sabbath as a day of rest and to the Jewish dietary and other laws. It contains so many legends and theological ideas found in Talmudic literature that we are able to draw a picture of the spiri- tual lfe of the Jews with whom Muhammad must have come into contact. Of course, one cannot expect this picture to be exact or complete for the the Quran of the tenets and the rites of the new religion [i.., being comprehensive, systematic, or even unam- isnot expressly stated in the Quen whether the ia in Muhammad's time formed a single religious whether the community as a who from Judaism known to us from Tal Berard Lewis has also addressed the difficulty of researching Medinan Jewry. “The task of the historian is further complicated,” he writes, “by the activities in or near Arabia of Judeo-Christian groups and other Jewish and Christian sectaries about whose beliefs and practices we are poorly informed." Shaul Shaked similarly argued that our knowledge of the religious struc- ture of the Jewish society in Arabia at the time of Muhammad—of which so little materials and information survived—is lacking” One of the most recent discussions on the problems associated with studying the religious and spiritual life of the Medinan Jews was offered by Moshe Sharon: Itis impossible to know what kind of Jewishness" actually was. This question is particularly signifi ker Torey, The Jewish Foundation of Islam (New York: Jewish Institute of Sands, “SD. Goitein: Historian ofthe Jewish-Islamie Symbiosis” Pam 38 Silomo Dov Goitei, Jews and Arabs: Their Contacts through the Ages (New York: Schocken, 1955), 50. 2 Lewis, The Jews of lam, 73 1 Shaked, “Historien,” 7.6 INTRODUCTION they actually mean; and it is almost sure that they read into the past their information about the Jews of their time (especially those of Iraq and Pales- tine)... The fact that the Qur'an states that the Jews ‘say ‘Uz of Allah raises grave doubts about the identity of those ‘Jews’. the son I of the scholars mentioned above emphasize the unintentional neglect of the subject. Yet the enigmatic origins of the Jews of Arabia, together with the lack of information about the type of Judaism that they practiced, have led certain scholars to speculate upon the sub- ject without solid evidence. Wilhelm Rudolph, for example, claimed that the Jews of Northern Ara- bia descended from a first-century CE sect that emigrated from the Land. of Israel to the Hijaz. He posited that their Judaism was, in fact, a synre- tism of Judaism and Christianity. David Samuel Margoliouth claimed that the Jews of Medina applied ‘some form of monotheism."®° Chaim Rabin argued that the Arabian Jews were the descendants of a remnant of the Qumran sect, which survived in Arabia until the seventh century CE®* Michael Cook and Patricia Crone suggested that Arabian Jews were guided by Samaritan influences. According to Sharon, “Based on the Quranic material alone it is very possible that at least some of these Jews (ifnotall of them) represented a sect with a clear Messianic doctrine, who regarded the Messiah as the son of God and called him ‘The Savior, ‘The Helper—Ozer- 'Usayr."® 45, jargoliouth, The Relations between Avabs and Israelites Prior to the ‘Ris of slam (London: Pub. for the British Academy by H. Milford, Oxford University Press, INTRODUCTION 7 Goitein speculated that “So far as we can leam about the Medinan Jews from the Quran and from the hadith, they were regular Jews with clear local characteristics that were not so different from the typical Jew known tous from the Talmudic literature,’** that is to say Talmudic Jews. Newby held the same observation.* The Kisters accepted Goitein’s view.** As we shall see, Goitein’s speculation will ultimately prove the most accurate. ‘The purpose of this monograph is to explore and understand in the ‘most thorough way possible the religious laws and beliefs of the Jews of Medina as reflected in the classical Islamic literature. ‘When studying the Jews of Medina as a religious and social group we must first acknowledge the following meth ffculties: Firs, the lack of written sources from this community itself forces us to rely almost exclusively on Islamic sources. This leads us to the second difficulty: There are significant questions regarding the historicity of the Islamic sources. Like every history that has been written by the victorious side, these writ- ings prove both hostile and tendentious to the conquered. Further, they were written long after the events they intend to document.” The problematic nature of Islamic sources with regard to the Jews of Medina raises the question of whether comprehensive scholarly research {nto this subject is at all possible. Indeed, if these sources are found to be essentially useless, then nothing certain can be said regarding the Jews of Medina, let alone their religious and social customs, In order to deal with these challenges, I have utilized a unique meth- odology, which I will describe in this book's second chapter. Some of the conclusions are indeed based on hypothetical assumptions, and cannot formally be considered historical facts. In my judgment however, the for- mation of rigorously researched and reasoned hypotheses is the only way investigate this important subject in depth and to offer the fullest pos- sible picture of the religious and spiritual life of the Jews of Medina in the seventh century CE. © of Islamic sources, see Meir Jacob Kister, “The Sita Lit- in Alex Felix Landon Beeston, TM Johnstone, Robert Bertram Serjeant, and G.R- 1 Bnd of the Umayyad Period (Cambridge: Cambridge Xn the lack of sources pertaining o the Arabian Peni 1 beginning of Islam, see Giorgio Levi Della Vid, ‘The Arab Heritage (Princeton: Princeton University(CHAPTER ONE RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL LEADERSHIP As the tribesmen of Arabia, the Jews of Medina drew their leadership from the more dominant clans among them. Theit community leaders were judges, military commanders, and those who ruled on halal study of tthe occasions of revelation” (asbab al-nuzil) in Islami reveals that the Jewish leaders in Medina often provoked Muhammad with questions on religious issues. As a result, they were referred to as the “people of the question” (ashdb al-mas‘ala). A reflection of the numer- ous questions that the Jewish sages in Medina asked Muhammad exists in the following saying, which indirectly presents the Jews as a trigger for the revelation of many verses of the Quran: ‘(Much of] the Qur’an was revealed because of the questions they (ie, the Jewish leaders in ‘al-Quor'an yansilu fim 1. The Leaders of the Jewish Tribes of Medina ‘Abd al-Malik b. Hisham (d, 833 CE) records a list of the Medinan Jew- ish leaders of every Jewish tribe in Medina? Many of these leaders are reported to have been killed during the Muslim Jewish conflicts in Med- ina and Khaybar. The leaders of the strongest Jewish tribe in Medina, the Bani al-Nadir, were the brothers from the Abii al-Huqayg family: Sallam, the richest merchant in the Hijaz, and al-Rabi' together with the three brothers from the Bana Akhtab family: Huyayy, Judayy and Aba Yasir. In 625 CE, after the Bani al-Nadir surrendered to the Muslims, these two families along with others, moved to Khaybar where their relatives lived. Sallam b. Abi al-Huqayq was then appointed ruler of Khaybar. He was soon murdered by Muslim assassins who disguised themselves as 2 bm Hisham, Sta, 2358, 2 Thid, 2155, 9 For dhe fll ist, see ibid, 285-158.10 CHAPTER ONE merchants.* Al-Yusayr b, Rizdm took over after Sallam’s death, however, he was soon murdered in an attack on his unarmed delegation on its way to Medina> After al-Yusayr, Kinana b. Abi al-Hugayg was appointed as the ruler of Khaybar. In 628 CE, after the battle of Khaybar, he was cap- ‘tured and tortured by al-Zubayr b. al“Awwam, who demanded to know ‘where his family’s fortune was hidden. Subsequently, the location of the fortune was discovered and Kinana was decapitated by Muhammad b. Maslama’ According to Islamic tradition, Huyayy b. Akhtab was the most hos- tile opponent of Muhammad. At one point, when Muhammad was in the Bani al-Nadir’s territory, Huyayy gathered his men and told them that this would be their best opportunity to kill Muhammad and they ‘must seize it because they would never get another chance like that. He then ordered one member of his tribe to climb on top of a roof and wait until Muhammad arrived in order to drop a stone on his head. Islamic sources suggest that Allah wamed Muhammad of Huyayy’s plan and he was saved.? After Huyayy moved to Khaybar he tried to organize opposition to the ‘Muslims in Medina. In 627 CE, the Quraysh mi Medina. The Muslims, however, were well-entrenched and the city could not be taken, so the Quraysh retuned to Mecca. At the same ime, Huyayy was in Medina and succeeded in convincing Ka'b b. Asad, the leader of the Bani Qurayza, to break his treaty with the Muslims. After the Quraysh left the siege on Medina, the Muslims besieged the ‘Band Qurayza, who surrendered and were massacred. Huyayy b. Akhtab ‘was among the dead. Another leader of the Bani al-Nadir was Sallam b. Mishkam. He appears to have been an excellent military strategist. Sallim served as commander of an army of Jews; he led them into the battle of Bu‘ath (618 CE). Ahead of the battle of Khaybar (628 CE), he was asked to assume @ command LWigid, ai-Maghdst, 2392. See further, Harald Motzki, “The Marder of Ton Abrl-Hugayg: On the Origin and Reliability of some Maghr? Reports” in Harald Motckt (ect), The Biography of Mubammad: The Issue of the Sources (Leiden: EJ. Bril, 2000), 39 RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL LEADERSHIP u position but refused due to illness. During the battle, he refused to be evacuated and was eventually killed.® In 625 CE, the Muslims besieged the forts of the Banu al-Nadir tribe. According to one Islamic report, when the Banii al-Nadir’s leaders realized that it was only a matter of time before the Muslims would overrun their fortifications, Sallam b, Mishkam said to Huyayy b. Akhtab the following: © Huyayy, by Allh, you know and we know with you that hei the mes- tanger fh and athe s desrbd incur [Sepa we ave not Towed him because we begrdgethe fact that prophecy has departed from the sons of Aron, then let us go and actep the guarantee of safe conduct he bas ofered us and leave [the cy]? On the other hand, another source states that Sallam b. Mishkam did not believe Muhammad was the future messenger described in the Jew- ish Scriptures. During one of the disputes between the Muslims and the Medinan Jews regarding the veracity of Muhammad's prophecy, two Mus- 5, Mu‘adh b. Jabal and Bishr b. al-Bara’ b. Ma‘rir are reported to have said: “O Jews, fear Allah and accept Islam, for you used to interpret [what appears in your holy books] about Muhammad when we were polytheists and tell us that he would be sent, and described him to us [according to his description in your books)” Sallam b. Mishkam responded to them, “He has not brought us anything we recognize and he is not the one we spoke of to you." The Bani al-Nadir had other religious and social leaders such as “Amr b.Jalthash, al-Hajjajb. ‘Amr, Kardam b. Qays, and Ka’b b. al-Ashraf. Ka'b’s father was one of the elders (sayyid) of the Band Tayy’, and his mother was from the Band al-Nadir. After the battle of Badr (624 CE), Ka’b b. al-Ashraf wrote a poem about the Qurashis who fell during the battle. In addition, he wrote poems that mocked Muhammad. At one point, Muhammad reportedly asked his Companions, “Who will get rid of Ibn al-Ashraf for my sake?” (man (6-lon al-Ashraf). Mubammad b. Maslama took the initiative, tricked Kab into leaving his house at night, and killed him with a few more Companions. 2:679-680, Sira, 2289, 2h 18. See further Uri Rubin, “The Assassination of Ka’ b,alAshra” Oriens ‘32 1990)" 65-71; Michael Lecker,“Wagid's Account on the Status ofthe Jews of Medinst2 CHAPTER ONE ‘The Bani Qurayza were led by Ka'b b. Asad, who was considered a moderate and rational man. He refrained from helping the Bant al-Nadit while they were besieged by the Muslims and refused to break the treaty his tribe made with Muhammad.” Nonetheless, in 627 CE he was swayed by Huyayy b. Akhtab and dragged into conflict with the Muslims. Even- tually the Bandi Qurayza were surrendered and as a result all the men were executed while the women were taken as booty.!* ‘The other leaders of the Banti Qurayza were: Azzal b. Shamwil, Shamwil b, Zayd, Jabal b. ‘Amr b. Sukayna, al-Nahham b. Zayd, Qardam b. Ka'b, ‘Wahb b. Zayd, Nafi‘b. Abi Nafi, Aba Nafi, ‘Adi b. Zayd, al-Harith b. ‘Awd, Kardam b. Zayd, Usama b. Habib, Rafi b. Rumayla, Jabal b. Abi Qushayr, Wahb b. Yahudha, and al-Zabir b. Bata b. Wahb. When the Banii Qurayza were massacred, Thabit b. Qays, who was a Muslim, asked Muhammad to spare al-Zabir b. Bata, because he had saved Thabit's life at the battle of Bu‘ath and Muhammad agreed. However, after al-Zabir heard that all the elders of his tribe had been massacred, he asked to join them and was executed as well In one of the disputes between the Jews (the Bani al-Nadir and the Bani Qurayza) and the Muslims, Huyayy b. Akhtab, Ka'b b. al-Ashraf, ‘Azar b. ‘Azir, and Nafi'b. Abi Nati‘ acknowledged Muhammad as a true prophet. So did Rafi‘ b, Huraymila of the Bani Qaynugat, whom I will discuss later Yet they did not convert to Islam. On the contrary, they are described as devoted Jews. When Muhammad called upon the Nadir to accept Islam they replied, ‘We will not abandon the Torah and the covenant of Moses” (ld nuftriqu al-Tawrih wa- ‘ahd Misa). Even after they surrendered, they preferred to leave Medina rather than convert.” After the Banti Qurayza realized that defeat was inevitable, Ka‘b b. Asad. raised the option of conversion. They answered, “We will never abandon the laws of the Torah and never exchange it for another” (ld mufariqu huukon al-Tawrah abade" wa-la nastabdiluhu bi-ghayrihi)® Even after they sur- A Study of a Combined Report Journal of Near Eastern Studies 54/1 (1994), 15-32, 15-18 and 25-23, ubaromad b. Jarir a-Taban, Tarith al-Rusul wa'lMuldk, 10 vols. (Caro: Dat ), 86-87. % Maal b. Salina Bali Tair Muga Suleyman, 3 vols. (Bent: Dat al atu alimiyya, 2008), 108, 1 aLWa RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL LEADERSHIP 13 rendered, the Banii Qurayza preferred to be executed rather than convert, with only three exceptions” They spent the night before their execution studying Torah in order to strengthen their faith.2° a strong indication of their intense devotion to Judaism. ‘The Bani Qaynuqa‘ were led by Finhds b. ‘Ania’. Reportedly, Muhammad sent Aba Bakr to call upon the Bani Qaynuga’ to convert, give alms (zakaft), and lend him money. Aba Bakr came to the study hall where the Jews studied Torah (bayt al-midras) and saw them gathering around Finhas. Abii Bakr told Fins: “Fear Allah and convert! By Allah, you know that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." In return, Finhas told him {mockingly]: "By Allah! We are not so lacking that we need Allah, rather he needs us. If Allah did not need us, he would not be asking us for a loan. In response, Abii Bakr slapped Finhas and told him, “By Allah! If we did not have a treaty I would cut your head off” Finhas complained about this to Muhammad, and Aba Bakr told the latter what had happened. Islamic tradition states that Finbas denied the story, so Allah revealed Quran [henceforth Q.] 318128 “Allah has certainly heard the sayings of those who said: Allah is poor and we are rich. We shall record what they say, and their killing the prophets unjustly, and we shall say: Taste the chastisement of buming.” ‘The most prominent scholar among the Ban Qaynuga’ was Husayn b. Salam b. al-Hitith, better known as ‘Abd Allah b. Salm, Hugayn was the first Jewish convert to Islam, and Muhammad changed his name to ‘Abd ‘Allah. ‘Abd Allah b. Salim claimed that even before Muhammad arrived in Medina, he had heard his name and a description of him and real- ized that he was the messenger described in Jewish Scriptures, though he did not reveal this publicly. When ‘Abd Allah b. Salam heard about rival in Medina, he screamed in excitement, “Allah is fs aunt, Khalida bt. al-Harith, heard him and said, "Good Jonathan Rates (1908-1981), to write poems on the subject. 2 “Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Alb, Muhammad Zé al. Masr ft im al Tafsir (Beirut: al Maktab al-Islam Tibet‘ wall 5° Translation taken from Muamme 1 Holy Quin: Arabic Text English Translation and Commentary (Labore: The Lahore Abmadiyya Movement in Iam, 1988). 2 Ton alae Zid al-Masi, 1514; Mugatl, Taf, 1207.4 CHAPTER ONE gracious, if you had heard that Moses b. ‘Amram had arrived, you could not have made more of a fuss!” ‘Abd Allah answered her: “Indeed aunt, he is the brother of Moses and follows his religion, being sent with his is aunt then asked him, “ls he really the prophet who we have will be sent at this very time?" ‘Abd Allah replied that he was25 . Salam then went to Muhammad, accepted Islam, and ordered his family to do the same, Muhammad met with the Jewish sages of the Bani Qaynuga’ before they had been informed of ‘Abd Allah b. and asked them who ‘Abd Allah b. Salam was to them. They replied, “He is our chief and the son of our chief, our rabbi and our leamed man’ (sayyiduna waibn sayyidin@ wa-habruné wa-‘alimund). After they found out about ‘Abd Allah's conversion, however, they slan- dered him2* The other leaders of the Band Qaynuga’ were Malik. Sayf (or Da ‘Abd Allah b. Sayf (or Dayf), Zayd b. a-Lasit (or al-Lusayt), sae ay izayr b. Abi ‘Uzayr, Suwayd b. al-Harith, Rifa‘a b. Bari b. ‘Amr (who was Huyayy b. Akhtab’s “Adi, Sha’sb. Qays, Zayd b. al-Harith, Nu‘man b, SAT. Zi ae Abit Anas, Mahmud b. Dabya, and Rifs'ab.Zaya b.al-Tabat The Arab sources state that Sed b, Hunayf, Nu‘man b, the Band Qaynuga’ engaged in disputation with the Muslims. In one event, Muhammad's dromedary wandered away and he did not know where it was. Zayd b. al-Lasit mocked him and said, “Muhammad alleges that revelations come to him from heaven while he does not know where his dromedary is’ (yaz‘amu Muhammad annahu ya'tihi khabar al-sama’ ‘wa-huowa la yadri ayna négatuhu). After Muhammad heard what Zayd b. al-Lasit had said, he proclaimed: “By Allaht I only know what Allah lets ‘me know. And [now] Allah has shown me where it (the dromedary) is* /1OUS AND SOCIAL LEADERSHIP 5 i wa-lléhi ma tamu illa ma ‘allamani Allah wa-qad dallani Alléh ‘alayha).2* On one of the many occasions upon which Muhammad called on the Jews to accept Islam and warned them of Allah’s punishment and revenge, Rafi’ b. Kharija and Malik b. ‘Awf demonstrated their devotion to their religion by saying, “O Muhammad! We follow the religion of our fathers, for they were more leamed and better men than we are” (bal nattabi'u ya Muhammad ma wajadna ‘alayhi aba’nd fa-hum kant alam wa-khayre® ‘minna) 22 In addition to the three large Jewish tribes in Medina, there were a few smaller Jewish tribes. The leaders of the Bandi Tha‘laba b. al-Fityawn were ‘Abd Allah b. Siriya, Ibn Saliiba,®° and Mukhayrig, When Muhammad called on the Jews to convert, Ibn Saliba told him: O Mujammad, you have not brought us anything we recognize, and Allah has not sent down to you any aya that we should follow you" (ya Muhammad ma ji'tana bi-shay’ na‘rifuhu wa-mé anzala Allah ‘alayka min aya fa-natba‘uka lah). ‘The word aya has two meanings in Arabic, ‘sign’ and “a Quranic verse.” Islamic tradition holds that the Quranic verses are wonders sent by Allah e veracity of Muhammad's rev- lation. The story then states that Allah then revealed Q. 2:99: "And we indeed have revealed to thee clear signs, and none disbelieve in them except the transgressors." Islamic sources present ‘Abd Allah b. Sariya as the most learned man of the Torah in the Hijiz. Reports of his attitude towards Muhammad's message are contradictory. According to one source, Ibn Siriya told ‘Muhammad: “By Allah! © Muhammad, the Jews know that you are a true prophet but they are jealous of you.” Ibn Siriya then presented Muhammad with three questions that only a true prophet could answer correctly. ‘After Muhammad answered them correctly, Tbn Sariyé converted. ‘According to another source, however, during one of the disputes between ‘Muhammad and the Jews, Ibn Sariya told him, “The only guidance is to be found with us, so follow us Muhammad, and you will be rightly guided’ (na al-huda illé ma nafrnu ‘alayhi fa-ttabi'nd ya Muhammad tahtadi)®6 CHAPTER ONE. ‘The reports regarding Mukhayriq are strange. According to one source, before the Mustims set out for the battle of Ubud in 625 CE, Muhammad asked the Jews to join him but they refused because it was the Sabbath day. Then Mukhayrig came and told them, "You have no Sabbath!" (la sabt lakur}, took his weapon, and joined the Muslim force. Another report, however, claims that Mukhayriq never abandoned Judaism but did acknowledge Muhammad as a prophet, as foretold in the Jewish Scrip- ‘ures. When Mukhayriq was killed in the battle of Uhud, Muhammad remarked on him, "Mukhayriq is the best among the Jews" (Mukhayriq bhayr al-yahiud).** In addition to all the above-mentioned Medinan Jewish leaders, Ibn Hisham lists several others. The leader of the Jews of the Bani al-Harith was Kinana b. Siriyd. The leader of the Jews of the Bana al-Najjar was Silsila b. Barham. Like some of the leaders of the Band Qaynuqa’, both outwardly converted but remained hostile towards the Muslims.5> The leader of the Jews of the Band ‘Amr b. ‘Awf was Qardam b, ‘Amr. Another prominent Medinan Jew was Labid b. al-A'sam of the Banit Zurayq, supposedly of Yemenite origin.® Islamic tradition states that Labid putaspellon Mubammad, causinghim tobecomeill Other slamicsources also state that it was not only Labid b. al-A'sam but also a group (qawm) from among the Jews. In some versions of the story, his daughters were involved as well The story tells that the Jews made an amulet with eleven nots and threw it into the well of Dhuran and then Muhammad became sick Afterwards, two angels came to Muhammad and told him the loca- tion ofthe amulet. Then Muhammad sent one of his Companions, ‘Ammar », Yasir, to bring it, and then the spell was removed from him. Every time ‘Muhammad untied a knot he felt better.*? Islamic tradition further argues % For more on Medinan Jews of Yemenite ongin. see Michael Lecker, “The Conver- mya fo Jods andthe Jewish Bana Ha of Metin” Die We dex Ores 26 ms ‘him to bring them a group of ‘spell on him. See Ibm al-favr, [RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL LEADERSHIP ” that because of Labid b. al-A‘sam's spell, Muhammad received chapters 13 and 114 and ordered the Muslims to say these chapters whenever they are in danger.” Islamic sources mention another Jewish leader of Yemenite origin: Marhab b. Zayd. Marhab was the owner of one of the fortresses of Khay- bar and considered a hero by the Jews. It is claimed that he inflicted sev- eral casualties on the Muslims before being killed in the battle of Khaybar in 628 CE? It seems that the leaders of the Bani al-Nadir and the Band Qurayza ‘were more devoted to their faith than the leaders of other Jewish tribes. Although a few of them proclaimed that Muhammad was a true prophet, they refused to acknowledge him as such. They not only engaged in polem- ics with Mubammad and the Muslims but also risked their ives for their faith. The Bant Qurayza refused to convert in order to save themselves and were massacred, while the Band al-Nadir suffered terrible losses in the battle of Khaybar with the Muslims. In contrast, the leaders of the Band’ Qaynuga’ and one of the leaders of the Band Tha‘aba b. al-Fityawn, who were considered to be great rab- In addition, some sages of the Band Qaynuga' and xr Jewish groups converted outwardly, yet, when the ‘moment came to declare their loyalty, they chose Judaism. Islam by the Jews of Medina wi fested in the following statement attributed to Muhammad: {Jews would believe in me, then {the rest of] the Jews would [too] (law dmana bi ‘ashara min al-yahiid la-amana bi al-yahid).** 2, Tabif and Derash Several verses in the Qur'an accuse the Jews of both altering the words of the Torah and taking its statements out of context. In Islamic sources,8 CHAPTER ONE, this is referred to as “falsification” (tale). The related Quranic verses read as follows: Do you then hope that they would ‘them used to hear the word ‘understood it, and they know [this]? (a,fa-tagma ina an yw’mind lakum ve 4gad kana farig*” minkum yasma'tina kaldm Alli thumma yubarrfinahu ‘ma ‘agatha wa-hum ya lamina. Q. 273) ya he weds fom ther laces Quai aking tn 513, Some of those who are Jews alter words from their places Qwharrifina satin ssid wavy, ae eae on to tben oe »wa-‘asaynd) and [say], hear without being made to hear, and (say], listen to.us, distorting with their tongues and slandering religion. And if they had said, we hear and we obey, and hearken, and look at us, em and more upright; bt Allah sbelief, so they believe not but alittle ‘you when a party from among then altered it after they had During the Hasmonean period (152-37 BCE), several groups struggled for religious leadership in the Land of Israel. The most prominent groups were the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The group that eventually emerged victorious and established Jewish law as we know it from the Talmud was Second Temple (70 CE) and 132-135 CB), they became the ical law. The Sadducees interpreted al meaning (peshat) and rejected the * On talrif se BP, sv. Tail (H. Lazarus-Yafeh); Gordon Nickel, Narratives of Tam- pring in the Barlest Commentaries on the Reynolds RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL LEADERSHIP. 19 use of non-scriptural material. They were therefore much stricter in their practices than the Pharisees.#® ‘The Pharisees, on the other hand, placed great importance on the “Oral Torah,” which they believed had been given to Moses at Sinai and passed down orally through the generations together with ‘They used the oral Torah to interpret the written a literal reading of the Biblical text in order to derive successors, the Mishnaic and Talmudic sages, continued their les that were used to called *hermeneu- Torah nidreshet bahen). these rules and methods appear very early in the Talmu- ¢ Tannaitic tradition recognizes three founders of such first century CE), R. Ishmael b, Elisha’ (90-135 CE), and R Eli'ezer b. R. Yossey of the Galilee (second century CE). In addition, there are at least seventy instances in the Babylonian Tal- mud in which the sages interpret Biblical verses by changing one word xd of homiletic interpretation involved one of the ince the Hebrew alphabet is consonantal, in certain order to arrive or more.*® This met following process ccases the sages would change the vocalization of a word20 CHAPTER ONE For the sin of taking oaths in vain, for the false oaths, for the sin of des ‘ecrating the name of God, and for desecrating the Sabbath, savage beasts {nerease, and due to thetr attacks cattle are decimated, the human popula- n decreases and the highways become deserted, For It is stated ‘despite ‘on the account of an oath’ (alah), In other cases, the Telmudic sages would split a word into two parts. BT Shab! is AR. Joshua b. Levi said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “The people saw that Moses delayed in descending the mountain’ (Ex. 321)? Do not read this as itis written ‘delayed? (béshesh), rather read it as if it were shesh). R. Joshua b. Levi explained of this reading as follows: “When Moses ascended on high, f forty days, at the beginning of 1¢ end of forty days Satan came and confounded the the Children of Israel: ‘Where is your teacher Moses?” has ascended on high’ they answered him: The sith [hour] has come, said he to them, but they disregarded him. ‘He is dead’—but they disre- garded him. [Thereupon] he showed them a vision of his bier.%* Sometimes, a word is changed by adding, subtracting, or moving a letter. For example: R. Joshua b. Levi said that one should read the word ‘roses’ (shdshanim) as “they that learn” (she-shonim): R. Joshua b. Levi said: The Holy One, Blessed Be He, brought forth the wind from his store-chambers and caused each to pass on in order, as it is said, ‘His lips are as roses, dripping myreh’: Do not read this (shoshantm) rather, read it as if it were “they that learn” (she- Based on the examples presented here, it seems that the Quranic sation against the Jews with tarifis not entirely misleading. Actu is probably a misunderstanding or rejection of the Talmudic homiletic 50° The King James Version of the English Bile: An Account of the Development and Sources ofthe English Bile of 161 with Special References to Hebrew Tradition (Chicago ‘The University of Chicago Press, 194), 5 BI, Shabl 8 BI, Shab 59 BI, Shab RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL LEADERSHIP a interpretation.» This accusation supports my argument that the Medinan Jews were Talmudic. It is asserted that Muhammad condemned the homiletic method of interpretation. In a statement attributed to him, he said that the Chil: dren of Israel were righteot the sons of their captive women grew up. These sons championed the use of reason, i.e. interpreting the text intellectually (ray) rather than according to its literal meaning; thus they strayed and led others astray through their halakhic judgments." ‘The rejection of the homiletic interpretation may explain why when the Muslims saw the Medinan Jews engaging in practices that were dif- literal meaning of the Bible they argued that the Jews had lamic argument against the Medinan Jews was therefore similar to the argument used by the Sadducees against the Pharisees and in later periods by the Karaite Jews against the Rabbanites. 3. Rabbaniyiin and Abbar and ahbar (sg, abr). The rabbaniyan were the ahbar were the jurists (fugaha’) of the Medinan Jews.* This indicates that they used their own independent thinking in order to analyze and to interpret sacred texts and make hal: In the Talmud there ate several root reish-bei given only to the greatest Jewish sages, such as dans. Since very few were considered worthy of this honorific ti22 CHAPTER ONE, reasonable to assume that the meaning of the term rabbaniyiin does not refer to them, but to “Rabbis” in a more generic sense. ‘The title Rabbi was used as an honorific title for the Tannaim and the first Amoraim in the Land of Israel. The Tannaim inherited the Pharisaic tradition of homiletic interpretation, as their name indicates. Tanna is the Aramaic word for *he studied” (darash). The word Ray in Aramaic means “minister” (Sar), ie., a man of authority; in this case, religious authority. Ray was a title of honor given to the Amoraim in Babylonia and to the greatest among the Geonim and the authorities who came after them. ‘As for the word habr, itis reminiscent of the Hebrew word haver (lit. companion). The first one to mention this similarity was Abraham Geiger. He adds that the word haver was one of the names for the Pharisees, who believed in the oral tradition and practiced ritual ‘way? Geiger’s opinion was followed by Joseph Ho: Jacob Kister and Menahem Kister.®° According to Hillel Newman, there is a similarity between the Pharisees and the haverim, even if there is no group identification. He goes on to 8 Goitein,®® Meir of the haverim were Pharisees. However, this does not mean that all the Pharisees were haverim or vice-versa’® Despite all of the arguments made, there is one Talmudic source that Clearly strengthens the argument that habr is actually referring to a Jewish raham Geiger, Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthune aufyenommen? (Bonn, translated as Judaism and Islam by FM. Yong, Edited by Gerson D. Cohen. Pre” on by Moshe Perlman (Nevr York: Ktav Publishing House, 1970), 35 and 37 Horovite, Jewish Proper Names, 53-54, eitein, Contacts, 49-50. Se als, idem, “The Children of Israel and Their Argu- and Kister, “Notes” 238 n. 9, According to Moshe Beer, the term Hewaya the sages of the Talmu (eds), The Sages ofthe Misha and the -Gan: Bar-an University, 2011, 51-58, RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL LEADERSHIP 23 sage and as far as I can tell, it has not been mentioned in academic litera- ture thus far. In a Talmudic discussion on the future feast that the Lord will make for the righteous, the Talmudic sages discussed the meaning of Job. 40:30, “Shall the companions (habarim) make a banquet of hit Rabbah said in the name of R. Yohanan that the word fabarim refer ‘Torah scholars (tabmidey hakhamim), as it says in the Song of Songs “Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear 4, Base and Hardship Islamic sources, starting with the Qur’én, present Islam as a lenient and forgiving religion, especially in comparison to Jewish law.** These sources accused the Jewish sages of being overly strict in their halakhic decisions. ‘The most detailed monograph on this subject is After Hardship Cometh Ease by Ze'ev Maghen, which “examine(s] aspects of how Muslim sources cast the Bani Isra’l and al-yahiid in the role of a backdrop for and nega- tive image of Muslim moderation.“ ‘Asstudy of the Talmudic sources demonstrates that this Islamic accusa- tion is not entirely accurate. The official approach of the Jewish sages was to be moderate in their decisions, as stated in Mishna Avot: be moder- ate in judgment” (hevic metunim ba-din)® Moreover, in several occasions in the Talmud it is stated, “[The rabbis] do not enact a decree upon the public unless the majority of the public is able to withstand it” (ein gérin _gzera ela im ken rav sibir yekholn la‘amad ba), In addition, Talmudic sages held that in cases that allow for modera- tion or lenience in rulings on the basis of derash, such a practice is wel- come. This idea is expressed in the Talmud as, “The power of lenience is preferred [over strictness in ruling]" (koah de-heiterd ‘adif).°? ruling fon Jews regarding the Laws of Menstruation” Der stam 87 (2012) 208-223, -Maghen, Aer Hardship Cometh Ease: The Jews as Backdrop for Muslim Modera lin, New York: De Gruyter, 2006), 7.24 (CHAPTER ONE However, the following words of R. Eliezer b. Jacob in BT, Tractate Yevamst may be seen as supporting, to a certain extent, the Islamic accu- sation against the Jewish sages for being overly strict in their rulings: veard {from my teachers] that the court may inflict lashes and capital punishment even wher mandated by the Torah. This may not be done with intent to transgress the statutes of the Torah: rather it may be done with intent to “build a fence around the Torah’ [and thereby safeguard its statutes). Indeed, there was an incident in which a person rode a horse on the Sabbath during the period of the Greek rule; he was brought to court and stoned not because he was deserving of it, butather the times demanded it. There was a further incident involving a man who cohabited with his wife under a fig tree (Je, in the fresh air) and they brought him to court and flogged him. Again, this was done not because he was deserving of i, but rather it was done because the times demanded it! The Jews of Medina were not accused of being overly strict in their halakhic decisions per se, but rather in comparison with Islamic law. They appear to have embraced the leniency principle. For example, as we shall see in the next chapter, they dealt with the issue of adultery and torts in a much more lenjent way than the literal meaning of the Mosaic law, just like in Talmudic Law. ‘The appellations used in Islamic sources refer to the social and religious leaders of the Medinan Jews, as well as to the descriptions of the Jews’ use of a homiletic method of interpreting the Bible—as the Pharisees, the haverim, and the Talmudic sages did—appears to strengthen the argu- ‘ment that the Medinan Jews followed the Talmudic- Rabbinic tradition. © BT, Yevamst, 90b, CHAPTER TWO LAW AND CUSTOM Islamic sources offer an abundance of material on the religious and spiti tual life of the Jews of Medi the Medinan Jews in Islamic sources are not organized in any particular fashion, but rather are interspersed and difficult to compile. the overall writing structure of many Islamic sources is jumping from one subject to another. Information on the religious and spiritual life of the Jews of Medina therefore must be gathered from vari- ous sources. It is possible to deduce details regarding the religious and spiritual life of the Jews of Medina, as reflected in Islamic sources, in several ways. In some cases, these sources will explicitly declare that a specific law or custom was practiced by Medinan Jewry. In such cases, any halakhic position directly attributed to Medinan Jews or hinted at in the Islamic sources must then be compared to its parallel—if exists—in the Bible, the Mishna, and the two Talmuds. A comparison with the relevant Talrmu dic sources—most often the Babylonian Talmud—often reveals a match between Talmudic law and custom and customs attributed to Jews of Medina in Islamic sources. In other cases, I have applied a relatively new methodology to recon- struct the customs of the Jews of Medina. In one hadith, Muhammad is said to have commanded his followers, “Do the opposite of the Jews’ (Khalifa al-yahid)+ Islamic tradition specifically declares its intention to differentiate itself from other religions, and not to imitate, or even to intentionally act in a manner completely contrary to the customs of other 7 On mubhalaf in research, ee Mazur, “Menstruation and Differentiation” 207-20826 (CHAPTER TWO life of the Jews of Medina. These sources do not always declare that a specific Islamic custom is the product of the attempts to differentiate Islamic practices from Jewish ones. As such, the researcher must attempt to identify the Jewish source to which Islam may have been reacting. ‘The juxtaposition of Islamic sources together with Jewish sources often demonstrates Islam's attempts to differentiate itself from Talmudic law in many areas. We can therefore deduce that many of laws and customs attributed to Medinan Jews were likely Talmudic in origin, When Jews and Christians followed different traditions in a specific area of interest, Islam requires its followers to choose the “golden path” tringent path on any specific law or custom, whi the more lenient path. The Quran instructs Musl to follow either path’ Choosing the “golden path” effectively const a double mukhalafa, simultaneously differentiating Islam from both ism and Christianity. Understanding the principle of mukhalafa and interpreting it accord- ingly, may often enable the reconstruction of the laws and customs prac- ticed by Medinan Jewry. This methodology becomes possible in modem scholarship through the intensive study of traditional Islamic literature and the use of inductive reasoning. 1. The Sabbath Extant descriptions in Islamic tradition give the impression that the Medi- nan Jews strictly observed the Sabbath. In 627 CE, the Muslims besieged the Bani Qurayza. The Jews were outnumbered and militarily inferior to the Muslims. Their leader Ka'b b. Asad wanted to carry out a surprise attack against the Muslims on the Sabbath. Although thelr lives were in. danger, the Banti Qurayza refused because they did not want to violate the Sabbath." LAW AND CUSTOM 27 [At least in two cases it was asserted that Jewish converts to Islam expressed their wish to continue observing the Sabbath. ‘Abd Allah b. Salam, the first Jewish convert to Islam, and several other Jewish converts, asked Mubammad for permission to observe the Sabbath and read the ‘Torah following their conversion. Muhammad forbade them from doing so and said that it was the devil's suggestion to them. ‘The following story also demonstrates the strict observance of the Sabbath among the Jews of Medina. During the caliphate of ‘Umar b. al-Khattib, Safiya bt. Huyayy, a Jewish convert to Islam and one of Muhammad's widows, was accused by one of her slave-girls of observing the Sabbath, ‘Umar asked Safiyya if it was true and she answered, "I do not keep the Sabbath since Allah changed it for me to Friday,”® that is to say, since she converted the holy day of the week for her is Friday and not Saturday. ‘The accusation against Safiyya for observing the Sabbath is interesting because she is described in Islamic sources as an observant and devoted ‘Muslim, Furthermore, Islamic tradition claims that Muslim women would come to Safiya for guidance on how they should behave;* much as they “isha bt. Abi Bakr, also known as an Islamic authority on women’s issues. This would appear to demonstrate Safiyya bt. Huyayy’s great piety. After Muhammad died, his widows received a residence and an appropriate stipend from the Muslim community. If we accept Safiyya’s slave-gin’s accusation as valid, it is possible that she secretly observed the Sabbath, which demonstrates how much the Sabbath was respected ‘among the Jews of Medina and Khaybar. ‘The only Medinan Jew who dared to challenge the holiness of the Sab- bath was Mukhayrig, one of the leaders of the Banti Thalaba b. al-Fityawn, who acknowledged Muhammad as a prophet but never converted. Before the battle of Uhud in 625 CE, Muhammad asked the Jews to join him, but they refused because it was the Sabbath. Then Mukchayriq came and told Mugati, afr, 400 © Mubamimad b. Yasaf al 213. 7 Bg, Taglal-Din Abad b ‘Abd ib Away al 3 (Damascus: Dar Ton Kathir, 1992), im Ibn Taymiyya, Min al Sunna at Nabawiyy “From Suhayra bt. Jafar who narrated: We were ina andi we went to Safiyya bt. Huyayy’s house, ced er about the isues between the husband land the wife and about menstruation” (‘am askya” mix amar al mara wa-zawjlhd wasnt ‘nr ab-hayd) See Abad b, Muhammad ln Hanbal, Musnad al-bnam Ahmad 6 Hanba, ‘Gvos, (Beat: a: Maktab al Ilana i Tiba'a wa Nashr, 1969), 633728 CHAPTER Two them, “You have no Sabbath!” Then he took his weapon and joined the ‘Muslim army.? Mukhayriq’s motives are unknown and the Islamic sources do not discuss them. It appears that the observance of the Sabbath was a serious taboo amongst the Medinan Jews. The converts’ request of Muhammad, Safiyya bt. Huyayy’s supposed behavior, and the refusal of Bandi Qurayza to vio- late the Sabbath, strongly demonstrate this. 2. Fasting Similarly to other commandments in Islam, the laws of fasting were formed ting his followers from the Medinan Jews was clearly an issue that occupied Muhammad, and as a result Islamic tradition provides us with a great deal of information about the laws and customs of the Medinan Jews regarding fasting. According to ‘Abd Allah b, ‘Abbas (d. 688 CE), when Muammad first ‘came to Medina, he saw the Jews fasting on yawm ‘ashiir@”. Muhammad then said, “This was the day upon which Aliah drowned the soldiers of Pharaoh, and so Moses fasted on it. We have a better right to Moses than you have (nahnu ahagg wa-awla biMisd minkum) and he fasted and ordered the people to fast with him.” Ultimately, Muhammad made yawrm ‘ashard’ optional and replaced it with the month-long fast irces argue that Muhammad decreed that yawm ‘shiira’ m the tenth day of the month of Muharram, the first month of the Muslim calendar, and that he borrowed the ritual from the Jews. For this reason, Western scholars have concluded that he did so in imitation section [bab] no. 19: hadith » “farman sha'a sdmahu wa-ma tarakah, See al Bukbar,Sahih 1 LAW AND CUSTOM, 29 of the Jewish Day of Atonement (yom ha-kippirim) which falls on the tenth day of the first Jewish month, Tishrei. Abraham I. Katsh, for exam- ple, argued, “Muhammad at first accepted the Day of Atonement as a day of fast, calling it ‘shia’, ‘the fast of the tenth" However, other hadiths considered as reliable sahih) state that Quraysh!® and Muhammad fasted on the tenth of Muharram before his immigration to Medina" Theodor Noldeke argued that these traditions were intended to obfuscate the Jewish origin of yawn "38 Some later scholars, such as Joseph Joel Rivlin and John Burton, concurred this claim.® Putting these two hadiths aside, the scholarly consensus requires fur- ther study for two reasons: First, the fast of the tenth (s6m ha-‘asiri) in Jewish sources isthe tenth of Tevet, and not the Day of Atonement. Zech. ‘819 states: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.” The words, the fast of the tenth, are explained by R. ‘Akiba in the following way: ‘When the verse stats ‘the fast ofthe tenth, this refers to the tenth of Tevet, for on [that date] the king of Babylonia began to besiege Jerusalem... And why does [the verse) cal it the tenth? Because Tevet is the tenth of the rmonths [starting from Nissan]. Now it would have been fitting to write this day, the tenth of Tevet, first, since it marks the frst stage of the destruction. So wiy is it writen here at the end of the verse? So as to arrange the months according to their proper order in a calendar year” Second, Tishrei is mentioned in the Bible as the seventh month of the year, and the Bible specifically states that the Day of Atonement occurs in the seventh month (Lev. 16:29), and that the first month of the year is Abraham 1. Katsh, Judaism and Islam," Journal of Educational Sociology 36 (1963), 400-906, at 405 ® See eg, bn Maja, Sunan, L553; Aba D¥'Gd, 3} no. 46: hadith no, 1769; al San’ ‘i Mayenne 4224 (hth no, 4: section (646) 8 and Service inthe Temple as Desribed in the Hebrew). CE. John Burton, °N * Bulletin ofthe British Society for30 cnarrer two ‘Nissan (Ex. 12:2). Furthermore, the only Bi 1onth is to keep a lamb for 0 fast is mentioned. The fact that Muhammad decreed yawm ‘ishira’ as a fast day on the tenth day of the first month of the Muslim calendar cannot be ignored. Since there is no fast during Nissan—the first month of the year by Mosaic tradition—it seems reasonable to assume that Islamic tradition refers to the Day of Atonement and not to the tenth of Tevet. In addition, the phrase “the fast of the tenth” comes from the fact that Tevet is the tenth month according to the Mosaic calendar, and not because it was on the tenth day of the month, like the Day of Atonement is. ‘The only Jewish sources that can explain why the Arab sources argued that the Jewish yawmn ‘ashiira’ occurred on the tenth day of the first month are Mishna and BT, Tractate Ro’sh ha-Shana: cal requirement for the tenth Passover sacrifice four days are four new years: On the first of Nissan is the New Year of kings [Le, reckoned according to the various reigns of the kings of Judea] and festivals. On the first of Eul is the New Year of the tthe of the animals. . Eazar and R. Simon say: It is the first of Tishrei. On the first of Tish: ‘These are the only sources that claim that Tishrel isthe frst month of the Jewish year. Given that Muhammad observed the Medinan Jews fasting on the tenth day of the first month of the Jewish year, described as the Jewish yawn ‘shir, itis very likely that Islamic sources refer to the Day of Atonement. In addition, it seems as if the calendar employed by the ‘Medinan Jews and their counting of the months of the year were identical to that described in the Mishna and Talmud. 24. Duration of the Fast According to Islamic tradition, the Jews of Medina fasted on yawm ‘ashi’ from one sunset to the next (min al-‘atama ila al-atama). At the begin- ning of Islam (ft awwal al-Islam), the Muslims followed the Jewish laws in regard to fasting, Later, the Muslims were permitted to eat and drink before the beginning of the fast at dawn,!” meaning that their fast was shortened—from dawn to sunset. 7, Roh ha Shana, 2a ‘Uy, 1196; al Mahal, alfalalayn, 43, LAW AND CUSTOM, a ‘Two statements attributed to Muhammad emphasize the Muslims’ desire to differentiate the duration of their fast from that observed by the Medinan Jews. The first was “The difference between our fast and that of the People of the Book is the meal at dawn” (bayna sawmnind wa-sawm ahl al-kitab aklat al-sahar)2° Generally, the term “People of the Book’ refers to Christians and Jews." In this case, as Goldzther demonstrated, it refers specifically to the Jews2® ‘The second statement is “the religion (Le. Islam) will continue to pre~ vail as long as the people (i.e, the Muslims) break the fast early, because the Jews and the Christians break it late” ((d yazdlu al-din zahir* ma ‘ajjal al-nas alfitr U-anna al-yahiid wa'tnasara ywakhirin).2® The first state- ‘ment does not necessarily refer to the meal at dawn, but rather to the duration of the fast, i, starting from dawn. Both hadiths actually delimit the length of the fast—from dawn to sunset and no longer. ‘This is precisely the opposite of the Bible's regulations regarding the duration of the Day of Atonement. Lev. 23:32 states: It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall aflict your souls: on the ninth day of the month at evening, rom evening unto evening, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.” 2.2. The Date of the Fast Ibn ‘Abbas narrated that when Muhammad fasted on yawn ‘shia’ and commanded that it should be observed as a fast, some of his Compan- fons said to him, “O Allah’s messenger, it is a day which the Jews and Christians hold in high esteem.” Thereupon he said, “When the next year comes, God willing, we will observe the fast on the ninth; but he died before the advent of the next year" (idha kana al-‘ém al-mugbil—in sha? ‘al Musannaf, 4175 (hadith no. 7632). mann, Tolerance and Coercion i Islam: Interfaith Relations in the Mus e: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 59; ane Dammen McAulife, “hnalyss of Classical and Modern Exegesis (Cambridge: Cambridge night at dawn, then complete the fas ull nightfall”R CHAPTER TWO Allah—sumna alyawm abtasi’. gala: falam ya'i alam ab-mugbil hatta turruffiya rasil Allah) 25 In another version of this hadith, Muhammad says, “If I live until the next [year], I would definitely observe the fast on the ninth, ie., with yawn ‘ashiird” (lain bagitu ila qabil® la-asimanna al-tasis ya‘ni rma yawn ‘ashiira’). 28 In another hadith narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas, Muhammad says, “Fast the ninth and the tenth, and do the opposite of the Jews” (simi al-tasi“wa't “ashir wa-khalifa al-yahud).* Still another hadith quotes Muhammad as saying, “Fast on yawm ‘ashiird’, but in order to differentiate from the Jews, fast one day before (ie, the ninth) and one day after (i., the eleventh)."2° Lev. 23:32 states, “It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall allict your souls: on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening unto evening, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.” R. Hiyya b. Rav from Diftt interpreted this verse as follows: ‘And ye shall filet your souls: on the ninth day’ [Lev. 23:32], but is it on the ninth that we fast? Why, itis on the tenth that we fast! Rather, this verse comes to tell you that whoever eats and drinks on the ninth, the scripture treats him as ifhe had fasted on the ninth and on the tenth Muhammad's instructions to fast on the ninth seem like a counter- ‘measure to the Talmudic prohibition of fasting on the ninth. Since Islamic sources clearly state that it was the opposite of the customs practiced by the Medinan Jews, we can definitely say that the Jews of Medina for- bade fast on the ninth of the first month, and thus followed the above- mentioned Talmudic rulings. lim, Sahih, 2797-798 (book [kab] no. 1: section [66] no. 20: hadith ne no. 18: section (bab) no, 20: hadith no. 134: Ton in Sah Mi the two collections of he able be began fasting on yawn he died. F Saami, al-Musannaf, 4222 (hadith no. 7879); elBayhaqh, al Suman al-Kubra, yhen he azzved in Medina in 622 CE, ten years before sdb. ‘Abd al-talim Thm. Tay a al-Srdt al Mustagim: Mubhdlafat LAW AND CUSTOM, 33 23, Prohibitions during the Fast ‘Muhammad instructed his followers regarding their behavior during the fast and emphasized that these instructions were the opposite of the Jew- ish laws and customs. This allows us to deduce the nature of Medinan Jewish customs regarding fasting in general and on the Day of Atonement in particular. Originally, Muhammad forbade the Muslims from having sexual intercourse after they fell asleep during the days of the fast. Dur- ing one of the nights of Ramadan, ‘Umar b. al-Khattab wanted to have intercourse with his wife. When he approached her, she told him that she was already sleeping, but he thought she was trying to avoid him with a false excuse. Eventually, ‘Umar and his wife had intercourse. Afterward, he regretted his actions and disclosed them to Muhammad. Shortly there- after, Q. 2:187 was revealed.® This verse permits the Muslims to engage in intercourse during the month of the fast after falling asleep. One hadith states that Muhammad himself did not avoid intercourse uring the nights of Ramadan. According to ‘isha bt. Abi Bakr, “The dawn came during Ramadan while he (ie, Muhammad) was sexually impure and not as a result of a nocturnal emission, [but from inter- course] and afterwards he purified himself and fasted” (yudrikuhw al-fair ft Ramadan wa-huwa junub** min ghayr ulum' fa-yaghtasilu wa-yasiomu).® This hadith also indicates that Mubammad—indirectly—permitted bath- ing during the fast even though it is ghusl® a ritual of ablution for the purpose of purification. ‘A'isha also stated that Muhammad engaged in light physical contact [with her] during the fast (Ana yubdishiru wa-huwa sim) 5 and kissed some of his wives:** Muhammad's actions are contradictory to Mishnaic and Talmudic law, which prohibits any contact with women or bathing during the fast.°* His permissions suggest that his motive was to differentiate from the laws and 3° al-Baydaw, Anwar al Tonsil, 36; a Maward a:Nukat wal-Uyiin, 1205. no. 19: hath no. 13-121); 4: section (6ab] no. 22: section [bab] no. 12: hadith no. 67). ‘Mubdshara is touching and pa iyad), See ibid, n.2. CE. Iba Maj, Sunan, 1466 On musa ee frZ' Magen Vrs of he lc: Pasion and Party Early Islamic Jurisprudence (Leiden: EJ, Bril, 2008). ' abBayhagh Ma‘ alSunan wa -Athar, 6276 (section {bab} no. 12:hadth no. 8722), 5 Mishna, Yoma, 1. CL Geiger, Judaism and Islam, 18,34 (CHAPTER TWO customs of the Jews of Medina. This, in turn, demonstrates that the Jews followed the traditional Talmudic view on this issue. 24, The Holiday Atmosphere Islamic sources state that the Muslims were disturbed that the Jews of Khaybar treated yawn ‘shard’ as a joyous holiday, on which their wives wore jewelry and their finest clothing,®® Apparently, the Muslims regarded yawn ‘ashiird’ as a day that required seriousness and the joyfulness of the ‘Jews seemed inappropriate to them. Interestingly, the reported atmosphere of yawm ‘ashiira’ among the Jews of Khaybar is similar to the atmosphere of the Day of Atonement described in the Mishna, Tractate Ta‘anit, which states that it was a day of dancing in the vineyards and matchmaking: R. Simon b. Gamllel said: (the People of] Israel had no days as festive as the fifteenth of Av and the Day of Atonement, for on those days the maidens of Jerusalem would go out dressed in white and borrowed garments—in order not to embarrass those who had none.... The maidens of Jerusalem would {go out and dance in the vineyards. And what did they say? Young man, lift ‘your eyes and see what you choose for yourself Do not consider beauty. Consider family. ‘Grace is false and beauty is vain; a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised’ [Prov. 31:30]. And itis further stated: ‘Give her of the fruit of her own hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates’ (Prov. 3:31]2° 3. Prayer BL The Number of Daily Prayers ‘Modem scholars hold a variety of opinions regarding the number of daily prayers required by Islam. Goldziher, for example, maintains that this was a result of Zoroastrian influence on Islam, because Zoroastrians pray five times daily: Nesya Shemer suggests that the reason for the number five as the ‘number of daily prayers is mystical. This is due to the fact that the number © Muslim, ® Mishna, Ta 2 Ignaz Goldziher,“slamisme et Parsisme,” Revue de Phistoire des religions 3 1-29, at 7-12 See also Mary Boyce, A History of Zoroastrianism (Leiden: EJ. Bll 97 2796 (book [kit] no, 1: section [6a6] no. 19: hadith no. 190). LAW AND CUSTOM 35 ‘has magical connotations in Arab society; it is also presumed to pro- tect the believer from the evil eye and expresses human completeness.° Other scholars point out an affinity to Jewish law. Goitein argues that Muslims must pray five times daily because Islam chose the “golden path’ between the Jews and the Eastern Christians. The Jews prayed three times and the Eastern Christians prayed seven times daily (the latter were inspired by the Biblical verse, “Seven times a day do I praise thee” Ps. it possible to argue that the Muslims chose the “golden path” on this issue? This is questionable, because by requiring prayer five times daily, the Muslims were “adopting” a Zoroastrian custom, something they also sought to avoid. Nonetheless, in my opinion Goitein is likely to be correct. This appears to be indicated by the existence of a similar phenomenon in Islamic laws of menstruation. In Judaism, a menstruating woman is not prevented from performing religious acts. In order to differentiate them- selves, Muslims forbade such acts." Marion Holmes-Katz demonstrated that Muslim sages were aware of the fact that this ruling was similar to the Zoroastrian way, though they tried to conceal this fact: ‘Muslims were always perfectly aware of basic commonalities between their ‘own purity practices and those of their neighbors... However, Muslims ‘were not interested in tracing their own purity practices back to the Zoro- Je tradition seems to have a consistent tendency to xoastrian influence while emphasizing its Jewish and Christian origins? Unlike other issues on which the Muslims succeeded in finding the “golden Based is possible to conclude that the M followed the “golden path” by assimilating elements of Zoroastri & Neaya Shemer, Prayer in Its Time: The Emergence of in Islamic Tradition” unpublished dissertation (Ramat-Gan: 66-65 [in Hebrew]. “© Shlomo Dov Goltein, Studies bn Islamic History and Int ws of Prayer Times University, 2006), (Leiden: £5. Bil, ‘a detailed study on the subject, see Haggai Masuz, Menstruation and its Legisl Evolution and Crystallization ofthe Law of Menses inthe Islamic Juristc Tradition. an introduction by Moshe Sharon (Ramat Gan: Baran Univesity Pres, forthcom ing) [in Hebrew}, Chapter 4 “Marion Holmes Katz, Body of Text: The Emergence ofthe Sunni Law of Ritual Party (Qvew Yorke SUNY Press, 2002), 9-136 CHAPTER TWO In any case, the most important matter for our discussion is the indication that the Jews of Medina prayed three times daily. According to R, Simon b. Semah Duran (Rashbas, 1361-1444 CE) jedgeable about Islam and wrote a sharp polemic against reason Muslims pray five times a day is that Muhammad had seen the Jews doing so on the Day of Atonement—the most sacred day in the Jew- ish calendar—and adopted the practice because he wanted the Muslims that of Rashbas, as he claimed that the imes daily in order to show that they were ‘more pious than the Jews, who prayed only three times daily.## Whatever the reason for Is rey agree that the decision was motivated by the desire to differentiate Islam from Judaism. If the Muslims were required to pray five times a day in order to be on a higher spiritual level than the Jews, one may infer that the Jews prayed fewer than five times daily. Since Islamic tradition does not provide any information about the specific number of prayers required by the Jews, I contend that we must rely on Goitein's method, according to which Islam tended to choose the “golden path” between Jews and Eastern Christians. This would indicate that the Medinan Jews prayed three times daily. 3.2. The Call to Prayer Another issue on which the Muslims chose the “golden path" was that of the call to prayer (addn). One hadith states that Muammad's Compan- fons asked him how the people should be summoned to prayer, and he id not have an answer. Some of them offered to do it with a ram's horn (Ar. shabiir alsyahitd or big al-yahid al-manfukh bit-fam; Heb. shéfar), as was the Jewish custom. However, because it was a Jewish practice, Mubammad did not approve this suggestion. Others suggested striking 4 metal board (ndiqis) with their hands, as was the Christian practice. ‘Muhammad rejected this idea as well because he did not want his follow- ers to adopt a Christian practice. One of the Companions, ‘Abd Allah b. Zayd b. ‘Abd Rabbihi, found the solution. He told Muhammad of a dream he had, in which he saw that the call to prayer should be made with a ‘man's voice. Muhammad accepted this idea, and immediately ordered {8 R-Simon b. Semah Darin, Qeshet dMaggen (Jerusalem: Magar Pres, 1970), 19b “Torey, Jewish Fowrdaton, 13. LAW AND CUSTOM 37 ‘one of his Companions, to summon the Muslims to prayer by voice uncement, thus creating the role of the Muezzin.** Some historical evidence exists for the above-mentioned Christian practice of summoning the believers for prayer by striking a metal board. {As for the Jews, we have no pre-Islamic sources that describe them using a ram’s hom for a daily all to prayer. The only source that mentions using a ram’s hom in the context of a call to prayer is BT Shabbat, according to which the Jews sounded the ram's hom on Friday at dusk to alert the people to cease work and prepare for the Sabbath*® Apparently this was a unique local custom among the Medinan Jews. 33. The Direction of Prayer ‘There are a few dissenting opinions in the Talmud regarding the diree- tion a worshipper should face during prayer. According to one, if a man finds himself outside the Land of Israel, he should direct his heart toward the Land of Israel. If he is praying within the boundaries of the Land of Israel, he should direct his heart toward Jerusalem. If he is standing in Jerusalem, he should direct his heart toward the Temple. The Talmu- dic sages derived these regulations from the following two verses, “And ey will pray to the Lord by way of the city that you have chosen” gs. 8:44); “And they will pray toward this house” (Il Chr. 6:32). Another opinion, however, appears in the Talmud, which states that the only direction of prayer should be toward Jerusalem, even if the worshipper is in the Diaspora.*” This rule was derived from Dan. 6:10, in which Dan- is described as praying toward Jerusalem while exiled in Babylonia*® R. Joshua b, Levi and R. Abbahu held that west is the proper direction of prayer. R. Sheshet argued that a man may pray in any direction he wishes except toward the East, because Christians pray in that direction. Muslims were the same direction as the Jews did. Isla irection was toward bayt al-magdis, which c “© hn Taymlyya, Muthalaft Asha a-fahim, U3-U4, Hieschberg, by cont ‘that Muhammad chose the cll to praye And his voice was audible for three parasang™ (BT, bia, 19738 CHAPTER TWO. ‘Temple Mount. Even if we translate bayt al-magdis as the Temple or as the Temple Mount, it still refers to Jerusalem. Modern scholars explain that Muhammad decreed this direction of prayer in order to bring the Jews of Medina closer to Islam. Islamic sources state that in the month of Rajab, during the second year AH, Allah ordered Muhammad to change the direction of prayer to Mecca.st In response, the Medinan Jews said, ‘Muhammad is ordering his Com- panions one thing and then forbids it to them. This Qur’an was nothing but his own invention, this being why parts of it contradict others (inna Muhammad ya'mura ashdbahu bi-shay" thumma yanhihum ‘anbu; facmia kina hadha al-Qur'an lla min jihatihi wa-li-hadha yanqud ba'duhue ba‘d="), Islamic tradition argues further that in return, Allah revealed Q. 2:106: Whatever message we abrogate or cause to be forgotten, we bring cone better than it or one like it. Knowest thou not that Allah is possessor of power over all things?" The Medinan Jews are reported to have reacted strongly to changing f prayer. They made several arguments against the Muslims In return, Allah revealed several verses as an answer to the ‘group of Jewish sages, among them Marbab, ‘adh b. Jabal, “Muhammad abandoned our prayer direction because he is jealous, since our direction of prayer is. the prophets’ direction of prayer. Indeed, Muhammad knows that we are the righteous among the people” (md taraka Muhammad qiblatana illa fhasad**, wa-inna giblatand qiblat al-anbiyé’ wa-la-qad ‘alima Muhammad anna ‘ad! bayna al-nds), After this, Allah revealed Q. 2:142.59 Another hadith states that Hamis b. ‘Amr came to Muhammad and told him, “O Muhammad! You have not been commanded in this matter (Le, to change the direction of prayer) and this idea (lit. thing) is only Hludaybiyya-Treaty and the [in Hebrew; Shimon Shtober, in Joshua Blan and David Doron (eds), Hontage and fmovatin in MetevalJudeo-Arabic Culture (Ramat-Gan: Bar-llan University, 2000), 227-242, at 228-229 [in Hebrew], For 8 criticism on this view, ee Usi Rubin, “Between Arabia and the Holy Land: A Mecea- rusalem Studies in Arabi and Ilam 34 (3008), 345-362, at tations of Q. 2342 ‘Mulammad b. Ahmad b. AbI Bakr al-Qurtuby, a-Jamu’l-Ahkim alAraby, 1965), 261, LAW AND CUSTOM 39 your own innovation” (y@ Muhammad md umirta bi-hadha al-amr wa-ma ‘hadha illé shay’ *btada'tahu).** Then Allah revealed Q. 2:144. A different hadith states that Aba Yasir b. Akhtab, Ka‘bb. al-Ashraf, Ka’ . Usayd, Salam b. Siiriya, Kinana b. Abi a-Hugayq, Wahb b. Yahadha, and Abii Nafit asked Muhammad (with defiance]: “Why are you circling the Ka'ba? It is only a structure made of stones" (lima tatiffna bi'-Ka‘ba ‘wa-innama hiya hijara mabniyya). In return, Muhammad answered them, “You know that circling the Kaba is obligatory and that it is Allah’s diree- tion of prayer, which appears in the Torah and in the Gospels, but you are hiding what is in Allah's book and deny it” Salam b. Siriya told him they did not hide anything that appeared in their book, and then Allah revealed Q. 2:146.5° According to Islamic tradition, one of the revelations Muhammad received regarding the qibla was Q. 2:177, “It is not righteousness that you tur your faces towards the east and the west.” Qur'an commentators argue that the verse refers to the fact that the Christians prayed toward the East and the Jews toward the West.% Therefore, Islamic tradition reports ‘two directions of prayer practiced by the Medinan Jews: toward Jerusalem and toward the West. We cannot reach an unequivocal conclusion in this regard, as to which direction the Medinan Jews prayed. Yet there is a cor- respondence between both directions mentioned in the Islamic sources and those cited in the Talmud. 34, Kneeling and Prostration during Prayer Kneeling and prostration were already part of Jewish ritual in very early times’ Since the early Christians made extensive use of kneeling and prostration, the Talmudic sages resisted bowing down during prayer and Ignaz Goldziner, brew by Joseph Joe Lomaghrib wa'lnasara tatawnyiah il al-macrig 153. The commentator argument may be sd northwest of Medina, For additional informa: tion and Mosaics in Talmudic Law." Bulletin of the Instat of ens Studies 2 (73). 18-99. der, Islamic Influences on Jewisk Worship (Oxford: East and West Library,40 CHAPTER TWO Talmud discusses this issue extensively in BI, Tractate Berakhot, and it seems that the sages had many discussions on the subject.® For example, R. Tanhiim said in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi that the permitted extent of! is until all the vertebrae of the spine protrude.®° lamic tradition states that when the Medinan Jews saw the Muslims kneeling and bowing during prayer, they laughed. In return, Q. 58:5 was revealed: “And when you cal to prayer they take itas a mockery and sport. ‘That is because they are a people who understand not.”® The Medinan Jews’ behavior demonstrates that they disapproved of excessive kneeling during prayer, as does the Talmudic position. 3.5. Customs during Prayer Islamic sources describe several Jewish customs practiced during prayer, whichwere therefore forbidden for Muslims. Inhisarticle,“La Tashabbahi,” Meir Jacob Kister mentions some of these customs. In the article's appen- dix, Menahem Kister discusses the origin of these customs in Judaism. In the rest of this section, I will expand on the customs that are mentioned in that article (1) Muhammad ordered the Muslims not to sway during prayer or when the Pentateuch was unrolled as the Jews did.*® This hadith indicates that the Jews of Medina used to read the Pentateuch. Perhaps they did it on Mondays, Thursdays, holidays and the Sabbath.** (2) In addition, Muhammad forbade the Muslims to close their eyes, raise their hands or voices, or speaking to each other during prayer, ‘as this was the custom of the Jews and Christians. ‘Menahem Kister notes that Islamic tradition apparently provides the earliest extant source describing the Jewish practice of swaying during prayer. Similarly, the practice of closing the eyes during prayer is first ‘mentioned by Jewish literature in the Zohar while that of raising the hands is known only from later Jewish sources. Kister concludes, “The early Islamic tradition gave us testimonfes about practices that we barely 1109, LAW AND CUSTOM a know of from the Jewish literature."® It is possible that these were ancient Jewish practices that, for some reason, are not described in ancient Jewish sources or in the Mishna and Talmuds. In any case, the above mentioned hadiths provide considerable information about the customs of the Medi- nan Jews during prayer. (8) Regarding the issue of praying out loud, the Islamic description of tion, according to which itis forbidden to lower or raise the voice ing prayer. One must also pronounce the words clearly.* Islamic sources may be referring to the prayer of the eighteen benedictions, which is also called the “whispering prayer” (tefllat lahash).Itis first recited in a whis- per and then the cantor recites it out loud and the congregation answers *amen’ in a raised voice.®® (4) As for the claim that the Jews would talk during prayer, this was likely a false accusation that was probably meant to present them as peo- ple who do not fear heaven. In fact, such behavior is strictly forbidden by law. BI, Tractate Berakhot, 32b states, “Even if a king greets him [ie., someone who is praying] he should not answer him." It goes on to state, “Even if'a snake is wound around his foot, he should not break off [from prayer]. R. Sheshet said: “This applies only in the case of a serpent, but if itis a scorpion, he breaks off. In order to demonstrate the importance of this prohibition, the Talmud relates: (Once, when a certain pious man was praying by the roadside, a senior officer came by and greeted him, but he did not return his greeting. So he waited sd his prayer. When he had finished his prayer, ‘ynitten in your Torab, ‘Only take heed to thy- ‘also written, ‘Take ye fonrselves...Li Tashabbahi...” (The Hebrew ‘on the Emergence of Islam. Translated by Aaron i998) 179-200, at 200 [in Hebrew}. ands the Muslims to follow the “gokden path” and to neither raise their voices nor whisper during prayer ("Utter not thy prayer loudly nor whisper it, and “golden path’ between Jews and Christ faiths. Although itis not specifically me the following theo it follows that those who whispered during prayer were the Christians. This manner of prayer would be quite sultable for Christian monks, whose ideals include silence ‘Br, Berakhot 32. 70 BT, Berabhot, 33atherefore good heed unto did you not return my gre ‘who would want to revenge you from me? He replied: Be patient and I will explain to you. Ifyou had been standing before an earthly king and ‘your friend had come and greeted you, would you have returned it? No, he replied. And if you had returned his greeting, what would they have done to you? They would have cut off my head with the sword, he replied. He then said to him: Have we not here then a fort behaved] in th today and tomorr ‘argument? If [you had {ing before the supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, who ‘endutes for all eternity? Forthwith the officer accepted his explanation, and the pious man retumed to his home in peace. 4. Laws of Marriage and Divorce 4.1, Marriage between a Priest and a Divorced Woman Lev. 21:7 states that a priest (kohen) cannot marry a “prostitute” (zona), a ‘profane” (allala), or divorced woman. The women under the halakhic category of prostitutes are proselytes, freed slave-girls, and any woman ‘who has engaged in sexual intercourse with a man forbidden to her (be lat -snit), whether she is married or divorced.”® A hallala is a daughter born to.a priest who married one of the above-mentioned women. In addition, a priest cannot marry a woman born to a Jewish mother and a gentile father.” Children born to a priest who is married to one of these women cannot become priests (pestley kehina). Islamic sources do not provide details on the marriage laws of the ‘Medinan Jews, but they do mention two problematic issues related to the subject. The Nadir and Qurayza had many priests among them. Yet Kinana b. Abi al-Hugayq was married to Safiyya bt. Huyayy, Sallam b. Mishkam's ex-wife. This is surprising because both Kinana and Huyayy were rabbis, Kiana was also the ruler of Khaybar and not a com- ‘moner. This suggests that the Nadir and Qurayza considered such mar- rages as acceptable. Goitein argues that this phenomenon is a sign of of a Gentile Father 1 (1996), 29-40 (in Hebrew and a Jewish Mother. Cen She Marry a Pest” Sina! LAW AND CUSTOM 43 weak religious observance, as occurred in other Jewish priestly communi- ties in the Diaspora. As an example, he mentions the priestly community ‘of Maysan in Babylonia, which permitted marriage to divorced wom« ‘This phenomenon, however, may not demonstrate weak religious observance, but rather a necessary response to reality. In a community that has many priests, a divorced woman is let with little recourse. This ‘was not the case, however, of the Nadir and Qurayza because they could marry women from the Qaynuga’. Why, then, did divorced women among the Nadir and Qurayzanot marry ‘men of the Qaynuga’, who were not priests? One possible answer is the enmity between them. In 618 CE, there was a civil war in Medina. Accord- ing to Islamic tradition, the Jews of Medina lived side-by-side with two large Arab tribes: the Bani al-Aws and the Banti al-Khazraj. On one side were the Nadir, the Qurayza, and the Aws and on the other, the Khazraj and the Qaynuga’. There is some disagreement about the Qaynuqa’s role in the battle, Some contended they fought alongside the Khazraj while others claim that they did not, but because of their treaty with the Khaz- raj, they avoided giving aid to the Nadir and Qurayza. This conflict was referred to as the battle of Bu‘ath, after the name of the site on which it took place.”® After the battle of Bu‘ath, the Nadir and Qurayza, remember- ing the Bandi Qaynuqa’s failure to aid them, refrained from helping them ‘when they were besieged by the Muslims in 624 CE.’® ‘We cannot reach an unequivocal conclusion on the above-mentioned question because, according to some sources, Huyayy b. AKhfab’s wife was the sister of Babri b. ‘Amr, one of the rabbis of the Bandi Qaynuga’” The best we can do is to assume that all three tribes were at peace in the past, ‘which helps to explain the marriage between Huyayy b. Akhtab and Bahri . ‘Ams sister. Later on, for some reason, the relationship between the Qaynuga’, Nadir, and Qurayza deteriorated and they stopped intermanyy- ing, so the divorcees among them left without non-priest grooms. awl, Ary al Arab ftJahiloya (Catto: = 7 al-Wagidt, al Maghdsh 1578.a4 CHAPTER TWO It appears that the Medinan priests did not consider marriage with forced women inappropriate. If so, it would mean that some of their dren would be ineligible to become priests or to marry priests and it is questionable whether they could have been considered halakhically priests at all. 4.2, Intermarriage ‘The second problematic issue regarding marriage laws is the fact that the Medinan Jews married their daughters to gentiles; which may negate the explanations offered above for their willingness to allow marriages ‘between priests and divorced women. Islamic sources contain many tra- ditions about women from the Nadir and the Qurayza who married men from the Quraysh. Such marriages are expressly forbidden by the Bil cal commandment, “Neither shalt thou make marriages with them: shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take ut. 73), {s extremely severe when a priest's daughter is involved. Lev. 219 reads: “And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself, she profanes her father: she shall be burnt with fire.”® “Profaning” would include, inter alia, having sexual intercourse with a gentile.”® Lecker has collected a great deal of information about marriage links between Qurashi men and Jewish women from Medina and Khaybar. He shows that many of the most important Qurashi clans included Jewish women.® The Qurashis were pagans and their marriages with Jewish ‘women raise some questions. Most importantly, what was the nature of mariage between Jewish women and pagans. Lecker offers three pos- sible answers: The woman remained Jewish without any objection from her family; she abandoned Judaism; or the pagan husband converted sker rules out the first possibility, because he suggests that the Jews of ‘Medina were quite strict regarding halakhic issues, and thus it is unlikely that they would have neglected such an important law. For this reason, Lecker contends that it is also unlikely that the Jewish women abandoned between Qurashis and Jewish 17-39. "Ibid, 17-18. LAW AND CUSTOM 45 ‘their faith. Thus, he assumes that, at least in some cases, the Qurashi band embraced Judaism. Marviage to gentiles raises a further questi identity de facto? According to Jewish law a child born to a Jewish mother and a gentile father is Jewish Ka’ b. al-Ashraf, one of the leaders of the Banti al-Nadir, was the son of one of the elders of Tayy’, a gentile tribe, while his mother was a Jew of the Bandi al-Nadir. He was raised as a Jew, learned to read the Torah, and became one of the Bani alNadir’ leaders. This is both strange and interesting, especially because the Band al-Nadir were of priestly descent. Ka'b b. al-Ashraf’s rise to such a high status in his tribe indicates that his parents’ marriage was not unusual among the Nadi; and that children born of such marriages had equal rights and were considered to be as Jewish as anyone else. [An interesting case of a child bom to a gentile father and a Jewish ‘mother—although not directly connected to the Jews of Medina—is the story of ‘Ugba b. Abi Mu‘ayt. According to the account, Umayya b.‘Abd al- Shams, Abi Sufyan b. Harb’s grandfather, stayed in the Land of Israel for ten years. During this time he had intercowsse with Turna, a married Jew- {sh slave-gial from Sepphoris, in the lower Galilee. She gave birth to a son named Dhakwan, Umayya claimed he was the father, adopted him, and brought him to Mecca. Dhakwan’s grandson, ‘Ugba b. Abi Mu‘ay, tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Muhammad near the Ka'ba. In response, Muhammad ordered that he be executed after his capture at the battle of Badr. ‘Ugha mentioned his genealogy in an effort to obtain mercy, claiming that he was of the Banii Quraysh. Muhammad replied, “You are Dut a Jew from the people of Sepphoris” (innama anta yahidi min ahl ‘Saffiariya).*5 “Muhammad's words merit close examination. Ugba b. AbI Mu'ayt’s genealogy was well known; as he was from the strongest clan of the Bani a Jew. Muhammad nonetheless claimed that that Jewishness is passed down by matrilineal descent only. Nonetheless tis unlikely that Muhammad's statement indicates a social norm according to which everyone of similar What should be the child's © Tid, 22333 Se further, Seth Ward, “Muhammad Sai: "You Are Only a Jew from the Jews of Sepphoris: Allegations of the Jewish Ancestry of Some Umayyads," Journal of Near aster Studies 60/1 (2001, 31-42,46 (CHAPTER TWO descent to ‘Ugba’s was considered Jewish; it was more likely a way for denying ‘Uqba's request for a pardon. 43. Remarrying a Divorced Woman after She Has Been Married to Another Man According to Deut. 24:1~4, if a woman has been divorced and then mar- ried to another man and the second marriage has been consummated, she can never retum to her first husband, even if she divorces her second husband. Dent. 24:1-4 states: When a man hath taken a wife and marsied her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some ‘and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, another man's wife. And ithe latter husband hate her, 3 divorcement, and giveth iin her hand, and sendeth hier out of his wife; Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be ‘is wife, after that she is defiled; for that is an abomination (t@'eva) before the Lord. ‘The Qurn establishes a law that is the exact opposite of Deut. 24:1-4. According to the Quran, a Muslim who divorces his wife cant her until she marries another man and then divorces him. While the Bible rules that it is an “abomination before the Lord” for a man to remarry his divorced wife after she has been married to another man, the Quran states that Allah has decreed that “there is no blame” on those who do so, as stated in Q. 2.230: So if he divorces her, she shall not be lawful to him afterwards until she marries another husband. Ifhe divorces her, there is no blame on them both (ela junda ‘alayhima) if they retarn to each other (by marriag think that they can keep within the limits of Allah. And these are the limits of Allah which He makes clear for a people who know. The following story demonstrates how Islamic law differentiated itself from Jewish law on this issue: Riff‘a b. Simwal al-Qurazt divorced his wife, Tamima bt. Wahb b.‘Atik al-Nadin, three times (making the divorce © nother possible explanation for Mubammad's answer is his observation th offspring belongs to the owner of the bed,” On this observation see further, Uni le Campaign against Zina” Studia Ilamica 78 LAW AND CUSTOM a7 irrevocable) and she married ‘Abd al-Rahman b. al-Zabir al-Qurazi. Their znames suggest that all three were Jewish converts to Islam.*? Due to phy- sical shortcomings, ‘Abd al-Rahman b. al-Zabir could marriage with Tamima, As a result, she decided to g back to her first husband, Since she did not consummate the marriage with her second husband, Muhammad told hei ted to your first husband until he your sweetness (lit. honey) and you taste his ‘awwal hatta yadhaga al-akhar ‘usaylataki wa-tadhiigt ‘usaylatahu),®° that is to say, she must consummate the marriage with him before remarrying Rife'a b, Simwal al-Qurazi. This ruling, which opposes Jewish law, may suggest that although some of the priests among the Medinan Jews did not avoid marriage to divorced women, they were much more observant regarding remarriage toa divorced woman after she had been married to another man. 5. Adultery According to the literal meaning of Lev. 20:10 and Deut. 22:22, if a man hhas intercourse with a married woman both should be sentenced to death. The Talmudic sages interpret these verses in a different way. They argue that in order to prove adultery, two eye-witnesses must witness the act itsel£®° Without at least two eye-witnesses, the testimony is inadmissible in court. This is derived from Deut. 19:15: “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.” ‘The Talmudic sages added several more conditions that must be met in order to sentence adulterers to death. In fact, they did their best to make it as difficult as possible. In general, in capital cases the attitude of the sages was highly cautious and skeptical regarding a witness’ reli- ability. The Mishna, Tractate Makkot, which is the direct continuation of three Jewish convers were “chosen” to execute this decision, which i the ‘of Jewish law on the subject8 (CHAPTER TWO. ‘Tractate Sanhedrin (and was originally part of it), describes how careful the Talmudic sages were regarding capital cases: ‘A Sanhedsin that carries out an execution once in seven years is branded ‘as a destructive court; R. El'ezer b. ‘Azarya says: “once in seventy years.” R. Tarfon and R. ‘Akiba say: “Had we been members of the Sanhedrin, no person would ever be put to death." In a discussion dealing with how witnesses should be interrogated in capital cases, Abayey and Rava argued that if there are two witnesses to adultery, they should be asked whether they saw the act of penetration or in their words: as intimate as a “brush in a tube" (ke-mikhal bi-sheforferet. suphemism for intercourse). Since the likelihood of this is nearly impos- almost no testimony would have been enough to convict people of adultery. Thus, the judges avoided using capital punishment. However, Samuel resisted this attitude and argued that it was enough for witnesses to see a couple acting like adulterers, as their behavior would indicate a very high probability of guilt. In order to get a conviction and death penalty in such cases, it is not sufficient merely to see the couple in the act itself, but the witnesses must also war them. If the adulterers cease sexual activity after the warning (hatra’a), the woman is forbidden to her husband and the man with whom she committed adultery, but she is not sentenced to death.®? If the adulterers were warned, however, and did not cease sexual activ ity, they could be sentenced to death.” The probability of this is obviously very low, as one may assume that adulterers who have been warned will stop their sexual activity due to the shame involved. These issues are not ‘mentioned in the Bible. The Talmudic sages derived the requirement to warn the adulterous couple from different homiletic interpretations. ‘The Jews of Medina came to Muhammad and asked him to judge a Jewish couple that had committed adultery and had been caught. After Muhammad agreed, he came to their place of Torah study and asked them, “What is written in the Torah about mature persons who commit adultery?” The Jews replied that both adulterers are humiliated by having their faces painted black (tasawwud al-wyjih) and being placed on a don- key together, with their faces toward the animal's tail, after which they 99 See BT, Sanhedtin, 52b, LAW AND CUSTOM, 49 are flogged.®* Muhammad then told them, “Bring me the Torah and cite it so I can hear it, if yon are telling the truth.” The Medinan Jews brought stopped and put his hand on the book and covered it. Muhammad told him, “Move your hand,” and he obeyed, and the verse that orders the ston- ing of adulterers was exposed. In some versions of this hadith Muhammad asked one of the Jewish boys who were present, "When was the first time that they (i.e, the Jews ‘of Medina or the Jews in general) became lenient regarding Allah's com- mandment” referring to this specific commandment. The boy replied that once upon a time, one of the relatives of one of their kings commit- ted adultery with a woman and the king delayed his stoning. Later on, a man from a common family committed adultery too and the king wanted to stone him. The family of the common man resisted and told the king that they are willing to stone their family member only after the relative of the king who committed adultery will be stoned as well. Eventually they ‘compromised on flogging and seating the adulterers on a donkey, facing backwards. Mubammad then ordered the adulterers to be stoned. The Jews attempted to resist, but eventually the sentence was carried out. 5.1. The Punishment for Adultery According to the hadith, the punishment for adultery established in the Bible is stoning, The punishment accorded to a married woman who com- mits adultery appears in the Bible adjacent to the punishment accorded to a betrothed virgin who commits adultery. A married woman is forbidden to anyone except her husband. A betrothed virgin is forbidden one, including her future husband, until she marries him. The not specify how adulterers at large should be executed. It is mentioned only in the Mishna—by strangulation.” The punishment for a betrothed virgin who commits adultery, however, is mentioned in the Bi stoning. Deut. 22:21-24 reads: > Muga, Taf, 1299 Abwal-Hasan lib. Abmad al Wabid al-Naysabiss Ash a Nuzl (Cairo: Muassasat by Jar al-Pabat, imal Bayan fi Taft al. Qur'an 12 vos. (Beirut alMa‘nifa 197), 5:44 7 Mishna, Sanhedrin, 1.5° CHAPTER TWO Ifa man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt ‘thou put away evil from Israel. fa damsel that isa virgin betrothed unto a ‘usband, and a man find her in the city, an 7 Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shal stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the ‘man, because he hath humbled his neighbor's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you. Islamic sources do not specify the status of the woman who participated in the fomication in question, but they most likely refer to a married woman. Muhammad decreed what he believed to be the appropriate punishment for the adulterer and adulteress as stated in the Bible, which {s stoning, Deut. 22:21-24 shows that immediately after the Bible decrees that a married woman and her lover are to be sentenced to death; it states that a betrothed virgin and her lover are to be executed by stoning. Stoning, then, is specified only in the second case. This may explain why Muhammad supposedly believed that the sentence decreed for a married woman was stoning (and not strangulation). It is possible that he consid- ered the series of verses in Deuteronomy that discuss adultery as a single ‘unit, and perceived the sentence of stoning that appears at the end as a general punishment that applies in both cases, Several Talmudic sources prescribe flogging as a replacement for the death penalty for certain offenses. Tractate Keritot mentions thirty-six ‘cases in which a person is to be punished by being cut off from the peo- ple without descendants or by dying young (karet). One of these cases is a married woman and her partner who commit adultery.%° The sages, decided that a man's sentence of karet can be ameliorated by flogging as stated in BT, Tractate Keritot: R.Hennanyab, Game sad: All who have incurred the penalty of karet upon being logged obtain remission from their punishment of karet fr itis sai, "Forty lashes he may give him, and not more: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him with many lashes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee" [Deut. 253]. Ths shows that on having received the flogging he is [eonsid- xed] thy brother.” Flogging redeems the sinner so long as he has not been sentenced to death. The option of flogging adulterers in order to save them from 8 BT, Kerib 2a. > BT Kertot, 233, 400 BT, Ket, 18a-b LAW AND CUSTOM 5s aret is mentioned in the Talmud but not in the Bible. This lends further support to the idea that the Medinan Jews followed the Talmudic instruc- tions in this regard. Islamic sources state that the Jews of Medina would also humiliate adulterers publicly by blackening their faces and placing them on a don- key with their faces tumed toward the tail2°! This was probably a social norm unique to their community, as no such custom is mentioned in any Jewish source known to us. Here, I wish to digress from my discussion of the Medinan Jewish com- munity. In the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods, the Jewish community in the Land of Israel did not use any disciplinary methods against those who committed religious sins. The only transgression for which sinners were punished was adultery, for which men and women were flogged. At the end of the Byzantine period (324-634 CE), adulterers were punished by having their heads shaved,°? which is a public humiliation that allowed everyone in the community to know that the offender had committed adultery, especially in the case of women. The social norm of publicly humiliating adulterers, then, was not unique to the Jews of Medina, Per haps such practices were accepted in other Jewish communities, but to the best of my knowledge no direct evidence of this exists. Yet this practice may teach us something about possible connections between Jewish law and customs that were practiced in the Land of Israel and those of the Hijiz, as Kister and Kister argue in *Notes on the Jews of Arabia.” Interestingly, the punishment of public humiliation was prac- ticed in both communities around the same period. ‘According to commentators of the Quran, the verse, “They alter the words from their places" (Q. 5:41) was revealed because the Jews tried to distort the Mosaic law regarding adultery.°® This argument and the above-mentioned story seem to indicate that the Jews of Medina did not rush to execute adulterers and were content to flog and humiliate the adulterers, which means that they held the Talmudic view on the isse of adultery. In addition, the claim in Islamic sources that the Jews altered the words of the Bible demonstrates again their use of homily and not the literal meaning of Scripture, like the Talmudic sages.52 CHAPTER TWO 6. Menstruation Islamic laws of menstruation are fascinati and development. They are, in effect, the antithesis of Talmudic men- stration laws. Moreover, Islamic tradition specifically declares that the Muslims designed their menstruation laws in opposition to those of the Jews. This is borne out by a juxtaposition of the relevant fadiths with the relevant Jewish texts. There are many hadiths that describe situations in which Muhammad is portrayed as engaging in practices that diverge from Talmudic menstruation laws. In certain cases, when his wives acted in a way that resembles the Talmudic instructions, he corrected them, permitting them things they had considered taboo.!°* jique in their formation Gil. Distancing Oneself from a Menstruating Woman ‘According to Islamic sources, in pre-Islamic times Arabs observed many Jewish rituals. Thus, they did not eat, drink, sleep, house with their wives while the latter were menstruat the Medinan Jews followed the Talmudic instructions in this regard, since these customs appear in several places in the Mishna and the Talmud. In BT, Tractate Sabbath, we find a story about a certain sage who died at a relatively young age despite having studied the Torah, Mishna, and faithfully served the sages as a religious assistant (shammash). His widow took his phylacteries (¢efillin) and complained to the sages in the syna- ‘gogue: “It is written in the Torah ‘for that is thy fe, and the length of thy [Deut. 30:20]. My husband leamed Torah and Mishna and went out ‘way to help the sages in any way possible. He was only in middle age; why did he have to die?” No sage could answer her. One day, the 196 See further, Mazur, “Menstruation and Differentiation’ 204-223, Dar al-Kutub al-Timiyy2, 157; Nizam al-Naysibit, Taft Gharaib al Qur’an wa-Raghd'al-Purgdn, 6 vols. (Beira: Dax al-Kaob ‘1"Tmiyya, 196), 1613. Some commentators argue that these were Zoroastrian menstrua- tion enstoms. Se furcher, Hagsnt Manuz, "Quranic Commentators on Jewish and Zoroas (2012), 89-88 trian Approaches to Menstruation,” The Review of Rabon fudatsr LAW AND CUSTOM 53 prophet Elijah visited the widow and asked her why she was so sad. The widow told him about her troubles. When Elijah asked her how her hus- band behaved toward her whe was menstruating, she responded, “He did not touch me even with his little finger. He even told me not to touch anything so as to avoid any doubt.” “And how did your husband behave during your ‘white days’ (yemey liban, Le, the seven clean days fol- lowing the completion of a woman's menstrual period, during which her husband may not touch her)?” She responded, “I ate, drank, and slept with him, While sleeping my garment touched him; it did not occur to him to do otherwise.” The prophet Elijah said, “May God be blessed for killing him, as itis written in the Torah: ‘To a woman during the unclean time of her menstrual period you shall not draw near [Lev. 6 ‘As mentioned earlier, the Medinan Jews did not live with their menstra- ate wives and, according to another version, they kept their menstruate wives outside their houses.” This brings to mind the “house of impure women” (beit ha-fmeéi), which is mentioned in Mishna, Tractate Nidda, a special dwelling that women lived in while menstruating. The pur- pose of this dwelling was to isolate them so they would not defile other members of the household. 6:2. Menstruant Purification In one hadith, Umm Salama came to Muhammad and asked him whether she needed to untie her braids before she performed ghusl, because they were braided very tight. Muhammad told her, ‘No. Pour three times as ‘much water on your head as your hands can hold. Afterward, pour water over yourself and purify yourself." In a variation of this hadith, Umm Salama recounts that a Muslim woman came to Muhammad and asked him whether she needed to untie her braids before she performed ghusl because they were very tight, and he gave her the same answer."° The ruling attributed to Muhammad in these hadiths directly contra- dicts the ruling of the Talmudic sages on the same subject. When a wom- an’s menstrual period is over, she must be immersed in water without anything that might block between her body and the water and she must Mugati Taf, 1273 20» Mishna, Nidda, 7. On the house of impure women, see Regev; The Sadducees, an, 3:90. [bab] no. 106: hadith no. 105).54 CHAPTER TWO comb her hair to ensure the absence of any barrier of foreign material in her hair. Hence, the Talmudic sages forbade women to immerse them- selves in water while wearing braids, which serve as a barrier between the water and the woman's body." ‘As mentioned above, the laws of menstruation in Islam were formed through differentiation from Talmudic law. Hence, on the issue of whether a woman should untie her braids after her menstrual period, Muhammad instructed his wife to do the opposite of Talmudic law. This, in tur, sug gests that the Medinan Jewish women untied their braids. 7. Sexual Ethics 7. Coitus interruptus According to Jewish law, coitus interruptus (‘azl) and onanism are com- pletely forbidden. The severity of this prohibition is illustrated in the Bib- lical story of Onan, one of Judah's sons. According to the story, Onan was married to Tamar and practiced coitus énterruptus in order to avoid con- ceiving a child. As a punishment, God took his life (Gen. 38:9-10). “The Talmudic sages considered this sin equal to two of the three sins for which a Jew must sacrifice his life rather than commit: murder and idolatry, as stated in the BT, Tractate Nidda: R. Yohanan stated: ‘Whosoever emits semen in vain deserves death, for itis said in Scripture, “And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: where- 3810], R. Isaac and R. Amml said: ‘He is as said in Scripture, "Ye that inflame yourselves ‘among the terebinths, under every leay tee, that slay the children (shohatey ‘ha-yeladim) in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks" (Is. 57:5}; read not ‘that slay” but “that press out” (al tigrey shOhatey eld sohatey). R. Assi said: ‘He is like one who worships idols." In 628 CE (some sources say 626 CE), the Muslim army raided the Arab tribe of the Bana Mustaliq and captured some of their women. After divid- ing the booty between them, some of the Muslims wanted to have inter- course with their captives. They did not want them to conceive, however; LAW AND CUSTOM 8 could practice coitus interruptus to do so." fons and the Jews." The Jews argued that coitus interruptus ated case of the burial of newborn girls (al-mawriida al-sughra). During times of famine, some pre-Islamic Arab tribes prioritized male children, because they could serve as warriors, but would bury their baby daughters ive rather than raise them. Muhammad forbade this practice (Q. 6137; -59; 818-9). The above mentioned Companion came to Muhammad and told him the following: (0 Allah’s messenger! I have a slave with whom I practice coitus interruptus (wa-and a'salu ‘and. lt. I withdraw from her [before ejaculating), for I do not want her to conceive, but I want what men want. But the Jews claim that coitus interruptus is an attenuated case of burial of newborn girls (inna al-yahiid twhaddithu anna al-“azl al-maw’ada al-sughri), ‘The story then states that “Allah’s messenger replied, the Jews have lied. If Allah wanted to create him (or her), you would not be capable of pre- venting [the child from being conceived]."™ In this hadith, the Medi Jews presented the Talmudic view and Muammad ordered his follow- ers to do the opposite. Moreover, Muhammad's decision differentiated Islam from Judaism not only in a practical sense, but also in a spiritual one. According to the Talmud, there is a backlog of souls in heaven. The Messiah’s arrival and the resurrection will not occur until all these souls hhave appeared in this world. The Talmud states, “The Son of Davi the Messiah) will not come until the souls in the ‘body’ (Heb. g region inhabited by the souls of the unborn) have been exhauste In the case of coitus interruptus, Muhammad rejects the Jewish probibition because, he claims, “Allah has already decided which souls will be created on earth." Therefore, 2 man who performs coitus interruptus has not ‘was Aba Said alKhude, See al-Bukhirt, Safi, “Tila, alam‘ al- Sahih, 5 vos. (Beir: Dar Thy al-Turath 50156 (CHAPTER TWO prevented a living soul from being conceived. This, in turn, means that. coitus interruptus is not an attenuated case of the burial of newborn girls, and is therefore permitted. 7.2. Sexual Positions Islamic tradition presents the Medinan Jews as extremely conservative in regard to sexual intercourse. According to one narrative, the Muhajiran (Qurashis Emigrants’) married Muslim women from the Ansar (Medinan ‘Supporters}) Some of them wanted to have unnatural (non-missionary) intercourse, but their wives refused. Apparently, the Jews had a great deal of influence on the wives of the Ansar from the pre-Islamic period. The Ansari wives argued that “the Jews say that if a man has unnatural inter- course with a woman, his child will be aftwal®® The women of the Ansa, therefore, refused to have unnatural intercourse with their husbands. The husbands complained about it to Muhammad and, in response, Allah revealed Q. 2:223 which permits them to do anything with their wives: “Your wives are a tilth for you; come to your tilth in any manner you please."#° The claim of the Ansari women appears to be almost identical to that found in BT, Nedarim 20a-b, in which R. Yohanan b. Dahabai states that the children of those who have intercourse in anything but the missionary position will be punish Why are cripples bon? Because [their parents] overturned the table [i.e hhad unnatural intercourse]. Why are mutes born? Because [their fathers} iss [thelr mothers] on “the place” (Le, the genitalia). Why are children born deaf? Because {their parents] talk during intercourse. Why are children born blind? Because [thetr fathers] look at “the place." R. Yohanan b. Dahabai actually states that the child will be punished in the same organ with which his father sinned. The hadith attributes a simi- lar perception to the Jews of Medina: The word alnwal comes from the root fow.l, and the verb hawwala means “to turn’; thus, if someone “tums” his wife in order to have unnatural intercourse with her, his child will f Nedarim, 202-. LAW AND CUSTOM, 57 be akwal. The literal meaning of the word afwal is “crooked,” “twisted,” or “contorted.” Its later derivation is “cross-eyed" 2? In other Islamic sources, the following story appears: A goup of the Companions were sting around one mpanions said tothe ote : Ihave sex with my wife standing’. Another one said “I take my wife while she ison her side" A third man said: “I take y and a Jew was people are no better than animals (ma antum illa amthal al-t Jews have intercourse in only one position’ (haya ‘this] Allah vevealed:"Your wives are tt fr yous come to your tith in any manner you please [Q.2223] "24 ‘The words attributed to the above-mentioned Medinan Jew, are ret niscent of the words of R. Yohanan b. Dahabai in Mishna ‘Tractate Kal “Why are cripples born? Because [thelr parents] invert the table, engaging in the act of animals (‘ In addition to the hadith mentioned above, there are several others {in which the Jews of Medina and the Muslims argue over the permissibil- ity of unnatural intercourse. One hadith states that Huyayy b. Akhtab and a group of Jews told the Muslims that according to the book of Allah it is forbidden to have intercourse with a woman unless she is lying on her back and that any other position is a sin22* As mentioned above, the Nadir and Qurayza were priestly tribes. The following passage in BI, Yevamét may explain the origin of their view regarding unnatural intercourse as reported in the above-mentioned hadith: “A woman who was subjected to unnatural intercourse is disqualified from manying a priest”27 ‘After the above-mentioned statements by R. Yohanan b. Dahabai in BT, ‘Tractate Nedarim 20a-b, the opinions of other Talmudic sages appear. They specifically rejected his opinion and argued that a man can do anything he likes with his wife, and that Jewish law is not as R. Yohanan b. Dahabai claims: 2 Maghen, fter Hardship, 194 1.76.