Scholars speculate about when exactly Jews began settling in the Hijaz, but it is known that the first

migrants came not earlier than 6th Century BCE and not later than the 2nd Century CE (Adang 1). There is considerable evidence which suggests that Jewish refugees fled from the Romans after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE (idem., Gil 17).

Some Jews of this era actively proselytized and on occasion, Judaism was considered politically beneficial (Berger, Shahid 175, Bauer 195). While some sources maintain the Himyarite monarchy of Yemen converted to Judaism around 380 CE, certainly the last king Dhu Nuwas was a Jew (convert or son of converts); for either him or his ancestor, a plausible motivation was to declare a reason to fight the Christian Byzantines while not antagonizing the philo-Semitic Persians (idem.). The kings of South Arabia may have been Jewish too and it is likely that Jews proselytized in Arabia; in any event, a powerful and large Jewish community flourished in the 4th and 5th centuries, and numerous Arab tribes converted to Judaism (Shahid 175). They adopted an agricultural way of life, taking over the Jews religion and lifestyle, as well as their spoken languageAramaic (Gil 17). Jews became a force to be reckoned with. By the 6th century, Arab pagans were somewhat familiar with Jewish customs and positively disposed towards Judaism; they were fond of Jewish poets who shared Arab values of the time, especially Samuel ibn Aliyah (Dubnov, 398).

Jews were skilled jewelers, clothiers, arms makers, and vintners (Jewish wine was considered the best in the peninsula). But it was Yathribs dates, coveted throughout the Hijaz, that had made them rich. The five most powerful Jewish tribes basically held a date monopoly. (Aslan 54) Of these, three the Qurayza, Nadir, and Qaynuqa -- were historically

significant due to their being especially powerful. (Dubnov 307) Despite their shared religion, they were not part of one large Jewish community, but rather in accordance with how Arab tribes at the time operated -- each acted autonomously (Aslan 54). At Sallam ibn Mishkams time, debates between Christians and Jews in Arabia on theological matters were not at all uncommon, so denizens of the peninsula were well-aware of both religions (Brown 288-289). Before Mohammed came, Yathrib was comprised of Jews, pagans, and Christians (Pratt 23), but the Christians dont seem to have had a particularly significant presence. The Jews of Yathrib were literate and religious, to the point that they ceased battles on the Sabbath (Dubnov 309). Before Mohammed came to Yathrib, the competing Arab pagan tribes the Aws and Khazraj took over from the Jews and ended up in constant feuds; the Jewish tribes were pulled in on opposing sides. The Jewish tribes supported different Arab tribes against another and sometimes the Jews ended up fighting each other. (Dubnov 311) Mohammed seems to have expected the Jews to defer to him as a prophet, but they apparently did not, continuing to ally with the pagans. Soon after his arrival in Yathrib, he shifted rituals that he had based on Jewish ones away from their origins, indicating a negative shift in his attitude toward the Jews. (Peters 71-72) Still, some see a deep respect for them in later passages of the Quran (Muhammed and Jews of Medina). After a dispute which ended up with a Jew and a Muslim dead, Mohammed ordered the Qaynuqa who had allied with opponents of Mohammed -- to be exiled in 624; they ended up in Syria. Soon after the Nadir tribe was also expelled for rejecting Mohammeds

prophecies and allegedly plotting against him. (Lindsay 61) Different sources I looked at indicate differing claims on whether or not the Qurayza tribe helped Muhammeds enemies, but in any event the men were all beheaded for their sins while the women and children were sold into slavery (Stillman 16).

Works Cited Adang, Camilla. Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm. Leiden: Brill, 1996. Aslan, Reza. No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam. New York: Random House, 2005. Bauer, Susan Wise. The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Berger, David. "Reflections on Conversion and Proselytizing in Judaism and Christianity." <https://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/scjr/article/download/1502/1355> Brown, Peter. The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200-1000. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1996. Dubnov, Semen Markovi. History of the Jews: From the Roman Empire to the Early Medieval Period. Vol. 2. South Brunswick [u.a.: Yoseloff, 1968. Gil, Moshe. Jews in Islamic Countries in the Middle Ages. Leiden: Brill, 2004. Lindsay, James E. Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World. Westport, Conn: Greenwood, 2005. "Muhammad and Jews of Medina." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 16 Aug. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/muhammad/ma_jews.shtml>. Peters, F. E. Islam, a Guide for Jews and Christians. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2003.

Pratt, Douglas. The Challenge of Islam: Encounters in Interfaith Dialogue. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005. Shahd, Irfan. Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fifth Century. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1989. Stillman, Norman A. The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979. Print.