96 r Yehoshua Frenkel
his true prophetic mission. Yosef Sambari, a Hebrew chronicler living in
Ottoman Egypt, does not refute the details of this narrative, but writes
that ̔Obadiah b. Shalom (the Hebrew version of the Arabic ̔Abd Allah
b. Sallam) was a man who did not “revere the Lord,”^47 thus suggesting the
reason for what he sees as ̔Obadiah’s betrayal.^48
Another example of the close relationship between Muslim and kitabi-
yun is the legendary story of Bahira the Monk.^49 Christian writers present
Bahira (also named Sargis, Sergius, Nestorius) as a heretical (Nestorian or
Arian) monk. They depict him in their anti-Islamic polemical texts as one
who misguided his audience. This picture served Christian sources (writ-
ten in Syriac and Arabic) as a tool to refute Muslim voices that argued that
mankind anticipated the coming of Muhammad.^50
The Jewish Reaction
The Jewish Bahira legend reflects the convoluted relations between Jews
and Muslims.^51 Moreover, in some chronicles this narrative reflects the
strained relations between Jews and Christians in the Abode of Islam,
rather than the history of Muhammad. This seems to be the case with
Sambari’s history.^52 Sambari does not deny that the Prophet expressed
anti-Jewish positions; indeed, Muslim sources are rich in detailed descrip-
tions of an ongoing conflict between the small community of the Faith-
ful and the Jews of Arabia.^53 To clarify this chapter in the early history
of Islam, Sambari employs a simple method. He argues that anti-Jewish
feelings among the Muslims in Medina were cultivated by Buhairan, an
obtuse and wicked astrologer who attempted to induce Muhammad to
give the Jews a final blow. Yet Abu Bakr (caliph 632–34), who is said to be
the son of the Exilarch (resh galutha), plotted with ̔Ali b. Abi Talib (caliph
656–61) to kill Buhairan and thus delivered the Jews.^54
Moreover, Jewish communities claimed that Muhammad ensured their
protection and well-being under the Abode of Islam. According to this
presentation, the Prophet granted a group of Jews a letter guaranteeing
their life, property, and religious practices (kitab dhimmat al-nabi) as a
reward for their help fighting on Saturday (al-sabt= Sabbath) for the cause
of Islam. At the same time, by stating that “they will not [be forced to]
renounce their religion, will not violate the Sabbath, and will not annul
the reading in the Pentateuch (al-tawrah = Torah),” the document defines
Jewish identity under Islam.^55