Diverse causes and circumstances, proceeding from the will of Almighty God, had opened
the door for the acceptance of Islam by the Aus and the Khazraj. These tribes were not of
the Makkahn Qurayshites type for unlike them, the Aus and the Khazraj were kind-hearted
and sweet-tempered, immune from the Qurayshite traits of immoderation, stubbornness
and vanity, and hence they were responsive, open to reason. These were the characteristics
inherited from their progenitors, the Yemenites, about whom the Prophet (r) had remarked
after meeting one of their deputations: “The people of Yemen have come to you, and they
have the tenderest hearts.” Both these tribes of Yathrib originally belonged to Yemen for
their forefathers had come down from there. Commending the merits of these people, God
has said in the Qur’an:
“Those who entered the city and the faith before them love those who flee unto them
for refuge, and find in their breast no need for that which hath been given them, but
prefer the fugitives above themselves though poverty becomes their lot.” [Qur'an
59:9]Another reason was that continuous internecine fighting had already exhausted both tri-
bes. Enervated and distracted by the famous battle of Bu’ath fought a short time ago (about
615 AD), the said tribes were desirous of peace and harmony and wanted to avoid renewal
of warfare. Such was their anxiety for peace that the first Muslims of Madinah had said to
the Prophet (r), “When we left our people, discord and conflict and enmity divided them
more than any other. Perhaps God will unite them through you, and if God unites them on
you, then no other man will be more than honored as you do.”
‘Aisha once said that the battle of Bu’ath was really a divine intervention and a blessing in
disguise which served as a prelude to the Prophet’s migration to Madinah.
Yet another reason was that the Quraysh, like the rest of the Arabian tribes, had for a long
time lost touch with Prophethood and the Prophets and had hardly any recollection of their
teachings. Deeply immersed in ignorance and idolatry as well as being completely strangers
to the arts of reading and writing, they had become overzealous heathens; actually, they
had but little contacts even with the Jews and Christians, the followers of the Prophets and
their scriptures (although these had since been distorted). This was plain, plum fact to which
the Qur’an makes a reference in these words:
“In order that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, so they are
heedless“
[Qur'an (36:6)]
But the Aus and the Khazraj were neighbours of Yathrib Jews whom they heard talking
about the Prophets and reciting their scriptures. The Jews often thereatened them that a
Prophet (r) was to come in the later times with whom they would ally themselves and kill