Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam
In the 37th month after the Hijra, the Jewish Banu Nadir are said to have
made plans to kill Muhammad. When this became known, howeve^9 r,
Muhammad is said to have given them an ultimatum to leave Medina.
Hoping for assistance from `Abdullah b. Ubayy and the Banu Qurayza, the
Banu Nadir are said to have withstood the Muslims. After a 15 day-long
siege, however, the Banu Nadir surrendered, and they were exiled from
Medina. Since this action was a siege, and not an expedition, Muhammad
then took all of the booty and divided it primarily among the emigrants, to
the exclusion of the Ansar (cf. Qur'an 59:5, 8-9). The palm trees of the
Banu Nadir were felled, and some of the children of the Ansar, who had
been covenanted (I Sam. 1:1f) to be raised up as Jews among the Banu
Nadir were returned to their original families.^10
The drinking of wine is thought to have been forbidden in this time
period.^11
Qur'an 59Qur'an 59Qur'an 59Qur'an 59, which appears to have been composed after the Banu Nadir
were driven from Medina, begins with the statement that eve^12 rything in
Heaven and on earth praises God (v. 1). The vv. 2f maintain that God drove
out the unbelievers among the People of the Book (the Banu Nadir), and
claim that neither Muslims, nor the others believed this would happen (to
the Banu Nadir). The v. 4 accuses them (the Banu Nadir) of having
opposed Allah and Muhammad, and asserts that even the palm trees were
felled with Allah's permission. The v. 6 shows that Muhammad^13 changed
the regulation about booty in this case, since the Muslims did not even have
to be mounted (it was a siege). The v. 7 declares that the spoil^14 s from all
city dwellers belong to Allah and Muhammad (alone) for distribution
among his relatives, the orphans and poor, etc. In v. 8 the (economically)
poor emigrants are described as having been the true ones, and v. 9
admonishes the Medinans not to be jealous. The v. 10 gives an alleged (or
example) prayer of later converts to Islam, and v. 11 depicts the hypocrites
as having said that they would also go into exile and help the People of the
Book (Jews), whereby the hypocrites are accused of lying. The v. 12 says
that the hypocrites would not go into exile, nor help, etc., they are said to
have been without understanding (v. 13), and would remain in their
fortresses (v. 14). In the vv. 15f the hypocrites are compared with previous
unbelievers and Satan himself, both of whom are destined for Hell. The v.
18 admonishes believers to fear God, and v. 21 seems to make an
ambiguous reference to