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The Massacre of the Banu Qurayzah: Difference between revisions
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Banu Qurayza replied: "O Abul Qasim (Muhammad), you are not a barbarous person" }}In mocking them as apes, Muhammad is here echoing the Qur'an, which claims that (some) Jews were turned into apes for violating the sabbath (Qur'an 50:60). | Banu Qurayza replied: "O Abul Qasim (Muhammad), you are not a barbarous person" }}In mocking them as apes, Muhammad is here echoing the Qur'an, which claims that (some) Jews were turned into apes for violating the sabbath (Qur'an 50:60). | ||
Jewish anti-jihad scholar Andrew Bostrom points out that Muhammad took one of the most beautiful Jewish women of the Banu Qurayza, Rayhanah, as his wife and that the Muslims benefited handsomely from the destruction of this tribe, so self-defense was clearly not the only concern. <ref>"Muhammad, the Qurayza Massacre, and PBS" Andrew Bostom The Legacy of Jihad 10 June 2012, Archived https://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.andrewbostom.org/loj//content/view/38/27/&date=2012-06-10<nowiki/>Citation needed</ref>. Abu Amina Elias's view that the Muslims took such women and children as Rayhana captive simply for their protection also cannot be true, as ibn Ishaq recounts that some of them were taken to the far-off region of the Najd to be sold for weapons and horses. Yasir Qadhi himself points out that the Banu Qurayza were offered freedom to live on were they to accept Islam, and according to the sira only their hard, petulant hearts which rejected Muhammad despite knowing he was a prophet of the Lord prevented them from allowing themselves to be saved by conversion to Islam. So clearly, at least in the eyes of the sirah, their Jewish religion did, in fact, have something to do with the pitilessness with which Muhammad dealt with them, going against Qadhi's point that the prophet acted without malice or religious animus according to the sources we have. Bukhari also mentions that the prophet commanded his men to abuse the Banu Qurayza with poetry, which was in ancient Arab times one of the premier ways of promoting enmity with an enemy (Muhammad ordered | Jewish anti-jihad scholar Andrew Bostrom points out that Muhammad took one of the most beautiful Jewish women of the Banu Qurayza, Rayhanah, as his wife and that the Muslims benefited handsomely from the destruction of this tribe, so self-defense was clearly not the only concern. <ref>"Muhammad, the Qurayza Massacre, and PBS" Andrew Bostom The Legacy of Jihad 10 June 2012, Archived https://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.andrewbostom.org/loj//content/view/38/27/&date=2012-06-10<nowiki/>Citation needed</ref>. Abu Amina Elias's view that the Muslims took such women and children as Rayhana captive simply for their protection also cannot be true, as ibn Ishaq recounts that some of them were taken to the far-off region of the Najd to be sold for weapons and horses. Yasir Qadhi himself points out that the Banu Qurayza were offered freedom to live on were they to accept Islam, and according to the sira only their hard, petulant hearts which rejected Muhammad despite knowing he was a prophet of the Lord prevented them from allowing themselves to be saved by conversion to Islam. So clearly, at least in the eyes of the sirah, their Jewish religion did, in fact, have something to do with the pitilessness with which Muhammad dealt with them, going against Qadhi's point that the prophet acted without malice or religious animus according to the sources we have. Bukhari also mentions that the prophet commanded his men to abuse the Banu Qurayza with poetry, which was in ancient Arab times one of the premier ways of promoting enmity with an enemy (Muhammad ordered poets who did this to him to be killed):{{Quote| {{Bukhari|5|59|449}}|Narrated Al-Bara: "On the day of Qurayza’s (besiege), Allah's Apostle said to Hassan bin Thabit, 'Abuse them (with your poems), and Gabriel is with you" }} | ||
==Problem with the Traditional Narrative== | ==Problem with the Traditional Narrative== | ||
The narrative of the Banu Qurayza is an accepted part of Islamic law, and multiple Islamic jurists have cited it, including when ruling that certain populations of Jews and other non-believers be massacred. As such there is no question amongst orthodox Muslims that it happened <ref>"Extended Interview: The legacy of Islamic Antisemetism" Andrew Bostom andrewbostom.org 13 June 2008</ref>. Yet the historiography of the subject is not without its own problems. | The narrative of the Banu Qurayza is an accepted part of Islamic law, and multiple Islamic jurists have cited it, including when ruling that certain populations of Jews and other non-believers be massacred. As such there is no question amongst orthodox Muslims that it happened <ref>"Extended Interview: The legacy of Islamic Antisemetism" Andrew Bostom andrewbostom.org 13 June 2008</ref>. Yet the historiography of the subject is not without its own problems. | ||