Emigration—From Makkah to Madinah

to counter the enemy within. But rather than do this, Abu Bakr acted on a decision taken by the Prophet. A force of 700 men was sent to the Roman front under Usamah. Abu Hurayrah explains the impact that this expedition had on the rebellious Arab tribes: When Usamah’s force passed those tribes by that were on the verge of apostasy, they would exclaim: “If the Muslims did not have great reserves of strength, they would never have despatched a force like this. Let us leave them to fight against the Romans.’ The Muslims fought against the Romans and defeated them, returning safely after battling with them. Seeing this, those thinking of apostasy became firm in Islam.”148 When the Prophet reached Madinah, there were, besides a small minority of polytheists, two main communities living there—the Jews and the Muslims. These two communities were split up into several small groups. Neither was able to present a united front. People were waiting for someone who would organize and unite them. When the Prophet realized this was what people wanted, he issued a decree in which Jews and Muslims were recognized as communities in their own right. “The Jews are a community along with the Muslims... They shall have their religion and the Muslims theirs.” No encroachment was made on the customary rights and responsibilities of either Jews or Muslims, and acceptable concessions were made to the sentiments of both communities. A clause was added, however, which read as follows: