Expulsion from the Tribes

The same reason lay behind the expedition under Usama, undertaken soon after the death of the Prophet. Except for the tribes of Madinah the whole of Arabia had risen in revolt when the Prophet died. Suddenly the Muslims found themselves at odds with all their Arab countrymen. It appeared expedient at the time to preserve all strength in Madinah, in order 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 Usama. Abu Hurayra explains the impact that this expedition had on the rebellious Arab tribes: “When Usama’s force passed those tribes who were on the verge of apostasy, they would exclaim: ‘If the Muslims did not have great reserves of strength, they would never have dispatched 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 doing battle with them. Seeing this, those who had been thinking of apostasy became firm in Islam.” (Al-Bidayah wanNihayah, Vol. VI, p. 305) When the Prophet reached Madinah there were, besides a small minority of idolaters, 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 just waiting for someone who would organize and unite them. When the Prophet realized that 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: “Whenever there is a disagreement about something, the matter should be referred to God Almighty and to Muhammad.” (Tahzeeb Seerat ibn Hisham, p. 129) This decree amounted to a political initiative which, in the most