AFTER the Hijrah, Muhammad was made leader of the new Muslim state of Yathrib.
Yathrib was eventually named Al Madina which literally means ‘city par excellence’; the city of the prophet.
Muhammad was no longer just a preacher, but also a lawgiver and reformer of the growing community.
Al Madina started off as a small state, but in 10 years it would grow into the large Arabian empire we know of today.
In the founding years of Al Madina, the Muslims used Jerusalem as their qiblah. The qiblah is the direction the Muslims face when they pray.
They also used the seventh day (sabbath) of the week as their day of rest and prayer just like the Israelites.
Apart from Muhammad’s writings, the Muslims made use of all the Israelite scrolls from the Old Testament to the New Testament and they also read many apocryphal books that were excluded from the modern English Bible.
The Muslims also prayed three times a day; at daybreak, noon and in the evening.
Evidently, the Muslims were initially very similar to the Israelites in practice because after all, the Muslims were following the ways of their common ancestor Abraham.
The Muslims also kept the holy covenant that Allah struck with Abraham that required for every male from amongst his descendants to be circumcised.
Al Madina was thus a reunification of Ishmael and Israel, the descendants of Abraham.
Muhammad made a treaty with the black Judeans that secured them equal rights of citizenship as the natives of that land.
Now this proved unfavourable to some of the Arabs who were consequently robbed of their local influence after the coming of Muhammad.
The black Judeans were also concerned about the vengeance and judgment on the heathens that had been prophesied and had expected Muhammad to settle their own scores.
However, the plan of Allah and the aspirations of men are not the same. Muhammad was concerned with teaching the law of Allah and would only fight offenders in self defence.
Muhammad treated the Israelites and the Ishmaelites as brothers as long as they believed in the same code of their ancestor Abraham.
Muhammad became unpopular among these groups and some of them started to work against him.
Muhammad then changed the qiblah (direction of prayer) from the temple of Jerusalem to the ka‘bah in Mecca.
Although Muhammad had been banned and sanctioned in Mecca, the Meccans had withdrawn their ban before he had taken flight to Yathrib (Al Madina).
The treaty they had signed against him had been mysteriously eaten and consumed by white ants and the only words left on the petition were ‘Bismika Allahumma’ which meant ‘In your name, Oh Allah.’
When Muhammad saw the rebellion that was growing among the Judeans, he changed the qiblah to the ka‘bah of Mecca because it was a holy place in his own hometown and the Arabians were more familiar with it.
There was a religion of Judaism which Muhammad did not want Islam to be associated with and he feared that if the Muslims did not make a clear distinction in his time, people would assume the two were the same thing.
Although some of the black Judeans had been involved with Judaism, it is important to know that the Judeans we are speaking of in Al Madina were the blacks of Judea who had fled to Arabia and settled with the Sabaens.
Muhammad had a different agenda with the whites who call themselves Jews and follow Judaism.
In the Quran Muhammad says that “At least one can find monks amongst the Christians, but to mankind, the worst of men are those who call themselves Jews and practise Judaism.”
In order to minimise confusion, I use Judean or black Judean when making reference to the actual Israelites, and Jew or fake Jew when referring to the white converts to Judaism.
In Muhammad’s time, the times of prayer were still three in number and the five prayers a day routine was a post – Muhammad development. In the Quran, Muhammad urges mankind to pray in secret and not merely for the sake of being seen by the public.
Muhammad’s first major project was the establishment of a place of public worship in Mecca, where Muslims could interact and the prophet could preach.
He also laid down the constitution of the state. Muhammad also tried to straighten his relationship with the tribe of Qureysh which had sworn to put an end to the religion of Islam.
The feud between the Muslims and their kinsmen of Qureysh did not end until after a series of wars which Muhammad often personally fought.
The Muslims did not instigate violence and began as pacifists.
After the long period of persecution, Muhammad eventually spoke saying, “Fight your oppressors and do not relent until religion is only for Allah!”
Muhammad frowned upon cowardice and would not retreat even if the odds were against them.
On one event Muhammad got injured, but not fatally.
His exemplary ways inspired Muslims to be confident in Allah at battle for they saw the prophet’s courage and emulated it themselves.
Muhammad would say, “Those slain whilst fighting for the cause of Allah are not dead, but living!”
The Muslims after establishing their stronghold in Al Madina and gaining a lot of external influence began hearing reports from Syria which was under the Byzantine (Roman) Empire.
The Romans were gathering troops to fight the Muslims of Al Madinah in attempt to end Islam.
Muhammad sent 3 000 troops to Syria and they fought against 100 000 Roman troops.
A remnant of the Muslims returned, but all three of their commanders were killed in battle.
Tough the mission was unsuccessful; it showed the Romans that the Muslims were a determined and fearless force even when outnumbered.
In the Quran, there is a book called Romans which clearly shows the disdain of the Muslims towards the Romans.
The enemies of Islam as depicted by the Quran are mainly the Romans and the fake Jews who practise Judaism.
The black Judeans and Qureysh tribesmen who worked against Muhammad were frequently written about in the Quran and are portrayed as hypocrites.
They often worked together against the prophet, trying to bribe him or to cause him to incorporate some of their idolatries and Rabbinic (Talmudic) teachings with Islam.
When Muhammad refused such temptation he would back up his reasoning with scripture and he showed much impartiality and selflessness.
Islam was thriving and whenever Muhammad made his pilgrimage to Mecca, he would find that the hostility between himself and his kinsmen was decreasing and some Meccans were seeing him as their local hero.