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The STUDIES IN LATE ANTIQUITY AND EARLY ISLAM 23 THE "CONSTITUTION OF MEDINA" MUHAMMAD'S. FIRST LEGAL DOCUMENT MICHAEL LECKER THE DARWIN PRESS, INC. PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY 2004 Copyright@ 2004 by THE DARWIN PRESS, INC., Princeton, NJ 08543. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys­ tem, or transmitted, in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews. Library of Congress Control Number: 2004112422 ISBN 0-87850-148-7 The paper in this book is acid-free neutral pH stock and meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. Printed in the United States of America CONTENTS Preface ............................................................... ix Introduction ......................................................... 1 1. Text and Translation . 5 lbn Isl_iaq's Version ................................................. 7 lbn Isl_iaq's Version with Variants .................................. 10 Abii 'Ubayd's Version ............................................. 19 Abii 'Ubayd's Version with Variants ............................... 21 The Versions of lbn Isl_iaq and Abii 'Ubayd ........................ 27 Text and Translation of Ibn Isl_iaq's Version ........................ 32 2. Mu'miniin, Yahiid, Muhajiriin and Muslimiin .............. 40 Muhajiriin ......................................................... 41 Mu'miniin and Muslimiin .......................................... 43 Unspecified Participants ........................................... 45 3. The Jewish Participants ....................................... 47 The First Six Groups . 49 Yahud Banf 'Awf, Qaynuqa' and Ghu$ayna .................... 57 'Abdallah b. Salam and the Zayd Allat ......................... 63 Labfd b. al-A'$am and Yahud Banf Zurayq ..................... 66 Yahud Banf /faritha ........................................... 68 Yahud Banf /faritha and Banu Murana ........................ 71 Yahud Banf [-Najjar and Silsila b. Barham . 72 Yahud Banf l-Aws ............................................. 73 The Last Three Groups ........................................... 75 Yahud Banf Tha'laba .......................................... 75 Jafna .......................................................... 79 Banu l-Shutayba or al-Shatba . 80 The Prophet's Territorial Basis .................................... 80 4. The Treaty of the Mu'miniin . 88 §§1-11 ............................................................ 88 umma ......................................................... 89 min duni l-nas ................................................. 91 yata'aqaluna baynahum ........................................ 92 'ala riba' atihim . 98 wa-hum yafduna ... wa-kull ta'ifa minhum tafdf 'aniyaha ..... 103 v vi Contents bi-l-ma'ruf wa-l-qist bayna l-mu'minina ....................... 105 §12 ............................................................... 106 §13 ............................................................... 110 §14 ............................................................... 110 §15 ............................................................... 113 §16 ............................................................... 114 §17 ............................................................... 117 §18 ............................................................... 118 §19 ............................................................... 120 §20 ............................................................... 122 §21 ............................................................... 123 §22 ............................................................... 124 §23 ............................................................... 125 §24 ............................................................... 126 §25 ............................................................... 129 §26 ............................................................... 133 5. The Treaty of the Jews ....................................... 135 §27 ............................................................... 135 §§28-33 . 136 §34 ............................................................... 137 umma/ amana ................................................ 139 wa-inna yahiid bani' awf anfusahum wa-amwiilahum... ...... 147 din/ dayn ..................................................... 147 yiitighu ....................................................... 148 ahl baytihi .................................................... 148 §35 ............................................................... 150 §36 ............................................................... 151 §37 ............................................................... 151 §38 ............................................................... 153 §39 ............................................................... 153 §40 ............................................................... 155 §41 ............................................................... 157 §42 ............................................................... 159 §43 ............................................................... 160 §44 ............................................................... 161 §45 ............................................................... 162 §46 ............................................................... 163 §47 ............................................................... 163 §48 ............................................................... 164 Vll §49 ............................................................... 165 §50 ............................................................... 169 §51 ............................................................... 171 §52 ............................................................... 172 §53 ............................................................... 174 §54 ............................................................... 174 §55 ............................................................... 174 §56 ............................................................... 175 §57 ............................................................... 177 §58 ............................................................... 178 §59 ............................................................... 178 §60 ............................................................... 179 §61 ............................................................... 179 §62 ............................................................... 180 §63 ............................................................... 181 §64 ............................................................... 181 Appendix A. When Was the Kitab Concluded? .............. 182 Appendix B. The Unity of the Kitab .......................... 183 Appendix C. The Recensions of the Kitab .................... 191 Ibn Isl).aq and Abu 'Ubayd ....................................... 191 ZuhrT ............................................................ 191 Ibn Jurayj ........................................................ 192 Appendix D. The Preservation of lbn Isl;iaq's Recension .... 194 'All and 'Umar ................................................... 194 'Amr b. 'Awf al-MuzanT and the Kitab ........................... 200 Appendix E. The Term Muwada'a .............................. 204 Bibliography 207 Index ............................................................... 221 Preface The monograph presented here to students of Arabic and Islam is dedicated to the most significant document that has survived from the time of the Prophet Mu}:i.ammad, namely the so-called "Constitution of Medina". Al­ though the original document was not preserved and is only known from literary sources, it is widely acknowledged as authentic and as dating back to the time of the Prophet.1 Given its importance and wide acceptance it is surprising that so little scholarly effort has so far gone into the interpreta­ tion of the document, which is replete with difficult words and expressions. It was felt that any progress achieved in the study of this document would enrich the resources available for the study of early Islam. Like a first love, one always returns to one's doctoral thesis. Most of the research behind this study was carried out some two decades ago when I was writing my Ph.D. thesis at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the close supervision of M.J. Kister.2 At that time the evidence support­ ing the emendation umma/amana (§28) did not seem to be convincing, which is probably the reason why my findings have taken so long to ap­ pear. Meanwhile new evidence has emerged that in my opinion supports this emendation. Fortunately for me, research on my Ph.D. thesis coincided with the con­ vening of an international workshop in Jerusalem, followed by the first in a series of colloquia entitled "From Jahiliyya to Islam". As early as in October 1979 the interpretation of the said umma/amana clause was the topic of my very first scholarly lecture. I recall G.H.A. Juynboll's warm welcome of my argument (as well as his discreet correction of a glaring error in Arabic). At 1See, for example, Humphreys, Islamic History: A Framework for Inquiry, 92, who quotes in detail Wellhausen's arguments in favour of its authenticity. This is followed (92-98) by a useful critical summary of certain aspects
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