View source for Banu Qaynuqa

{{Short description|Arab Jewish tribe in 7th-century Arabia}}
{{Campaignbox Campaigns of Muhammad}}
{{Infobox tribe|name=Banu Qaynuqa|local name=بنو قينقاع|type=Arabized [[Israelites]]|nisba=al-Qaynuqa'i|location=[[Medina]], [[Saudi Arabia]]|descended=Kainuka ben Amshel|ethnicity=Jewish, Arabian|religion=[[Judaism]]|image=|caption=|image_size=}}
[[File:Pre_Islamic_Arabian_Tribes_(Harold_Dixon).svg|thumb|262x262px|Map of the [[Arabian Peninsula]] in 600 AD, showing the various Arab tribes and their areas of settlement. The [[Lakhmid kingdom|Lakhmids]] (yellow) formed an Arab monarchy as clients of the [[Sasanian Empire]], while the [[Ghassanids]] (red) formed an Arab monarchy as clients of the [[Roman Empire]] A map published by the British academic Harold Dixon during [[World War I]], showing the presence of the Arab tribes in [[West Asia]], 1914]]
The '''Banu Qaynuqa''' ({{langx|ar|بنو قينقاع}}; also spelled '''Banu Kainuka''', '''Banu Kaynuka''', '''Banu Qainuqa''', '''Banu Qaynuqa''') was one of the three main [[Jews|Jewish]] tribes that originally lived in [[Medina]] (now part of [[Saudi Arabia]]) before being expelled by [[Muhammad]]. They were merchants and were known to be wealthy. They resided in the south-west part of the city and were previously allied with the [[Banu Khazraj]].<ref>{{harv|Bosworth et al.|1998|p=824}}</ref> 

Islamic tradition says that in the year 624, when a [[Muslims|Muslim]] woman came to the shop of a Banu Qaynuqa [[goldsmith]], the goldsmith played a prank on her, pinning her dress so that when she stood up, the lower part of her legs was revealed. She screamed, and in the ensuing conflict a Muslim man killed him. His fellows took revenge and killed the Muslim man. Muhammad regarded this as a ''[[casus belli]].<ref name="Ishaq14">Guillaume 363, Stillman 122, ibn Kathir 2.</ref><ref name="Watt 1956, p. 209">Watt (1956), p. 207–9.</ref>'' The tribe was then accused by the Muslims of breaking the [[Constitution of Medina]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Peters |first=Francis E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0OrCo4VyvGkC |title=Muhammad and the Origins of Islam |date=1994-01-01 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-1875-8 |pages=218 |language=en}}</ref> Muhammad then besieged the tribe for fourteen or fifteen days, after which they surrendered unconditionally.<ref name="BanuKaynuka2"/><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Swarup |first=Ram |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GLdZv97v2lMC |title=Understanding the Hadith: The Sacred Traditions of Islam |date=2011-04-29 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1-61592-243-7 |pages=239 |language=en}}</ref> The Muslims also took the tribe's property as their booty.<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Michael V. McDonald (trans.), William Montgomery Watt (annot.) |url=http://www.muslim-library.com/books/2019/05/en_Tabari_Volume_07.pdf |title=The history of al-Tabari |year=1987 |isbn=0-88706-345-4 |volume=7 |location=New York |page=87}}</ref>

== Ancestry ==
The tribe of Banu Qaynuqa was descended from the [[Israelite]] patriarch, Kainuka. His full lineage is given as Kainuka ben Amshel ben Manshi ben Yohanan ben Benjamin ben Saron ben Naphtali ben Eliezer ben Moses ([[Arabic]]: ''قينقاع بن أمشيل بن منشي بن يوحنان بن بنيامين بن سارون بن نفتالي بن نفس بن حي بن موسى, Qaynuqa ibn Amshil ibn Manshi ibn Yuhanan ibn Binyamin ibn Sarun ibn Naftali ibn Hayy ibn Musa'').<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2020-09-02 |title=Jews in Arabia |url=https://www.israelandyou.com/jews-in-the-arabia/ |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=Israel and You |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-12 |title=ما هي أول قبيلة يهودية نقضت عهدها مع رسول؟ - موقع قبيلة |url=https://qabila.net/19960/arabi/qabila/ |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=qabila.net |language=ar}}</ref>

== Background ==
In the 7th century, the Banu Qaynuqa were living in two fortresses in the south-western part of the city of Yathrib, now Medina, having settled there at an unknown date. Although the Banu Qaynuqa bore mostly Arabic names, they were both ethnically and religiously Jewish. They owned no land, earned their living through commerce and craftsmanship, including [[goldsmith]]ery.<ref name="BanuKaynuka2">Wensinck, A.J. "Kaynuka, banu". [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]</ref> The marketplace of Yathrib was located in the area of the town where the Qaynuqa lived.<ref>Peters 182.</ref> The Banu Qaynuqa were allied with the local [[Banu Khazraj]] tribe and supported them in their conflicts with the rival tribe of the [[Banu Aws]].<ref name="BanuKaynuka2"/><ref>Guillaume 1955, p. 253</ref>

== Arrival of Muhammad ==
In May 622, [[Muhammad]] arrived at Yathrib (now called Medina) with a group of his [[muhajirun|followers]], who were given shelter by members of all indigenous tribes of the city who came to be known as the [[Ansar (Islam)|Ansar]]. He proceeded to set about the establishment of a pact, known as the [[Constitution of Medina]], between the Muslims, the Ansar, and the various Jewish tribes of Yathrib to regulate the matters of governance of the city, as well as the extent and nature of inter-community relations. Conditions of the pact, according to traditional Muslim sources, included boycotting the [[Quraysh (tribe)|Quraysh]], abstinence from "extending any support to them", assistance of one another if attacked by a third party, as well as "defending Medina, in case of a foreign attack".<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Mubarakpuri |first=Safiur Rahman |url=https://archive.org/details/seerat-un-nabi_202103/The%20Sealed%20Nectar/page/285/mode/2up?q=sealed+nectar |title=The Sealed Nectar |pages=285 |language=en}}</ref><ref>Ibn Hisham, as-Seerat an-Nabaweeyat, Vol. II, pp. 147-150.</ref><ref>Ibn Ishaq, pp. 231-235.</ref>

The nature of this document as recorded by Ibn Ishaq and transmitted by [[Ibn Hisham]] is the subject of dispute among modern historians many of whom maintain that this "treaty" is possibly a collage of agreements, oral rather than written, of different dates, and that it is not clear when they were made or with whom.<ref>Firestone 118; Welch, "Muhammad", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam''.   For opinions disputing the early date of the Constitution of Medina, see e.g., Peters 119.</ref>

==Expulsion==
{{Main|Invasion of Banu Qaynuqa}}In December 623, Muslims led by Muhammad defeated the [[Mecca]]ns of the [[Quraysh (tribe)|Banu Quraish]] tribe in the [[Battle of Badr]]. [[Ibn Ishaq]] writes that a dispute broke out between the Muslims and the Banu Qaynuqa (the allies of the [[Khazraj]] tribe) soon afterward. When a Muslim woman visited a jeweler's shop in the Qaynuqa marketplace, one of the goldsmiths and the men present began pestering her to uncover her face. She refused, but the goldsmith, who was a Jew, played a trick on her by attaching the hem of her dress to her back, causing some of her legs to be visible when she stood up. A Muslim man then rushed to the goldsmith and killed him, who was at once avenged by his fellows. The Muslim's family asked for help from fellow Muslims against the Jews. Realizing the anger of the Muslims, the Jews retired to their fortress. Hearing this, Muhammad regarded this event as a ''[[casus belli]]''.<ref name="Ishaq14"/>

Traditional Muslim sources view these episodes as a violation of the Constitution of Medina.<ref name="Ishaq14" /> Muhammad himself regarded this as ''casus belli''.<ref name="Watt 1956, p. 2093">Watt (1956), p. 209.</ref> Western historians, however, do not find in these events the underlying reason for Muhammad's attack on the Qaynuqa. According to [[F.E. Peters]], the precise circumstances of the alleged violation of the Constitution of Medina are not specified in the sources.<ref>Peters 218.</ref> According to [[Fred Donner]], available sources do not elucidate the reasons for the expulsion of the Qaynuqa. Donner argues that Muhammad turned against the Qaynuqa because as artisans and traders, the latter were in close contact with Meccan merchants.<ref>Donner 231–232.</ref> Weinsinck views the episodes cited by the Muslim historians, like the story of the Jewish goldsmith, as having no more than anecdotal value. He writes that the Jews had assumed a contentious attitude towards Muhammad and as a group possessing substantial independent power, they posed a great danger. Wensinck thus concludes that Muhammad, strengthened by the victory at Badr, soon resolved to eliminate the Jewish opposition to himself.<ref name="BanuKaynuka2"/> [[Norman Stillman]] also believes that Muhammad decided to move against the Jews of Medina after being strengthened in the wake of the Battle of Badr.<ref>Stillman 13.</ref>

Muhammad then approached the Banu Qaynuqa, gathering them in the marketplace and addressing them as follows,
{{cquote|O Jews, beware lest God brings on you the like of the retribution which he brought on Quraysh. Accept Islam, for you know that I am a prophet sent by God. You will find this in your scriptures and in God's covenant with you.<ref name="Ishaq363">Guillaume 363.</ref>}}

To which the tribe replied,

{{cquote|Muhammad, do you think that we are like your people? Do not be deluded by the fact that you met a people with no knowledge of war and that you made good use of your opportunity. By God, if you fight us you will know that we are real men!<ref name="Ishaq363"/>}}

[[Shibli Nomani]] and Safi al-Mubarakpuri view this response as a declaration of war.<ref>Nomani 90-91, al-Mubarakpuri 239.</ref> According to the Muslim tradition, Ayah {{CiteQuran Ayah|3|10-13}} were revealed to Muhammad following the exchange.<ref name="Ishaq14"/> Muhammad then besieged the Banu Qaynuqa for fourteen<ref name="BanuKaynuka2"/> or fifteen days, according to [[ibn Hisham]],<ref name=":3">Stillman 123.</ref> after which the tribe surrendered unconditionally.<ref name="Ishaq2">Guillaume 363, Stillman 123.</ref> It was certain, according to Watt, that there was some sort of negotiations. At the time of the siege, the Qaynuqa had a fighting force of 700 men, 400 of whom were armored. Watt concludes, that Muhammad could not have besieged such a large force so successfully without Qaynuqa's allies' support.<ref name="Watt 1956, pg. 209-10">Watt (1956), pg. 209-10.</ref> It was suggested that this invasion was a way for Muhammad to eliminate the tribe from market competition in Medina.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Brockopp |first=Jonathan E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aLm_R5yjcMMC |title=The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad |date=2010-04-19 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-88607-9 |pages=72 |language=en}}</ref>

After the surrender of Banu Qaynuqa, [[Abd Allah ibn Ubayy]], the chief of a section of the clan of Khazraj̲ urged him to spare them and drive them away.<ref name=":1" /> According to Ibn Ishaq:

{{Blockquote|text=The Messenger of God besieged them until they surrendered at his discretion. ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul rose up when God had put them in his power and said, "Muhammad, treat my mawali well." The Prophet turned away from him, and he put his hand into [the Messenger’s] collar. The Messenger of God said, "Let me go!" — He was so angry that they could see shadows in his face (that is, his face was colored). Then he said, "Damn you, let me go!" He replied, "No, by God, I will not let you go until you treat my mawali well. Four hundred men without armor and three hundred with coats of mail, who defended me from the Arabs and the non-Arabs alike, and you would mow them down in a single morning? By God, I do not feel safe, and I am afraid of what the future may have in store." So the Messenger of God said, "They are yours."}}

Muhammad then ordered his men to let them go and said, “Let them go; may God curse them, and may he curse (Abd Allah ibn Ubayy) with them."<ref name=":2" />

According to [[William Montgomery Watt]], Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy was attempting to stop the expulsion, and Muhammad's insistence was that the Qaynuqa must leave the city, but was prepared to be lenient about other conditions; Ibn Ubayy argument was that presence of Qaynuqa with 700 fighting men can be helpful in the view of the expected Meccan onslaught.<ref>*Watt, Muhammad prophet and statesman, p. 131

*William Montgomery Watt. "Abd Allah b. Ubayy b. Salul." ''Encyclopaedia of Islam''.</ref> Because of this interference and other episodes of his discord with Muhammad, Abdullah ibn Ubayy earned for himself the title of the leader of hypocrites (''[[munafiq]]un'') in the Muslim tradition.<ref>William Montgomery Watt. "Abd Allah b. Ubayy b. Salul." ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', see also Stillman 13, 123.</ref>

==Aftermath==
{{Main|Invasion of Banu Qaynuqa}}
The Banu Qaynuqa left first for the Jewish colonies in the [[Wadi al-Kura]], north of Medina, and from there to [[Der'a]] in [[Syria]],<ref name="BanuKaynuka2"/> west of [[Salkhad]]. In the course of time, they assimilated with the Jewish communities, pre-existing in that area, strengthening them numerically.<ref>Ben-Zvi 147.</ref>

Muhammad divided the property of the Banu Qaynuqa, including their arms and tools, among his followers, taking for the Islamic state a fifth share of the spoils for the first time. Some members of the tribe chose to stay in Medina and convert to Islam. One man from the Banu Qaynuqa, [[Abdullah ibn Salam]], became a devout Muslim. Although some Muslim sources claim that he converted immediately after Muhammad's arrival to Medina, modern scholars give more credence to the other Muslim sources, which indicate that 8 years later, 630, was the year of ibn Salam's conversion.<ref name="BanuKaynuka2"/>

==See also==
* [[Banu Nadir]]
* [[Banu Qurayza]]
* [[Jihad]]
* [[Rules of war in Islam]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Notes==
* {{Cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Volume V (Khe-Mahi): [Fasc. 79-98, 98a] |date=1998-05-28 |url=https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/1484 |editor-last=Bosworth |editor-first=C. E. |publisher=Brill |language=en |isbn=978-90-04-07819-2 |editor2-last=Lewis |editor3-last=Pellat |editor4-last=Donzel |editor4-first=E. J. van| ref = {{harvid|Bosworth et al.|1998}}}}
* ''[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]''. Ed. P. Bearman et al., Leiden: Brill, 1960-2005.
* [[Yitzhak Ben-Zvi|Ben-Zvi, Yitzhak]]. ''The Exiled and the Redeemed''. Jewish Publication Society, 1957.
* [[Fred Donner|Donner, Fred M.]] "Muhammad's Political Consolidation in Arabia up to the Conquest of Mecca". ''Muslim World'' '''69''': 229-247, 1979.
* Firestone, Reuven. ''Jihad: The Origin of Holy War in Islam''. Oxford University Press, 1999. {{ISBN|0-19-512580-0}}
* [[Alfred Guillaume|Guillaume, A.]] ''The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah''. Oxford University Press, 1955. {{ISBN|0-19-636033-1}}
* {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/TheSealedNectar_201501/page/n197|last=Mubarakpuri|first=Safi ur-Rahman|title=Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum|publisher=Maktaba Dar-us-Salam|year=1996|location=Riyadh}}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0OrCo4VyvGkC|last=Peters, Francis E.|author-link=F.E. Peters|title=Muhammad and the Origins of Islam|publisher=State University of New York Press|year=1994|isbn=0-7914-1875-8}}
* [[Norman Stillman|Stillman, Norman]]. ''The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book''. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979. {{ISBN|0-8276-0198-0}}
* {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/muhammadatmedina029655mbp|last=Watt, W. Montgomery|title=Muhammad at Medina|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1956}}
* {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.29762/page/n143|last=Watt, W. Montgomery|author-link=Montgomery Watt|title=Muhammad Prophet and Statesman|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1961}}

{{Characters and names in the Quran}}
{{Arabian Peninsula Jewish tribes}}
{{Jews and Judaism}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banu Qaynuqa}}
[[Category:Hejazi Jews]]
[[Category:Muhammad and Judaism]]
[[Category:Jews in the medieval Islamic world]]