The covenant between the Prophet and the Jews

Soon after emigrating to Al-Madeenah and makingsure that the pillars
of the new Islamic community were well established on strong bases of
administrative, political and ideological unity, the Prophet embarked
upon the task of establishing regular and clearly-defined relations
with the non-Muslims there, who comprised of Jews and Arab tribes. All
of these efforts were exerted solely to provide peace, security, and
prosperity to all mankind at large, and to bring about a spirit of
rapport and harmony within his region in particular.
The Prophet was also keen on establishing friendly relations between
the Muslims andnon-Muslims. He was verymeticulous in not leavingany
area in the charter that would allow pre-Islamic traditions to slip in
or violate the new environment he wanted to establish.
Geographically, the nearest people to Al-Madeenah were the Jews.
Despite harbouringevil intentions and nursing a bitter grudge, they
showed neither the least resistance nor the slightest animosity. The
Prophet decided to ratify a treaty with them with clauses that
provided full freedom in faith and wealth. He had no intention
whatsoever of following severe policies involving banishment, seizure
of wealth and land, or hostility.
Included in the treaty were a number of terms and conditions. The
maincondition being that, in case of an attack on Al-Madeenah launched
byoutsiders, the people of Al-Madeenah as a whole would raise arms,
collectively, against the enemies. Another condition being that the
Jews of Al-Madeenah would not provide refuge to the Quraysh of Makkah
or their allies. None of the citizens of Al-Madeenah would put any
hurdle in the way of anyone else's religion, life or property. If two
people of Al-Madeenah had a falling-out on an issue and were not able
to find any solution to it by themselves, they would have to abide by
the decision made by the Prophet concerning it. The Muslims of
Al-Madeenah would be considered as friends of the Jews, and they (the
Jews) would therefore have to treat as friends those tribes and clans
who were in alliance with the Muslims. All kinds of fighting and
bloodshed would be treated as prohibited in the territory of
Al-Madeenah.
The most important provisions of the treaty were as follows:
1. The Jews of the tribe of 'Awf were to be one community with
the believers. The Jews would profess their religion and the Muslims
theirs.
2. The Jews would be responsible for their expenditure, and the
Muslims for theirs.
3. If attacked by a third party, each would come to the
assistance of the other.
4. Each party would hold counsel with the other. Mutual
relations would be founded on righteousness; sin was totally excluded.
5. Neither group would commit sins to the prejudice of the other.
6. The wronged partywould be aided.
7. The Jews would contribute to the cost of any war, so long as
they were fighting alongside the believers.
8. Al-Madeenah would remain sacred andinviolable for all who
would join this treaty.
9. If any disagreement were to arise between the signatories of
this treaty, then Allah the All-High and His Messenger would settle
the dispute.
10. The signatories to this treaty would boycott Quraysh
commercially; they would also abstain from extending any support to
them.
11. Each would contribute to defending Al-Madeenah, in case of
aforeign attack, in its respective area.
12. This treaty would not hinder either party from seeking lawful revenge.
After the agreement wasfinalised, the Prophet made an all-out effort
to bring the clans around Al-Madeenah into the fold of this pact so
that all disruptions, disorder and bloodshed were curbed once and for
all. The Prophet was so eager to widen the scopeof this pact that he
made a special journey to premises of Dhamrah bin Bakr bin 'Abd Manaaf
to bring them around to this recently signed pact. He won over their
chief, 'Amr bin Makhshi, to the idea and he put his initials on the
document. He also got the people of Mount Buwat and of Thul-'Ushayrah
in Yanbu' and Banu Mudlij to accept the peace treaty. The purpose of
the Prophet in constructing this peace pact was to create an
atmosphere of peace andorder so that the people could be at peace and
be able to reflect on the message of Islam in an air of safety and
security. These peace efforts were yet to bring fruit when clandestine
activities in Al-Madeenah and onslaughts from outside plunged
Al-Madeenah into disorder once again.
Al-Madeenah and its suburbs, after the ratification of this treaty,
turned into a coalition state, with Al-Madeenah proper as capital and
Muhammad as de facto president; authorityrested primarily in the hands
of the Muslims, and consequently it was a real capital of Islam.
The peace pact made all the people of Al-Madeenah recognise the
strength and supremacy of Islam and they all signed it, signifying
their acceptance of the superiority of the Muslims.