According to Guillaume, the renown historian: At the dawn of Islam the Jews dominated the economic life of the Hijaz [Arabia]. They held all the best land.. At Medina they formed at least half of the population. There was also a Jewish settlement to the north of the Gulf of Aqaba.... What is important is to note that the Jews of the Hijaz made many proselytes [or converts] among the Arab pagans and led them to worship of One God even hundreds of years before the advent of Islam. The first Palestinian or Judean refugees -- the Jews -- had resettled to become prosperous, influential Arabian settlers. The prosperity of the Jews was due to their superior knowledge of agriculture and irrigation and their energy and industry. Homeless [Jewish] refugees in the course of a few generations became large landowners in the country, [the refugees who had come to the Hijaz when the Romans conquered Palestine] controllers of its finance and trade.... Thus it can readily be seen that Jewish prosperity was a challenge to the Arabs, particularly the Quraish at Mecca and ... [other Arab tribes] at Medina
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 23:34:08 +0000
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