Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
11. Islam comes to Madinah
~ 287 ~
The Aws delegation returned without accepting
Islam. Soon afterwards the Aws and Khazraj fought
a war known as Bu’ath. The enmity between the
two tribes had become so strong that each wished to
obliterate the other. In this war the Khazraj first had
the ascendancy. Then the Aws, under Abu Usayd,
defeated the Khazraj. They inflicted heavy losses on
one another, even burning houses and orchards. In
this way the Arabs weakened themselves by their
own internal warfare.
It was the Jews who benefited from this war, and
their ascendancy in Madinah was further
consolidated. When feelings cooled, responsible
people of both the Aws and the Khazraj realized
that they had made a grave mistake. They had
played into the hands of their enemies. They had
weakened themselves and strengthened the Jews.
Many people in both tribes realized the need to
rectify this situation. But this could be done only by
both tribes agreeing to forgive and forget. The best
way to achieve reconciliation would be by
appointing a king to coordinate the peacemaking
process. ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy of the Khazraj tribe, a
man of personality and gifted with qualities of
