Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 47Muslims of Medina offered to share their property andtheir belongings with the Muslims of Mecca. OneMedinite Muslim offered to divorce one of his two wivesand to have her married to his Meccan brother. TheMeccan Muslims declined to accept the offers of theMuslims of Medina out of regard for the needs of thelatter. But the Muslims of Medina remained insistent,and the point had to be referred to the Prophet sa . TheMuslims of Medina urged that the Meccan Muslims weretheir brothers; so, they had to share their property withthem. The Meccan Muslims did not know how tomanage land. But they could share the produce of theland if not the land itself. The Meccan Muslims declinedwith thanks this incredibly generous offer, and preferredto stick to their own vocation of trade. Many MeccanMuslims became rich again. But Muslims of Medinaalways remembered their offer to share their propertywith Meccan Muslims. Many a time when a MediniteMuslim died, his sons divided the inheritance with theirMeccan brothers. For many years, the practicecontinued, until the Qur’an abolished it by its teachingabout the division of inheritance (Bukhari and Muslim).PACT BETWEEN VARIOUS TRIBES OF MEDINABesides uniting Meccan and Medinite Muslims in abrotherhood, the Holy Prophet sa instituted a covenantbetween all the inhabitants of Medina. By this covenant,Arabs and the Jews were united into a commoncitizenship with Muslims. The Prophet sa explained toboth Arabs and Jews that before the Muslims emergedas a group in Medina, there were only two groups intheir town, but with Muslims now, there were threegroups. It was but proper that they should enter into anagreement which should be binding upon them all, andwhich should assure to all of them a measure of peace.Eventually an agreement was arrived at. The agreementsaid: