A Promise of Unity

With the brotherhood that Allah’s Messenger established in Medina, the believers had promised to support each other with both their fortunes and their lives. Through this practice the Messenger of Allah had laid the foundation for a powerful Islamic society. However, at that time, Medina had a population of approximately ten thousand people. The 1,500 Muslims lived together side-by-side with nearly 4,000 Jews and about 4,500 Arab polytheists. Thus, an order where the different groups of Medina could live together in harmony needed to be established.

The first task that the Messenger of Allah undertook was to have the borders of the city of Medina determined. The area within these borders was then named the Haram. Afterwards, a census was carried out in Medina for the very first time.
Allah’s Messenger was restructuring Medina. Although it had only been a number of days since his arrival in Medina, the peaceful and secure environment that Allah’s Messenger had established clearly manifested itself. It was unanimous among the people of Medina that in the event of a possible disagreement among themselves, our Prophet was surely the person to go to in order to resolve the problem. If the city were to be attacked by enemies, it was essential for the people to unite into one. With this in mind, our Prophet decided to make certain covenants with the Jews and some of the tribes living in Medina. The first covenant in Medina was made between the tribes of Aws and Khazraj. In the end, our Prophet had taken over the rule of Medina through a written agreement. The covenant scripture started as follows:
“In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate…
This charter is a charter on the part of Muhammad who is the Messenger, concerning the Muslims and believers of the Quraysh and Yathrib, and other people who are bound to them, and those who have come later to accept the same terms and those who act in unison in matters of common defense. All who are stated above are a united people when faced against other people.”
Following this statement, it was decided that all tribes would spread the good and benevolent throughout society while eliminating the bad and heinous. If despite all these precautions a disagreement were to take place, then the issue would be resolved by agreeing to the judgment passed by Allah and His Messenger. The second was the treaty with the Jewish people. According to the agreement, in the face of battle, the Jewish people would contribute financially just as much as the Muslims. Medina would be under joint protection and working together would be the principle in defense. Both the Muslims and the Jews would be able to live freely according to their respective faiths. The Muslims would solve their problems according to the decrees of the Qur’an, the Word of Allah, and the Jewish people would solve their issues according to the decrees of their own holy scriptures, the Torah, and neither side would intervene in the judgments of the other. Should there be a disagreement despite all these provisions, again this would be solved according to the commandments of Allah and the arbitration of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.