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The Constitution of Medina, also known as the Charter of Medina, was drafted by the Prophet Muhammad. The document was drawn up with the explicit concern of bringing to an end the inter tribal fighting between the various clans of the Aws (Aus)and Khazraj tribes within Medina. To this effect it instituted a number of rights and responsibilities of the Muslim, Jewish, and other communities of Medina bringing them within the fold of the Ummah.

Sources

The Constitution of Medina is found in a number of different early Muslim sources. The most widely read version of the Constitution is found in Ibn Ishaq's Sirah Rasul Allah.

Important points

The most important points with respect to the geographically close Arab tribes, Muslim and Jewish, in the immediate area of Medina:

1. The Jews will profess their religion, and the Muslims theirs.
2. The Jews shall be responsible for their expenditure, and the Muslims for theirs.
3. If attacked by a third party, each shall come to the assistance of the other.
4. Each party shall hold counsel with the other. Mutual relation shall be founded on righteousness; sin is totally excluded.
5. Neither shall commit sins to the prejudice of the other.
6. The wronged party shall be aided.
7. The Jews shall contribute to the cost of war so long as they are fighting alongside the believers.
8. Medina shall remain sacred and inviolable for all that join this treaty. Should any disagreement arise between the signatories to this treaty, then Muhammad shall settle the dispute.
9. The signatories to this treaty shall boycott Quraish commercially; they shall also abstain from extending any support to them.
10. Each shall contribute to defending Medina, in case of a foreign attack, in its respective area.
11. This treaty shall not hinder either party from seeking their lawful retaliation.

Analysis

One of the constitutions more interesting aspect was the inclusion of the Jewish tribes in the Ummah, the Jewish tribes were "one community with the believers," but they "have their religion and the Muslims have theirs." Legal Scholar L. Ali Khan says the Constitution of Medina was a social contract derived from a treaty and not from any fictional state of nature or from behind the Rawlsian veil of ignorance. The contract was built upon the concept of one community of diverse tribes living under the sovereignty of One God.See The Medina Constitution also instituted peaceful methods of dispute resolution among diverse groups living as one people but without assimilating into one religion, language, or culture. Some modern scholars believe that it was not a treaty in the modern sense, but a unilateral proclamation by Muhammad.

References

1. Jonathan Berkey, The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800, Cambridge University Press, p.64
2. Ramadan, Hisham M. (2006). Understanding Islamic Law: From Classical to Contemporary. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 0-7591-0990-7.
3. Lewis, Bernard (2002). The Arabs in History. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-280310-7.

See also

• Muhammad in Medina
• Banu Qurayza
• Banu Qaynuqa
• Banu Nadir

Further reading

• Karsh, Efraim (2006). Islamic Imperialism : A History. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10603-3.

External links

• http://www.balagh.net/english/ahl_bayt/the_message/27.htm
• The Constitution of Medina in Undertanding Islamic Law: From Classical to Contemprary (2006)

• Islam
• Jews and Judaism in Saudi Arabia
• Defunct constitutions