A History of the Jews of Arabia: From Ancient Times to Their Eclipse Under Islam PDF
Preview A History of the Jews of Arabia: From Ancient Times to Their Eclipse Under Islam
Studies in Comparative Religion Frederick M. Denny, Editor The Holy Book in Comparative Perspective Edited by Frederick M. Denny and Rodney L. Taylor Dr. Strangegod: On the Symbolic Meaning of Nuclear Weapons By Ira Chernus Native American Religious Action: A Performance Approach to Religion By Sam Gill The Confucian Way of Contemplation: Okada Takehiko and the Tradition of Quiet-Sitting By Rodney L. Taylor Human Rights and the Conflict of Cultures: Western and Islamic Perspectives on Religious Liberty By David Little, John Kelsay, and Abdulaziz A. Sachedina The Munshidln of Egypt: Their World and Their Song By Earle H. Waugh The Buddhist Revival in Sri Lanka: Religious Tradition, Reinterpretation and Response By George D. Bond A History of The Jews of Arabia Front Ancient Times to Their Eclipse Under Islam G ordon D arnell N ewby University of South Carolina Press Copyright © UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA 1988 Published in Columbia, South Carolina, by the University of South Carolina Press First Edition Manufactured in the United States of America LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Newby, Gordon D., 1939- A history of the Jews of Arabia / Gordon D. Newby. p. cm. — (Studies in comparative reliigon) Bibliography: p. Includes index. ISBN 0-87249-558-2 1. Jews—Arabian Peninsula—History. 2. Judaism—Relations- Islam. 3. Islam—Relations—Judaism. 4. Arabian Peninsula—Ethnic relations. I. Title. II. Series: Studies in comparative religion (Columbia, S.C.) DS135.A7N48 1988 953'.004924—dcl 9 88-11766 CIP C ontents Editor's Preface ix Preface xi Introduction 3 1. Looking at the Past 7 2. Legends and Ancient Origins 14 3. Jews, Arabs, and Romans 24 4. The Southern Jewish Kingdoms 33 5. The Jews of the Hijäz 49 6. Muhammad and the Jews 78 7. Arabian Judaism after Muhammad 97 8. Afterword on Historiography 109 Abbreviations in Notes and Bibliography Notes 124 Bibliography 155 Index 169 E ' P ditor s reface Comparative religion means different things to different minds, but from the perspective of this series it always means, among other things, serious scrutiny of sources and open-minded evaluation of previous wisdom, theories and interpretations. Gordon Newby's ven ture of writing a history of the Jews of Arabia will strike some sea soned sifters of the sources as quixotic if not impossible. The absence of such a work in the history of distinguished scholarship on Jews and Judaism should be sufficient proof of the difficulty of the task. No one knows this better than the author of this synthesis cast in the form of an extended historiographical essay. Far from claiming to have pro duced the definitive history of Arabian Jewry, Newby has instead pro vided an assessment of the field that should reopen many questions for further study. This book presents both a narrative history and abundant interpre tative reflection for the wide range of readers this series hopes to reach, in this case Jewish studies specialists, Islamologists, historians of the ancient and medieval Near East, Semitists, and historians of religion. At one level, A History of the Jews of Arabia can be read as a summary of what is known about the subject; that in itself is sufficient reason to have published the project. But at another level, Newby engages his colleagues in an absorbing and challenging discourse on the nature of historical investigation, the status of earlier claims and theories about Jews in Arabia, and how one's perspective—Jewish, Muslim, Christian, secularist, ancient, modern—definitively influ ences what one sees. The author himself sees very much due to his creative use of anthropological, literary-critical, linguistic, phenome nological, sociological and historical theories and methods. The Jewish experience in Arabia has never commanded the schol arly attention that the great Mesopotamian, Palestinian, Egyptian, North African, and Iberian Jewish legacies have enjoyed, whether before or after the rise of Islam. But we have long known that Arabian Judaism played a major role in Muhammad's developing vision of his ix X Editor's Preface mission as prophet and leader. And the heavy debt of early Muslim religious scholars to the corpus of Jewish learning in the interpretation of the Quriân is well documented. This is not to suggest that Islam is some kind of by-product of Arabian Judaism; that kind of thinking is no longer relevant or sound. But the long history of Jews in the Ara bian Peninsula and their substantial contributions to the region's cul tures, values and institutions deserve to be widely known, understood and appreciated, both for their intrinsic worth and for their often fateful consequences in the history of Jewish-Muslim rela tions and beyond. Frederick M. Denny General Editor Studies in Comparative Religion P reface When Professor Fred Denny first asked me to think about writing a history of the Jewish communities of Arabia, I was of two minds about the project. I was eager to try to put together in one volume the pieces of the Arabian Jewish historical puzzle I had been working on for some time; but I was apprehensive about how comprehensive a pic ture could be developed. Fred's encouragement, however, gave me the necessary inspiration to persevere, and I ended up even some what surprised that we can know as much as we do. Still, we do not know enough. We do not have the personal records, autobiographies, and letters that would really let us glimpse the lives of individual Ara bian Jews. For the most part, we can only look at these long-dead Jews at a communal level. Even with that limitation, we can learn much about Jewish courage and survival in a harsh environment after the destruction of the Temple. In the foreword to his book The Exiled and the Redeemed, Itzhak Ben-Zvi holds that each "tribe" of Israel may be said to have contributed its share to the common heritage of the nation. The Jews of Arabia lived a rich life in Exile; but they can be "redeemed" only in our memories. In part, this work is a beginning of an ingathering of the memories and heritage of the Jews of Arabia. I want to thank two colleagues in particular for their long-standing help, criticism, and ideas. David Halperin, with whom I sometimes teach and write papers, has been a special friend and colleague. He continually teaches me much that aids and furthers my work. Steven Wasserstrom also has been a source of ideas, bibliography, and per spectives, without which this project would have been impossible. In addition, I have been sustained by the encouragement of Marilyn Waldman, Bruce Lawrence, and my colleagues in the Department of History at North Carolina State. I would also like to thank M.J. Kister, S. Shaked, and the other organizers of the colloquium "From Jahi- layya to Islam," held in Jerusalem in July 1982. The intense collegial atmosphere and the caliber of the participants did much to advance my education. My special gratitude also goes to the Interlibrary Loan xi Preface staff at North Carolina State University, Allison Greene and the staff at the Divinity School Library at Duke University, and the staff of the Middle East Library at the University of Utah whose expertise and cooperation made my task of research both easy and pleasant. The bulk of the writing of this volume was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a grant from North Carolina State University, which made it possible for me to devote all of 1986 to writing, free from teaching and administrative responsibilities. Finally, I would like to thank all my friends who have had to listen to me perorate on this subject. I am just sorry that I cannot now prom ise to keep silent. G.D.N.
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