One day, Jews will visit to see Saudi Arabia’s rich heritage

Historical sites linked to the family of Muhammad and those of his companions have been bulldozed and built over by an ideology that was so zealous and ardent in believing that people would worship at these sites that it literally took a sledgehammer approach. Much of the religious contextual history has been lost.

This is not only because of Wahhabi ideology. The re-writing of history based on Islam being the “finality of God’s word” has meant that Judaic traditions and tribes that were present in the Arabian peninsula have been overwritten and removed from the cornerstones of Islamic history.

Yet there is no doubt that Judaic traditions influenced Arab tribes in the Hejaz, the fertile western coast of the Saudi Arabian peninsula that came under the control of the Babylonians in 600 BCE and the Nabateans four centuries later.

As Jewish tribes travelled along the Hejaz, so did their religious and social ideas, influencing methods of worship in Arab tribes such as the Quraysh, which Mohammed came from.

The Quraysh were powerful merchants who controlled the city of Mecca and, by doing so, ensured that pilgrims who came to the holy city paid dues and spent much needed resources there.

They became wealthy from the Kaaba, the building visited by millions of Muslims today, which many believe was built by Abraham and Ishmael.

The Quraysh and other Arab tribes were far more connected with Jewish ideology than the Christian traditions which, by the time of Muhammad, were seen to be part of Europe and with Rome as its spiritual capital.

Christianity was seen as too foreign a faith for many Arabs; anything beyond Constantinople was seen as beyond the pale for a region which depended on tribal allegiances for survival in the harsh environment of the Arabian peninsula.

By contrast, Judaism and Judaic traditions were known entities and seen to be part of the region, with Jewish tribes plying trade routes up and down the Hejaz, from Medina through to the Yemen.

The persecution of Muhammad by the Quraysh in Mecca meant that he and his handful of followers had to leave in 622 CE.

They fled to Medina, an area controlled by the tribes of Banu Qaynuqa, Banu Qurayz and Banu Nadir. Many were Arabs who converted to Judaism and maintained Jewish traditions, the laws of the Torah and the traditions of the faith.

It was these three tribes that welcomed Muhammad into what is now the second-most important city in Islam.

There can be no doubt that Muhammad was influenced by these tribes and Judaic law and traditions in the early years of Islam, partly explaining why much of the Quran references religious edicts that mirror those of Judaism.

This is why the historical relationship with Jews and Judaism is at the heart of Islam. You cannot understand Islam and Muhammad’s journey without visualising Islam’s Jewish story. It is one heart chamber out of four that make up this organ.

As relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia thaw, I can foresee a day when Jews visit Medina and learn more about their religious heritage in the peninsula.

Without understanding this Jewish heritage, Muslims are not complete. It is why I call on the Saudi Government to speed up this process and develop sites of historical significance to Jewish communities.

I look forward to the day that Jews visit Medina, when Jews and Muslims sit together and value the qualities that bind us.

Fiyaz Mughal is director of the UK-based interfaith organisation Faith Matters