Talk
of Islam's new moral order and the normative nature that Muhammad's
life had for Muslims seems to clash with Western
perceptions of Islam. If Muslim tradition tended to mythify the Prophet,
Western tradition too often has denigrated and vilified his memory. Two
issues in particular-Muhammad's treatment of the Jews and his
(polygynous) marriages-have proven popular stumbling
blocks, or perhaps more accurately whipping posts, for Western critics
and polemics. In his early preaching, Muhammad had looked to the Jews and Christians
of Arabia as natural allies whose faiths had much in common with Islam.
He anticipated their acceptance and approval. When the Islamic community
was established at
Medina, Muslims, like the Jews, had faced Jerusalem to pray. However,
the Jewish
tribes, which had long lived in Medina and had political ties with the
Quraysh, tended to resist both religious and political cooperation with
the Muslims. They denied Muhammad's
prophet-hood and message and cooperated with his Meccan enemies. While
the constitution of Medina had granted them autonomy in internal
religious
affairs, political loyalty and allegiance were expected. Yet the Quran
accuses the Jewish tribes of regularly breaking such pacts:
"Why is it that whenever they make pacts, a group among them casts it
aside
unilaterally?" (2:100).
