Editing Medina (section)

===Under the 'Aws and Khazraj===
Toward the end of the 5th century,<ref>for date see "J. Q. R." vii. 175, note</ref> the Jewish rulers lost control of the city to the two Arab tribes. 

Most modern historians accept the claim of the Muslim sources that after the revolt, the Jewish tribes became clients of the 'Aws and the Khazraj.<ref>See e.g., Peters 193; "Qurayza", ''[[Encyclopaedia Judaica]]''</ref> However, according to Scottish scholar, [[William Montgomery Watt]], the clientship of the Jewish tribes is not borne out by the historical accounts of the period prior to 627, and he maintained that the Jewish populace retained a measure of political independence.<ref name="Medina" />

Early Muslim chronicler [[Ibn Ishaq]] tells of an ancient conflict between the last [[Yemen]]ite king of the [[Himyarite Kingdom]]<ref>Muslim sources usually referred to Himyar kings by the dynastic title of "[[Tubba']]".</ref> and the residents of Yathrib. When the king was passing by the oasis, the residents killed his son, and the Yemenite ruler threatened to exterminate the people and cut down the [[Arecaceae|palms]]. According to [[Ibn Ishaq]], he was stopped from doing so by two [[rabbi]]s from the Banu Qurayza tribe, who implored the king to spare the oasis because it was the place "to which a prophet of the [[Quraysh]] would migrate in time to come, and it would be his home and resting-place." The Yemenite king thus did not destroy the town and converted to [[Judaism]]. He took the [[rabbi]]s with him, and in [[Mecca]], they reportedly recognized the [[Kaaba|Ka'bah]] as a structure built by [[Abraham]] and advised the king "to do what the people of Mecca did: to [[Circumambulation|circumambulate]] the structure, to venerate and honor it, to shave his head and to behave with all humility until he had left its precincts." On approaching Yemen, tells Ibn Ishaq, the rabbis demonstrated to the local people a miracle by coming out of a fire unscathed and the Yemenites accepted Judaism.<ref>Guillaume 7–9, Peters 49–50</ref>

Eventually the Banu 'Aws and the Banu Khazraj became hostile to each other and by the time of Muhammad's [[Hijra (Islam)|Hijrah]] (emigration) to Medina in 622, they had been fighting for 120 years and were sworn enemies<ref name="balagh.net">Subhani, ''The Message'': [http://www.balagh.net/english/ahl_bayt/the_message/27.htm The Events of the First Year of Migration] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524053521/http://www.balagh.net/english/ahl_bayt/the_message/27.htm |date=24 May 2012}}</ref> The Banu Nadir and the Banu Qurayza were allied with the 'Aws, while the Banu Qaynuqa sided with the Khazraj.<ref>For alliances, see Guillaume 253</ref> They fought a total of four wars.<ref name="Medina" />

Their last and bloodiest known battle was the [[Yawm al-Buath|Battle of Bu'ath]],<ref name="Medina" /> fought a few years prior to the arrival of Muhammad.<ref name="jewishencyclopedia 1" /> The outcome of the battle was inconclusive, and the feud continued. [[Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy|'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy]], one Khazraj chief, had refused to take part in the battle, which earned him a reputation for equity and peacefulness. He was the most respected inhabitant of the city prior to Muhammad's arrival. To solve the ongoing feud, concerned residents of Yathrib [[Aqaba pledge of allegiance|met secretly]] with [[Muhammad]] in 'Aqaba, a place outside [[Mecca]], inviting him and his small group of believers to come to the city, where Muhammad could serve a mediator between the factions and his community could practice its faith freely.