(O ye who believe! If ye obey a party of those who have received the Scripture…) [3:100].
Abu ‘Amr al-Qantari informed me, among other things he gave me authorisation to relate from him> Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Haddadi> Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Khalid> Ishaq ibn Ibrahim> al-Mu’ammil ibn Isma‘il> Hammad ibn Yazid> Ayyub> ‘Ikrimah who said: “The two tribes of the Aws and Khazraj had fought each other in the pre-Islamic period and upon the advent of Islam, Allah, exalted is He, united their hearts and had peace with each other. One day, a Jew sat in an assembly of mixed people which belonged to the Aws and Khazraj. He recited some poetry which was composed by one of the tribes during their war against each other. Something stirred within the people of the other tribe, and so they said: ‘Our poet has said this and that about such-and-such a battle’. The others replied by saying: ‘And our poet has said this and that about such-and-such a battle’. Suddenly some of them said: ‘Let us start war all over again!’ Those who belonged to the tribe of Aws cried: ‘O people of Aws!’ and those who belonged to the tribe of Khazraj cried: ‘O people of Khazraj!’ They all gathered up, took up arms and aligned themselves ready for to engage in battle. At this point, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, went and stood between the two armies, read this verse and raised his voice in the process. When they heard his voice, they stopped talking and listened to him. When he finished his recitation, they all dropped their weapons and embraced one another, crying”.
Said Zayd ibn Aslam: “Shas ibn Qays, the Jew, was an old man who grew up in the pre-Islamic period. He was a great disbeliever. His hate for the Muslims was extreme and his resentful envy toward them was intense. One day, he passed by a group of Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, from the Aws and the Khazraj who were gathered in an assembly and talking, and was infuriated to see their unity, friendliness and reconciliation when they were enemies in the pre-Islamic period. He said: ‘The people of Banu Qaylah have united in this land. By Allah, we have no abode with them if they are united’. And so he instructed a youth who was with him, saying: ‘Go and sit with them and then remind them of the event of Bu‘ath and what happened before it and recite to them some of the poetry which they used to compose against each other’. Bu‘ath was the day when the Aws fought against the Khazraj and the former emerged triumphant against the latter. The young man did as he was told which caused people to dispute with and boast to each other to the extent that two men from the two tribes — Aws ibn Qaydhi of the Banu Harithah clan of Aws and Jabbar ibn Sakhr of the Banu Salamah clan of the Khazraj — exchanged words and one of them said to the other: ‘If you wish, by Allah, we will do it all over again’. Both camps got very angry and said: ‘It’s done! War is declared, and let us meet at al-Zahirah’, a volcanic area toward which they headed. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, heard of this and went straight to them accompanied by a group of Emigrants who were with him. When he got there, he said: ‘O Muslims! You fight because of the call of pagan ignorance, even though I am still in your midst, and Allah has honoured you with Islam by means of which he severed from you the whole matter of pagan ignorance and united your hearts. Will you then revert to that which you used to do when you were disbelievers? Allah! Allah!’ People realised straightaway that what they were about to do was of Satan’s incitement and of the plotting of their enemies. They dropped their weapons, wept and embraced each other, and then left the scene with the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, submissive and compliant. Allah, glorious and majestic is He, then revealed (O ye who believe!) meaning the Aws and the Khazraj (If ye obey a party of those who have received the Scripture) i.e. Shas and his followers (they will make you disbelievers after your belief)”.
Said Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah: “No one who had ever shown himself to us was more disliked than the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. He gestured to us with his hand and we stopped and Allah, exalted is He, reconciled us. Then no one was more beloved to us than the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. Never have I seen a day whose start was so ugly and monstrous and whose end was as good as that particular day”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou