en
within its ever-widening circle.

Having organised his own followers, and secured their immunity from
internal strife, Mahomet was forced to turn his attention to the Jewish
element within his adopted city, and to decide swiftly his policy towards
the three Israelite tribes who comprised the wealthier and trading
population of Medina.

From the first, Mahomet's desires were in the direction of a federal
union, wherein each party would follow his own faith and have control of
his own tribal affairs and finances, save when the necessity of mutual
protection against enemies called for a union of forces. Again Mahomet
framed his policy upon the doctrine of opportunism. His ultimate aim was
beyond doubt to unite both Jews and Medinans under his rule in a common
religious and political bond, but he recognised the present impossibility
of such action in view of the Jews' greater stability and the weakness of
his party within the city. His negotiations and conciliations with the
Jews offer one of the many examples of his supreme skill as a statesman.

The Jews themselves, taken almost unawares by the suddenness of Mahomet's
entry into their civic life, agreed to the treaty he proposed, and
acquiesced unconsciously in his subtle attempts to merge the two faiths
into a whole wherein Islam would be the dominant factor. When Mahomet
made Jerusalem his Kibla, or direction of prayer, and emphasised the
connection between Jewish and Arabian history, they suffered these
advances, and agreed to a treaty which would have formed the foundations
of a political and social convergence and ultimate absorption of their
own nation.

Mahomet knew that federalism with the Jews was a necessary step to his
desired end, and therefore he drew up a treaty wherein mutual protection
against outward enemies, as well as against internal sedition, was
assured. Hospitality was to be freely rendered and demanded, and neither
party was to support an Infidel against a Believer. Guarantees for mutual
security were exchanged, and it was agreed that each should be free to
worship in his own fashion. The treaty throws light upon the clan-system
still obtaining in seventh-century Arabia. The Jews were their own
masters in the ordering of their lives, as were the Medinan tribes, even
after many years of neighbourhood and frequent interchange of commerce
and mutual assurances. The most significant political work achieved by
Mahomet, the planting of the federal