(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.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
