Constitution of Medina
The so-called Municipal Code of Medina is a treaty of alliance, the Prophet Mohammed after his arrival in the city of Yathrib (later Medina ) concluded in 622 between the emigrants from Mecca, his helpers in Yathrib, and various Jewish tribes. The document is preserved in Ibn Hisham Ibn Ishaq's biography of the Prophet of processing; a defective version is also included in the Kitāb al - ʿ Ubaid AMWAL of Abū al- Sallam (d. 834 ). Julius Wellhausen, who examined the text of the document for the first time, divided it into 47 paragraphs. In the edition of Michael Lecker, which is used as a basis here, the text is divided into 64 paragraphs. The traditional version of the document probably dates from the year 627
At the beginning of the document is determined that it is " a contract of Muhammad the Prophet between the believers and Muslims of Quraysh and Yathrib and those who follow them, are connected to them and fight with them, " is (§ 1) to. They are " a single Ummah, which is different from others" ( § 2). Subsequently, the nine major parties are called. These include the Muslim " Emigrants of Quraish " (§ 3), which are considered as a single group, and eight clans of Yathrib, which result from subgroups ( Tawa ʾ if) put together (§ § 4-11 ). From each group, there is, they should maintain their tribal organization ( RIBA ʿ a) and is responsible for the payment of blood money and ransom among their relatives. When the clans of Yathrib is stated in that they are (ma ʿ al - Ula āqilu -hum ) bound to their former blood - money arrangements. However, this duty of solidarity among them is restricted to the believers (mu ʾ minun ).
The second part of the document ( from § 27) deals with the relations with the Jewish tribes of Yathrib and its biṭāna ( § 39 ), ie their Bedouin allies. In § 49 it is stated that the valley of Yathrib is sacred for all contractors.
The question of who after the death of the Prophet the Kitaab, ie had the code with the community order, receive, was controversial among Shiites and Sunnis. While the former is assumed that he had entrusted to ʿ Alī ibn Abī Taalib, was narrated in Sunni texts that Umar ibn al - Khattab was the recipient.