Ep 134 - Professor Joel Hayward on Rethinking Medina’s Covenant, Treaties & Statecraft

Professor Joel Hayward unpacks how Medina actually worked, the Sahifat al Madinah, parallel pacts by clan, covenant enforcement, and the Prophet’s statecraft in moments like the Sawiq raid, the Qaynuqa crisis, the Nadir siege, and the Trench.

We dig into source criticism, what the early texts really say, and why the dominant narrative needs a rethink.

What we cover:

• Sahifat al Madinah, what the charter says and how it functioned inside a web of bilateral pacts

• The Prophet’s statecraft, treaties, arbitration, measured enforcement, generosity in terms

• Banu Qaynuqa, cause of the confrontation, order to depart, who stayed under protection and why

• Banu al Nadir, the meeting about blood money, the alleged assassination plot, the short siege, relocation to Khaybar

• Banu Qurayza, covenant breach during the Trench, arbitration by Sad ibn Muadh

• Sawiq raid at al Uraiyd, why it mattered, possible local complicity, stress test for the covenant

• Kaab ibn al Ashraf, incitement, poetry as power, targeted security response

• Al Mukhayriq at Uhud, a reminder that alliances cut in unexpected ways

• Abdullah ibn Ubayy, promises to the Nadir, hypocrisy in belief versus action

• How historians weigh isnad, matn, and hindsight bias when reading seerah reports

Professor Joel Hayward, dean at Sycamore Leadership Academy in Istanbul, award winning author of The Leadership of Muhammad and The Warrior Prophet, listed in The Muslim 500, scholar of sirah, strategy, and leadership.

https://www.humanappeal.org.au/

Timestamps

00:00:00 Introduction
00:06:16 Sahifat al Madinah focus
00:15:17 Bilateral pacts and who was named
00:24:30 Ibn Ubayy politics and leadership
00:33:03 Separate pacts versus one charter
00:38:06 Renew your pact, Banu Nadir example
00:48:52 Numbers on arrival, wealth balance, Ibn Ubayy still the premier leader
00:52:02 Minority status and oasis power map
00:56:24 Upper and lower Medina, early pact geography
01:03:03 Kinship politics, Khazraj links and acceptance
01:07:51 Qaynuqa reappraised, cause and corporate penalty
01:13:47 Expulsion accounts versus later returns and traces
01:25:46 How the sources work, scarcity and overlap
01:33:37 Method and edits, reading Ibn Hisham critically
01:43:51 Nadir stone plot, revelation or prudence
01:48:15 Weighing possibilities, cautionary analogies
01:52:58 Kaab and Abu Sufyan, hospitality and timeline
01:57:09 Response as realpolitik, proportion and restraint
02:04:26 Historiography wrap, assembling the mosaic