Why the Jews of Madina Rejected the Prophet (s.a.w.)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Shaykh ‘Utsman Nuri Tufbas wrote, in “The Prophet Muhammad Muswthafa the Elect (s.a.w.)”, that Imam Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ‘Izz ad-Din ibn Muhammad al-Atsir (r.a.) said, “Aware of all the characteristics of the Prophet (s.a.w.), the Jews were in anxious anticipation of his advent.  So much so that whenever the Jews had a quarrel with the Madinan tribes, Aws and Khazraj, they would threaten them, telling that their days were numbered, since the with the expected prophet, whose arrival was now looming and whom the Jews would follow, would signal the end of the two tribes who would be eradicated just like the tribes of ‘Aad and Iram.” 

Imam Abu Nu’aym Ahmad ibn ‘Abdullah al-Aswbahani (r.a.) said, “But as the Prophet (s.a.w.) was not of Jewish blood, the Jews never came around to accepting him in their entirety.  Striking is the following story narrated by Swafiyyah bint Huyay, the wife of the Prophet (s.a.w.), and a Jew before Islam.  ‘When the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) reached the village of Quba, during the migration to Madinah, my father and my uncle rushed to see him.  They returned only around sunset, sad and dejected, however.  I heard them say the following to one another. ‘So, you think he is the expected prophet?’ asked Huyay, my father. 

‘By God he is!’ said my uncle, Abu Yasir. 

‘But are you sure?  Did you confirm it with other proofs?’ asked my father once more. 

‘Yes!’ was the reply.  ‘So how do feel towards him now?’ asked Abu Yasir in turn after a momentary pause. 

‘By Allah, as long as I am alive, I will foster only enmity towards him in my heart,’ replied my father.’’” 

The Jews were envious of the Arabs because the last prophet had emerged from among them, and not from Jewish stock.  All along, they had anxiously expected him to be raised from among them.  On these grounds they rejected his prophethood.