An Investigation into Qur'anic and Historical Reasons for the Immigration and presence of the People of the Book in Arabia

Abstract

Although the People of the Book were not from the Arab lands originally, they had to immigrate to this lands, particularly Saudi Arabia. The discussions in this regard are mostly based on the records of the historians and narrators about the specific events as well as the Quranic verses and hadiths about them. Regarding the reasons for the immigration of the People of the book to Saudi Arabia, the analysis showed that the religious-doctorial factors, among others, were the most important and the only common factors leading to the immigration of the People of the Book to Saudi Arabia. The findings of the study also showed that some verses confirm the People of the Book recognized the Prophet of Islam. Other factors were also at play in their immigration. For example, the Jews' motives to immigrate to Arabia were economic and military. Moreover, such factors as being persecuted by the Jewish, wine trade, slave trade, science, and medicine led to the spread of Christianity in Saudi Arabia. The study also showed that in addition to the verses confirming the presence of the Jews and Christians in Mecca and Medina, there are also some verses on the debates and argumentations of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) with the People of the Book, indicating that they resided in Mecca and Medina as well. The aim of the present study was to investigate the factors leading to the immigration of the People of the Book to Arabia and their Presence in Mecca and Medina based on Historical records and Qur'an verses. The data were conducted through library research and analyzed using analytical-descriptive methods.