27.4 The End of Jewish Power in the Peninsula After the capture of Khaybar the Jews offered to remain in the land and cultivate the palms for the Muslims, saying that they knew more about trees. So the Messenger made a treaty with them enabling them to remain and to take half of the harvest on condition that he could have them leave their lands if this proved to be necessary. The Jews of Fadak did not attempt to fight the Messenger but sought a similar treaty and this was granted to them. He had to fight the Jews of Wadil-Qura and then came to a similar agreement with them. The people of Tihama made an agreement with the Messenger to pay defense tax (jizya) and remained on their land. This was the end of Jewish power in the peninsula and although they still remained on the land they ceased to be of importance politically or to form an independent entity within the Arab polity. They had used all their cunning and all their power, all the brute force and all the credulity of the idol worshippers to destroy the Messenger, but Allah had willed otherwise. In the end they were defeated and subjugated to Mohamed's will. The Messenger spent the revenue that came from the lands of the Jews upon the poor, in freeing slaves, and on the furtherance of religion generally. For himself he took nothing at all and he taught his followers that whatever prophets left was for charity, their heritage being not of this world but in the eternal. Although Mohamed's Companions were not prophets, they too cared for nothing except the religion that had made them see beyond the limitations of this world. One day Umar ibn AI-Khattab went to consult the Messenger. He had received a piece of land from the wars and wanted to give it to the poor. Should he sell it and distribute the money upon the poor? The Messenger advised him to keep it, thus preserving the capital, but to give away the income he got from it every year. So Umar assigned it to the poor and this was the first gift of its type in the history of Islam.