 Why were they there? Descendants of Bani Israel living deep in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula and living there for generations, hundreds of years, to where they were Jewish in their religion, in their identity, but they were Arab culturally. Why were they in Medina? How did they get to the heart of the Arabian Peninsula? We have to remember that because of their scripture, they were waiting for the last prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. They were waiting for Muhammad. They just didn't know his name.