The Massacre of the Banu Qurayzah: Difference between revisions

The battle of the trench being won, Muhammad and his men put their entrenching tools and weapons down to head home. According to the sira, though, Allah had other plans. The angel [[Jibreel]] appeared to Muhammad just as he had put down his weapon, and informed him that the battle was not yet over for the Jews of the Banu Qurayzah still needed to be dealt with due to their treachery, mentioned above. Muhammad informed his men that they were not to pray the 'asr prayer until they reached the Banu Qurayzah compound, meaning he wanted them to go there quickly. The Muslims laid siege to the compound for differing amounts of time depending on the source (ibn Ishaq claims 25 days before "Allah cast terror in their hearts"). The Banu Qurayzah were told to surrender and accept Islam, something they swore they would never do. Despairing of their position, according to ibn Ishaq, they discussed three options: accepting Islam, killing their wives and children and engaging in a banzai-style attack against the numerically superior Muslim forces (perhaps, modern commentators have added, in emulation of their religious forbearers at Masada in Palestine), or engaging in a sneak attack on the Jewish Sabbath. The Jews of the Banu Qurayzah found none of these options acceptable.

The tribe of 'Aws, allies of the Banu Qurayzah from the time of [[jahilliyah]], asked for mercy for them from the prophet. The prophet, not wanting to cause dissension in his ranks (oaths and alliances of loyalty were very important in tribal Arab society, as in the absence of courts and established governments the only guaranty of security and justice which could be obtained was the promise of protection from allies in the case of murder, family feuds or war), entrusted the fate of the Banu Qurayzah to a trusted elder shaykh of the 'Aws, Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh, who had been mortally wounded during the battle and would in fact die a shortly after the slaughter of the Banu Qurayza. Once Sa'd bin Mu'adh had ascertained that both the Banu Qurayzah and the prophet would abide by his judgement, whatever it be, he gave it without hesitation: the men of the Banu Qurayzah were to be executed to the last, while the women and children should be sold into slavery. Sa'd bin Mu‘adh justified this decision as being from the Torah of the Jews itself. Ibn Ishaq does not cite the verse and chapter from the Bible but this is usually taken as a reference to the book of Deuteronomy 20:12-14:{{Quote|Deuteronomy 20:12-14|וְאִם  לֹ֤א  תַשְׁלִים֙ עִמָּ֔ךְ  וְעָשְׂתָ֥ה  עִמְּךָ֖ מִלְחָמָ֑ה  וְצַרְתָּ֖  עָלֶֽיהָ וּנְתָנָ֛הּ  יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ  בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ  וְהִכִּיתָ֥ אֶת  כָּל  זְכוּרָ֖הּ לְפִי  חָֽרֶב  רַ֣ק  הַ֠נָּשִׁים  וְהַטַּ֨ף וְהַבְּהֵמָ֜ה  וְכֹל֩  אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִהְיֶ֥ה  בָעִ֛יר  כָּל־  שְׁלָלָ֖הּ  תָּבֹ֣ז לָ֑ךְ  וְאָֽכַלְתָּ֙  אֶת  שְׁלַ֣ל  אֹיְבֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר  נָתַ֛ן  יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ  לָֽךְ