Conquest of Khaybar

According to the Islamic tradition in 628 AD the prophet Muhammad led an army of Muslims against the fortified Jewish oasis of Khaybar. Muhammad and the companions launched this assault as the culmination of years of struggle against the Jews of Arabia and their pagan allies. After much struggle the fortresses of Khaibar were overtaken one by one. The Jews were allowed to leave, and those who stayed paid the jizya and become, according to the Islamic tradition, the first dhimmis. Muhammad took the wife of the leader of the Khaybar Jews, Safiyya, as his wife, and tortured her husband Kinana to death in order to find his treasure, according to ibn Hisham and Tabari (themselves relating ibn Ishaq's account). The victory of the Muslims over the Jews at Khaybar was widely celebrated by the early Muslims, and the chant "Khaybar, Khaybar, ya yahuud, jaysh Muhammad saya'uud" "Khaybar, Khaybar O Jews, the army of Muhammad shall return" has in modern times become an invocation of bellicosity against the Jews by Arab and Muslim forces such as Hezbollah, Hamas, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Arab nationalists, and Islamist activists the world over.

Background

The prophet arrived in Medina from Mecca having left his homeland in the year of the hijrah. There, according to the sirah, he found 3 large Jewish tribes, the Banu Nadir, Banu Qaynuqa', and the Banu Qurayzah. The prophet preached to them and attempted to convert them to his new religion, and the Constitution of Medina actually shows that the Jews of Medina did agree to form one "ummah" or community (although the three tribes mentioned in the Sirah accounts are nowhere to be found in the Constitution of Medina). Despite this pact, the Jews and the Muslims had a falling out as Muhammad changed the Qibla to Mecca from Jerusalem and continue to introduce new doctrines, and the Jews refused to acknowledge him as a prophet of the biblical tradition. As tensions grew things quickly came to a head with the new religion and the more established Judaism.

After the Battle of Badr the prophet became more forceful in his demands that the Jews accept him as a prophet. According to the Sirah and Hadith, a number of the Jews including Kinanah, the leader of the Banu Nadir, knew that Muhammad was a prophet but deliberately sought to oppose him anyway due to stubborness and fear for their own power. This led to a series of skirmishes and conflicts with the Banu Nadir which ended in their expulsion (along with the Banu Qaynuqa') from Medina. They migrated to the Jewish stronghold oasis of Khaybar, where they had many fortresses and made a nice income from harvesting dates and other agricultural products.

Although exiled, the Jews continued to agitate and plot against Muhammad there, and also hired the sorcerer Labid to curse Muhammad, vexing him with confusion, feelings of weakness, and the impression that he had had sex with his wives when he had not. They also bank rolled Arab tribes like their allies the Ghatafan and the Meccans who military opposed Muhammad, and engaged in a plot with the remaining Jews of Medina, the Banu Qurayzah, to betray Muhammad during the battle of the trench (this Jewish treachery would lead to the Massacre of the Banu Qurayzah.

After the Treaty of Hudaybiyah brought the war between the Meccans and the Muslims to a ceasefire, many Muslims were still hungry for the booty that the wars against the pagans and the Jews had so far delivered them. Waqidi claims that Muhammad rebuked his followers for thinking of only earthly gains, while ibn S'ad claims that the expidition was motivated in large part by avarice for more war booty on the part of the Muslims. In any event, the spoils of war would soon come into the Muslims' hands.

Narrative from the Sira

According to ibn Ishaq as he is perserved in both Tabari and ibn Hisham, Muhammad gathered a force of around 1400 men and 200 horses and set out for Khaybar. It was commonly thought that Khaybar was too impregnable to be assaulted, especially by a force of this size, so the prophet was relying on the element of suprise. When he set out for Khaybar, a Muslim named ibn Al-Ikwa' began singing a diddy he had learned during the battle of the Trench, and Muhammad responded "May Allah take mercy on you" which was apparently a sign that he would die in battle, as he ultimately did.

Upon reaching the oasis the Muslims faced the Jews in a series of fortified strong points. One by one, the Muslims set out destroy them. Ali's eyes were inflammed by an unknown malady; the prophet put his spit on them, healing Ali, who then took up the banner of Islam and led the Muslims to victory, dropping a large stone on a prominen Jew. The fiercest mubariz or prominent warrior of the Jews was "the lion" Marhab (and also his brother Yasir), who came out reciting poetry to taunt the Muslims. Yasir was slain and Ali himself slew Marhab in single combat. After slaying Marhab, the Muslims took the strongest fortress of the Jews, Qamus. During the initial battles the prophet came into possession of the wife of the Jewish prince Kinanah, Safiyah. After having slain her father at Banu Qurayzah and leading her past the bodies of her dead compatriots, Muhammad took her as his concubine and, once her menses had passed, made her his wife.

During the battle, Muhammad forbade his men from sexually taking the pregnant women of their enemies, and decreed that the Muslims must await an Iddah before sexually enjoying captured women in Jihad. He also forbade the eating of horse and donkey meat during this battle.

After the conclusion of the battle Kinanah agreed to terms, that the Jews would leave Khaybar but also leave all of their wealth to the Muslims. A Jewish traitor informed Muhammad that Kinanah had hidden some treasures around an old ruin. Muhammad asked Kinanah about his treasure, which he denied having. The Muslims excavated the ruin and found his treasure. When they confronted him and demanded to know where the rest of it was, Kinanah refused. Muhammad ordered that a fire be kindled on his chest to torture him into revealing the location of the hidden treasure. After he was tortured for this information, he was beheaded, and Muhammad took Safiyah, his bride, as his own wife.

Muhammad divided the spoils of Khaybar amongst his followers, taking a larger share and the Jewish princess Safiyyah for himself. The Jews were eventually allowed to stay in Khaybar and til the land in exchange for paying the Jizyah and accepting Muslim rule, making them the first Dhimmis. The Jews would stay in Khaybar after the death of Muhammad, until they were expelled by 'Umar, who justified his actions with the saying of the prophet that no religion should exist in Arabia save for Islam.

Tafsir Accounts

The tafsir tradition associates a number of Qur'an verses with the conquest of Khaybar:

Suarh 48, Al-Fath (the conquest/victory) was traditionally revealed immediately after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. Verse 28 refers to imending victory at Khaybar according to the Hadith:

The surah also comments on the desire of the Muslims for more war booty that motivated the raid:

According to the tafsir tradition, Surah 37 As-Saffat describes how the Muslims and Muhammad laid siege to Khaybar at dawn:

The mufassirun also claim that 59 Al-Hashr verse 14 describes how the Jews of Khaybar fought:

Accounts in Hadiths

Modern Views and Perspectives

Problems with the Traditional Narrative

References