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Conquest of Khaybar: Difference between revisions
→Problems with the Traditional Narrative
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==Modern Views and Perspectives== | ==Modern Views and Perspectives== | ||
The battle of Khaybar was viewed at the time of the writing and collecting of the [[sirah]] and [[hadith]] literature as an unabashed triumph of the prophet and Islam over the Jews and unbelief (kufr) in general. The Islamic literature took great pride in recounting the defeat of the Jews, the seizure of their property, the | The battle of Khaybar was viewed at the time of the writing and collecting of the [[sirah]] and [[hadith]] literature as an unabashed triumph of the prophet and Islam over the Jews and unbelief (kufr) in general. The Islamic literature took great pride in recounting the defeat of the Jews, the seizure of their property, the discovery of the treasure of [[Kinana]], his torture, the taking of his wife [[Safiyya]] by Muhammad, and the reduction of the Jews of Khaybar to [[dhimmitude]]. The narrative of Khaybar served as a template for the Muslims when dealing with Christian enemies in terms of governance, booty, and terms of surrender. | ||
Modern Muslims and Arab nationalists, when facing the state of Israel in battle, have often invoked the memory of Khaybar to encourage their people to fight the Jews. Muslims around the world have repeated to chant "Khaybar, Khaybar ya yahud, jaysh Muhammad saya'ud"<ref>Dziadosz, Alexander (2012-11-15). [https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-palestinians-israel-islamists-idUKBRE8AE1GP20121115/ "Islamist leaders vow unity against Israel".] ''[[Reuters]]''. Retrieved 28 November 2023.</ref> "Khaybar, Khaybar oh Jews, the army of Muhammad shall return."<ref>Robert Spencer Muhammad: A Critical Biography Simon and Schuster 2024, pages 255</ref> Modern Jews have described such invocations as manifestations of anti-Semitism, while liberal Muslims have cast doubt on this and many other sirah and hadith narratives, using the Qur'an as a template for more convivial inter-faith relations than those portrayed in the sirah-maghazi literature. | Modern Muslims and Arab nationalists, when facing the state of Israel in battle, have often invoked the memory of Khaybar to encourage their people to fight the Jews. Muslims around the world have repeated to chant "Khaybar, Khaybar ya yahud, jaysh Muhammad saya'ud"<ref>Dziadosz, Alexander (2012-11-15). [https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-palestinians-israel-islamists-idUKBRE8AE1GP20121115/ "Islamist leaders vow unity against Israel".] ''[[Reuters]]''. Retrieved 28 November 2023.</ref> "Khaybar, Khaybar oh Jews, the army of Muhammad shall return."<ref>Robert Spencer Muhammad: A Critical Biography Simon and Schuster 2024, pages 255</ref> Modern Jews have described such invocations as manifestations of anti-Semitism, while liberal Muslims have cast doubt on this and many other sirah and hadith narratives, using the Qur'an as a template for more convivial inter-faith relations than those portrayed in the sirah-maghazi literature. | ||
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==Problems with the Traditional Narrative== | ==Problems with the Traditional Narrative== | ||
As with the incident of the [[Banu Qurayzah]] a glaring hole in the Muhammad vs the Jews narrative is the Constitution of Medina. This document, preserved in the history of Al-Tabari despite its incongruence with the emerging sirah narrative, portrays the Jews and Muhammad's "believers" of Medina as being in one community, or ummah. More troubingly for the Islamic narrative, this document painstakingly lists a number of Jewish tribes subject to Muhammad's authority, but nowhere are the Jews of Khaybar, the Banu Nadir and Banu Qaynuqa', ever mentioned, nor do any available Jewish sources outside of Arabia ever mention them. The issue of the proceeds of agriculture from Khaybar crops up again in regards to the claims of Fatimah and Ali vs the Rashidun state, and a number of hadith and other Islamic sources mention that the Jews of Khaybar were later expelled by 'Umar despite their pact with Muhammad. No source, however, corroborates the fate of the Jews of Khaybar after 'Umar | As with the incident of the [[Banu Qurayzah]] a glaring hole in the Muhammad vs the Jews narrative is the Constitution of Medina. This document, preserved in the history of Al-Tabari despite its incongruence with the emerging sirah narrative, portrays the Jews and Muhammad's "believers" of Medina as being in one community, or ummah. More troubingly for the Islamic narrative, this document painstakingly lists a number of Jewish tribes subject to Muhammad's authority, but nowhere are the Jews of Khaybar, the Banu Nadir and Banu Qaynuqa', ever mentioned, nor do any available Jewish sources outside of Arabia ever mention them. The issue of the proceeds of agriculture from Khaybar crops up again in regards to the claims of Fatimah and Ali vs the Rashidun state, and a number of hadith and other Islamic sources mention that the Jews of Khaybar were later expelled by 'Umar despite their pact with Muhammad. No source, however, corroborates the fate of the Jews of Khaybar after 'Umar expels them, and these hadith and sirah accounts come hundreds of years after the alleged fact. The mufassirun claim that the battle of Khaybar was the ocassion of revelation for a number of Qur'an verses and injunctions of the prophet, but as with the rest of his career in the sirah-maghazi literature these explanatory stories have no corroboration within even 100 years of their supposed ocurrence. | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||