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INVADING BANU QURAIZA:
Archangel Gabriel (Peace be upon him) on the very day the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him)
came back to Madinah after the previous battle, and while he was washing inUmm Salama’s house,
visited him asking that he should unsheathe his sword and head for the habitation of the seditious
Banu Quraiza and fight them. Gabriel noted that he with a procession of angels would go ahead to
shake their forts and cast fear in their hearts.
The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) , immediately summoned the prayer caller and ordered
him to announce fresh hostilities against Banu Quraiza, institued Ibn Umm Maktum as a ruler of
Madinah, and entrusted the banner of war to ‘Ali bin Abi Talib who marched towards the appointed
target and came close enough to hear the Jews abusing the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him)
, who on his part set out at the head of three thousand infantry men and thirty horsemen of
Ansar
(Helpers) and
Muhajireen
(Emigrants). On their way to encounter the enemy, the afternoon prayer
was due. Some Muslims refused to observe it until they had defeated the enemy, while others
offered it in its proper time, as usual. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) objected to neither. When
they reached the habitations of Banu Quraiza, they laid tight siege to their forts. Seeing this terrible
situation they were in, the chief of the Jews Ka‘b bin Asad offered them three alternatives: to
embrace Islam, and consequently their life, wealth, women and children would be in full security,
and reminded them that such behaviour would not be incongruous with what they had read in their
books about the veracity of Muhammad’s Prophethood; to kill their children and women and then
challenge the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his followers to the sword to either exterminate the
Muslims or be exterminated, or as a third possibility to take Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and
his people by surprise on Saturday — a day mutually understood to witness no fighting.
None of those alternatives appealed them, so their chief, angrily and indignantly, turned to them
saying: “You have never been decisive in decision-making since you were born” The gloomy future
already visible, they made contacts with some Muslims, who had maintained good relation with
them, in order to learn about their fate in the light of the current circumstances. They requested
that Abu Lubaba be despatched to them for advice. On his arrival, the men began to implore,
women and children to cry desperately. In answer to their demand for advice he pointed to his
throat saying it was homicide awaiting them. He then immediately realized that he had betrayed the
Prophet’s trust, so he headed directly for the mosque in Madinah and tied himself to a wooden tall
pole swearing that no one would untie him save the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him), and
added that he would never enter the habitation of Banu Quraiza in recompense for the deadly
mistake he made. When the Messenger (Peace be upon h im) was informed of this incident, he said,
“ I would have begged Allâh to forgive him if he had asked me, but since he had tied himself out of
his own free will, then it was Allâh Who would turn to him in forgiveness.”
The Jews of Banu Quraiza could have endured the siege much longer because food and water were
plentifully available and their strongholds were greatly fortified, whereas the Muslims were in the
wild bare land suffering a lot from cold and hunger, let alone too much fatigue consequent on
endless warfare operations that had started even before the battle of Confederates. Nevertheless,
this was a battle of nerves, for Allâh had cast fear in the the Jews’ hearts, and their morale had
almost collapsed especially when two Muslim heroes, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib and Az-Zubair bin ‘Awwam
(May Allah be pleased with him) proceeded with ‘Ali swearing that he would never stop until he had
either stormed their garrisons or been martyred like Hamza (a former Muslim martyr).
In the light of this reluctance, they had nothing except to comply with the Messenger’s judgement.
The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) ordered that the men should handcuffed, and this was
done under the supervision of Muhammad bin Salamah Al-Ansari while the women and children
were isolated in confinement. Thereupon Al-Aws tribe interceded begging the Prophet (Peace be
upon him) to be lenient towards them. He suggested that Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh, a former ally, be deputed
to give verdict about them, and they agreed.
Sa‘d meanwhile stayed behind in Madinah due to a serious wound he sustained in the Confederates
Battle. He was summoned and brought on a donkey. On his way to the Prophet (Peace be upon him)
, the Jews used to exhort him to be lenient in his judgement on account of former friendship. Sa‘d
remained silent but when they persisted he uttered: “It is time for Sa‘d not to be afraid of the blame
of the blamers.” On hearing this decisive attitude, some of them returned to Madinah waiting fa
desperate doom.
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