Battle of Banu Nadir
 The leftover of Banu Nadir castles in Medina | |
| Date | 4/625 |
|---|---|
| Place | Medina |
| Cause | Betrayal of Banu Nadir |
| Result | Victorious of Muslims, Jews left Medina |
| Belligerents | |
| Muslims Jews of Banu Nadir | |
| Commanders | |
| The Prophet (s) | |
| Note | The Qur'an mentioned this event in Qur'an 59:1-17 |
| Early Islam |
|---|
 |
The Battle of Banū Naḍīr (Arabic: غزوة بني نضیر) is one of the Prophet Muhammad's (s) battles with Jews of Medina. This is the second battle of the Prophet (s) with Jews of Medina that occurred in the month of Rabi' I of 4 AH (August, 625).[1] Banu Nadir tribe, as well as the tribes of Banu Qaynuqa' and Banu Qurayza, were Jewish tribes who lived in Medina and were the Prophet's (s) allies, but they broke their treaty with Muslims. The battle led to the victory of the Muslims and people of Banu Nadir were then expelled from Medina.
History of the Residence of Banu Nadir in Medina
The Banu Nadir tribe resided in Yathrib (Medina) before the emergence of Islam. There are different accounts of their origin. Al-Ya'qubi takes them to be a clan of the Judham tribe who converted to Judaism and resided in the Mount Nadir; accordingly, they were called so.[2] According to another account, they were from the progeny of Harun b. 'Imran (a) (Aaron (a), the brother of the Prophet Moses (a)), who had immigrated to, and resided in, Yathrib after the demise of the Prophet Moses (a) and before the Arabian tribes of Aws and Khazraj immigrated there[3] because of the 'Arim Floods. According to such accounts, in the wake of the Roman war with the Jews (in 70 AC), just like many other Jewish tribes, Banu Nadir escaped to Hijaz and resided in Butihan, an area of Medina. According to Ibn Sa'd, their residence was in the area of al-Ghars.[4] Banu Nadir and other Medina-based Jews were very rich. In order to defeat or undermine the Jews, the Arabian tribes of Aws and Khazraj asked "Ghassanid" for help. Ghassanid went to Hijaz with an army, killing many of the Jews. Since then, Aws and Khazraj were dominant over the Jews.[5] Later in the quarrels between Aws and Khazraj, Banu Nadir took sides with Aws.[6]
Breach of the Treaty
Not long before the emergence of Islam and before the occurrence of the Battle of Uhud, Banu Nadir had relationships with Abu Sufyan.[7] After the Prophet's (s) immigration to Medina, like other Jewish tribes, Banu Nadir made a compromise treaty with Muslims, promising to help them defend Medina in the case of any attacks, refusing to provide financial and life supports for the polytheists of Quraysh as well as commercial relations with them.[8] But since Banu Nadir breached the treaty, the Battle of Banu Nadir occurred in Rabi' I of 4 AH (August, 625).[9]
In this year, upon his return from Bi'r Ma'una, 'Amr b. Umayya killed two people of the Banu 'Amir tribe who had letters of security from the Prophet (s). 'Amir b. Tufayl asked the Prophet (s) for blood money.[10] In order to pay for the blood money, the Prophet (s) asked Banu Nadir, who were allies of Banu 'Amir, for help.[11] They accepted to help the Prophet (s), but in a conspiracy to kill the Prophet (s), they missioned 'Amr b. Jihash to kill the Prophet (s) with a stone when he was standing near the wall of the fort to receive the financial help.[12] The Prophet (s) was informed by God about the conspiracy and gave them a deadline of ten days to leave Medina with all their movable property, except army equipment, and only come back annually to harvest their date groves.[13]
The head of Medina's hypocrites, 'Abd Allah b. Ubayy, encouraged Banu Nadir to disobey the Prophet (s), promising to defend them together with Banu Qurayza.[14]
Battle
The Prophet (s) appointed 'Abd Allah b. Maktum as his successor in Medina and sieged Banu Nadir with an army under the commandership of 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a)[15] for 15 days or 6 nights.[16] During the siege, a Jewish person called 'Azwak attempted to kill the Prophet (s) but he was killed by 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a).[17] The Prophet (s) then ordered his people to cut the date trees of Banu Nadir in Buwayra.[18]
Finally, the Jews surrendered and accepted to leave Medina with only one load of a camel including their property, except army equipment, silvers, and golds.[19] Some of them, including Huyayy b. Akhtab-whose daughter, Safiyya bt. Huyayy, married the Prophet (s) after the Conquer of Khaybar in 7/628-9 and Abu l-Huqayq -Safiyya's first husband- went to Khaybar, and others went to Syria.[20]
Since no battle occurred, the left property did not count as booties, and it was all under the authority of the Prophet (s).[21] Thus in accordance with a consent from Ansar, the Prophet (s) distributed the booties among Muhajirun so that Ansar would not have to financially support Muhajirun anymore.[22]
Verses 1-17 of Qur'an 59 are concerned with the Battle of Banu Nadir and their deportation from Medina.
See Also
Notes
- ↑ Wāqidī, al-Maghāzī, vol. 1, p. 363.
- ↑ Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī, vol. 2, p. 49.
- ↑ Abū l-Faraj Iṣfahānī, al-ʾAghānī, vol. 22, p. 343-344.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 2, p. 57.
- ↑ Abū l-Faraj Iṣfahānī, al-ʾAghānī, vol. 22, p. 344-345.
- ↑ Ḥalabī, al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya, vol. 2, p. 264.
- ↑ Dāʾirat al-maʿārif-i Islām, 2nd edition, under word "Nadir".
- ↑ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 2, p. 148-150.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 2, p. 57.
- ↑ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 3, p. 199; Ḥalabī, al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya, vol. 2, p. 263.
- ↑ Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk, vol. 2, p. 551; Wāqidī, al-Maghāzī, vol. 1, p. 364.
- ↑ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 3, p. 199-200.
- ↑ Wāqidī, al-Maghāzī, vol. 1, p. 369.
- ↑ Wāqidī, al-Maghāzī, vol. 1, p. 368; Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk, vol. 2, p. 553.
- ↑ Wāqidī, al-Maghāzī, vol. 1, p. 371; Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 3, p. 200.
- ↑ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 3, p. 200.
- ↑ Wāqidī, al-Maghāzī, vol. 1, p. 371.
- ↑ Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 4, p. 77; Bakrī, Muʿjam mā istaʿjam, vol. 1, p. 285.
- ↑ Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī, vol. 2, p. 49; Ḥalabī, al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya, vol. 2, p. 266; Wāqidī, al-Maghāzī, vol. 1, p. 372.
- ↑ Ḥalabī, al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya, vol. 2, p. 84, 207; Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 4, p. 75-76, 196-197; Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh, vol. 2, p. 122.
- ↑ Quran 59:6-8.
- ↑ Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh, vol. 2, p. 119; Ḥalabī, al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya, vol. 2, p. 85; Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 3, p. 202; Maʿrūf al-Ḥasanī, Sīrat al-Muṣṭafā, p. 439.
References
- Bakrī, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. Muʿjam mā istaʿjam min asmāʿ al-bilād wa al-mawāḍiʿ. Beirut: Muṣṭafā Saqqā, 1403/1983.
- Dhahabī, Muḥammad b. al-Aḥmad al-. Tārīkh al-Islām wa wafayāt al-mashāhīr wa l-aʿlām. Edited by ʿUmar ʿAbd al-Salām al-Tadmurī. Beirut: 1410 AH.
- Ḥalabī, Nūr al-Dīn. Al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya. Beirut: [n.d].
- Ḥamawī, Yāqūt b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Muʿjam al-buldān. Beirut: 1399 AH.
- Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī, ʿAlī b. Abī l-Karam. Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh. Beirut: 1405 AH-1985.
- Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā. Edited by Iḥsān ʿAbbās. 1st edition. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1968.
- Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar. Al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya. Beirut: 1415 AH.
- Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya. Edited by Muṣṭafā al-Saqā, Ibrāhīm Ābyārī and ʿAbd al-Ḥafīz Shalbī. Cairo: 1355 AH/1936.
- Iṣfahānī, Abū l-Faraj al-. Al-ʾAghānī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1st edition. 1415 AH.
- Maʿrūf al-Ḥasanī, Hāshim. Sīrat al-Muṣṭafā. Beirut: 1406 AH.
- Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-. Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk. Edited by Muḥammad Abū l-Faḍl Ibrāhīm. Beirut: 1382-1387 AH.
- Wāqidī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Maghāzī. Edited by Marsden Jones. London: 1996.
- Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad b. Abī Yaʿqūb al-. Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, [n.p].