Battle of Khaybar: Difference between revisions

'''Battle of Khaybar''' (Arabic: {{ia|غَزْوَة خَیْبَر}}) was a battle or [[ghazwa]] by the [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]] against Jews of [[Khaybar]] region that began in [[Muharram]] of [[7]]/May 628 and ended with the victory of Muslims in [[Safar]] of the same year. The battle started because Jews in Khaybar had given refuge to Jews who were expelled from [[Medina]] and incited some Arabian tribes against Muslims. Muslims won the battle and according to a treaty between Jews and the [[Prophet (s)]] they were to leave the region with their families; in the second treaty the Prophet (s) agreed that they stay in the region and continue their agriculture but pay half of their benefit to Muslims instead.  

Today the area of Khaybar is located 165 kilometers north of [[Medina]] in the road leading to Syria (Tabuk Road), and its center is the city of al-Shurayf. The area includes a number of villages and green farms located in Khaybar oasis in a stone area of a height of about 854 meters above the sea level. Khaybar includes large valleys and water, agriculture, and a large population. Its main agricultural product is date, for which it has long been known.<ref>Bilādī, ''Muʿjam al-maʿālim'', p. 170-171; Ḥāfiz Wahba, ''Jazīrat al-ʿarab fī al-qarn al-ʿishrīn'', p. 21; Ḥarbī, ''Kitāb al-manāsik'', p. 413.</ref>  

In [[4]]/625 after the [[Prophet (s)]] expelled the [[Banu Nadir]] Jews from Medina because of their betrayals, some of them took refuge to Khaybar. One year later they went to [[Mecca]] and incited the [[Quraysh]] against the Prophet (s).<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 441-442; Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 3, p. 201, 225; Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol. 1, p. 409; Ṣalāḥ Tajānī, ''al-Tartībāt al-māliya'', p. 56-57, 92.</ref> Thus Khaybar turned into a center of conspiracy against the nascent Islamic [[Umma]].<ref>Ṣalāḥ Tajānī, ''al-Tartībāt al-māliya'', p. 93-94; Montgomery Watt, ''Muhammad at Madina'', p. 212.</ref>

In [[Sha'ban]] of 6/December 627-January 628, when the Prophet (s) learned that the [[Banu Sa'd b. Bakr]] tribe—an Arabian neighbor of Khaybar—gathered to help the Jews of Khaybar, he sent [['Ali b. Abi Talib (a)]] and a group of Muslims to them. The enemy escaped after 'Ali's (a) attack and Muslims seized the booties. In [[Ramadan]] of 6/January-February 628, [[Sallam b. Abi l-Huqayq]] was killed because of inciting groups of Quraysh against the Prophet (s) and Muslims in a [[Sariyya]] (or expedition) under the commandership of [['Abd Allah b. 'Atik]]. At the same time, [['Abd Allah b. Rawaha]] was commissioned by the Prophet (s) to investigate the conditions of the Jews in Khaybar.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 526-563; Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 3, p. 286-288.</ref>

After this, Jews of Khaybar elected Usayr b. Zarim (or Yusayr b. Rizam) as their ruler, and he tried to incite Arabian tribes, such as [[Ghatafan]], to fight with the Prophet (s). He intended to attack [[Medina]] with their help. Thus in [[Shawwal]] of 6/February-March 628, once again the Prophet (s) sent 'Abd Allah b. Rawaha to Khaybar for an expedition in which Usayr and some Jews in his company were killed.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 566-568; Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 3, p. 266-267; Ibn Saʿd, ''al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā'', vol. 2, p. 92; Montgomery Watt, ''Muhammad at Madina'', p. 212-213.</ref>

Moreover, when the Jews of [[Banu Qurayza]] were expelled from Medina and peace was back there and an agreement was made with other Jews of Medina, Jews of Khaybar, with whom the heads of Banu Nadir lived, sought to revenge on the Prophet (s). They spent their money to incite neighboring Arabs, including the strong tribe of Ghatafan, against the Muslims. This was a sufficient reason for the Prophet (s) to attack Khaybar soon after the [[Hudaybiyya Peace Treaty]].<ref>Montgomery Watt, ''Muhammad at Madina'', p. 216-218.</ref>

==The Date of the Battle of Khaybar==

On some accounts, the number of Muslims in the Battle of Khaybar was 1400 people,<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 689.</ref> and on others, it was equal to the number of soldiers in the [[Battle of Hudaybiyya]], that is 1500<ref>Ibn Zanjuwayh, ''Kitāb al-amwāl'', vol. 1, p. 190.</ref> or 1540.<ref>Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol. 1, p. 28.</ref> In the Battle of Khaybar, 20 women accompanied the army of the Prophet (s), including [[Umm Salama]], the Prophet's (s) wife. Some women from [[Banu Ghifar]] attended the battle with the permission of the Prophet (s) in order to take care of injured soldiers and help Muslims.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 685-687; Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 3, p. 357.</ref> Tens of Jews in Medina as well as some slaves also attended the battle.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 684-685.</ref>

People of Khaybar, whose number was, on some apparently exaggerated accounts, 10,000<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 634-640.</ref> or 20,000,<ref>Yaʿqūbī, ''Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī'', vol. 2, p. 56.</ref> never thought that the Prophet (s) would go to war with them. Relying on their firm forts that were located on top of mountains and their weaponry and large population and permanent water, they thought that they could resist for years. Some Jews in Medina warned Muslims that they could not defeat people of Khaybar and their strong forts. They sent someone to Kinana b. Abi l-Huqayq in Khaybar to tell him that the number of Muslims was small and they did not have much weaponry at their disposal. Quraysh polytheists hoped that if a war occurred, People of Khaybar would defeat the Prophet (s) and his army, and they made bets on that.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 634, 637, 640-641, 701-703.</ref>

The Prophet (s) and his army departed to Khaybar with two informants. He ordered one of the informants to guide the army in such a way that they would eventually stop between Khaybar and Syria, so that people of Khaybar could not be assisted by their Ghatafani allies. Of several ways leading to Khaybar, the Prophet (s) went on the road known as Marhab.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 639-640; Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 3, p. 344.</ref> It was later known that the Jews were horrified by Muslim attacks.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 640-642.</ref>

===The War's Strategy of Jews in Khaybar===

When the Jews in Khaybar learned that the Prophet (s) was heading towards them, Harith Abu Zaynab, one of the Jews, suggested to them that they camp outside the forts and prepare themselves for the war, but relying on the fortification of their forts, they preferred to stay inside the forts.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 637-638.</ref>

===The Army of Islam Entering Khaybar===

After crossing the forts of Shiqq and Natat, the Prophet (s) arrived near Khaybar at night and spent the night there. The next day they moved on until they arrived in Manzila. In Manzila, the Prophet (s) selected a place as a mosque and said [[prayers]] there. The place later turned into the Mosque of Khaybar. In the morning, Jews of Khaybar were surprised by the Prophet's (s) arrival in the area and escaped to their forts.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 637; Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 3, p. 343-344; Bakrī, ''Muʿjam mā istaʿjam min asmāʿ al-bilād wa al-mawāḍiʿ'', vol. 2, p. 522.</ref> The Prophet (s) prohibited his people from killing women and children.<ref>Ibn Abī Shayba, ''al-Muṣannaf'', vol. 8, p. 526.</ref> That day, they fought the residents of the Natat Fort until night. The Prophet (s) then moved the military camp from its wet location that was in the range of arrows to an area called Raji'. He then ordered that some dates of Khaybar be cut.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 643-645; ʿĀmilī, ''al-Ṣaḥīḥ min sīrat al-nabīyy al-aʿẓam'', vol. 17, p. 139-141.</ref>

On the first day of the battle, 50 Muslims were injured. The Prophet (a) and his [[companions]] camped in Raji' for 7 days and nights. He fought the Jews together with Muslims each group of whom had their own flag. On the sixth night, a Jewish man from Natat, called Sammak, went to the Prophet (s) and asked for a safety conduct to guide them to the fort. He informed the Muslims that Natat, in which the Jews' supply of food and various weaponries were stored, was in turmoil, and its residents were leaving it. The next day, the Muslims conquered Natat. That Jewish man later became a Muslim.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 644-648.</ref>

On Abu Rafi's account, near the gate of the fort a man stroke Imam 'Ali (a) and the shield fell from the Imam's (a) hand, so he had to use a door near the fort as his shield. He went on fighting with that door in his hand until he conquered the fort and gave the good news to the Prophet (s).<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 655; Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 3, p. 349-350.</ref> On one account, that Jewish man was Marhab himself.<ref>Maqrizī, ''Imtāʿ al-asmāʾ'', vol. 1, p. 310.</ref> It is said that the door was so heavy that only 40 or 70 people could lift it.<ref>Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 128-129; Bayhaqī, ''Dalāʾil al-nubuwwa'', vol. 4, p. 212; Ibn Shahrāshūb, ''Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib'', vol. 2, p. 78, 125-128; ʿĀmilī, ''al-Ṣaḥīḥ'', vol. 18, p. 7-27.</ref> The crucial conquest of Khaybar by Imam 'Ali (a) is one of his virtues agreed on by all narrators.<ref>Ṣadūq, ''al-Khiṣāl'', vol. 2, p. 369; Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 1, p. 124; ʿĀmilī, ''al-Ṣaḥīḥ'', vol. 18, p. 29-34.</ref> When these brave Jewish men in the Fort of Na'im were killed, the way to the complete conquest of Khaybar was paved.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 654, 657-658.</ref>

The fort of Sa'b b. Mu'adh was also located in Natat in which food supplies, livestock, and commodities were stored and 500 warriors lived. Muslims sieged the fort of Natat for 10 days and fought with the enemy. After two days of intense fighting, the fort of Sa'b b. Mu'adh was conquered on the morning of the third day. The Jews residing in the forts of Na'im, Natat and Sa'b b. Mu'adh left their forts and fled to the fort of al-Zubayr which was tall and firm.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 662; Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 3, p. 345-346.</ref> This fort was also sieged for three days until a Jewish man went to the Prophet (s) and asked for a safety conduct and gave Muslims the required information to conquer this last fort.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 666-667.</ref>

People of the fort of Natat were the bravest Jews of Khaybar. When this fort was conquered, the Prophet (s) was assured that Jews could no long launch an attack against them, and ordered that the camp be moved from Raji' to its previous location, Manzila. They then moved to the fort of Shiqq that included several other forts. After an intense war, Muslims first conquered the fort of Sumran and then that of Nazar, and imprisoned their residents.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 648-668.</ref>

Nazar was the last fort in which a war occurred. After its conquest, all fugitives from the forts of Natat and Shiqq fled to the firm forts of Qumus, Watih and Sulalim (inside the Fort of Katiba) and closed the doors. Thus the Prophet (s) decided to use catapults. After 14 days of siege, the Jews were frustrated and asked for a peace. They made a peace treaty with the Prophet (s) under certain conditions. The Prophet (s) gave them a safety conduct and they surrendered all their property, golds, silvers and armors to the Prophet (s). Watih and Sulalim were the last forts of Khaybar that were conquered by Muslims.

Under this peace treaty, it was agreed that the lives of warriors inside the fort be protected and they leave Khaybar with their wives and children and surrender their property, lands, weapons, armors and clothes to the Prophet (s).<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 669-671; Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 3, p. 347, 351-352; Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol. 1, p. 451.</ref>

==The Duration of the Battle of Khaybar==

==The Prophet (s) and Some of His Companions Poisoned by Meat Given by a Jewish Woman==

It is said that after the conquest of Khaybar by the Prophet (s), [[Zaynab bt. Harith]] (the wife of Sallam b. Mishkam, a head of the Jews) gave a poisoned piece of meat to the Prophet (s) as a gift in order avenge the deaths of her father, uncle and husband. The Prophet (s) and some of his companions, including [[Bishr b. al-Bara']], ate some of the meat, and then they stopped eating it at the command of the Prophet (s). Bishr died of the poison immediately (or, on other accounts, after one year of sickness). Some people take the Prophet (s)'s death to be caused by this poisoned meat.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 677-678; Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 3, p. 352-353; Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol. 1, p. 639; Yaʿqūbī, ''Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī'', vol. 2, p. 56-57.</ref>

==The Strengthening of Muslim Military Forces==

The victory of the Prophet (s) and Muslims in Khaybar undermined the military power of the [[Quraysh]] and their allied tribes, and strengthened the military and economic power of Muslims.<ref>Ṣalāḥ Tajānī, ''al-Tartībāt al-māliya'', p. 60-61, 94.</ref>

The [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]] commissioned Farwa b. 'Amr al-Bayadi to protect the booties of the Battle of Khaybar, and told everyone to return every tiny thing they took from the booties of war. The booties were divided into 5 parts: one part, that was the [[Khums]], was taken by the Prophet (s), from which he gave shares to his wives, [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]] ([['Ali b. Abi Talib (a)]] and [[Fatima al-Zahra (a)]]), the sons of [['Abd al-Muttalib]] b. Hashim b. 'Abd Manaf and sons of Muttalib b. 'Abd Manaf, and some [[Sahaba]] and orphans and people in need. The other four parts were sold.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 680-682; 690, 693, 696; Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 3, p. 363, 365-366; Ibn Saʿd, ''al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā'', vol. 2, p. 107-108; Ibn Zanjuwayh, ''Kitāb al-amwāl'', vol. 1, p. 187.</ref> Other parts of Khaybar (such as Watih and Sulalim) that were conquered without a war belonged to the Prophet (s) as [[fay']].<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 670-671; Ibn Farāʾ, ''Aḥkām al-sulṭāniya'', p. 200-201; Samhudī, ''Wafāʾ al-wafā'', vol. 4, p. 1209-1210; Ṣāliḥī Shāmī, ''Subul al-hudā wa al-rashād'', vol. 5, p. 143.</ref>

After the conquest, a group of people from the Daws tribe, together with [[Abu Hurayra]], [[Tufayl b. 'Amr]] and a number of people from the Ashja' tribe went to the Prophet (s) and received a share from him.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 683; ʿĀmilī, ''al-Ṣaḥīḥ min sīrat al-nabīyy al-aʿẓam'', vol. 18, p. 95-98.</ref> The Prophet (s) also donated part of the booties to the Jews, slaves and women who accompanied the Muslim army in the battle.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 684-687; Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 3, p. 356-357.</ref>

After the conquest of Khaybar, the Prophet (s) permitted the Jews, per their request, to continue to farm dates in the lands of Khaybar (which was their main occupation), taking half of the date crops of Khaybar for themselves. He made an agreement with them and gave them a safety conduct regarding their life, property and lands.<ref>Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol. 2, p. 237; Ibn Zanjuwayh, ''Kitāb al-amwāl'', vol. 1, p. 1066-1068; Abū ʿUbayd, ''Kitāb al-amwāl'', p. 97-98; Abū Yusuf, ''Kitāb al-kharāj'', p. 50-51; Ṣanʿānī, ''al-Muṣannaf'', vol. 8, p. 99.</ref>

After the conquest of [[Khaybar]], Jews surrendered to Muslims. When the Jewish people of [[Fadak]] were informed about their defeat to the Muslim forces, they were afraid of a probable attack to Fadak; therefore, they sent their representative to Prophet Muhammad (s) in order to negotiate and make peace with Muslims.

According to their peace treaty Jews were supposed to give half of their gardens and fields of Fadak to [[Prophet (s)]] in exchange for permission to continue their life in Fadak. It also guaranteed safety and security for the rest of their properties and lands.<ref>Maqrizī, ''Imtāʿ al-asmāʾ'', vol. 1, p. 325.</ref>

It is said that the verse of the [[Quran]], 48:18, in which God gave the good news of an "imminent conquest" (Arabic: {{ia|فَتْحًا قَرِیبًا}}) or victory to Muslims, refers to the conquest of Khaybar, and the term, "many booties" (Arabic: {{ia|مغانم کثيرة}}) (Quran 48:19) refers to the booties of the Battle of Khaybar.<ref>Wāqidī, ''al-Maghāzī'', vol. 2, p. 684; Ṣanʿānī, ''al-Muṣannaf'', vol. 5, p. 372; Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol. 1, p. 254.</ref> Some exegetes of the [[Quran]] interpreted verses 1 and 15 of [[Sura al-Fath]] (Quran: 18:1-15) to refer to the Battle of Khaybar, too. Also the Quran, 33:27 ("and a land you have never trodden" (Arabic: {{ia|وَأَرْضًا لَّمْ تَطَئُوهَا}}))<ref>Quran 33:27.</ref> is taken by exegetes to refer to the land of Khaybar.<ref>Ibn Abī Shayba, ''al-Muṣannaf fi al-aḥādīth wa al-āthār'', vol. 8, p. 59.</ref>

After the conquest of Khaybar, some poems, including [[Hassan b. Thabit]], composed poems with regard to it.<ref>Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', p. 70.</ref>

{{cb|3}}