Battle of Banu Qurayza

The battle with Banu Qurayza, the last battle of the Prophet (s) with the Jews of Medina, took place in the 5/626. The battle was because Banu Qurayza violated their treaty with the Prophet (s); they became allied with the polytheists in the battle of Ahzab. After the battle of Ahzab, Muslims headed to the stronghold of Banu Qurayza and besieged them. After about a month, Banu Qurayza Jews surrendered and proposed the arbitration of Sa'd b. Muadh, and the Prophet (s) accepted. According to some reports, Sa'd b. Muadh taking the treaty between the Prophet (s) and Banu Qurayza, into consideration in one hand, and the rules of Torah in the other hand, declared that the combatant men of the tribe must be executed, and the children and women enslaved, and their estate forfeited. Some historians doubted about that Sa'd b. Muadh declaring that all men of the tribe must be executed.

History of Banu Qurayza

There are different reports about the origin of Banu Qurayza and their migration to Yathrib. According to some oral narratives of Jews, Banu Qurayza are descendants of Harun (a) (Aaron) the brother of Moses (a), who were in Yathrib before the flood of 'Arim, which caused the emigration of Arab tribes of Aws and Khazraj to Yathrib.

According to some reports, after the war between the Romans with Jews (70), Banu Qurayza escaped to Hijaz and resided in Yathrib. Some other sources identify Banu Qurayza form the Judham tribe from Palestine, who converted to Judaism in the time of 'Adiya b. Samu'il (ruled 1075 AD).

Banu Qurayza along other Jew tribes if Yathrib gained the political control of the city. Their ruler was a tax payer to the Iranian ruler of al-Zarih (in Bahrain). In 525 the Christian ruler of Habasha (Ethiopia), who was the representative of Rome, defeated of the Jew reign of Yemen; which caused the decrease of the power of the Jews in Yathrib. And finally in a battle between the Jews and Khazraj tribe, the Jew governor was killed and Arabs gained the control of the city.

The rule of Arab tribes on the city made most of the Jews leave Yathrib. In the times near the appearance of Islam, the Jew tribes were living in their strongholds out of the city. Banu Qurayza, had the upper hand in population compared to the other two tribes, Banu Nadir and Banu Qaynuqa', and were placed in south-east of Yathrib, they were mostly farmers. The only report about Banu Qurayza is about their battle with Muslims in the year 5/626. Other reports about them are about the history of Aws and Khazraj, and mostly are about times before Islam.

Reason of the Battle

The main reason of the battle was their violation of their treaty with the Prophet (s), and their cooperation with the polytheists in the battle of Ahzab against Muslims.

When the army of polytheists of Mecca and their allies approached Medina, Huyyay b. Akhtab -one of the Jews form Banu Nadir tribe, who had a major role in the formation of the army of the polytheists- met with the Banu Qurayza leaders as the representative of the polytheists and they agreed to cooperate with the polytheists against Muslims.

When the report reached the Prophet (s) he sent a group, among them Sa'd b. Mu'adh, Sa'd b. 'Ubada, and Usayd b. Hudayr, to the stronghold of Banu Qurayza to investigate the report. Banu Qurayza in their meeting with the group disdained the Prophet (s) and rejected their treaty with Muslims.

Because of the location of Banu Qurayza they could attack Medina when Muslims were defending the trench; therefore the report of the betrayal of Banu Qurayza demoralized Muslims. According to some reports, when polytheists' army besieged Medina, Banu Qurayza decided to attack Medina overnight, and sent some messages to the polytheists and requested force. Hearing the report, the Prophet (s) sent 200 Muslim men to defend Medina and say takbir till morning, with the lights of day, the danger resolved.

One night about ten of Jew fighters attacked the city and returned after an hour of struggle with a group of Muslims. It is narrated from Abu Bakr: "we were more scared about our children and women from Banu Qurayza than from Quraysh and Ghatfan."

The day after the dissipation of the polytheists in the battle of Ahzab, the Prophet (s) went for the battle with Banu Qurayza.

Battle

Muslims besieged the stronghold of Banu Qurayza. The period of siege is reported between 15 to 25 days. Banu Qurayza proposed to surrender with the same conditions as Banu Nadir –Banu Nadir had leaved Medina, leaving their belongings behind- but the Prophet (s) rejected every propose except that they surrender unconditionally.

By the propose of Banu Qurayza, the Prophet (s) accepted the arbitration of Sa'd b. Mu'adh, one of the nobles of Aws and the head of Banu 'Abd Ashhal. Banu Qurayza proposed the arbitration of Sa'd b. Mu'adh because they had an alliance before Islam. Sa'd referring to the rules of Torah and the treaty between the Jews and the Prophet (s) declared that who had gathered against the Prophet (s) must be executed, and the children and women become enslaved. The Prophet (s) considered the verdict in accordance to the rules of God. The 56 to 58 verses of sura al-Anfal and verses 26 and 27 of sura al-Ahzab are about the battle with Banu Qurayza.

The report about the killings are different. Some said that all the men of Banu Qurayza whose number was 600 to 800, were executed; also a woman who had killed a Muslim, was executed. One of the men of the tribe named Rufa'a b. Simaw'al was forgiven with the intervention of one of the aunts of the Prophet (s). Some others report that only the fighters of Banu Qurayza who had acted against Muslims were executed.

The belongings of Banu Qurayza divided between Muslims. For the first time, the shares of cavalry and infantry specified. The cavalry were given two shares and the infantry had one. As the sources mentioned the spoils, especially the weapons, was very much.

Historical Analysis

According to the whole of reports, it could be concluded that Muslims because of their experience from the deportation of Banu Qaynuqa' and Banu Nadir, weren't accepting to only exile Banu Qurayza; because if they exited Medina, they would join the opponents of Islam, just like Banu Qaynuqa' and Banu Nadir did.

The 26 and 27 verses of sura al-Ahzab verifies the verdict, but not the execution of all men of the tribe, but only those who acted against Muslims; Sayyid Ja'far Murtada in al-Sahih in the exegesis of the verse 26 of sura al-Ahzab says: the part of the verse "… you killed a part of them, and took captive [another] part of them", the word used for taking captive (تأسرون, ta'sirun) is used for men; because in Arabic, for taking women captive, another word is used; but some exegetes have incorrectly interpret the word killed about men and the word took captive for women and children. So only fighters who had acted against Muslims executed and the rest became enslaved. As Ibn Shahrashub mentioned the total number of men 700, and the number of the executed 450.

Number of the Executed

• Shahidi says: "It looks like that the story of the battle of Banu Qurayza, is altered and written years after the event, by a story teller from Khazraj tribe, whose intention was to imply that the Prophet (s) killed Banu Qurayza, the ally of Aws, contrary to the ally of Khazraj (Banu Nadir) who hadn't been killed; because Khazraj was dearer to the Prophet (s) than Aws."
• Malik b. Anas had named the main narrator of the story, Ibn Ishaq, as Dajjal! Because he had narrated the story of the battles of Muslims with the Jews, from Jews, who have a history of faking stories.
• Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani had also considered the reason of weakness of narrations of Ibn Ishaq as narrating such a stories from such a sources.
• Sayyid Ahmad Barakat had also rejected the story of Ibn Ishaq with various reasons.
• Walid ‘Arafat also considered the story of Ibn Ishaq far from the real story of Banu Qurayza, the main reason is that Ibn Ishaq doesn’t have any correct document, and also some other reasons are mentioned.

Verdict According to Judaism

Sa'd b. Mu'adh issued the verdict, referring to the treaty of Banu Qurayza with the Prophet (s) and the rules of Judaism. The verdict was a religious ruling for Jews. In the book of Deuteronomy, about a city which is entered with force, it is said: "When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it.14 As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves."