Battle of Khaybar: Difference between revisions

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. It was later known that the Jews were horrified by Muslim attacks.

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.

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. The Prophet (s) prohibited his people from killing women and children. 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.

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.

It is said that the first fort of Khaybar conquered by the Prophet (s) was Na'im. The fort consisted of several forts. On that day, the Prophet (s) gave his white flag to two people from [[Muhajirun]] (on Ibn Ishaq's account, [[Abu Bakr b. Abi Quhafa]] and [['Umar b. al-Khattab]]) and then to a man from [[Ansar]]. But they returned without gaining any victory. The Prophet (s) said: "Tomorrow I will give the flag to someone who is loved by God and His prophet, and God will give victory to Muslims on his hands, and he never runs away". The next morning, the Prophet (s) miraculously healed Imam 'Ali's (a) eyes that were in pain, and then gave the flag to him.

On another account, the largest, strongest, and firmest fort of Khaybar was the fort of Qumus. The Prophet (s) gave the flag of the conquest to Imam 'Ali (a). Imam 'Ali (a) conquered the fort by killing Marhab (the fort was also named after him).

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). On one account, that Jewish man was Marhab himself. It is said that the door was so heavy that only 40 or 70 people could lift it. The crucial conquest of Khaybar by Imam 'Ali (a) is one of his virtues agreed on by all narrators. When these brave Jewish men in the Fort of Na'im were killed, the way to the complete conquest of Khaybar was paved.

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. 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.

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.

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).