In the name of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful

#SeerahSummaries [The Conquest of Khaibar]

Compiled by Trying To Follow The Salaf

In these short summaries we will highlight important information regarding the Seerah. We hope to provide the reader with trustworthy important accounts of the life of our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. We will provide details on important dates, events, battles, biographies, and much more – in shaa Allah. In this article we will take a look into: The Conquest of Khaibar.

 

Where: Khaibar was once a fortified territory 60-80 miles north of Madina.

When: This battle occurred in the 7th year after Hijrah in the first month of the Islamic calendar, Muharram.

Reason for battle: After the Hudaibiyyah Treaty the Quraysh tribe was no longer a threat to the Muslims. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, saw it to be an appropriate time to settle affairs with the other two tribes in the area ― the Jews and tribes of Najd ― in order to secure peace and tranquility for the Muslims. The Muslims were dealing with threats and plots from the Jews in Khaybar for some time, and after unsuccessful attempts in establishing peace treaties, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, decided that a military campaign was the only option to subside this threat.

Qur’anic Verses: Allah said,

وَعَدَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ مَغَانِمَ ڪَثِيرَةً۬ تَأۡخُذُونَہَا فَعَجَّلَ لَكُمۡ هَـٰذِهِ

“Allah has promised you abundant spoils that you will capture, and He has hastened for you this…” (Fath: 20)

Imaam as-Sa’di mentions in his tafsir that these spoils were referring to Khaybar, and this promise from Allah encouraged the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to take on this conquest.

Army: There were hypocrites who did not want to join the army; Allah revealed these verses exposing them,

سَيَقُولُ ٱلۡمُخَلَّفُونَ إِذَا ٱنطَلَقۡتُمۡ إِلَىٰ مَغَانِمَ لِتَأۡخُذُوهَا ذَرُونَا نَتَّبِعۡكُمۡ‌ۖ يُرِيدُونَ أَن يُبَدِّلُواْ كَلَـٰمَ ٱللَّهِ‌ۚ قُل لَّن تَتَّبِعُونَا ڪَذَٲلِكُمۡ قَالَ ٱللَّهُ مِن قَبۡلُ‌ۖ فَسَيَقُولُونَ بَلۡ تَحۡسُدُونَنَا‌ۚ بَلۡ كَانُواْ لَا يَفۡقَهُونَ إِلَّا قَلِيلاً۬

“Those who lagged behind will say, when you set forth to take the spoils, ‘Allow us to follow you,’ they want to change Allah’s Words. Say: ‘You shall not follow us; thus Allah has said beforehand.’ Then they will say: ‘Nay, you envy us.’ Nay, but they understand not except a little.” (Fath: 15)

For this reason the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, only invited those who were willing to fight with and accompany him to Khaybar. This number reached to about 1400. Upon seeing this huge Muslim army the hypocrites, and their leader ‘Abdullah bin Ubai, informed the Jews of their plans.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, appointed Siba’ bin ‘Arfatah al-Ghifaari to run the affairs of Madina while he was gone.

Result: After the Jews defense were destroyed they decided to negotiate a peace treaty with the Muslims to spare their lives. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, agreed under these conditions:

1.The Jews must evacuate Khaybar and the adjacent lands

2.They must leave all of their possessions of gold and silver

3.If they concealed anything then the treaty would be broken

Distribution of Spoils: The Jews agreed to the treaty but they were anxious to keep cultivating the rich soil Khaybar was famous for. Therefore, they approached the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with the request that they were allowed to cultivate their lands and give half of their produce to the Muslims. The Prophet accepted and divided the land into two: one half as a backup for the Muslims in case of any accidental calamity they might face and for foreign guests, and the other half for the Muslims who had witnessed the Hudaibiyyah events.

These spoils are seen as the spoils mentioned in the verse mentioned above, “Allah has promised you abundant spoils that you will capture, and He has hastened for you this…” (Fath: 20)

They spoils were such in abundance that:

a. Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, said, “We never ate our fill until we conquered Khaybar.”

b .Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said, “Now we can eat our fill of dates.”

c. Once the Muslims returned the Madina the Muhajirun (Emigrants from Makkah) were able to return all of the gifts they received from the Ansaar (Those who aided the Muhajirun when they came from Makkah)

Notable Events:

1.Abu Hurayrah ‘Abdur-Rahman bin Sakhr, may Allah be pleased with him, became a Muslim during this time.

2.Before attacking Khaybar the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prayed ‘Asr and called the Companions to have whatever food provisions were available. The food was too little to satisfy everyone so the Prophet took the food by his hand and it immediately grew in quantity so that everyone ate to their fill.

3.The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon, said on the night before the attack, “Tomorrow I will give the banner to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger and Allah and His Messenger love him.” In the morning, all of the people gathered hoping that they were the one the Prophet mentioned during the night. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, then called ‘Ali bin Abi Taalib, may Allah be pleased with him, who had a problem in his eyes. The Prophet supplicated for him and the problem left, and he then handed the banner to ‘Ali. ‘Ali then pledged that he would fight the enemies until they embraced Islam. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, responded, “Proceed upon your way until you enter their midst, then invite them to accept Islam and brief them on their duties towards Allah. I swear by Allah that if only one should be guided by you, that would surely outweigh the best camels.”

4.Ja’far bin Abi Taalib with his companions returned from Abyssinia (Ethiopia) with Abu Musa al-Ash’ari and his companions who met them along the way coming from Yemen to Madina. Abu Musa narrated that he and over fifty companions, while in Yemen, took a ship which landed them in Abyssinia and they happened to meet there Ja’far and his companions.

5.The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, invited Safiyah( the daughter of the chief of Bani Quraizah and Bani Nadeer) to Islam, freed her, and took her as a wife on her embracing Islam.

6.There was a Jewish woman called Zainab bint al-Harith who tried to poison the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, by offering him a poisoned roasted sheep. The Prophet ate some but did not like it so he spat it out, but the companion Bishr bin al-Baraa ate the sheep and died as a result. Zainab was ordered to be killed after this news was confirmed.

Sources used in this article:

1.Mukhtasir Seerah ar-Rasul by Muhammad at-Tameemi

2.Taysir ar-Rahman by Abdur-Rahman as-Sa’di

3.The Sealed Nectar by Safiur Rahman Mubarakfuri