The Conquest of Khaibar


khaibar was a spacious strongly fortified territory, studded with castles and farms, lying at a distance of 60-80 miles north of madinah, now a village known for its uncongenial climate. after al-hudaibiyah treaty, the major party of the anti-islam tripartite coalition — quraish, the bedouin horde of najd tribes and the jews — was neutralized, therefore, the prophet [pbuh] deemed it an appropriate time to settle his affairs with the other two wings — the jews and the najd tribes — in order that peace and security could prevail and the muslims may devote their time and effort in propagating the message of allâh and calling people to embrace it. khaibar itself had always remained a hotbed of intrigue and conspiracy, and the jews had always constituted it a source of military provocations and war instigation centre, so it was given a top priority on the agenda of the prophet’s compelling exigencies. the jews of khaibar had united by an ancient alliance with the confederates, triggered bani quraiza to practise treachery, maintained contacts with ghatfan and the arabians and they even devised an attempt at the prophet’s life. in fact, the continual afflictions that the muslims had sustained were primarily attributable to the jews. envoys were repeatedly sent to them for peaceful settlement, but all in vain. consequently the prophet [pbuh] came to the conclusion that a military campaign was a must in order to forestall their hostilities.


the following morning, at sunrise, the muslims encountered the jews when they had come out about their jobs with their axes, spades and strings driving their cattle along. they began to shout in surprise: "muhammad has come along with his force!" the messenger of allâh [pbuh] said: "allâh is great, khaibar shall face destruction. behold! when we descend in the city centre, it will be a bad day for those who have been warned (but have not taken heed). [sahih al-bukhari 2/603, 604]"


it is noteworthy that some interesting incidents featured the muslims’ march towards khaibar; of which we mention the following:

it has been narrated on the authority of salamah bin al-akwa‘, who said: we marched upon khaibar with the messenger of allâh [pbuh]. we journeyed during the night. one of the men said to my brother ‘amir: won’t you recite to us some of your verses, ‘amir? so he began to chant his verses to urge the camels, reciting:


o allâh, if you had not guided us,


we would have neither been guided rightly nor practised charity, nor offered prayers.


we wish to lay down our lives for you; so forgive you our lapses,


and keep us steadfast when we encounter (our enemies).


bestow upon us peace and tranquility,


behold, when with a cry they called upon us to help.

the messenger of allâh [pbuh] said: "who is this driver (of the camels)?" they said: "it is ‘amir." he said: "allâh will show mercy to him." a man said: "martyrdom is reserved for him; o messenger of allâh, would that you had allowed us to benefit ourselves from his life."[sahih al-bukhari 2/603; sahih muslim 2/115] the prophet’s companions had already known that he would never invoke allâh’s mercy upon a close companion but to single him out for martyrdom.[sahih muslim 2/115]

on their way down a valley, the muslims began to entertain allâh’s greatness: shouting at the top of their voices: "allâh is great, allâh is great, there is no god but allâh." the prophet [pbuh] asked them to lower down their voices saying: "the one you are invoking is neither absent nor deaf; he is close to you, all-hearing.[sahih al-bukhari 2/605]"


in a spot called as-sahba’, not far from khaibar, the prophet [pbuh] observed the afternoon prayer, then he called his companions to have whatever food provisions they had. what they brought was too scanty to satisfy them all. the prophet took it by his hand and it immediately grew in quantity, so they all ate to their fill. shortly afterward, he and the others, rinsed their mouths and performed the evening prayer without ablution [sahih al-bukhari 2/603]; he did the same for the night prayer [maghazi al-waqidi p.112].


the prophet marched by way of isra mountain and then went forward with the army till he halted in a valley called ar-raji‘, encamping between khaibar and ghatfan so as to prevent the latter from reinforcing the jews. the guides accompanying him led him to an intersection from which branched out three roads with different designations; all leading to his destination. he abstained from following the first two roads on grounds of their ominous designation and chose the third for its propitious indications.


the hypocrites of arabia took notice of the fresh islamic intentions so they began to alert the jews to the imminent military activities. their chief, ‘abdullah bin ubai delegated an envoy to the jews of khaibar warning them against the dangers approaching, and nerving them to resist the muslims as they outnumbered the latter and were better equipped. on hearing the news the jews despatched kinanah bin abi al-huqaiq and haudha bin qais to their former allies, the tribe of ghatfan requesting military assistance, promising to grant them half the yield of the fruit that their farms could yield if they managed to beat the muslims.


interpreters of the noble qur’ân suggest that capturing khaibar had been a divine promise implied in allâh’s words:

"allâh has promised you abundant spoils that you will capture, and he has hastened for you this." [al-qur'an 48:20]

i.e., al-hudaibiyah peace treaty and the surrender of khaibar