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Detail from miniature painting *The Prophet, Ali, and the Companions at the Massacre of the Prisoners of the Jewish Tribe of Beni Qurayzah*, illustration of a 19th century text by Muhammad Rafi Bazil. Manuscript now in the British Library.

v t e Campaigns of Muhammad
Al-‘Īṣ Safwan Buwat Dhu al-'Ushairah Abwa' Badr Kudr Sawiq Banu Qaynuqa' Dhu 'Amar Bahran Uhud Hamra' al-Asad Banu Nadir Badr al-Maw'id Dhat ar-Riqa' 1st Daumat al-Jandal Trench Banu Qurayza al-Muraysi' Banu Lahyan Hudaybiyyah Fidak Khaybar 3rd Wadi al-Qurra' Mu'tah Mecca Hunayn Tabuk Autas Ta'if
Further information: Military career of Muhammad

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The Banu Qurayza (Arabic بني قريظة; بنو قريظة alternate spellings include Quraiza, Qurayzah, Quraytha, and the archaic Koreiza) were a Jewish tribe who lived in northern Arabia during the 7th century, at the oasis of Yathrib (now known as Medina). In 627 CE, the tribe's collaboration with the invading armies during the Battle of the Trench was considered treacherous. The Banu Qurayza surrendered following a Muslim siege and all the men, apart from a few who converted to Islam, were beheaded, while all the women and children were enslaved.

History in pre-Islamic Arabia

Early history

Extant sources provide no conclusive evidence whether the Banu Qurayza were ethnically Jewish or Arab converts to Judaism. Just like the other Jews of Yathrib, the Qurayza claimed to be of Israelite descent and observed the commandments of Judaism, but adopted many Arab customs and intermarried with Arabs. They were dubbed priestly tribe (kahinan in Arabic from the Hebrew kohanim - Ibn Ishaq, the author of the traditional Muslim biography of Muhammad, traces their genealogy to Aaron and further to Abraham but gives only eight intermediaries between Aaron and the purported founder of the Qurayza tribe.

In the 5th century CE, the Qurayza lived in Yathrib together with two other major Jewish tribes: Banu Qaynuqa and Banu Nadir. Al-Isfahani writes in his 9th-century collection of Arabic poetry Kitab al-Aghani that Jews arrived in Hijaz in the wake of the Jewish-Roman wars; the Qurayza settled in Mahzur, a wadi in Al Harrah. The 15th century Muslim scholar Al-Samhudi lists a dozen of other Jewish clans living in the town of which the most important one was Banu Hadl, closely aligned with the Banu Qurayza. The Jews introduced agriculture to Yathrib, growing date palms and cereals, and this cultural and economic advantage enabled the Jews to dominate the local Arabs politically. Al-Waqidi wrote that the Banu Qurayza were people of high lineage and of properties, "whereas we were but an Arab tribe who did not possess any palm trees nor vineyards, being people of only sheep and camels." Ibn Khordadbeh later reported that during the Persian domination in Hijaz, the Banu Qurayza served as tax collectors for the shah.

Account of the king of Himyar

Ibn Ishaq tells of a conflict between the last Yemenite King of Himyar and the residents of Yathrib. When the king was passing by the oasis, the residents killed his son, and the Yemenite ruler threatened to exterminate the people and cut down the palms. According to Ibn Ishaq, he was stopped from doing so by two rabbis from the Banu Qurayza, who implored the king to spare the oasis because it was the place "to which a prophet of the Quraysh would migrate in time to come, and it would be his home and resting-place". The Yemenite king thus did not destroy the town and converted to Judaism. He took the rabbis with him, and in Mecca, they reportedly recognized Kaaba as a temple built by Abraham and advised the king "to do what the people of Mecca did: to circumambulate the temple, to venerate and honor it, to shave his head and to behave with all humility until he had left its precincts." On approaching Yemen, tells Ibn Ishaq, the rabbis demonstrated to the local people a miracle by coming out of a fire unscathed and the Yemenites accepted Judaism.

Arrival of the Aws and Khazraj

The situation changed after two Arab tribes named Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj arrived to Yathrib from Yemen. At first, these tribes were clients of the Jews, but toward the end of the fifth century CE, they revolted and became independent. Most modern historians accept the claim of the Muslim sources that after the revolt, the Jewish tribes became clients of the Aws and the Khazraj. William Montgomery Watt however considers this clientship to be unhistorical prior to 627 and maintains that the Jews retained a measure of political independence after the Arab revolt.

Eventually, the Aws and the Khazraj became hostile to each other. They had been fighting possibly for around a hundred years before 620 and at least since 570s. The Banu Nadir and the Banu Qurayza were allied with the Aws, while the Banu Qaynuqa sided with the Khazraj. There are reports of the constant conflict between Banu Qurayza and Banu Nadir, the two allies of Aws, yet the sources often refer to these two tribes as “brothers”. Aws and Khazraj and their Jewish allies fought a total of four wars. The last and bloodiest altercation was the Battle of Bu'ath, the outcome of which was inconclusive. The continuing feud was probably the chief cause for the invitation of Muhammad to Yathrib in order to adjudicate in disputed cases.

Arrival of Muhammad

Main article: Migration to Medina

Ibn Ishaq recorded that after Muhammad arrived in Medina in 622, he established a compact, the Constitution of Medina, which committed the Jewish and Muslim tribes to mutual cooperation. The nature of this document as recorded by Ibn Ishaq and transmitted by Ibn Hisham is the subject of dispute among modern historians, many of whom maintain that this "treaty" is possibly a collage of agreements, of different dates, and that it is not clear when they were made. Watt holds that the Qurayza and Nadir were probably mentioned in an earlier version of the Constitution requiring the parties not to support an enemy against each other.

Aside from the general agreements, the chronicles by Ibn Ishaq and al-Waqidi contain a report that after his arrival, Muhammad signed a special treaty with the Qurayza chief Ka'b ibn Asad. Ibn Ishaq gives no sources, while al-Waqidi refers to Ka’b ibn Malik of Salima, a clan hostile to the Jews, and Mummad ibn Ka’b, the son of a Qurayza boy who was sold into slavery in the aftermath of the siege and subsequently became a Muslim. The sources are suspect of being against the Qurayza and therefore the historicity of this agreement between Muhammad and the Banu Qurayza is open to grave doubt. Watt argues against the existence of such a special agreement but notes that the Jews were bound by the aforementioned general agreement and by their alliance to the two Arab tribes not to support an enemy against Muhammad. Similarly, R. B. Serjeant infers that Banu Qurayza knew the consequences of treachery. Norman Stillman argues the first point however saying that the Muslim historians had invented this agreement in order to justify the subsequent treatment of Qurayza.

Ibn Ishaq relates that during the first few months after arrival of Muhammad in Medina, the Banu Qurayza were involved in a dispute with the Banu Nadir about the compensation for killing, as the blood money paid for killing a man of Qurayza was only half of the blood-money required for killing a man of Nadir. The Qurayza called on Muhammad as arbitrator, who delivered the verses 5:45 and raised the assessment of the Qurayza to the full amount of blood money.

Tensions quickly mounted between the Muslim and Jewish communities, while Muhammad found himself in the state of warfare with his native Meccan tribe of the Quraysh. In 624, after his victory over the Meccans in the Battle of Badr, Muhammad expelled the Banu Qaynuqa from Medina. The Qurayza remained passive during the whole Qaynuqa affair, apparently because the Qaynuqa were historically allied with the Khazraj, while the Qurayza were the allies of the Aws.

Soon afterwards, Muhammad came into conflict with the Banu Nadir. He had one of the Banu Nadir's chiefs, the poet Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, assassinated and after the Battle of Uhud accused the tribe of treachery and plotting against his life and expelled them from the city. The Qurayza remained passive during this conflict, according to R. B. Serjeant, because of the blood money issue related above.

Battle of the Trench

Main article: Battle of the Trench

In 627, a Quraysh-led army under the command of Abu Sufyan, together with contingents from the Bedouin tribe of Ghatafan and the exiled Banu Nadir, marched against Medina - the Muslim stronghold - and laid siege to it. According to Al-Waqidi, the Banu Qurayza helped the defense effort of Medina by supplying spades, picks, and baskets for the excavation of the defensive trench. Practically all of Medina's inhabitants opposed the enormous Quraysh forces besieging the city, except the Banu Qurayza. Banu Qurayza also possessed a large stockpile of weaponry, as 1,500 swords, 2,000 lances, 300 suits of armor, and 500 shields were later seized by the Muslims upon Qurayza's surrender. It is unclear whether or not the Qurayza's treaty with Muhammad required them to help him defend Medina or merely remain neutral. The Qurayza tried to choose the latter position. According to Watt, the Qurayza did not commit any act overtly hostile to Muhammad, but their are reports about their intrigues with the Meccans:

During the siege, the Qurayza allowed Huyayy ibn Akhtab (leader of the Banu Nadir) to return, whom Muhammad had exiled, and who had instigated the Meccan confederacy besieging Medina. Ibn Ishaq writes that Akhtab persuaded the Qurayza chief Ka'b ibn Asad to help the Meccans conquer Medina. Ka'b was, according to Al-Waqidi's account, initially reluctant to break the contract and argued that Muhammad never broke any contract with them or exposed them to any shame, but decided to support the Meccans after Huyayy had promised to join the Qurayza in Medina if the besieging army would return to Mecca without having killed Muhammad. Ibn Kathir and al-Waqidi report that Huyayy tore into pieces the agreement between Ka'b and Muhammad.

Watt writes that Muhammad "became anxious about their conduct and sent some of the leading Muslims to talk to them; the result was disquieting." According to Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad ordered a man from the Ghatafan who had secretly converted to Islam to go to Muhammad's enemies and sow discord among them. The man went to the Banu Qurayza and advised them to join the hostilities against Muhammad only if the besiegers provide hostages from among their chiefs. When the representatives of the Quraysh and the Ghatafan came to the Qurayza, asking for support in the planned decisive battle with Muhammad, the Qurayza indeed demanded hostages, breaking down the negotiations. The Banu Qurayza became extremely distrustful of the besieging army and did not take any actions to support them until Abu Sufyan's forces retreated.

Siege and aftermath

On the day of the Meccans' withdrawal, Muhammad led his forces against the Banu Qurayza neighborhood. According to the Muslim tradition, he had been ordered to do so by the angel Gabriel. The Banu Qurayza retreated into their stronghold. They endured the siege for 25 days, fearing the expected consequences of treason. As their morale waned, Ka'b ibn Asad suggested three alternative ways out of their predicament: embrace Islam, kill their own children and women, then rush out for a charge to either win or die; or make a surprise attack on the Sabbath. The Banu Qurayza accepted none of these alternatives and instead asked to confer with Abu Luhaba ibn Abd al-Mundhir, one of their allies from the Aws. According to Ibn Ishaq, Abu Lubaba felt pity for the women and children of the tribe who were crying and when asked whether the Qurayza should surrender to Muhammad, advised them to do so. However he also "made a sign with his hand toward his throat, indicating that would be slaughter". The account says that he later related that after giving his advice, "My feet had not moved away from the spot before I knew I had been false to God and His Apostle".

The next morning, the Banu Qurayza unconditionally surrendered and the Muslims seized their stronghold and their weapons. Some among the tribe of Aws wanted to honor their old alliance with Qurayza and asked Muhammad to treat the Qurayza leniently as he had previously treated the Qaynuqa for the sake of Ibn Ubayy. (Arab custom required support of an ally, independent of the ally's conduct to a third party.) Muhammad then suggested that one of the Aws would be an arbitrator, and when they agreed, he appointed Sa'd ibn Mua'dh, a leading man among the Aws who was dying from a wound suffered during the siege of the Qurayza, to decide the fate of the Jewish tribe. The Banu Qurayza also agreed with the appointment of Sa'ad ibn Mua'dh. Sa'd ibn Mua'dh pronounced that "the men should be killed, the property divided, and the women and children taken as captives". Muhammad approved of the ruling, calling it similar to God's judgment. Daniel C. Peterson and Martin Lings state that this judgment was in accordance with the law of Moses as stated in Deut. 20:10-14.

According to Stillman, Muhammad chose Sa'd ibn Mua'dh so as not to pronounce the judgment himself after the precedents he had set with the Banu Qaynuqa and the Banu Nadir: "Sa`d took the hint and condemned the adult males to death and the hapless women and children to slavery." Furthermore, Stillman infers from Abu Lubaba's gesture and account of regret afterwards to making it that Muhammad probably had this judgment in mind even before the tribe surrendered. Sa'd dismissed the pleas of the Aws, according to Watt, because being close to death and concerned with his afterlife, he put what he considered "his duty to God and the "Muslim community" before tribal allegiance.

On previous occasions, when Muhammad had spared the lives prisoners, he found them fighting against him and killing Muslims soon after. This had happened at Uhud, and the more recent siege of Medina. Ramadan writes that Muhammad's clemency, repeatedly betrayed, became a sign of his weakness and madness, since it was contrary to Arab and Jewish customs of the day. Peterson concurs that Muslims wanted to put an end to facing threats from the same enemies repeatedly. He adds that severe punishment deterred future treachery.

Ibn Ishaq describes the killing of the Banu Qurayza men as follows:

Then they surrendered, and the apostle confined them in Medina in the quarter of d. al-Harith, a woman of B. al-Najjar. Then the apostle went out to the market of Medina (which is still its market today) and dug trenches in it. Then he sent for them and struck off their heads in those trenches as they were brought out to him in batches. Among them was the enemy of Allah Huyayy b. Akhtab and Ka`b b. Asad their chief. There were 600 or 700 in all, though some put the figure as high as 800 or 900. As they were being taken out in batches to the apostle they asked Ka`b what he thought would be done with them. He replied, 'Will you never understand? Don't you see that the summoner never stops and those who are taken away do not return? By Allah it is death!' This went on until the apostle made an end of them. Huyayy was brought out wearing a flowered robe in which he had made holes about the size of the finger-tips in every part so that it should not be taken from him as spoil, with his hands bound to his neck by a rope. When he saw the apostle he said, 'By God, I do not blame myself for opposing you, but he who forsakes God will be forsaken.' Then he went to the men and said, 'God's command is right. A book and a decree, and massacre have been written against the Sons of Israel.' Then he sat down and his head was struck off.

It is also reported, that alongside all the men, one woman who had thrown a millstone from the battlements during the siege and killed one of the Muslim besiegers, was put to death. Ibn Asakir writes in his History of Damascus that Banu Kilab, a clan of Arab clients of the Banu Qurayza, were killed alongside the Jewish tribe.

Three boys of the clan of Hadl, who had been with Qurayza in the strongholds, slipped out before the surrender and converted to Islam. The son of one of them, Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi, gained distinction as a scholar. One or two other men also escaped. The spoils of battle, including the enslaved women and children of the tribe, were divided up among Muhammad's followers. Muhammad, as was practice, received a fifth of the value which included the woman Rayhana as a part of his captives (considered Ma malakat aymanukum under Islamic law). She later become a Muslim, and Muhammad offered to free and marry her. According to some sources she accepted his proposal, while according to others she rejected it.

Some of the women and children of the Banu Qurayza were bought and sold by Jews, in particular the Banu Nadir. Daniel C. Peterson argues that this is because the Nadir felt responsible for the fate of the Quarayza, since it was their chieftain, Huyayy ibn Akhtab, who persuaded the Qurayza to go against their covenant with Muhammad.

The Qur'an briefly refers to the incident in the verse . Arab Muslim theologians and historians have either viewed the incident as "the punishment of the Medina Jews, who were invited to convert and refused, perfectly exemplify the Quran's tales of what happened to those who rejected the prophets of old" or offered a political explanation. Later Muslim scholars justified the treatment of the Banu Qurayza with reference to the Qur'anic Surah , arguing that the Qurayza broke the pact with Muhammad, and thus Muhammad was justified in repudiating his side of the pact and declaring war on the Qurayza.

Walid N. Arafat and Barakat Ahmad have disputed the historicity of the incident. Ahmad argues that only the leaders of the tribe were killed. Arafat quotes an authority, Ibn Hajar, who denounces the story of Banu Qurayza and the other related ones as "odd tales". Ibn Hajar explains that Ibn Ishaq's contemporary, Malik ibn Anas, rejected Ibn Ishaq as "a liar" and "an impostor" for seeking out the Jewish descendants for gathering information about Muhammad's campaign with their forefathers. Watt finds Arafat's arguments "not entirely convincing."

References in literature

The fate of the Banu Qurayza became the subject of Shaul Tchernichovsky's Hebrew poem Ha-aharon li-Venei Kuraita (The Last of the Banu Qurayza).

Notes

Ramadan (2007), p. 141
Peterson (2007), p. 126
Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, vol. 1, p. 191.
Brown, A New Introduction to Islam, p. 81.
^ Watt, Encyclopaedia of Islam, "Kurayza, Banu".
^ Watt, Encyclopaedia of Islam, "Al-Madina".
Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book, p. 9.
^ Encyclopedia Judaica, "Qurayza".
Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 7.
Serjeant, "The "Sunnah Jami'ah, Pacts with the Yathrib Jews, and the "Tahrim" of Yathrib: Analysis and Translation of the Documents Comprised in the So-Called Constitution of Medina", p. 2-3.
^ Peters, Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, p. 192-193.
Muslim sources usually referred to Himyar kings by the dynastic title of "Tubba".
Guillaume, p. 7-9; Peters, Muhammad and the Origins of Islam p. 49-50.
^ Watt, "Muhammad", in: The Cambridge History of Islam.
For alliances see Guillaume, p. 253.
Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, "Qurayza (Banu)".
Firestone, Jihad: The Origin of Holy War in Islam, p. 118, p. 170. For opinions disputing the early date of the Constitution of Medina, see e.g., Peters, Muhammad and the Origins of Islam p. 119.
Welch, "Muhammad", Encyclopaedia of Islam.
^ Serjeant, "The "Sunnah Jami'ah, Pacts with the Yathrib Jews, and the "Tahrim" of Yathrib: Analysis and Translation of the Documents Comprised in the So-Called Constitution of Medina", in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 41 (1978). Page. 36 Cite error: The named reference "serjeant" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ Stillman, p. 14-16.
Guillaume, p. 267-268.
^ Nomani (1970), pg.382
Gerald R. Hawting, Abdul-Kader A. Shareef, p.281.
See e.g. Stillman, p. 13.
Watt, Montgomery (1956). Muhammad at Medina, page 36.
Heck, "Arabia Without Spices: An Alternate Hypothesis", in: Journal Of The American Oriental Society 123 (2003).
Watt, Montgomery (1956). Muhammad at Medina, page 36, 38.
Watt, Montgomery (1956). Muhammad at Medina, page 38.
Guillaume, p. 453.
See also above for the critical view on the historicity of this treaty.
Guillaume, p. 458-459
Peterson (2006), p. 125
^ Ramadan (2007), p. 145-6
Guillaume, p. 461-463; Peters, Muhammad and the Origins of Islam p. 222-223; Stillman, p. 137-140.
^ Watt, Muhammad, Prophet and Statesman, p. 171-174. Cite error: The named reference "WattProphetStatesman" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
Mohammed Abu-Nimer (2000–2001). "A Framework for Nonviolence and Peacebuilding in Islam". Journal of Law and Religion. 15 (1–2): 247.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
Guillaume, p. 463-464; Peters, Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, p. 223-224; Stillman, p. 140-141; Adil, Muhammad: The Messenger of Islam, p. 395-396.
^ Peterson, Muhammad: the prophet of God, p. 127.
Lings, p. 232
Guillaume, p. 464; Stillman, p. 141-142; partially cited in Peters, Muhammad and the Origins of Islam p. 224.
William Muir, A Life of Mahomet and History of Islam to the Era of the Hegira, chapter XVII. Muir follows Hishami and also refers to Aisha, who had related: "But I shall never cease to marvel at her good humour and laughter, although she knew that she was to die." (Ibn Ishaq, Biography of Muhammad).
Lecker, "On Arabs of the Banū Kilāb executed together with the Jewish Banū Qurayza", p. 69.
Rodinson, Muhammad: Prophet of Islam, p. 213.
Ramadan (2007), pg. 146
Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, p. 175.
^ Walid N. Arafat (1976), JRAS, p. 100-107.
Peters, Islam. A Guide for Jews and Christians p.77
Peters, Muhammad and the Origins of Islam p. 224.
Meri, p. 754.
Nemoy, Leon. Barakat Ahmad's "Muhammad and the Jews".The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Ser., Vol. 72, No. 4. (Apr., 1982), pp. 325. Nemoy is sourcing Ahmed's Muhammad and the Jews.
Barakat Ahmad, Muhammad and the Jews: A Re-examination, holds that only the leaders of the Qurayza were killed.

Literature

General references

Encyclopaedia of Islam. Ed. P. Bearman et al., Leiden: Brill, 1960-2005.
Encyclopedia Judaica (CD-ROM Edition Version 1.0). Ed. Cecil Roth. Keter Publishing House, 1997. ISBN 965-07-0665-8

Jewish tribes

Arafat, W. N., "New Light on the Story of Banu Qurayza and the Jews of Medina", in: JRAS 1976, p. 100-107.
Ahmad, Barakat, Muhammad and the Jews, a Re-examination, New Delhi. Vikas Publishing House for Indian Institute of Islamic studies. 1979
Lecker, Michael, "On Arabs of the Banū Kilāb executed together with the Jewish Banū Qurayza", in: Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 19 (1995), p. 69.
Nemoy, Leon, "Barakat Ahmad's "Muhammad and the Jews"", in: The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Series, vol. 72, No. 4. (April 1982), p. 325.
Serjeant, R. B., "The "Sunnah Jami'ah, Pacts with the Yathrib Jews, and the "Tahrim" of Yathrib: Analysis and Translation of the Documents Comprised in the So-Called Constitution of Medina", in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 41 (1978), p. 1-42.
Stillman, Norman, The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979. ISBN 0-8276-0198-0

Background: Muhammad, Islam and Arabia

Adil, Hajjah Amina, Muhammad: The Messenger of Islam. Islamic Supreme Council of America, 2002, p. 395-396
Brown, Daniel W., A New Introduction to Islam. Blackwell Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0631216049
Firestone, Reuven, Jihad: The Origin of Holy War in Islam. Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-512580-0
Guillaume, Alfred, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah. Oxford University Press, 1955. ISBN 0-1963-6033-1
Hawting, Gerald R. & Shareef, Abdul-Kader A., Approaches to the Qur'an. Routledge, 1993. ISBN 0415057558
Heck, Gene W., "Arabia Without Spices: An Alternate Hypothesis", in: Journal Of The American Oriental Society 123 (2003), p. 547-567.
Hodgson, Marshall G.S., The Venture of Islam. University of Chicago Press, 1974.
Lings, Martin. Muhammad : His Life Based on the Earliest Sources (1983), Islamic Texts Society, ISBN 0-04-297042-3
Meri, Josef W., Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Routledge, 2005. ISBN 0415966906.
Muir, William, A Life of Mahomet and History of Islam to the Era of the Hegira, vol. 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co, 1861.
Peters, Francis E., Muhammad and the Origins of Islam. State University of New York Press, 1994. ISBN 0-7914-1875-8.
Peters, Francis E., Islam. A Guide for Jews and Christians. Princeton University Press, 2003.
Peterson, Daniel C., Muhammad: the prophet of God. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 2007.
Ramadan, Tariq, In the Footsteps of the Prophet. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Rodinson, Maxime, Muhammad: Prophet of Islam, Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2002. ISBN 1860648274
Watt, William Montgomery, "Muhammad", in: The Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 1. Cambridge University Press, 1970.
Watt, William Montgomery, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. Oxford University Press, 1961.