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number of factors: Nuaym ibn Masud, the army of the wind, angels, the mistrust t
he tribes had for each other and so Allah used all of this against them. And ind
eed as Allah says "Allah was sufficient for their fighting". So when the muslims
woke up the next morning after that terrible sandstorm, all the tents were empt
y and everyone left. The prophet PBUH departed back home, and some said he went
to the wife of Umme Salama, and he had hardly come home and put down his sword w
hen Jibreel AS came to him. And at this time it was Zuhr, so it was the time for
an afternoon nap as per the custom. But Jibreel AS comes to him, and ibn Ishaaq
mentions he was wearing a turban made of soft brucade, and riding a mule with a
saddle of silk, and he said "Ya RasulAllah have your put down your weapon?" He
said "yes". And Jibreel AS said "as for the angels, they have not put it down ye
t. And I've just arrived with a new contingent. Ya Muhammad, Allah is commanding
you to go to the Banu Quraydha". SubhanAllah its been a whole month of tirednes
s, fatigue etc. He hasn't even entered his house for rest and Jibreel AS comes a
nd he commanded the prophet PBUH to go to the Banu Quraydha, and Jibreel AS said
"And I am heading there right now, and I will shake the Earth from them". So th
e prophet PBUH sent a crier to the entire city that whoever hears must obey, and
no one can pray Asr except at Banu Quraydha. And they are two hours away - so i
t shows there was no time to relax. And this is was a severe commandment: that y
ou CANNOT pray Asr except in Banu Quraydha.
Quick tangent: this leads to one of the most interesting fiqh episodes. The comm
andment went out, and obviously not everyone will respond immediately. Maybe a f
ew of them have fallen asleep, a few got the message late etc. There would be so
me delay: so the sahabah were arriving in Banu Quraydha in batches. Quite alot t
rickled in until Magrib was about to set. Realise Madinah was much larger than i
t is now: there were many settlements outside the city. Quite alot of sahabah go
t to the Banu Quraydha at the right time, but there was also quite alot who were
on their way to the Banu Quraydha and the sun is about to set. If it sets Asr i
s over so the sahabah on route began to have a back and forth: should we pray As
r now so we don't miss it OR should we follow what the prophet PBUH said and not
pray Asr until we get there, even if we miss it? It's a big issue. Of course wh
en the prophet PBUH is saying "don't pray Asr until you get there" it was but an
expression i.e. hurry up and get there. But the sahabah were taking it at face
value: they differed back and forth and couldn't reach a consensus. Some of them
prayed then and there, and others didn't pray until they reached the Banu Quray
dha even though they missed it. This shows us when equally qualified mujtahids m
ake an ijtihad (and you have to be qualified), neither party is obligated to fol
low the other ijithad. This is exactly what happened to the sahabah here: they e
ach followed their ijtihad and they didn't criticise each other.
Now when they all got to Banu Quraydha, they told him what happened. And what di
d the prophet PBUH say? He did not criticise either party and he let it be. This
shows us a truly profound matter: that, the ultimate truth even in matter of fi
qh is one. How do we know this even though this hadith shows it is multiple? The
scholars say when the prophet PBUH gave this commandment: "Do not pray Asr unti
l you reach the Banu Quraydha" - there is no doubt he intended one of the two me
anings. Second, the sahabah differed in two camps: there was no camp which thoug
h "oh he must have intended both". It's illogical and against common sense to sa
y this. Thus this is the predominant position is usool al Fiqh. Is truth one or
multiple? It's a theological and usool al Fiqh issue, and the position which mak
es the most sense is that truth is one, but a person who genuinely mistakenly mi
sses the truth will not be sinful. We differentiate between truth and reward. Th
is is proven in Bhukari when the prophet PBUH said "if the qualified ruler/judge
judges and is correct, they will get two rewards. If he is incorrect they will
get one reward". And notice it can't be multiple at the same time. You can have
two scholars give two fatwas: in the eyes of Allah only one of them is correct.
This hadith proves it: the prophet PBUH did not criticise either of the two camp
s, and note he didn't clarify what he meant because this is a one-off thing. One
But the people said "walahi we will never leave the religion". Its interesting h
e says the secret that everyone knew but everyone is too embarrased to admit: th
ey all knew he was the prophet PBUH. And by now of course who can have any doubt
? All the miracles are there to see, everything is clear. So Ka'ab said
2) "Ok fine, let us kill our own families and then charge outside with our sword
s drawn until one of us dies. If we die then so be it. If we win there are plent
y of women to marry later".
It was a far shot chance but it was possible - but of course there is no way thi
s is going to happen. The people said "we will never kill our own family". So Ka
'ab then said:
3) "Ok if you refuse the first two, the only thing we can do is a suprise attack
, and let's suprise attack on Saturday the Sabbath - they won't expect us to bre
ak our own Sabbath!"
SubhanAllah look at how low he is willing to go - but his people said "we will n
ever break the Sabbath, don't you know if we do that Allah will send a punishmen
t etc". Ka'ab got so angry he said "walahi since the day your mother has given b
irth to you, you have never made a decision in your lives". Then they sent a mes
senger to the prophet PBUH and he begged and pleaded "Oh prophet PBUH give to us
what you gave to the Banu Nadheer. Take our lands but we'll take our money, cam
els and family and we will go". The prophet PBUH said "no". He comes back and sa
ys "OK fine keep everything, keep the camels and property, but just let us go".
But the prophet PBUH said "No - I will not accept anything else except an uncond
itional surrender. And again the prophet PBUH was not being trecharous here - th
ey wanted a condition to come out. But the prophet PBUH said "No only an uncondi
tional surrender".
Then another messenger comes and said "we want Abu Lubaba to come into our fortr
ess". Who is Abu Lubaba? He was a special close friend in the days of Jaheleya w
ith the Banu Qarudhaya. So he went in, and he is of course a great sahabi. He wi
tnessed Badr in that he was in the army, but he was sent to do an errand and he
didn't fight. He also fought in Uhud and other battles and he has a good record,
but what's about to happen now was a human slip. So he entered their fortress,
and ibn Ishaaq said everyone were so happy to see him, and the women and childre
n began crying and begging for mercy for him. And so ibn Ishaaq said his heart b
ecame soft for them. They asked him "should we surrender or not?" He said "yes y
ou should but.." and then he made a motion of 'you all will die'. And Abu Lubaba
later said in the first person "As soon as I said this, walahi my feet had not
moved, except that I realised I have been disloyal and trecharous to Allah and H
is messenger". Firstly he wasn't sure about their fate, but secondly whose side
is he on? Whose loyalty do you have? To show sympathy is such a tense situation
to the enemy after all that they had done, this was kiyaana. And he knew that he
betrayed Allah and His messenger. And he said he left the fortress, bypassed th
e army and the prophet PBUH, and tied himself to a piller of the masjid. He tied
himself to it and said "walahi I shall remain tied until Allah accepts my repen
tance. And I will never go to the Banu Quraydha again, for I will never be in an
area where I disobeyed Allah and His messenger". After a while the news spread
what happened, and the prophet PBUH said "If he had come to me, I would have ask
ed Allah to forgive him. But now he's done this, I cannot help him". Why? Becaus
e its a promise he made to Allah that he will NOT move from the pillar until All
ah forgives him. And he remained tied for more than a week, and one day at Fajr
the prophet PBUH woke up to go pray and he was laughing. Umme Salama said "what
caused you to laugh?" The prophet PBUH said "Allah has accepted the tawbah of Ab
u Lubaba". So Umme Salama said "should I not tell him?" - note at that stage her
house had a door with direct access to the masjid. So she comes rushing out and
says "Oh Abu Lubaba thank Allah he has forgiven you" but Abu Lubaba said "NO un
til the prophet PBUH comes and unties me I won't move". So the prophet PBUH did
do this. And the repentance of him is in Surah Tawbah verse 102:
And [there are] others who have acknowledged their sins. They had mixed a righte
ous deed with another that was bad. Perhaps Allah will turn to them in forgivene
ss. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Hasan al Basri used to say this verse is the most optimistic verse in the whole
Quran. Ibn Abbass said everytime Allah said 'asa' for 'might/perhaps' it means H
e will do it so He will forgive. So if you acknowledge you are sinful but ask fo
r repentance Allah willing He will forgive.
24 days have gone - the next day is the 25th. And on this day the Banu Quraydha
decide to surrender. There's no escape, their supplies are diminishing and so on
the 25th day they all surrendered. On the night of the 24th in the middle of th
e night an incident happened: the muslim army is around the fortress - and they
hear someone come outside. One of the muslims said "who is it?" The man said "Am
r ibn Sa'ad" - he was one of perhaps two, or the only, who had vocally refused t
o follow what Ka'ab ibn Asad had done. And he said "I will never betray the prom
ise of the prophet PBUH". But he is in the fortress of course. Now when he hears
they will surrender the next day, he wants to try and get out before this. Muha
mmad ibn Maslama was the guard in charge, and he knew this Amr ibn Sa'ad wan't w
ith the Banu Quraydha, he vocally opposed them, but at the end of the day he is
still with them. So he Muhammad ibn Maslama said "Oh Allah overlook my overlooki
ng of him". So he simply let him go. And it is said that Amr ibn Sa'ad went to M
adinah for one night, and then left thereafter. When the prophet PBUH heard of w
hat happened, he said "that was a man Allah saved because of his honesty". The p
rophet PBUH did not get angry at Muhammad ibn Maslama. And a key point of this i
s that, these people were punished for what they did. NOT who they were. Amr ibn
Sa'ad was truthful to the treaty, so he was saved.
The next morning the message came they are willing to surrender. Immediately the
Aws surround the prophet PBUH and began pleading. As of yet the prophet PBUH ha
s not said what he wants to do. Because of this, the Aws remember the days of Ja
heleya, and they start begging the prophet PBUH to save them; one of them said "
Ya RasulAllah you spared the Khazraj's tribe (Banu Nadheer) so spare our tribe a
swell". And he even did it for Abdullah ibn Ubay. So the Aws are saying do the s
ame for our tribe - but subhanAllah theres a world of difference between what th
e Banu Nadheer did and what the Banu Quraydha did. But the Aws are humans and wa
nt mercy for their own friends. At this, the prophet PBUH said "will you be happ
y if one of your own decides their fate?" They said "OF COURSE". So he said "I h
ave chosen for you Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad, your own leader". Walahi this is amazing. Th
e messenger of Allah stepping down and saying to the Ansar "You guys decide". He
is a true leader, and he has to gain the trust of his followers. Amazing. He sa
ys to them "YOUR leader, Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad - it will be his verdict". Its amazing
that he is willing Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad judge something that is a judgement of Allah
and His messenger.
So Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad up until this point, he is still in the hospital tent. There
was the equivalent of a nurse amongst the sahabah, her name was Rufaydha, and sh
e voluntered to always take care of the sick etc. And she a tent that was a mini
hospital. So he was still in that tent, bleeding for 25 days - and he is going
to die soon. So a group of the Ansar became very happy, they rushed back to Madi
nah, put him on a mule and took him to the Banu Quraydha. And on the way there,
the Aws surrounded him and continued to tell him "you have to be merciful, remem
ber this, remember that etc". One of them said "you've only been chosen by the p
rophet PBUH because you have been merciful". Sa'ad said "Now is the time of Sa'a
d to not care about his people, but only Allah and His messenger". SubhanAllah.
People want to go out with a bang for their people - but what is Sa'ad saying? "
Now is the time to be sincere to Allah". When he said this the Aws understood wh
at his judgement will be. When he came to the Banu Quraydha, the prophet PBUH sa
id to the Ansar "stand up to greet your leader". He himself did not allow the sa
habah to stand up when he entered the room - this leads to a HUGE contraversy in
fiqh as to whether you should stand. The prophet PBUH said "whoever loves it th
at people stand up for him, let him be prepared for his seat in Jahannam". He sa
id this yet he tells the Ansar "STAND UP to greet your leader". How do you recon
cile? Imam Nawawi says whoever has taken this as a habit and expects people to s
tand, this is the person who will be in Jahannam. But once in a while, a one-off
, not as a regular habit, then this is something allowed. When Fatimah RA came t
o see the prophet PBUH after a while, he himself stood up to greet her. So you c
an do once in a while, but not every time. If a grandfather or guest comes, as a
one-off, you can do it.
Anyway, the prophet PBUH then said to Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad, that "your people have ac
cepted you as a judge for these (Banu Quraydha)". Note all of this is taking pla
ce outside the fortress. The muhajir and Khazraj are not really involved either
- the Khazraj had animosity with the Banu Quraydha anyway so they didn't care wh
at happened to them. So it was between the Aws and the prophet PBUH. So Sa'ad sa
id to his people "I call you to Allah, and tell you to make a promise to Allah will you listen and obey me with whatever verdict I give?" They said "Yes it is
you". And then he turned to the prophet PBUH, lowered his face in front of him,
and said "and you aswell ya RasulAllah? Will you be happy with my verdict?" And
the prophet PBUH said "Yes". Walahi its mindboggling to imagine, that RasulAlla
h is willing to go down to the ruling of Sa'ad just for the Aws. And so Sa'ad wi
thout a seconds hesitation said "my judgement in them, is that their men should
be executed, their property distributed and their women and children taken as ca
ptive". As soon as he said this, the prophet PBUH said "Walahi this was judgemen
t of Allah from above the seven heavens". And by the way this shows us Allahs de
cree is ONE. But the prophet PBUH was willing for the sake of unity of the ummah
to perhaps have a softer decree. But when Sa'ad said the verdict, the prophet
PBUH said "this is literally the verdict of Allah".
When the verdict was given, then of course the commandment were given to execute
the men. Trenches were dug, the males were tied up and they were taken in batch
es and executed. One of the young men who survived narrates that "I was a boy th
at was spared because I didn't have hair". And many stories are mentioned regard
ing Huyay ibn Aktab, when he was led out of the fortress, he was wearing his fin
est garment, and he had used strings to tie it around his body because he didn't
want anyone to take it from his body after his death. And when he passed by the
prophet PBUH he said "walahi I have never regreted my aminosity towards you". T
o the last second he is saying "I have no regrets". And then he said a phrase "b
ut whoever Allah humiliates, that is the real one who is humiliated". Look the g
uy himself deep down inside knows whose side Allah is on - and he turned to his
people and said "Oh my people don't be sad, this is the decree of Allah on the B
ani Isreal" and then he lowered his neck and was executed. When Ka'ab ibn Asad w
as let out, the prophet PBUH said "Oh Ka'ab why didn't you benefit from the advi
ce of Ibn Karash (a rabbi who had predicted from the coming of the prophet PBUH)
for he believed in me, and commanded you to follow me, and gave his salaam to m
e through you". So Ka'ab says "I swear by the Torah this is true. And were it no
t for the fact that the jews would criticise me, and say 'because I was scared o
f death I converted' I would follow you know, but I die as a jew." So better tha
n Huyay, but he is still going to die upon his own religion.
Aisha RA said she was sitting with the prisoners, and a lady was laughing and jo
king with all types of jokes while her own people are getting executed, and then
someone called her name and she stood up. Aisha RA said "why are you standing?"
And she said "to be killed". Aisha RA said "why?" and she said "because of some
thing I did" so she knew it was her death. And later on we found out she had kil
led one of the sahabah during the seige, and because she killed him in the manne
r, she was the only women executed. And Aisha RA said "I never ceased to be amaz