EVENTS
628 CE / The Jews of Khaybar. 7th Year after Hijrah (Migration)
Important events and incidences that took place
Shortly after Hudaybiyah, the Prophet sent a message to Abysinnia, inviting the Muslims there to join him in Madinah to help with the struggle. Then he turned his attention to the north again. The Jewish settlement of Khaybar, which had played such a divisive role during the siege of Madinah, had been chastened by the fate of Banu Qurayzah but it was still stirring up hostility among the northern tribes. Muhammad wanted to make sure that they would never threaten the security of the Muslim community again, so not long after his return from Hudaybiyah he set off with a force of around fifteen-hundred men.
The believers were certain that that the near victory promised in the recent revelation- a victory which would moreover be rich in spoils- could be nothing other than the conquest of Khaybar. But this was not to be shared with all those who professed Islam. The revelation made it clear that those bedouin who had failed to respond to his summons to make the lesser pilgrimage had been largely prompted by mercenary motives. They were therefore not to be allowed to take part in the conquest of what was, without doubt, one of the richest communities in all Arabia.
This meant setting off with a smaller force, though it had the advantage that their plans could be kept secret until the last moment. When Quraysh heard of the news, they were jubilant, certain that the Muslims would be defeated. Surrounded, like Madinah, with plains of volcanic rock and defended by seven large fortresses, Khaybar was thought to be impregnable. The Prophet and his men reached Khaybar in three days with the Jews caught extremely by surprise. The Jews sent for help from the tribe of Ghatafan but the Muslim army prevented any such assistance from reaching Khaybar. Moreover, they were able to benefit from the internal strife within the Khabarite ranks as each tribe was autonomous and they found it difficult to unite against a common enemy.
The siege lasted a month with the Muslims systematically surrounding each fort in turn, bombarding it with arrows until it surrendered. And so each fort fell one after the other. Eventually the Jews approached Muhammad with an offer of peace when it was quite clear that they could not possibly win. The Prophet mercifully accepted their plea and permitted them to stay on their land whose title now passed to him by right of conquest. The terms of their surrender were that Muhammad would give the Jews of Khaybar military protection in return for half their date-crop. Thus, all the Jews of the Peninsula submitted to the authority of the Holy Prophet and the northern flank of Muslim power, namely the whole area north of Madinah, was now as secure as the south had become through the treaty of Hudaybiyah. When they returned to Madinah, the believers from Abyssinia had arrived and Muhammad embraced his cousin Ja’far, whom he had last seen as a young man of twenty-seven thirteen years earlier. He kissed him on the forehead, saying that he did not know which delighted him more, the victory of Khaybar or this reunion.
LESSONS & WISDOMS
628 CE / The Jews of Khaybar
A closer look at the events; in search of deeper meanings and drawing lessons
The truce with Makkah made it possible for the Prophet to focus on the dangers that lay to the north; the greatest of which was the hostile Jewish town of Khaybar. The situation was such that the Muslim could never know any fullness of peace while Khaybar remained as it was. Thus the Prophet decided upon military engagement and lead an army to Khaybar; after a series of fierce yet complicated encounters the Jews surrendered, ending the campaign with a peace treaty with the terms heavily in favor of the Muslims. The following lessons can be gained from the incident,
1) The Jews of Khaybar were not known for showing hostility to the Muslims; even within the early Madinan years of migration when the Muslims were most vulnerable. However, tension and hostility began to rise soon after the migration of the Jews of Banu Nadheer into Khaybar. They had arrived there after being banished from Madinah. It was the Jews of Banu Nadheer who instilled within the community hatred and aggression towards the Muslims which ultimately led to the downfall of the whole community as they dragged them into a war with the Prophet. The Prophet, having made this observation, chose an appropriate time to attack Kayber, as after the treaty of Hudaybiyyah the Jews there could no longer rely on support from the Quraysh.
2) One of the most important achievements from the Khaybar expedition was that the Qurashites had now become isolated with the Jewish threat now neutralised. They had failed in securing an alliance of tribes and clans against the Muslims and now they themselves were facing isolation. This acted as a catalyst for further expansion of the Prophetic Call.
3) The Companions were motivated to attack Khaybar due to a promise God had made earlier in the Quranic chapter al-Fath. They understood from the revelation that victory was certain along with abundant riches and spoils of war. From God’s address to them, we learn that being driven by worldly success is not irreligious or impious so long as one resists sacrificing the ultimate success of the hereafter for a worldly gain. In this instance some of the disciples of the Prophet were motivated by the worldly gains and at the same time sought the greater success of the hereafter and pleasure of God. This is like the famous supplication the Prophet instructed his followers to make: “O our Lord, we ask thee for good in this world and good in the hereafter”- In essence Islam teaches one to live in this world and seek its bounty but to be weary of worldliness.
It should be noted that the purest of intentions is to seek out God’s pleasure and reward in the Hereafter and be oblivious to the worldly gains that can result from acts of worship and Godly deeds.
4) It was from the Prophet’s ingenuity that he allowed the Jews to remain working in their land as long as they kept to the contract by sharing half of the harvest with them. This deal provided an excellent incentive for the Jews and more importantly ensured they maintained their agricultural assets. Also, the Prophet desired that the Muslims busy themselves in spreading Islam and not tending to agriculture.
EDICTS & RULINGS
628 CE / The Jews of Khaybar
Revelation particular to this year
“Ibn ‘Umar related that, on the day of Khaybar, the Prophet prohibited eating the meat of domesticated donkeys.
He also prohibited the meat of every wild beast that preyed on other animals as well as every bird that holds it prey with talons.
***
The Islamic business model known as Mudarabah was the type of transaction used by the Prophet in the peace treaty with the Jews of Khaybar. This partnership model is essentially equity from one party and labour by another with shared profits. The Prophet allowed the Jews to use the land of Khaybar, now owned by the Muslims, to grow crops and share the profits upon harvest.
***
The prohibition of al-Fadl usury was made after Khaybar. This type of interest is when a loan is given with a stipulation of increase upon return. The second type of interest is known as al-Nasi’a.”
CONTENTIOUS NARRATIVES
628 CE / The Jews of Khaybar
Muhammad, the Emancipator of Women
In Arabia, before the advent of the prophet Muhammad, women essentially belonged to men. If a man died, his wife was part of the wealth that his heirs would inherit. Out of shame of having a baby girl some parents would even burry their daughters alive due to the social stigma attached to having a daughter.
It was in such a backward social context in which Muhammad began calling men to treat women as human beings and afford them due rights. This concept was totally alien to the Arabs of that time and so his call was often met with ridicule and laughter. He further advised them to treat their wives kindly with the proclamation: “The best of you is the one who is the best to his wife”. He also emphasised the role of the mother above that of the father by commanding every believer to “respect the wombs that bore you”.
Once, when a man came and asked him “Who has the most rights over me” who should I serve the most and take care of the most. He said “Your mother.” The man asked, “Then who?” And he said: “your mother” again and a third time the man asked “and then who?” and he replied again “your mother” and then when the man asked him a fourth time said “And then your father”. He elevated the status of women as mothers, and as builders of society.
Muhammad taught women that they were equal to men in worth to God but that they had different roles in society due to their physical and psychological differences. They were also just as important as men spiritually, socially, and as individuals and members of society. Revelation came down in the Qur’an which further gave women rights of inheritance and ordered them to keep their family names after they got married, ensuring that she keeps her identity and her family links.
The Prophet taught men that women were to be respected and not used as mere sexual objects or abused and that they must take full financial responsibility to provide and nurture their marriage partners and any children they father, even if the marriage breaks up. He condemned the killing of baby girls and encouraged raising daughters with as much pride as sons. He said that women should never be forced to marry against their will and should be able to choose and refuse.
He encouraged men and women alike to study and learn. His beloved wife Aisha was one of the greatest and most knowledgeable jurists and teachers in Islamic history. After the demise of the Prophet, she was often visited by Muhammad’s Companions who would respectfully seek here juristic opinion on religious verdicts.
Women would come from far and wide to learn from the Prophet Muhammad and they were always welcome to come and ask him questions. They would also visit him in search of justice. For example, one young lady was forced by her father to marry a man. She went to the prophet Muhammad and told him what her father had done. The prophet told her she could have the marriage annulled. She said that she came to him so that fathers would know that they are not allowed to force their daughters in to marriage. If women came to Muhammad, they would get justice and he would take a stand for them.
The Prophet’s first wife Khadijah was a phenomenal pillar of support for him. He was 25 when he married her and she was 40. She was a businesswoman who was most impressed with his work after she hired him as an employee. After his encounter with the archangel Gabriel in the cave of Hira he came back to Khadijah, and said, “Cover me, cover me.” He then became calm. He informed her of the incident of the cave and added that he was horrified. His wife tried to soothe him and reassured him saying, “God will never disgrace you. You encourage families to keep close; you bear the burdens of the weak; you help the poor and the needy, you are most generous to your guests and endure hardships in the path of truthfulness.”
He missed her greatly after she passed away and was informed by God that she attained perfection as a human being.
Islam also teaches that no man can touch the wealth of a woman, even her father or husband without her permission.
Islam doesn’t merely have the simplistic view of men and women as materially the same. It acknowledges their differences and details their roles in a sophisticated structure of society that led to stability and advancement for both sexes wherever the Islamic social model was implemented.