Tafsir of Al-Ahzab 33:26

(And He brought down those who supported them) i.e., those who aided the repelled confederates (from among the People of the Scripture). They are the Banu Qurayza according to the majority; al-Hasan states they were the Banu Nadir, but the former is the relied-upon view.

(From their strongholds) i.e., from their fortresses. Sayasi (strongholds) is the plural of sayasiyah, which is anything used for protection. It is also a term for the horn of a bull or antelope, and the spur of a rooster on its leg, like a small horn. Sayasi is also applied to the combs used by weavers, which are made of iron, as stated by Abu Ubaydah. He cited the verse of Durayd ibn al-Simmah al-Jushami: "I looked at him while the spears were striking him, like the striking of the combs (sayasi) into the stretched-out weaving." It is also applied to roots. Abu Ubaydah said: "The Arabs say, 'May Allah cut his si'si'ah,' meaning his root."

(And He cast terror into their hearts) i.e., intense fear, to the extent that they surrendered themselves to execution and their families and children to captivity, as indicated by His, the Exalted’s, saying: (A party you kill, and you take captive a party) (33:26), meaning they did so without any movement on their part, let alone opposition or defiance.

In al-Bahr, it is stated that the casting of terror was the cause for their coming down [from the fortresses]. The cause was mentioned before the effect because the joy in their coming down was greater, and the news of it was more significant. The object (you kill) was placed first because the killing befell the men, and they were the most prominent, as if concern for their condition was more significant. This level of concern was not present for the captives; rather, the concern there was more focused on the captivity. If it had been said, "And a party you take captive," one might have thought, before hearing "you take captive," that it would be followed by "you defeat," or something similar.

It is said that the object was placed first in the first sentence because the flow of speech was for its detailing, and it was delayed in the second to observe the verse endings. It is also said that the priority was for that reason, while the delay [in the second] was so that no separator would come between the killing and its companion, which is captivity. Others say that the two sentences were varied in structure due to the actual difference in the condition of the two parties: one was brought forward and killed, and the other was delayed and taken captive.

Ibn Amir and al-Kisa’i read (al-ru'b) with a damma on the 'ayn. Abu Haywah read (ta'suruna) with a damma on the sin. Al-Yamani read (ya'suruna) with a ya of the third person. Ibn Anas, on the authority of Ibn Dhakwan, read it that way as well, and [also] in yaqtuluna. No sound basis appears to me for assigning the noun to the third-person form, so contemplate this.

The detail of the story, in summary, is that when it was the morning of the night in which the confederates were defeated—or the day after that night, according to some reports—and the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the Muslims had returned inside Medina, Gabriel (peace be upon him) came, wrapped in a turban of brocade, upon a mule with a saddle covered in a velvet cloth of silk. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was with Zaynab bint Jahsh, who was washing his noble head, and she had washed one side of it. He said, "Have you laid down your weapons, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Yes." He said, "May Allah forgive you, the angels have not laid down their weapons yet, and I have only just returned from pursuing the people. Allah the Exalted commands you to march to the Banu Qurayza, and I am heading toward them to shake their fortresses over them."

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded a herald to announce to the people: "Whoever is listening and obedient shall not pray the Asr prayer except at the Banu Qurayza." He appointed Ibn Umm Maktum as governor over Medina and sent Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah honor his face) ahead with his banner. The people rushed toward it. He (may Allah honor his face) traveled until, as he approached the fortresses, he heard from them an ugly remark about the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). He turned back until he met the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, "O Messenger of Allah, do not go near these wretches." He asked, "Did you think I heard any harm from them?" He said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He said, "If they saw me, they would not say any of that."

When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) approached their fortresses, he said, "O brothers of monkeys, has Allah humiliated you and sent His punishment upon you?" They said, "O Abu al-Qasim, you were never ignorant," and in one report, "abusive." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had passed a group of his companions at the Suwarin before reaching them, and asked, "Has anyone passed you?" They said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah, Dihya ibn Khalifa al-Kalbi passed us on a white mule with a velvet silk cloth." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "That was Gabriel (peace be upon him), sent to the Banu Qurayza to shake their fortresses over them and cast terror into their hearts."

When he reached them, he (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) camped at one of their wells on the side of their property, called the well of Ana. The people arrived in succession. Some men came after the late night prayer (Isha) without having prayed the Asr prayer, due to the order of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "Let no one pray the Asr except at the Banu Qurayza." They had been preoccupied with their battle, which they could not avoid. When they arrived, they prayed it after Isha, and Allah the Exalted did not blame them for that in His Book, nor did His Messenger rebuke them.

He (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) besieged them for twenty-five nights, and it is said twenty-one, and it is said fifteen. The siege exhausted them, and they feared the greatest fear. Huyayy ibn Akhtab had entered with them into their fortress when Quraysh and Ghatafan returned, to fulfill the pact he had made with Ka'b ibn Asad. When they became certain that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would not depart until he fought them, Ka'b said to them, "O assembly of Jews, what you see has befallen you. I offer you three options; choose whichever you wish." They said, "What are they?"

He said, "We follow this man and believe in him, for by Allah, it has become clear to you that he is a sent prophet and that he is the one you find in your Book. You would then be secure regarding your lives, wealth, sons, and women." They said, "We will never abandon the judgment of the Torah and will not replace it with another."

He said, "If you refuse this, then let us kill our sons and women, then march out to Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and his companions, men with drawn swords, leaving no burden behind us until Allah the Exalted judges between us and them. If we perish, we perish, and we will have left no offspring behind us to fear for. If we prevail, then by my life, we will take women and children." They said, "Shall we kill these poor ones? What is the good of life after them?"

He said, "If you refuse this, then tonight is the night of the Sabbath, and perhaps Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and his companions feel secure against us. Let us come down; perhaps we may catch them off guard." They said, "We will spoil our Sabbath and do on it what none before us has done, except those you know, and who suffered what is not hidden from you of transfiguration." He said, "Then not a single man among you has spent one night since his mother gave birth to him in peace."

Then they sent to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), "Send us Abu Lubabah ibn Abd al-Mundhir, the brother of Banu Amr ibn Awf," and they were allies of the Aws, "so we may consult him." He sent him to them. When they saw him, the men stood up to him, and the women and children wept in his face. He felt pity for them and they said to him, "O Abu Lubabah, do you think we should surrender to the judgment of Muhammad?" He said, "Yes," and pointed with his hand to his throat, indicating slaughter. He realized he had betrayed Allah and His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). He did not return to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) but went to the Medina mosque and tied himself to a pillar until his repentance was revealed (may Allah be pleased with him).

Then the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) demanded they come down. The Aws interceded, saying, "O Messenger of Allah, they are our allies, not the Khazraj. You have done with the allies of our brothers yesterday what you know." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had besieged the Banu Qaynuqa before the Banu Qurayza, and they were allies of the Khazraj; they had come down to his judgment, and Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul asked him for them, and he gifted them to him. When the Aws spoke to him, he (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Would you not be pleased, O assembly of Aws, that a man from among you judges them?" They said, "Yes." He said, "That is up to Sa'd ibn Mu'adh."

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had placed him in a tent belonging to a woman of Aslam named Rufaydah in his mosque; she used to treat the wounded and devoted herself to the service of the Muslims. He (may Allah be pleased with him) had been injured on the day of the Trench; a man from Quraysh named Ibn al-Ariqah shot him with an arrow, severing his artery. He prayed to Allah, saying, "O Allah, do not let me die until You gladden my eyes regarding the Qurayza." It is narrated that the Banu Qurayza themselves chose the judgment of Sa'd, and the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) agreed to that.

His people came to him while he was in the mosque and carried him on a donkey, having cushioned it with a leather pillow. He was a large, handsome man. They came with him to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), saying, "O Abu Amr, be kind to your allies, for the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) only appointed you to be kind to them." When they persisted, he said, "It is time for Sa'd that he should not fear the blame of any critic regarding Allah." Some of his people returned to the dwellings of Banu Abd al-Ashhal and mourned the men of Banu Qurayza before Sa'd even reached them, because of the words they heard from him.

When Sa'd reached the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the Muslims, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Stand for your leader." The Emigrants from Quraysh said, "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) meant the Ansar." The Ansar said, "He (peace and blessings be upon him) meant all the Muslims." They stood for him and said, "O Abu Amr, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) has appointed you to judge your allies." Sa'd said, "Do you have the covenant of Allah and His oath that the judgment for them is what I judge?" They said, "Yes." He said, "And on him who is here," in the direction where the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was, alluding to the Messenger of Allah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Yes."

Sa'd said, "I judge that their men be killed, their wealth divided, and their women and children taken captive." The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "You have judged them with the judgment of Allah from above seven heavens." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) imprisoned them in the house of Bint al-Harith, a woman of the Banu Najjar. He then went to the market of Medina—which is the market today—and had trenches dug. He sent for them and struck their necks in those trenches, sending them out in groups. Among them was the enemy of Allah, Huyayy ibn Akhtab, and Ka'b ibn Asad, the leader of the people. They numbered six or seven hundred, and those who increase the count say they were between eight and nine hundred.

They had said to Ka'b as they were being led to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) in groups, "O Ka'b, what do you think he will do to us?" He said, "Will you not understand in every situation? Do you not see the caller who does not stop, and those who leave you never return? It is, by Allah, death." This continued until the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was finished with them.

Huyayy ibn Akhtab, the enemy of Allah, was brought; he was wearing a tunic of saffron, which he had torn from every side—a fingertip's width each—so that it would not be taken as booty. His hands were tied to his neck with a rope. When he looked at the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), he said, "By Allah, I do not blame myself for your enmity, but whoever Allah forsakes, is forsaken." Then he turned to the people and said, "O people, there is nothing wrong with the decree of Allah; it is a book, a destiny, and a slaughter that was written for the Children of Israel." He then sat down and his neck was struck. Jabal ibn Jawwal al-Taghlibi said about him: "By your life, Ibn Akhtab did not blame himself, but whoever Allah forsakes, is forsaken. He strove until he fulfilled the soul's excuse, and he was restless, seeking glory, like every restless one."

It is narrated that Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shammas (may Allah be pleased with him) requested from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) the life of al-Zubayr ibn Bata al-Qurazi, because he had shown him favor in the pre-Islamic days at the Battle of Bu'ath. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "He is yours." Thabit came to him and said, "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) has granted me your blood, so you are free." He said, "An old man, what use is life? I have no family or children." Thabit came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said, "May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah, his wife and children." He said, "They are yours." Thabit came to him and said, "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) has granted me your family and children, so they are yours." He said, "A family in the Hijaz with no wealth, what is their survival?" Thabit came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and asked, "What about his wealth?" He said, "It is yours." Thabit came to him and said, "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) has given me your wealth, so it is yours."

Thabit said, "What happened to the one whose face was like a Chinese mirror in which the virgins of the clan would look—Ka'b ibn Asad?" He said, "Killed." "What happened to the leader of the front when we charged, and our defender when we fled, Azzal ibn Shamwal?" He said, "Killed." "What happened to the two councils?" (meaning the Banu Ka'b ibn Qurayza and Banu Amr ibn Qurayza). He said, "Killed." He said, "I ask you, O Thabit, by the favor you owe me, to let me join the people. By Allah, there is no good in life after them. I will not be patient, for the sake of Allah, until I meet my loved ones." Thabit brought him forward and struck his neck. When this reached Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), he said, "He will meet them, by Allah, in Hell, abiding therein forever."

Sumay bint Aqis, Umm al-Mundhir, the sister of Sulayt ibn Qays—who was one of the aunts of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), had prayed with him toward the two Qiblas, and had given him the pledge of allegiance of women—requested the life of Rifa'ah ibn Shamwal al-Qurazi. She said, "May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Prophet of Allah, grant me Rifa'ah, for he claimed he would pray and eat camel meat." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) granted him to her, and she spared him.

Everyone among the males who had reached puberty was executed. As for the women, none were killed except for a woman called Lubabah, the wife of al-Hakam al-Qurazi, who had thrown a millstone at Khallad ibn Suwayd, killing him. Ibn Ishaq narrated from Urwah ibn al-Zubayr from Aisha, who said: "By Allah, this woman was with me, talking and laughing, while the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was killing her men with swords. Suddenly a caller shouted her name: 'Where is so-and-so?' She said, 'I am here, by Allah.' I said to her, 'Woe to you, what is the matter?' She said, 'I am to be killed.' I said, 'Why?' She said, 'Because of an act I committed.' She was taken away, and her neck was struck." Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) used to say: "By Allah, I will never forget her wonderment, her good spirits, and her laughter, even though she knew she was to be killed."

Then the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) divided their wealth, women, and children among the Muslims. He assigned shares for horses and shares for men that day and took out the fifth. A horse was given two shares, the rider one, and the foot soldier one. There were thirty-six horses in that battle. This was the first booty from which shares were taken and the fifth was removed, as Ibn Ishaq mentioned.

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) then sent Sa'd ibn Zayd al-Ansari, brother of Banu Abd al-Ashhal, with the captives of the people—who numbered 750, as it is said—to Najd, where he bought horses and weapons for them. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had chosen for his own noble self from their women Rayhanah bint Amr, and she remained in his possession (peace and blessings be upon him) until he passed away. He (peace and blessings be upon him) had offered to marry her and place the veil upon her, but she said, "O Messenger of Allah, rather leave me in your possession, for it is lighter for me and for you." So he left her (peace and blessings be upon him). When he captured her, she insisted on Judaism, so he kept her apart, and he felt a weight in his heart because of that. While he (peace and blessings be upon him) was with his companions, he heard the sound of footsteps behind him and said, "This is the footstep of the son of Shu'bah, coming to give me the good news of Rayhanah's conversion to Islam." He came and said, "O Messenger of Allah, Rayhanah has converted to Islam," which gladdened him.

The conquest was, according to al-Bahr, at the end of Dhu al-Qa'dah. This battle and the Battle of the Trench were in the same year, as indicated by what we mentioned at the beginning of the story, and this is the correct view, contrary to those who say each was in a separate year. When the affair of the Banu Qurayza was concluded, Sa'd's (may Allah be pleased with him) wound burst open, and he died a martyr. The angels (peace be upon them) rejoiced at his soul, and the Throne shook for him. Regarding this, a man from the Ansar said: "We never heard of the Throne of Allah shaking for the death of anyone, except for Sa'd, Abu Amr."

Among the Muslims who were martyred on the day of the Banu Qurayza, as narrated by Ibn Ishaq, was Khallad ibn Suwayd ibn Tha'labah ibn Amr from the Banu al-Harith ibn al-Khazraj; a millstone was thrown at him and crushed him severely. It is mentioned that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "He has the reward of two martyrs." Abu Sinan ibn Muhsan ibn Harthan, brother of the Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah, also died while the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was besieging the Banu Qurayza, and he was buried in their cemetery where they bury their dead today; it is there that they bury their dead in Islam. The completion of the details regarding what occurred in this battle is in the books of Sirah.