Sūrat al-Ḥashr

Medinan. It consists of twenty-four verses. (It was revealed after al-Bayyinah).

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

{Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth glorifies Allah, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. It is He who expelled the ones who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture from their homes at the first gathering. You did not think they would leave, and they thought that their fortresses would protect them from Allah; but Allah came at them from where they had not expected, and He cast terror into their hearts [so that] they destroyed their houses with their own hands and the hands of the believers. So take warning, O people of vision.}

Historical Context The Banu al-Nadir made a treaty with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to be neither for him nor against him. When he was victorious at Badr, they said, "He is the Prophet described in the Torah; his banner shall not be defeated." However, when the Muslims were defeated at Uhud, they doubted and broke their covenant. Ka‘b ibn al-Ashraf went to Mecca with forty riders and formed an alliance against the Prophet (ﷺ) at the Ka‘bah. The Prophet (ﷺ) ordered Muhammad ibn Maslamah al-Ansari to kill Ka‘b by stealth (he was his foster brother).

The Prophet (ﷺ) then came upon them with his battalions while riding a donkey bridled with palm fiber, saying, "Leave Medina." They replied, "Death is dearer to us than that," and called for war. It is said they requested ten days to prepare for departure. Abdullah ibn Ubayy, the hypocrite, sent word to them: "Do not leave your fortress; if they fight you, we will be with you and will not abandon you. If you leave, we will leave with you." They fortified the alleys, and the Prophet (ﷺ) besieged them for twenty-one nights. When Allah cast terror into their hearts and they despaired of the hypocrites' aid, they sought peace. The Prophet (ﷺ) refused them anything but exile, allowing every three households to carry one camel-load of their belongings. They departed for Syria (Jericho and Adhru‘at), except for two families—the house of Abu al-Huqayq and the house of Huyayy ibn Akhtab—who went to Khaybar, while a group went to al-Hirah.

Exegesis

• "At the first gathering" (li-awwal al-hashr): The lam relates to "drove out" (akhraja), similar to the lam in "I came to him at such-and-such a time." It means: He drove out those who disbelieved at the time of the first gathering. This was their first gathering toward Syria; they were a tribe that had never been exiled before, and they were the first of the People of the Book to be driven from the Arabian Peninsula to Syria. Alternatively, this was their first gathering, and their last was Umar’s expulsion of them from Khaybar to Syria. Others say the last gathering is the Day of Resurrection, as the gathering place is in Syria.
• "You did not think they would leave": Due to their intense might, their impregnability, the strength of their fortresses, and their numbers and equipment. They thought their fortresses would protect them from the might of Allah.
• "But Allah came upon them from where they had not expected": This refers to the killing of their leader, Ka‘b ibn al-Ashraf, by his brother, which weakened their strength, broke their spirit, and stripped their hearts of security by casting terror into them. It inspired them to cooperate with the believers in destroying their own homes and discouraged the hypocrites from supporting them.
• "They destroyed their houses with their own hands and the hands of the believers": Destruction (takhrib) is corruption through demolition. They destroyed the interiors to use the wood and stone to block the alleys and to ensure the Muslims would not benefit from their homes. The believers destroyed them to remove their fortifications and expand the battlefield. They are said to have destroyed them with their own hands because they were the cause of it, as if they had commanded it.
• "So take warning": Reflect on how Allah orchestrated their expulsion and empowered the Muslims over them without a major battle, fulfilling the Prophet’s (ﷺ) promise that Allah would grant them their land and wealth without fighting.

"And had Allah not decreed for them exile, He would have punished them in this world, and for them in the Hereafter is the punishment of the Fire. That is because they opposed Allah and His Messenger; and whoever opposes Allah—then indeed, Allah is severe in penalty."