Khaibar was a spacious strongly fortified territory, studded with castles and farms, lying at a distance of 60-80 miles north of Madinah, now a village known for its uncongenial climate. After Al-Hudaibiyah Treaty, the major party of the anti-Islam tripartite coalition — Quraish, the bedouin horde of Najd tribes and the Jews — was neutralized, therefore, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) deemed it an appropriate time to settle his affairs with the other two wings — the Jews and the Najd tribes — in order that peace and security could prevail and the Muslims may devote their time and effort in propagating the Message of Allah and calling people to embrace it. Khaibar itself had always remained a hotbed of intrigue and conspiracy, and the Jews had always constituted it a source of military provocations and war instigation centre, so it was given a top priority on the agenda of the Prophet’s compelling exigencies. The Jews of Khaibar had united by an ancient alliance with the Confederates, triggered Bani Quraiza to practise treachery, maintained contacts with Ghatfan and the Arabians and they even devised an attempt at the Prophet’s life. In fact, the continual afflictions that the Muslims had sustained were primarily attributable to the Jews. Envoys were repeatedly sent to them for peaceful settlement, but all in vain. Consequently the Prophet (Peace be upon him) came to the conclusion that a military campaign was a must in order to forestall their hostilities.

 

Interpreters of the Noble Quran suggest that capturing Khaibar had been a Divine promise implied in Allah’s Words:

“Allah has promised you abundant spoils that you will capture, and He has hastened for you this.” [48:20]

i.e., Al-Hudaibiyah Peace Treaty and the surrender of Khaibar.

The hypocrites and people weak oheart had hung back from joining the true Muslims in Al-Hudaibiyah campaigns, so now Allah, the All-Mighty inculcated the following words in His Prophet’s ears:

“Those who lagged behind will say, when you set forth to take the spoils, ‘Allow us to follow you.’ They want to change Allah’s Words. Say: ‘You shall not follow us; thus Allah has said beforehand.’ Then they will say: ‘Nay, you envy us.’ Nay, but they understand not except a little.” [48:15]

For this reason, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) invited only those who were willing to fight in the cause of Allah to accompany him in his march against Khaibar. 1400 men only, who had sworn allegiance in response to his call.

 

Meanwhile, Siba‘ bin ‘Arfatah Al-Ghifari was chosen to run the affairs of Madinah. Another incident of high significance is noteworthy, namely the Islamization of Abu Huraira, a venerable Muslim scholar and an authentic narrator of the Prophetic traditions.

 

The hypocrites of Arabia took notice of the fresh Islamic intentions so they began to alert the Jews to the imminent military activities. Their chief, ‘Abdullah bin Ubai delegated an envoy to the Jews of Khaibar warning them against the dangers approaching, and nerving them to resist the Muslims as they outnumbered the latter and were better equipped. On hearing the news the Jews despatched Kinanah bin Abi Al-Huqaiq and Haudha bin Qais to their former allies, the tribe of Ghatfan requesting military assistance, promising to grant them half the yield of the fruit that their farms could yield if they managed to beat the Muslims.

 

The Prophet marched by way of Isra Mountain and then went forward with the army till he halted in a valley called Ar-Raji‘, encamping between Khaibar and Ghatfan so as to prevent the latter from reinforcing the Jews. The guides accompanying him led him to an intersection from which branched out three roads with different designations; all leading to his destination. He abstained from following the first two roads on grounds of their ominous designation and chose the third for its propitious indications.

 

It is noteworthy that some interesting incidents featured the Muslims’ march towards Khaibar; of which we mention the following:

• It has been narrated on the authority of Salamah bin Al-Akwa‘, who said: We marched upon Khaibar with the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him). We journeyed during the night. One of the men said to my brother ‘Amir: Won’t you recite to us some of your verses, ‘Amir? So he began to chant his verses to urge the camels, reciting:

  O Allah, if You had not guided us,
  We would have neither been guided rightly nor practised charity, nor offered prayers.
  We wish to lay down our lives for You; so forgive You our lapses,
  And keep us steadfast when we encounter (our enemies).
  Bestow upon us peace and tranquility,
  Behold, when with a cry they called upon us to help.

 

The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said: “Who is this driver (of the camels)?” They said: “It is ‘Amir.” He said: “Allah will show mercy to him.” A man said: “Martyrdom is reserved for him; O Messenger of Allah, would that you had allowed us to benefit ourselves from his life.” The Prophet’s Companions had already known that he would never invoke Allah’s mercy upon a close Companion but to single him out for martyrdom.

• On their way down a valley, the Muslims began to entertain Allah’s Greatness: shouting at the top of their voices: “Allah is Great, Allah is Great, there is no god but Allah.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) asked them to lower down their voices saying: “The One you are invoking is neither absent nor deaf; He is close to you, All-hearing.”
• In a spot called As-Sahba’, not far from Khaibar, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) observed the afternoon prayer, then he called his Companions to have whatever food provisions they had. What they brought was too scanty to satisfy them all. The Prophet took it by his hand and it immediately grew in quantity, so they all ate to their fill. Shortly afterward, he and the others, rinsed their mouths and performed the evening prayer without ablution; he did the same for the night prayer.

The following morning, at sunrise, the Muslims encountered the Jews when they had come out about their jobs with their axes, spades and strings driving their cattle along. They began to shout in surprise: “Muhammad has come along with his force!” The Messenger of Allah said: “Allah is Great, Khaibar shall face destruction. Behold! When we descend in the city centre, it will be a bad day for those who have been warned (but have not taken heed).”

For encampment, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had chosen a certain plot of land he deemed suitable to serve as the headquarters of his army. However, a veteran fighter of his called Hubab bin Al-Mundhir suggested that they, under the exigencies of war requirements and for the sake of providing maximum logistic facilities, shift to another place. On approaching the vicinity of Khaibar, the Prophet ordered his troops to halt, and began to invoke his Lord saying: “O Allah! Lord of the seven heavens and what they harbour beneath, Lord of the seven earths and what lies in their wombs, Lord of devils and whomsoever they have led astray; we beseech You to grant us the good of this village (Khaibar), the good of its inhabitants and the good that lies in it. We seek refuge with You from the evil of this village, the evil of its inhabitants, and the evil that lies in it.” Then he ordered, “Now march (towards the village) in the Name of Allah.”

 

“The banner”, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) declared “would be entrusted to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger and they (Allah and His Messenger) love him.” All the Muslims came forward in the following morning hoping to be granted the honour of carrying the banner. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) called for ‘Ali bin Abi Talib whose eyes used to hurt, and handed it to him. ‘Ali, on his part, pledged he would fight the enemies until they embraced Islam. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) answered him saying: “Take things easy and invite them to accept Islam and brief them on their duties towards Allah. I swear by Allah that if only one should be guided through your example, that would surely outweigh the best of our camels.”

 

Khaibar, it seems, was split into two parts with five forts in the first: Na‘im, As-Sa‘b bin Mu‘adh, the castle of Az-Zubair, ’Abi Castle, and An-Nizar in Ash-Shiqq; three others were in part two: Al-Qamus, Al-Wateeh and As-Salalim.

The Actual Operation begins:

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) began the campaign by reducing the minor strongholds one after the other. The first fort he was to attack was Na‘im, the first defence line with a formidable strategic position. Marhab, the leader of the fort, invited ‘Amr bin Al-Akwa‘ to meet him in combat and the latter responded; when ‘Amr struck the Jew, his sword recoiled and wounded his knee, and he died of that wound. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) later said: “For him (‘Amir) there is a double reward in the Hereafter.” He indicated this by putting two of his fingers together. ‘Ali bin Abi Talib then undertook to meet Marhab in combat, and managed to kill him. Yasir, Marhab’s brother, then turned up challenging the Muslims to a fight. Az-Zubair was equal to it and killed him on the spot. Real fighting then broke out and lasted for a few days. The Jews showed courage and proved to be too formidable even to the repeated rushes of the veteran soldiers of Islam. However, they later realized the futility of resistance and began to abandon their positions in An-Na‘im and infiltrate into the fortress of As-Sa‘b.

 

Al-Hubab bin Al-Mundhir Al-Ansari led the attack on As-Sa‘b fortress and laid siege to it for three days after which the Muslims stormed it with a lot of booty, provisions and food to fall to their lot therein. This victory came in the wake of the Prophet’s (Peace be upon him) invocation to Allah to help Banu Aslam in their relentless and daring attempts to capture that fort.

 

During the process of the war operations, extreme hunger struck the Muslims. They lit fires, slaughtered domestic asses and beto cook them. When the Prophet (Peace be upon him) inquired about the fires and cooking, he ordered that they throw away the meat and wash the cooking pots, forbidding the practice of eating such meat.

 

The Jews, meanwhile, evacuated An-Natat and barricaded themselves in Az-Zubair fort, a formidable defensive position inaccessible to both cavalry and infantry. The Muslims besieged it for three days, but in vain. A Jew spy told the Prophet about a subterranean water source that provided them with water, and advised that it be cut off in order to undermine their resistance. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) did that so the Jews got out to engage with the Muslims in fierce fighting during which some Muslims and ten Jews were killed, but the fort was eventually conquered.

 

Shortly after this battle, the Jews moved to ’Abi Castle and barricaded themselves inside. The same events recurred; the Muslims besieged the new site for three days and then the great Muslim hero Abu Dujanah Sammak bin Kharshah Al-Ansari — of the red ribbon — led the Muslim army and broke into the castle, conducted fierce military operations within and forced the remaining Jews to flee for their lives into another fort, An-Nizar.

 

An-Nizar was the most powerful fort, and the Jews came to the established conviction that it was too immune to be stormed, so they deemed it a safe place for their children and women. The Muslims, however, were not dismayed but dragged on the siege, but because standing at a commanding top, the fort was impregnable. The Jews inside were too cowardly to meet the Muslims in open fight but rather hurled a shower of arrows and stones on the attackers. Considering this situation, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) ordered that rams be used and these proved effective and caused cracks in the ramparts providing an easy access into the heart of the fort, where the Jews were put to rout and fled in all directions leaving behind their women and children.

 

With these series of military victories, the first division of Khaibar was totally reduced, and the Jews in the other minor fortresses evacuated them and fled to the second division.