On the Path of the Beloved
Episode 25 :
the battle of Khaibar
In the name of Allah, The All-Merciful, The Ever-Merciful.
Praise be to Allah (SWT)
and all Prayers and Blessings of Allah be upon our master, the most noble
Prophet Muhammad (SAWS).
We are in the last nights of Ramadan, just very few more days and this blessed
month will be over. May Allah (SWT) accept good deeds from us all, and be
pleased with all of us.
Before we tackle today’s episode which is going to be about the
battle of Khaibar, we start with the four following points:
-
Answering a question.
-
Giving thanks to Allah (SWT) for his
blessings.
-
Answering the query about my reference books.
-
Making a special comment.
Concerning the question, many people asked about what they could
do after Ramadan. To them I say, beware of dispersing and slackening after
Ramadan. Those people who loved the prophet (SAWS) and felt for him have
to feel responsible toward his message. You have to be ready to do extraordinary
things, for after Ramadan, there will be no time for words; there will be time
only for deeds. My words are directed to all the people-starting with myself,
the youth and the distinguished people in all fields, let us all exert our
efforts to start the revival of our countries. We will be meeting together -if
Allah wills- and putting things together to see how we can work out and execute
all the projects.
The second point is about thanking Allah for his blessings. Can
you imagine the blessing Allah (SWT) granted us when He permitted us to
forecast this program from a building that is opposite to the mosque of the
prophet (SAWS) in Madinah. It is an unprecedented event, that we are
telling the Seerah (his biography) of the prophet (SAWS) from the
places that witnessed his Da’wa (missionary activity)-Cave of Hira’, Cave
of Thaur, Mt Uhud, etc. I keep on prostrating before Allah (SWT) everyday
in a try to thank and praise Him for all this blessings. Praise be to Allah.
Many people asked about reference books of the prophet’s
Seerah, where they can find the stories, the events and their analysis. To
them I say, you have to make the difference between the analysis I make and the
events. Concerning the events of the Seerah, you can refer to the following two
books: “ Al-Jami’ As-Sahih fi As-Seerah An-Nabawya” (The Authentic
collection of the prophet’s Seerah) written by Dr. Samira Az-Zayed, and the well
known “Ar-Rahiq Al-Makhtum”. On the other hand, The analysis you heard
from me, is not found in books-though I personally found great help in them.
This does not mean that what I have said is far more important, but because this
analysis is based on our understanding of the events on 2005 which certainly
based on the current situations of the Muslims and the Ummah (the Muslim
World) and the whole world. These circumstances didn’t exist 10, 15 or 30 years
ago. This is another proof that the Seerah suits all the times and the places! I
have considered it from a different angle as we are mainly concerned nowadays
with the reformation of the world, coexistence and citizenship. Yet, do not
worry; the program will be broadcasted again on Iqra channel along with the
subtitling in English. Moreover the episodes will be published in Arabic and
English books, and cassettes so that the whole world will know who is prophet
Muhammad (SAWS).
The fourth point is about a comment. Have you noticed that the
Ayahs (verses from the Qur’an) and Ahadith (Prophetic narrations) occur exactly
at the right time and as a response to the needs of the Ummah in a particular
phase! For instance, when the prophet (SAWS) arrived to Madinah, there
was a great need for union and fusion between Al-Muhajireen (immigrants) and
Al-Ansar(the supporters).
Therefore the Ayahs of brotherhood in faith were sent down. This is indeed a
message to the Muslim Speakers, preachers and the youth who want to do Da’wa
(missionary activity), they have to learn what to use and when! The Ayahs on
Hijra (immigration) came on the right time. Also, the Ayahs concerning jihad
were sent down when the Muslims had to lead war against the disbelievers, so
Ayahs that are talking about martyrdom and perseverance were needed at that
time.
Let us move to today’s main axis which is the battle of Khaibar.
Now, we are in the month of Moharram in the 7th. year after
Hijra. The prophet (SAWS) had just concluded the Hodaybia treaty with
Quraish which implied an armistice for ten years. The prophet’s (SAWS)
attention moved to focus on Khaibar. But why Khaibar in particular? Because it
had become a meeting point of conspiracy against the Muslims. For three or four
years conspirators from all over the Arab peninsula were gathering in khaibar.
Every time the prophet defeated some traitors, they found shelter there!
The Jews of Bani An-Nadeer tribe moved there when they
left Madinah after they betrayed the prophet (SAWS), and from there Hoyai
Bni Al-Akhtab went to meet Abu-Sofian in Makkah to collAbu-rate with him in
fighting the prophet (SAWS) and so he did with other tribes. Additionally
Ka’b Ibn Al-Achraf wrote a poem- as poetry was a means of media at that
time-insulting the prophet (SAWS), his wives and companions and attacking
their honor. Such poems sprung from khaibar! Moreover, it was khaibar who
supported the army of Al-Ahzab in the battle of Al-Khandaq (the trench). Also it
was khaibar that encouraged the Jews of the tribe of Bani-Quraiza to break the
treaty with the prophet (SAWS).
The prophet wasn’t an instigator of war. Every time he had to
lead a war, it was either because he was obliged to do so, because he was
prevented to transmit his message or as a means to reach peace (as we will see
in today’s episode)! He was not blood-thirsty. I challenge any Orientalist to
prove the opposite.
Khaibar went far in its enmity to Muslims. It even sent
messengers to the Romans and the Persians suggesting collAbu-ration to destroy
The "new state". We should pay attention here to the fact that These had already
started hearing about Muslims (for instance from the prophet’s letters as we
saw in yesterday’s episode)! Therefore khaibar’s role became very dangerous, it
was inciting the international powers to lead a war against the Muslims!
Before we talk about how the prophet fought Khaibar, let us first
describe it:
·
It was very near to Madinah,
as it was just 150 km far.
·
It had a huge military and
economic power: It had a lot of agricultural lands, for instance in Kutaiba-on
its own-there were 40000 palm trees! It also had 10000 well armed soldiers!
·
They all lived inside
fortified fortress! Khaibar was divided into two regions: The first region
contained five fortress, while the second one contained three ones. The most
fortified fortress was the first one.
·
These fortress were situated
one behind the other and on very high mountains.
·
They had food and water
enough for a year! Tunnels were dug to allow the water of the wills to flow
inside the fortress.
If the Muslims didn’t react, they would have given the
opportunity to more and more conspiracy from their part. They might even have
convinced the Romans and the Persians to lead a war against them. Therefore the
prophet (SAWS) had to fight them! Any politician in his place would have
done the same thing; otherwise he would have been a looser!
The prophet moved to fight them with only1500 soldiers! How can
this number fight such people? It was a moment at which faith and enthusiasm are
tested. Yet due to the Prophet's deep political analysis he concluded that the
people of khaibar are not brave attackers; to the contrary they built these
fortresses to hide, their military mentality is based on defense not on
attacking. The Prophet concluded that they would never attack the Muslims! Allah
said referring to the people of khaibar, “They will not
fight against you all together except in fortified towns or from beyond walls”
(TMQ,
59: 14). The prophet’s plan was to besiege the first
fortress then the second; and so on till they surrender and lose the war. As a
result, they would accept all his conditions. How could all this come true?
Through the determination and faith of the Muslims which their enemies lack!
Faith can do a lot! If you want to make a revival, let faith
strengthens inside the youth and it will surely change into a potential. Why do
our countries fear faith? Why do not we make faith our slogan for revival?
The prophet (SAWS) fought them, but did he intend to kill
them all? Not at all! All he wanted was to oblige them to make peace, to reach a
kind of peaceful coexistence with them! The same end as in the Hodaybia but with
different means! I have a proof for this, for the number of those who were
killed was just ninety soldiers and most of them died in side or sword fights.
War was never the prophet's aim (SAWS). He had a clear
sight of what he wanted. He was the leader of an Ummah that had a message to
transmit, but that aimed at peace and craved to establish it except if the
message is hindered! An Ummah with high moral standards, that didn’t lie nor
betray. An Ummah that reformed the world! “You have been the most charitable
nation brought out to mankind...” (TMQ, 3: 110). Why have we got so
far away from the prophet’s path? Why are we ashamed of our religion? Why do we
say that jihad doesn’t exist in our religion and say that Islam urges
only for counterattack? Our religion urges for jihad but in its right
time and place!
You may wonder why the prophet (SAWS) didn’t tackle the
problem of Khaibar a long time ago, because he didn’t want to open two
battlefronts at the same time. He had to settle things with Quraish first! How
clever! An illiterate person is teaching political skills to the whole world!
Yes, not only Muslims are meant; even Non-Muslims and Occidentals need to learn
from him!
When the prophet (SAWS) was moving to fight khaibar, the
women asked him the permission to accompany him. He accepted, although the
battle was expected to be very difficult! Yet, twenty women were allowed to
accompany him.
There was still a minority of Jews-those who didn’t break the
treaty with the prophet (SAWS) - inside Madinah, which was a good example
of peaceful coexistence between people of different religions. And of course
there were transactions between them. It happened that a Jew, called Abu-Shahm
lent some money to a companion of the prophet whose name is Abdullah Bin Abi
Hazrag, Abi Hazrag was leaving among the soldiers and, Abu-Shahm asked him to
give him his money back. The Abi Hazrag, however refused to give him the money
until they came back from the battle of Khaibar because the debt was not
due yet. Moreover, they were promised by the prophet to defeat Khaibar and gain
its booties. Yet The Jew complained to the prophet (SAWS), and
accordingly the Prophet (SAWS) ordered his companion to give the money
back to the Jew and when Abi Hazrag argued that the debt is not yet due the
Prophet explained that it is his right to have his money for he may not come
back alive! You see how just he was with the minorities! Now, some people accuse
him of encouraging terrorism and violence! We have to exert efforts in order to
change this image and show to the whole world who Muhammad was. Therefore, the
companion was obliged to sell his clothes in order to be able to pay the man
back! You see how eager they were to the prophet's (SAWS) fellowship! Are
you willing to do the same? To you’re your clothes to be among the prophet's
army? Abi Hazrag narrates that while he was setting so sad that he sold one of
the only two Gilbab's he owned, a woman asked him about the reason of his
sadness and offered him her only cloak she had in order the share the reward
with them. Can you see how the society is supporting each other, how they
sacrifice for the sake of this message, the woman told Abi Hazrag that she did
not mind remaining home till they get back as she had nothing to protect her
form the cold weather except this cloak. This is a story of a humble companion
who was not mentioned in the prophet's biography except this one time yet it is
enough to be honored with. It is worth mentioning here that after the battle
Abi Hazrag gained slave women (slavery was widely spread and universally accept
at that time) that happened to be a relative of Abu-Shahm, and
amazingly enough he had to pay Hazrag 1000 dirham to set her free, this was
Allah's endorsement to Abi Hazrag's faith in what the prophet (SAWS)
told them.
Those people used to live for the sake of the message and Muslims
while we live nowadays for the sake of our personal interests. We are a long way
behind because we don’t believe in such values. In order to step forth and make
revival, we have to care for our society and work hard for the sake all of its
members.
Before they arrived to khaibar, the prophet asked his companions
to move in columns; when suddenly they had a big surprise! An Army of 4000
soldiers from Ghatfan was behind them, they came to support the people of
Khaibar who asked for their help-although they were 10000soldiers and inside
fortress! The prophet tried to negotiate with them in order to convince them to
retreat, but they didn’t accept his propositions. The prophet even threatened
them with the sword, but in vain. Therefore, He resorted to Talha Ibn-Ubaidullah
and Sa'id Ibn-Zaid who were known for their skillfulness at war strategies. They
had two friends of theirs from Ghatfan who converted but hid their Islam. They
asked them to spread the rumor that the prophet had sent another army to conquer
their country. The ruse succeeded and the army of Ghatfan hurried back to rescue
its tribe!
Talha and Sa’id are among the ten who were announced to be in
Jannah (paradise). That is because they were skillful and saved the Muslims.
Islam is not just praying and fasting.
Worshipping is very important in Islam, but it is not enough. A
Muslim has, on the other hand, to be good at skills that can help in the
development of his society and country! For instance, the Muslims have also to
excel in medicine, technology, scientific research, inventions, etc. These are,
in deed, dear people to the prophet!
By reaching the first fort, the Prophet (SAWS) commanded
the army to stop. He made a Dua’a (supplication) for entering a new
country. The Prophet's (SAWS) intention was peace and not war nor
destroying. His aim was to make a treaty with the Jews but he had to bring an
army to force them to do it. It was night when they arrived. Although it would
be easier for Muslims to make their attack at night, the Prophet (SAWS)
did not allow them to make any attack till the morning in order not to frighten
the women and the children. Notice that it was not the first time that he (SAWS)
said that, he always commands his warriors not to kill a woman, a child or to
burn a plant and to leave the worshippers in their cells. These are the war
morals mentioned by Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) 1400 years ago.
The Prophet (SAWS) set the camp outside Khaibar. Hubaba
Ibnul-Mundher (remember him, he was the same man who advised the Prophet to
choose the camp location at the battle of Badr) came to the Messenger of Allah (SAWS)
asking him, "Is your choice of the location a command from Allah, so I hold my
tongue? Or it is your personal opinion so I may speak?" the Prophet (SAWS)
answered, "It is rather my own opinion and war tactics", so he said, "O
Messenger of Allah, I approached the forts and found that the enemy can see us
and know what we do while we can not see them. We are in the range of their
arrows. Therefore let us move and stay away from them, and so they will not
know anything about us nor can they hit us with their arrows." The Prophet (SAWS)
agreed and said, "You are right, but we shall stay for today lest they would
think that we were frightened on the first day." He did not want to raise his
enemy's spirits.
The Muslims besieged Khaibar's first fort for15 days. Notice
that Khaibar had eight forts. The army began to starve. Abdullah Ibn-Magfal
Al-Mozanie said, "While we were very hungry and began tying stones around our
stomachs, I found a bag contains some fat. I was so happy and I took it saying
in a low voice, 'By Allah I will not give a piece to any body' when I just
turned I found the Messenger of Allah looking at me and smiling with enrage. I
felt ashamed of myself, so I shared it with five of the companions". This is
teaching through a look and a smile. The prophet (SAWS) did not speak
but he taught the man a lesson through a look and a smile. What type of a
society is this? What type of people were they? We have many people now who do
not understand by
To raise his soldier's spirits he asked one of his poets to sing
a song that was originally sung on the battle of the Trench, He (SAWS)
participated with them in the singing and acted like the chorus to the Muslims,
we can conclude that He (SAWS) was not against culture and all fields of
respectable and fruitful arts that are to be used to elevate the spirits of
people and strengthen their morals. Yet we are against the immoral songs and
video clips that arose the instincts and help spreading the immoralities.
On the 13th day of siege, the Prophet was suffering
from a severe semi-headache. He used to suffer from this semi-headache since he
was strongly hit on his head in the battle of Uhud. Consequently he asked
Abu-Bakr to take the banner, but he could not enter the fort. On the 14th
day Omar Ibnul-Khattab took the banner and fought but also could not enter the
fort. The moral of the Muslims became too weak but skillfully, the Prophet told
the army that he is going to give the banner on the following day to a man who
loves Allah, whom Allah loves and he was not a runner from the battlefield, and
the fortress will be open by Him. Al the Muslims spent the night praying to
Allah to be this man. On the Fajr prayers, the Prophet
Then the Prophet (SAWS) chose Ali (RA) for that
mission. Ali (RA) asked the Prophet (SAWS) about what shall he do
with them. He (SAWS) answered him, "Invite them to Islam first. If only
one of them embraced Islam it would be much better than all of Khaibar's
treasures." Ali (RA) went off to the fort's door. One of the Jews came
out asking him, "Who are you?" he answered, "Ali Ibn-Abu-Taleb" then the Jew
said, "You (the Jews) are defeated, by the Torah" That is because they learned
from their book that Ali (RA) will defeat them. Then he told Ali (RA),
"We shall duel" so it turned to a dueling rather than war. 3 giants brothers
approached to swordfight with Ali (RA), he killed the first, and second
was defeated with Al Zubayer Ibn Al Awam whom the prophet named " his disciples"
.
On the 15th day the first fortress was conquered. The
Prophet (SAWS) did not kill the Jews, instead he let them go to the
second one because He knew they would surrender, and because he wanted peace and
not bloodshed.
A slave shepherded, who was in the fort, heard from the
Jews that Muhammad (SAWS) is actually a prophet, so he took his folk and
went out to Muhammad (SAWS) and embraced Islam. The prophet (SAWS)
told him about the Jannah (paradise) and that he will enter it if he was
killed for the sake of Allah. The slave told the Messenger of Allah that he
shall return those sheep back and he did. The Prophet was very pleased with
him. The slave was martyred although he had not performed a single prayer.
Why did not the Muslims take those sheep as booty? That is
because the one who took it out was a citizen in Khaibar and not a warrior like
them yet. You see the concept of citizenship in the society.
The second fort was conquered and the Muslims gained many
booties, which were divided between the 1400 warriors. One of the companions
refused to take his share and said, "I did not follow Muhammad for that but for
the sake of having an arrow here (he pointed at his throat)" After half an hour
of saying those words, one of the Jews hit an arrow exactly where that companion
pointed. The Prophet (SAWS) said, "He was truthful to Allah, so Allah
was truthful to him"
This is a great lesson. If you are truthful to Allah and
actually wanted to have a message for His sake then be sure that he will utilize
you. However you shall first show to Allah your insistence and determination.
The Muslims went on conquering the forts until they reached the
last one. They collected Jews' catapults which were never known to the Muslims
before and were hidden in the forts. The Prophet (SAWS) commanded the
Muslims to show up the catapults to the Jews just to threaten them.
Consequently the Jews asked for a treaty. The Prophet (SAWS) told them
that they must agree on his conditions. They surrendered.
This is what we mean by; development through faith.
We have the strongest weapon of all which is Faith and belief ,
whether Muslims or Christians, let us build our nations on the base of faith.
The Prophet's (SAWS) conditions were:
-
Disarmament.
-
The Jews should leave Khaibar. Notice that this
is a kind of negotiation which means that the Prophet (SAWS) did not
want them actually to leave but he wanted something else. They asked him,
"Let us stay and saw the land" The Prophet (SAWS) agreed on the
condition that half of the products of the land would be the Muslim's share.
The Prophet (SAWS) turned the situation from enmity to a
peaceful coexistence and also used the Jews as a tool of development. And kept
them busy from fighting the Muslims by working in the lands.
Finally the battle of Khaibar had a great influence on Quraysh.
It was their last hope that a war could be raged against Muhammad (SAWS).
It is well known that Makkah was conquered by the help of three things:
1.
The treaty of Hodaybia.
2.
The Writings of the Prophet (SAWS)
to the kings, and so he became an international person.
3.
The Battle of Khaibar and the
treaty with its people.
Makkah was conquered peacefully without any bloodshed because of
the Battle of Khaibar.
What are the lessons learnt from Khaibar
1-
to have development through faith.
2-
We are people of peace, we fight
for peace not for the sake of war.
3-
We should not be selfish, do not
live for yourselves, live for the sake of Allah and the success of your nation.
Peace be upon you all
