THE PROPHET’S MARCH THROUGH WADI AL-QURA AND HIS SIEGE OF THE JEWISH INHABITANTS
Al-Waqidi related on the authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that we went out along with Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, from Khaibar to Wadi Al-Qura.
Meanwhile, Rifa‘ Ibn Zaid Ibn Wahb Al-Judhami had presented to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, a gift of a black slave called Mid‘am. He used to unsaddle the mount of Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. When we got to the valley and came close to the Jews they greeted us with a shower of arrows. As the black slave began to unpack the saddle-bag, he was suddenly struck by a (stray) arrow which proved fatal. We said, “This is glad tidings for him, O Messenger of Allah, as he is a martyr.” Upon this the Messenger of Allah remarked: “Not so. By Him in Whose hand is the life of Muhammad, the small garment which he stole from the booty on the Day of Khaibar, which did not (legitimately) fall to his lot is burning like the Fire (of Hell) on him.” The people were greatly perturbed (on hearing this). A person came there with a lace or two laces and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I found (them) on the Day of Khaibar. He (the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him) remarked: “This is a lace of fire or two laces of fire.” This Hadith is recorded in the Saheehain on the authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, prevented his Companions from fighting against them. Rather, he arrayed them and then invited them to Islam and informed them that if they accept Islam, they will be protecting their wealth and preserving their blood, and their accounting rests with Allah, the Almighty.
Nevertheless, one of them stepped forward throwing a challenge for a duel and Az-Zubair Ibn Al-Awwam, may Allah be pleased with him, stepped forward and killed him. Another person also stepped forward for a challenge and ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, also stepped forward and finished him. Yet another person stepped forward from them and Abu Dujanah, may Allah be pleased with him, took up his challenge and killed him. This continued until eleven men were killed from their camp. Each time a person was killed, the rest were invited to Islam. On that day, when the time of Salat approached, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, led his Companions in prayer and then resumed calling them to Islam, to Allah and His Messenger. In this manner, the Muslims killed them till nightfall.
By the following morning, the sun had not even risen till the length of a spear before they surrendered. They were pressured into defeat and Allah, the Almighty, granted their wealth as booty and the Muslims captured a large amount of furnishings and personal effects. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, remained in the valley for four days during which he divided the booty among his Companions and left the land and palm plantations in the hands of the Jews to work upon on a sharecropping agreement. When the Jews of Taima’ got wind of what the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, meted out to Khaibar, Fadak and Wadi Al-Qura, they settled for conciliation with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, upon the promise to pay the Jizyah. Thus, they retained their wealth. When ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, expelled the Jews of Khaibar and Fadak he did not expel the inhabitants of Taima’ and Wadi Al-Qura for both of them were situated within the territory of Sham. He also opined that whatever is before Wadi Al-Qura up to Madinah is Hijaz and whatever is beyond that falls within Sham.
The narrator added: Afterwards, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, withdrew on a returning journey back to Madinah after he had concluded the affairs of Khaibar and Wadi Al-Qura and Allah obtained for him considerable booty.
It is recorded in the Saheehain that Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, conquered Khaibar and employed the Jewish inhabitants (of Khaibar) to cultivate it on the condition that they would have half of its yield. It is stated in some versions of this Hadith that the conditions include that they should work upon it with their own wealth (seeds, implements). In yet another version, the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said to them: “We will allow you to continue here, so long as we desire.”
It is recorded in As-Siyar that he would send to them ‘Abdullah Ibn Rawahah, may Allah be pleased with him, to estimate the yield once the fruits had become fully grown and then, he would collect them together himself. When ‘Abdullah Ibn Rawahah, may Allah be pleased with him, was killed at (the Battle of) Mu’tah, the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would send Jabbar Ibn Sakhr, may Allah be pleased with him, instead.
I say: In different eras after three hundred (years), the Jews of Khaibar claimed they had in their possession a document from Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in which they were absolved from paying the Jizyah. They had deceived a number of scholars with this document till some of them opined that they had been truly absolved from paying the Jizyah among whom (from the Shafi‘iyyah) was Shaikh Abu ‘Ali Ibn Khairoon. However, this document was forged, a lie and a fabrication without any basis whatsoever.
I have explained its futility from a number of angles in the Kitab Mufrad. A number of scholars have exposed the forgery of this document in their books such as Ibn As-Sibagh in his ‘Masa’il’, Ash-Shaikh Abu Hamid in his Ta‘leeqat and Ibn Al-Maslamah authored a distinct volume dedicated to the refutation against the document. They (the Jews) stirred up the issue of the document after seven hundred years and displayed a document in which contains a transcription of the Ashab mentioned in their books and I came across it and found out it was all false.
Contained in it is the witnessing of Sa‘d Ibn Mu‘adh, may Allah be pleased with him, though he had died before the time of (the battle of) Khaibar. It also includes Mu‘awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan, may Allah be pleased with him, even though he had not even become Muslim at the time. At the end, it says: ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, wrote it and again this is an error for the Jizyah which the document claims had been absolved from them was not even legislated until after (Khaibar). The first time it was legislated and taken was from the people of Najran and they paid it at the end of the ninth year. And Allah knows best.
By: Ibn Katheer
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