The Bani Quraytha Jews
Traitors or Betrayed?
Introduction
When Mohammed first entered Yathrib
(Al-Madina Al-Munawwarah), he was counting on the support of its
people. One particular ethnic group he thought would give more
authority to his prophethood were the Jews because they had the
Torah and all the previous Prophets were Jewish.
The Jews were many in Yathrib and its suburbs. There were the
Bani Al-Nadheer Jews, the Bani Qaynuqa' Jews, the Bani Quraytha
Jews, and several more. The Jews were rich and successful in
their businesses. A great asset to the young Islamic Nation.
At first, Mohammed was trying to befriend the Jews and get them
on his side. He insisted that the People of the Book (Jews and
Christians) worship the same God [Quran Surah 29:46]. He said that the same God sent down the Torah [Quran Surah 5:48]. He ordered the Muslims to fast Aashoora' or the
Passover [Saheeh Bukhari - 2004].
Even the Qibla (the direction the Muslims face in prayer) was
towards Jerusalem - the same direction the Jews faced in prayer [Saheeh
Bukhari - 41].
But no matter how hard Mohammed tried to convince them that he is
a prophet he just couldn't. Once he even barged into a Jewish
Synagogue in Yathrib (Al-Madina Al-Munawwarah) and said that if
only twelve Jews would believe in him then Allah would spare them
his wrath [Musnad Ahmad - 23464].
When he realized that the Jews wouldn't believe in him, and that
their unbelief would turn against him, because they have the
Torah which has the criteria for any prophet, he realized that
they should be eliminated. So at first he switched the Qibla (the
direction the Muslims face in prayer) from Jerusalem to Mecca [Quran Surah 2:144 and Saheeh Bukhari - 41].
Then warned them; they either become Muslims and be safe, or sell
their possessions and leave their land [Saheeh
Muslim - 1765 & 1767 and Sunan Abi Dawood - 3003].
Mohammed marched towards the Jews in order to either exile them
or make a treaty with them. The Bani Al-Nadheer Jews refused to
make a treaty with Mohammed so they fought against him, lost, and
subsequently were exiled. The Bani Quraytha Jews saw the fate of
their Bani Al-Nadheer brethren so they had no choice but to make
a peace treaty with him [Saheeh Muslim - 1766 and Sunan Abi Dawood - 3004].
Yet Mohammed was determined that all Jews should be either exiled
or killed - he was set on their elimination. He cannot simply
break the treaty with Bani Quraytha though because it would be
bad for his image as a Prophet who's supposed to keep his
promises and treaties. He strongly emphasized the importance of
keeping treaties [Quran Surah 9:4 and Saheeh Bukhari - 33].
So his only way out was to make it appear as though Bani Quraytha
were the ones who broke the treaty.
Ghazwat Al-Khandaq (The Battle of the Trench or Ditch) came. The
Pagan Arab tribes retreated and Mohammed was ready for battle.
Mohammed went to the Bani Quraytha Jews and eliminated them
because it was claimed that they betrayed the Muslims and
renounced the treaty, but did they?
The Battle of Al-Khandaq
(Trench) and The Battle of Bani Quraytha
Quraysh and Ghatfan, encouraged by the exiled Bani Al-Nadheer
Jews, wanted to eliminate Mohammed once and for all. They
gathered up a great army and put Yathrib under siege [Saheeh
Bukhari - 4103]. Mohammed , based
on a suggestion by Salman Al-Farisi, dug a trench around Yathrib
[Saheeh Bukhari - 2837],
except for the Bani Quraytha side that is, because they had great
fortresses and it would be practically impossible for the Pagan
Arabs to get through their fortresses unless Bani Quraytha
allowed it. Now since Mohammed and Bani Quraytha had a treaty,
Mohammed had nothing to fear [Saheeh Muslim - 1766 and Sunan Abi Dawood - 3004].
Thus all was set.
Now the siege has started, Mohammed was running low on food and
resources [Saheeh Bukhari - 4101
and Musnad Ahmad - 13808],
his companions were terrified [Saheeh Bukhari - 4103 and Musnad Ahmad - 10613], and above all that it was rumored
that Bani Quraytha were going to break the treaty between them
and Mohammed and let the Pagan Arabs come through their side. But
after a while, a sandstorm hit the armies of the Pagan Arabs, and
since Bani Quraytha refused to let them
in through their fortresses, the armies had no choice but to
retreat [Musnad Ahmad - 22823].
Mohammed on the other hand was ready for battle, he had a full
army equipped and eager to fight in the name of Allah. The rumors
that Bani Quraytha wanted to betray him were his only excuse,
that and an order sent from Allah via Jibreel (Gabriel). He went
to them, put them under siege for 14 days. Finally they
surrendered. So Mohammed killed all their men, enslaved their
women and children [Saheeh Muslim - 1769]. Now there was one less Jewish tribe to worry
about.
Traitors or Betrayed?
Now it all comes down to this; are the Bani Quraytha Jews
traitors or were they betrayed?
First of all, how do we know if a treaty is broken? We cannot
simply assume that a treaty is broken because of mere rumors [Quran Surah 49:12]. We can only assume that a treaty is broken if:-
1. The other side officially renounces the treaty
2. The other side does an action which is a direct violation of
the treaty
Does any one of the former apply to the Bani Quraytha Jews?
I've searched the nine books of Hadeeth (Saheeh Bukhari, Saheeh
Muslim, Sunan Al-Tarmithi, Sunan Al-Nasa'i, Sunan Abi Dawood,
Sunan Ibn Majah, Musnad Ahmad, Muwatta' Malik, and Sunan
Al-Darimi). In my search I did not find any single Hadeeth which
indicates that Bani Quraytha either officially (or even
unofficially) renounced the treaty, nor did I find a Hadeeth
which indicates that Bani Quraytha violated the treaty in any
way.
As a matter of fact, the only Hadeeth I found regarding Bani
Quraytha's position was one Hadeeth [Musnad
Ahmad - 22823] which says that Bani
Quraytha actually refused to assist the
Pagan Arabs in any way in their assault against Mohammed.
The Conclusion
We saw how much Mohammed wanted to get the Jews on his side, but
since he couldn't he had to eliminate them. We saw that the Bani
Quraytha Jews actually refused to aid
the Pagan Arabs or even let them in through their fortresses. Yet
Mohammed was determined to eliminate all non-Muslims from Arabia.
The Jews were innocent yet that didn't stop him, he marched to
Bani Quraytha and ruthlessly slaughtered all their men, enslaved
their women and children. He violated the treaty himself, and he
was the one who always preached how treaties should be kept.
History is written by the victors, thus the Muslims have
throughout history claimed that the Bani Quraytha Jews were the
traitors. Yet because the nine Hadeeth collectors (From Bukhari
to Al-Darimi) were men who feared Allah, they couldn't include in
their books any Hadeeth which wasn't authentic, thus they
couldn't find any Hadeeth to put in their books which talks about
the treachery of Bani Quraytha.
It all comes down to this, does a true Prophet of God break his
treaties?
* See also the issue of the treaty of Hudaybiyya
Please email us your questions or comments
The Banu Qurayza
Answering Islam Home Page