Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 141Muslims and their town of Medina made it necessarythat they should be driven farther away from Medina. Ifthey had been allowed to continue to live nearby theirintrigues were almost certain to give rise to more andmore bloodshed and violence. On returning fromHudaibiya the Prophet sa waited for five months and thendecided to banish them from Khaibar. Khaibar was onlya little distance from Medina and from here the Jewsfound it very easy to carry on their intrigues. With thisintent, the Prophet sa (some time in August 628 A.D.)marched to Khaibar. He had one thousand six hundredmen with him. Khaibar, as we have said, was a wellfortifiedtown. It was surrounded on all sides by rockson which were perched little fortresses. To conquer sucha place with so small a force was no easy task. Thesmall posts lying on the outskirts of Khaibar fell after alittle fighting. But when the Jews collected themselvesinto the central fort of the town, all attacks on it and allforms of strategy employed against it seemed to fail. Oneday the Prophet sa had a revelation that Khaibar wouldfall at the hands of ‘Ali ra . The following morning theProphet sa announced this to his followers and said,"Today, I will hand over the black flag of Islam to himwho is dear to God, His Prophet sa and all the Muslims.God has ordained that our victory at Khaibar shouldtake place at his hands." The following day he sent for‘Ali ra and handed to him the flag. ‘Ali ra did not wait. Hetook his men and attacked the central fort. In spite ofthe fact that the Jews had collected in force inside thisfort, ‘Ali ra and his division were able to conquer it beforedark. A peace was signed. The conditions were that allJews, their wives and their children would quit Khaibarand settle in some place far away from Medina. Theirproperty and their belongings would pass into the handsof Muslims. Anyone who tried to conceal any of hisproperty or stores, or made a wrong statement, wouldnot be protected by the peace. He would have to pay thepenalty laid down for breach of faith.