The Expulsion of Banu Nadir — Seerah Encyclopedia

The exile from Madinah of the Jewish tribe Banu Nadir in Shawwal 4 AH, after their chieftains tried to assassinate the Prophet ﷺ by dropping a rock on him. A bloodless ~week-long siege ended in unconditional surrender and exile to Khaybar; their abandoned lands became the first great case of fay’ (property gained without fighting), distributed to the Muhajirun. The whole of Surah al-Hashr (Q 59) was revealed about it — a direct precursor to the Battle of Khandaq.

Date

Shawwal 4 AH. Yasir Qadhi notes a classical dispute: the great tabi’un Urwah ibn al-Zubayr (d. 94 AH) and Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (d. 124 AH) placed it after Badr, but later scholars — Ibn Ishaq (d. 150 AH), al-Waqidi (d. 207 AH), and Ibn Sa’d (d. 230 AH) — corrected this as either a genuine error or a confusion with the earlier expulsion of Banu Qaynuqa. It could not be post-Badr because its trigger, the Bir Ma’una blood money, only arose after Uhud (Safar 4 AH). The strongest opinion is therefore Shawwal 4 AH.

Background

The immediate trigger was blood money. After the massacre at Bir Ma’una, the lone survivor Amr ibn Umayyah had killed two men of the offending tribe in retaliation, not knowing they were innocent; the Prophet ﷺ undertook to pay their blood money (100 camels each = 200 camels). Under the Constitution of Madinah, any burden afflicting the whole city is shared by all, so the Prophet ﷺ went — with Abu Bakr (ra), Umar (ra) and others — to ask the wealthy Banu Nadir for their share.

But tensions already ran deep:

A plot (in the Musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq) by some of Banu Nadir to murder the People of the Suffa (the qurra/scholars); Allah exposed it when one of them leaked the plan.
Per Musa ibn Uqba, the Banu Nadir had aided the Quraysh at Uhud with logistics and knowledge of the terrain.
The killing of Ka’b ibn al-Ashraf, half-Arab half-Nadir, whom the tribe counted among its chieftains.

What happened

The assassination attempt. Banu Nadir lived in fortresses among their date-palm fields. They welcomed the Prophet ﷺ warmly, seated him and the Companions outside a fortress, and withdrew “to prepare a feast.” Inside, one leader proposed to drop a rock on him from the roof and be rid of him; despite one objection, the plan was approved. Instantly the Prophet ﷺ rose and walked back to Madinah without a word — Jibril (as) had warned him to leave. This is what Q 5:11 (revealed later, per Ibn Abbas) recalls: “when a group among you desired to reach you to kill you, Allah stopped their hands.”
The 10-day ultimatum. The Prophet ﷺ sent word via Muhammad ibn Maslamah — a friend of theirs from Jahiliyyah — that they had ten days to leave, or face death. Caught red-handed, they agreed at first.
Ibn Ubayy’s empty promise. Abdullah ibn Ubayy secretly urged them to hold firm, swearing he and 2,000 Ghatafan allies would defend them and share their fate. Q 59:11 exposes his words verbatim and calls him a liar.
Huyayy chooses war. Believing Ibn Ubayy, the chieftain Huyayy ibn Akhtab overruled the doubters among his own people (Q 59:14 on their inner division) and sent defiance: “We have decided to stay; do what you want.” The Prophet ﷺ answered “Allahu akbar!” and marched the same day with ~700 men to besiege them.
The siege (~a week). No fighting occurred; Ibn Ubayy never lifted a finger. Mid-siege the Prophet ﷺ even left to renew the Constitution oaths with Banu Qurayza, who chose to stay loyal. To break morale he had some of the prized date palms burned — which troubled some Companions until Q 59:5 sanctioned it.
Surrender and exile. After 7–10 days, seeing no help, Banu Nadir surrendered unconditionally. The Prophet ﷺ let them leave with whatever their camels could carry, minus weapons — remembered as strikingly generous given they had tried to kill him. Out of spite they wrecked their own houses with their own hands (Q 59:2), even loading their doors onto camels. Most went to Khaybar; 2–3 who accepted Islam kept their property and stayed.

Participants

The Prophet ﷺ with ~700 Muslims (Muhajirun and Ansar); the emissary Muhammad ibn Maslamah. Against them, Banu Nadir under Huyayy ibn Akhtab. The hypocrite Abdullah ibn Ubayy promised aid and gave none.

Outcome & significance

A hostile internal faction was removed from Madinah without bloodshed.
The lands became fay’ (Q 59:6–7) — not ghanima, since no battle was fought — and were distributed to the landless Muhajirun (and, per Ibn Ishaq, to three landless Ansar), easing the economic dependence of the Muhajirun on the Ansar.
The whole of Surah al-Hashr (Q 59) came down about the episode. Ibn Abbas preferred to call it Surat Banu Nadir, since “al-Hashr” (the gathering) usually denotes the Day of Judgment; here the “first hashr” (Q 59:2) foreshadows later banishments — Banu Qurayza and Khaybar — and ultimately Qiyamah.
It set the stage for Khandaq: from Khaybar, Huyayy became the prime mover of the Confederates.

Lessons

Loyalty in Islam is measured by faith, not old friendship (Muhammad ibn Maslamah’s answer).
The exposure of hypocrisy: Ibn Ubayy’s secret promises were laid bare word-for-word and he was likened to Shaytan who abandons his dupe (Q 59:16).
The maqsad of fay’ (Q 59:7): “so that wealth may not merely circulate among your rich” — a foundational verse of Islamic economics.
“Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it; whatever he forbids, leave it” (Q 59:7) — an explicit command to obey the Prophet ﷺ.

Cross-references

Muhammad ﷺ · Huyayy ibn Akhtab · Madinah (Yathrib) · Khaybar · Fay' (Spoils Without Fighting) · The Muhajirun (the Emigrants) · The Ansar (the Helpers of Madinah) · Muhammad ibn Maslamah · Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul · Nifaq (Hypocrisy) · Ghanima (Spoils of War) · The Constitution of Madinah · The Incident of Bir Ma'una · The Expulsion of Banu Qaynuqa · The Battle of Uhud · The Battle of Khandaq (al-Ahzab) · Freedom of Religion in Islam · Quraysh · Seerah Timeline

Sources

S008 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 051–060 (EP 053). Draws on Surah al-Hashr (Q 59) in full and its tafsir, and Q 5:11; classical authorities cited: Ibn Ishaq, the Musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq (the plot against the qurra), Musa ibn Uqba (aid to Quraysh at Uhud), al-Waqidi and Ibn Sa’d (dating), with the dissenting dating of Urwah ibn al-Zubayr and al-Zuhri. Safiyyah bint Huyayy’s testimony and the exile procession are from Ibn Ishaq.