The Judgment of Banu Qurayza — Seerah Encyclopedia

The reckoning of the third and last Jewish tribe of Madinah, the Banu Qurayza, immediately after the Battle of Khandaq — punished for the treason of breaking their covenant during the siege, not for their religion.

Date (Hijri / CE)

Dhu al-Qa’dah 5 AH (627 CE), directly after al-Ahzab; the siege lasted 25 days.

Background

During Khandaq, Huyayy ibn Akhtab had seduced the Banu Qurayza into tearing up their treaty with the Prophet ﷺ while the Confederates besieged Madinah — an existential betrayal from within. When the Confederates fled, Jibril came to the Prophet ﷺ at Zuhr, still armoured, saying “the angels have not put down their weapons” and commanding him to go at once to Banu Qurayza. The Prophet ﷺ sent the crier: “None shall pray Asr except at Banu Qurayza.”

What happened

The “Asr” fiqh incident. Companions differed on the road: some prayed Asr at its time, others delayed until they reached Banu Qurayza (missing it) — taking the command literally. The Prophet ﷺ criticised neither party (Bukhari & Muslim): a foundational proof that qualified mujtahids may differ, though the ultimate truth is one.
The siege. The tribe locked itself in its fortress; Ali planted the banner. Ka’b ibn Asad offered his people three doomed choices (accept Islam — they refused; kill their own families and charge; or break the Sabbath to attack), all rejected. After 25 days, supplies gone, they surrendered unconditionally.
Abu Lubaba’s slip and repentance. Sent in to advise them, the Awsi Companion Abu Lubaba motioned across his throat (“you will be slaughtered”) — then, realising he had betrayed a trust, tied himself to a pillar of the mosque vowing not to move until Allah forgave him. Q 8:27 and Q 9:102 relate to him; his tawba was accepted (the Pillar of Tawba).
Amr ibn Sa’da spared. The one man of Qurayza who had refused the treachery — “I will never betray the promise of Muhammad” — was let go by the guard Muhammad ibn Maslamah. “A man whom Allah saved because of his honesty” — the tribe was punished for what they did, not who they were.

Participants

The Prophet ﷺ and the Muslims; the Aws (old allies of Qurayza, who pleaded for mercy); Sa’d ibn Mu’adh as arbitrator; the chiefs Ka’b ibn Asad and Huyayy ibn Akhtab (who had shut himself in with them).

Outcome & significance

The verdict of Sa’d ibn Mu’adh. The Aws begged mercy for their allies as the Khazraj had won it for Banu Qaynuqa; the Prophet ﷺ let their own chief Sa’d judge. Rising above his people’s sentiment (“now is the time for Sa’d not to care about the criticism of any critic”), Sa’d ruled: the fighting men executed, the property distributed, the women and children taken captive. The Prophet ﷺ: “You have decreed the judgment of Allah from above the seven heavens.”
The execution. The adult men (identified by having reached puberty — the boy Atiyyah al-Qurazi survived) were executed; no children were killed, and only one woman — she who had killed a Companion with a millstone during the siege. A few (e.g. al-Zubayr ibn Batta, spared for Thabit ibn Qays) were saved by prior favours. Number executed: Ibn Ishaq’s 600–700 (most authoritative); others say 800–900; Musnad Ahmad ~400.
The booty solidified the rules of ghanima (a horse = three shares); ~1,500 swords, 1,500 shields, 2,000 spears, 300 armours and much livestock armed the whole city. Rayhana bint Zayd fell to the Prophet ﷺ (wife or milk al-yamin — the books differ).
The death of Sa’d ibn Mu’adh. His Khandaq wound reopened; he died young (~37). The Throne of the Merciful shook, 70,000 angels descended, and he was momentarily “squeezed in the grave” — a mercy-lesson that every believer faces it.

Lessons

Discipline over vigilante emotion; treason judged by wartime norms, not bigotry (Yasir Qadhi cites Deuteronomy 20:10–14 as the tribe’s own scripture, and answers the “antisemitism” charge: harsh, yes — but for what they did); the beauty that the punishment was passed by their own ally, not the Prophet ﷺ.

Cross-references

The Battle of Khandaq (al-Ahzab) · Sa'd ibn Mu'adh (ra) · Huyayy ibn Akhtab · Muhammad ibn Maslamah · Ali ibn Abi Talib (ra) · Madinah (Yathrib) · Masjid al-Nabawi (The Prophet's Mosque) · Ghanima (Spoils of War) · Muhammad ﷺ · The Expulsion of Banu Nadir · The Expulsion of Banu Qaynuqa · Seerah Timeline

Sources

S009 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 061. The “Asr at Banu Qurayza” and the core narrative are in Sahih Bukhari & Muslim; the siege detail, Abu Lubaba, Amr ibn Sa’da, and the verdict via Ibn Ishaq; the number executed via Ibn Ishaq and Musnad Ahmad; Sa’d’s death and the shaking of the Throne in Bukhari & Muslim. The Deuteronomy parallel is cited from the Old Testament.