THE MASSACRE OF THE BANU QURAYZA A re-examination …

1 THEMASSACREOFTHEBANUQURAYZAA re-examinationofa traditionThestoryofthemassacreoftheBanuQ urayza( 'da5 ),lasrecordedinvariouscompilationsoftheS ira-litera-ture,is ,transmittedbytheearlyMuslimscholarsofha dith,biographersoftheProphet,juristsandh is-torians,Qurayzaaresaidtohaveconcluded a ( ,QurayshandtheirAllies,theAhzab- K.)besiegedMedinatheBanuQurayzaareallege dto haveaidedtheforcesof theProphet'senemies, ,a formerleaderoftheexiledJewishtribeoftheB anuNadlris blamedforhavinginstigatedKa' ,theleaderofQurayza, manifestvictoryfortheProphetandleftQuray zain a precariousposi-tion,facingtheforcesofthe Prophetin ,Ka`bb. Asadputforwardthreepropos-alsas solution:(a)thattheyshouldconvertto Islam,(b)thattheyshouldkillthewomenandch ildrenandmarchoutfromthestrongholdtofigh tcourageouslythebesiegingforceoftheMusli ms,or(c) ,TheChronologyoftheMaghazi,BSOASXIX,1957 , , ,however, ,theloadof a ,themessengerreturnedaskingthatQurayzabe permittedto departwithoutanyproperty,takingwiththemo nlytheirfamilies; ,a Companionof theProphetwhomtheytrusted, histhroat,a movementwhichclear-lyconveyedslaughter;h eregrettedhistreasontowardsGodandtheProp het,repentedandtheProphetwasgladto conveyto himthejoyoustidingofGod'sforgiveness,asi t ,compelledtosurrender, ,theirhandspinionedbe-hindtheirbacks,wer eputina court(dar)inMedina;thewomenandchildrenar esaidto havebeenputin ,whowerealliesofQurayza,toshowleniencyto wardstheiralliestheQurayza,heproposedto appointas arbitera manfromAus,Sa=.

2 AmongtheMuslimswere,ofcourse,theAuswhoin turnbe-gantointercedewithSa-dforQurayza; Sa-d'sharshanswerwasa badomenforthefateof abidebythejudgmentofSa'dhegavehisconcise verdict:themenshallbeputtodeath,thewomen andchildrensoldintoslavery, 'sdecreehadbeenissuedasa (or600,or700,or800,oreven900)menfromQura yzawereledontheorderoftheProphettothemar ketofMedina;trenchesweredugintheplace, , ;a ,ofwhicha shortsummaryhasbeengivenabove,wasthoroug hlystudiedandanalysedbyseveralwesternsch olars,whoseverelycriticizedtheProphetfor it. 2 Althoughnotunanimousintheirassessmentofc ertaindetailsofthestory,thescholarsarein agreementconcerningthecrueltyof thejudgmentof Sa-db. Mu'adh,SomeMuslimscholarsdidn'tdenytheme rcilesscharacterofSa-d'sjudgment,butjust ifiedit pointingoutthattheBam}Qurayzahadyieldedt o thetreacherousactivitiesofHuyayyb. 'sdecree,althoughsevereandharsh,wasavita lnecessityasheregardedthefateoftheJewsas a '2 ,DerIslam,Leipzig1909,p.

3 16:"EinewigesSchandmalbleibtdieRuchlosig keitmitderMuhammedgegendenStammQuraizave rfuhr:600 MannererlittendenToddurchHenkershand,die WeiberundKinderwurdenverkauft." ,MahometandIslam,London1895,p. 151:"Themassacreof BanuCoreitzawasa barbarousdeedwhichcannotbe justifiedby anyreasonof " "Buttheindiscriminateslaughterof thewholetribecannotbe recognizedotherwisethanas an actof monstrouscruelty,whichcastsanindeliblebl otupontheProphet' " J. Andrae, ,G6ttingen1932,p. 126:"EswarderletzteJundenstammin Medina,BanuKuraiza,dener nunexemplarischzustrafenbeschlosswegende rUnzuverlassigkeit, wiederdenMangelanEhrlichkeitundmoralisch emMut, " F. Buhl,DasLebenMuhammeds,Trans!. ,Heidelberg1955,p. 275:".. DiesmalwarMuhammadjedochzu erbitterturnSchonungzu gewahren:aberdieArtwieer hohemGradeRaffiniertesundzeigtwiedersein enCharakterin " ,Mahomet,Paris1969,p. 145:"L'incidentdesB. Qoraizaestunevilainepagede l'histoirede Mohammed,maisc'estunactequifuttresprofit ablea la gloired'Allahet de " ,Muhammadat Medina,Oxford,1956,p.

4 214:" " MaximeRodinson,Mohammed,NewYork1974,p. 213:"Itis noteasyto judgethemassacreof " F. Gabrieli,MuhammadandtheConquestof Islam,London1968,p. 73:"Thisdarkepisode,whichMuslimtradition ,it mustbe said,takesquitecalmly,hasprovokedlivelyd iscussionamongwesternbiographersof Muhammed, In thiscasehe wasruthless,withtheapprovalof hisconscienceandofhisGod,forthetwowereon e;wecanonlyrecordthefact,whilereaffirmin gourconsciousnessas Christiansandcivilisedmen,thatthisGodor at leastthisaspectof Him,is notours."3 MuhammadHusaynHayka!,HayiuMuhammad,Cairo 135g,p. ,MuhammadtheHolyProphet,Lahore1967,p. 247:"Noonecandisputethejusticeof Muhammadwasabsolutely64 IOddassumptionsappearin 'sarticleon thissubject.'Arafattriesto provetheunreliabilityof theaccountof theeventsof themassa-creof Qurayzaas recordedbyIbnIshaq( )andtransmittedbylaterMuslimscholars,his toriansandbiographersof "draw,andin mostcasesdependonIbnIshaq",statesArafata ndcomments:"ButIbnIshaqdiedin , ,145yearsaftertheeventin question".

5 'Arafat'sseverecriticismrefersfirstof allto thewayin whichIbnIshaqcollectedhisinformation:his sourceswereuntrustworthy,uncertainandlat e;hisaccountis in Arafat'sopinion"asum-totalof thecollectivereports,piecedtogether".Ara fatquotesthricetheopinionof Malikb. Anas(fromIbnSayyidal-Nas,'Uyunal-athar)a boutMuhammadb. Ishaq:"hewasa liar","animpostor"who"trans-mitshisstori esfromtheJews'"andstressestwicethat"agai nstthelateanduncertainsourcesontheonehan d,andthecondemningauthoritiesontheotherm ustbesettheonlycontemporaryandentirelyau thenticsource,TheQur'an."(SuraXXXIII,26: "Hecausedthoseof thePeopleof theBookwhohelpedthem( )to comeoutof ,someyoutookprisoner."[asquotedbyArafatj ).?If 600or 700peoplewerekilledtherewouldhavebeena clearerrefer-enceto it in theQur'an;as onlytheguiltyleaderswereexecutedtherefer encein theQur'anis verybrief- theBaniiQurayzaandreiterateshisargument: theverseof theQur'anindicatesclearlythatonlythoseme nof thistragedy,forit wasa wasHuyayyb.]

6 " AmeerAli,A shorthistoryof theSaracens,London1961,p. 13:"Itwasconsideredunsafeto leavethetraitorousBanuKoraizaso nearthecity,as theirtreacherymightat anymomentleadto thedestructionof Thiswasa severepunishmentaccordingto ourideas,butit wascustomaryaccordingto therulesof warthenprevalent."MuhammadHamidullah,Mus limConductof State,Lahore1961, 443:".. Thefemalesandchildrenof theJewishtribeof BanuQuraizahwere,by thedecisionof thearbitratornominatedby themselves, "; 497:".. In thecaseof theBanuQuraizah,it wasthearbitratorof "4 ,"NewLightontheStoryof BanuQurayzaandtheJewsof Medina,"JRAS(1976), Arafat, , ,U. Arafat, ,pp,10I, 1. 8, ,106U. Arafat, , ,1031I. ; largenumberofpeopleis opposedtotheIslamicsenseofjusticeandtheQ ur'anicruleregardingprisoners, ,asksArafat, peoplewereindeedputto deathin themarket-placeandtrenchesweredugfortheo peration,why,asksArafat,istherenotraceof allthatandnosignorwordto pointto theplace?

7 "Hadthisslaughteractuallyhappened",conte ndsArafat,"thejuristswouldhaveadoptedit asa precedent";"infactexactlytheoppositehadb eenthecase"- , glorifytheirancestors;it wasoneofthedescen-dantsofSacdb. Mu-adhwhotransmittedthejudgmentofSa-dand thesayingoftheProphettoSad:"Youhaveprono uncedGod'sjudgmentuponthem[asinspired]th roughSevenVeils"."FinallyArafatraisessom eadditionalquestions:howcouldmanyhundred sof personsbeincar-ceratedina housebelongingtoa womanof theBanul-Najjar,andhowcanoneexplainthefa ctthatsomeJewsarementionedasremaininginM edinaaftertheallegedexpulsionofalltheJew ishtribes?Arafatdrawsa 'sconclu-sionsaresurprising:thedescendan tsof theJewswhofledtoArabiaaftertheJewishwars superimposeddetailsof thesiegeof Masadaonthestoryof thesiegeof Arafat,themixtureprovi-dedthebasisforIbn Ishaq' 'sarticlewasfollowedbyanotheronebya "TheMasadaLegendinJewishandIslamicTradi- tion"?theauthorreiteratesArafat'sargumen ts,arrivesatthesamecon-8 Arafat'srenderingof thissentenceis erroneous:minfauqisaoCatiarqi<atindoesno tmean"SevenVeils".

8 Guillaumetranslates:"Youhavegiventhejudg mentof Allahabovethesevenheavens."MontgomeryWat t,"TheCondemnationof theJewsof BanuQurayzah",MW42(1952),p. 163:"Youhavejudgedtheircasewiththejudgme ntof Godfromabovesevenheavens."9 IQ, (1978), Arafat'stwelveargumentsareof particularimportanceandhavein facta commondenominator:thedataofthestoryofQur ayzastand,accordingto Arafat,in contradictionto Muslimrules,Muslimlaw,Mus-limjusticeandQ ur' ,saysArafat,is topunishonlythosewhoareresponsibleforsed ition( );kill-ingsucha largenumberof peopleis diametricallyopposedto theIslamicsenseof justiceandto thebasicprincipleslaiddownin theQur'an( );theslaughterof prisonersis againsttheQur'anicrulewhichordersthatthe yeitherbegrantedtheirfreedomorelsebeallo wedtoberansomed( );hadthisslaughteractuallyhappened,maint ainsArafat,juristswouldhaveadoptedit asa precedent;infactexactlytheoppositehashap pened( ).

9 In orderto and7, ArafatquotesQur'anXXXV,18:"Nosoulshallbe aranother'sburden."Ifthesefourargumentsp utforwardbyArafatarevalidandsound- theywouldproveconvincinglythatthereports aboutSa' 'sjudgment, Ara-fat'sargumentsaretrue,thenindeednoMu slimjuristcouldhavebasedhisjudgmentonana ccounttotallyaliento 'sargumentsarehoweverunfounded, wasinfactal-Shiifi"i( )whowithdeepinsightana-lysedthecaseofBan iiQurayza,definedthenatureoftheirmischie vousactions, "Violationofanagreement"(naqdul-sahdivSh iifi"isays:BanuQurayza67If theImamconcludeswitha peopleanagreementof non-agrcssioniwada:a-K.)fora (certain)periodorhereceivesfroma peoplejizyaandtheper-sonorpersonswhoconc ludedtheagreementofmuwadaaorofthejizyaon behalfofthepeoplebelongtothatpeoplewesha llnotobligethem( ,sci!.to carryoutthestipulationsoftheagreement- K.)untilweknowthatthosewhoremained( theirabodewhiletheirleadersconcludedthea greement- K.)

10 Approvedofit andweresatisfiedwithit thattana'lamaannamanbaqiyaminhumqadaqarr abi-dhalika wa-radiyahu).Ifthisis so,noonefromamongtheMuslimsis permittedto takefromthem(anything- K.)oftheirpropertyor[harmthemintheir]bod y(literally:wa-daman,"oftheirblood");if a Muslimcommitsit (amischievousdeedofthiskind- K.)hehastobeindictedforwhathespent(fromt hepropertywhichhetookun-justly)aslongast hepeople(whoconcludedtheagreement- K.) thosewhoconcludedtheagreementviolateit,o rif a groupfromamongthemviolateit andthepeople(whoconcludedthetreaty- K.)donotopposetheviolatorsbyanopenaction orword(wa-Iamyukhalifual-naqidbi-qaulina ufi'linzahirin)beforethey( K.)cometotheImamorleavetheterritory(inwh ichtheviolatorsstay- K.)andinformtheImamthattheyarecontinuing toadheretotheagreementtinna'alasulhinai; orif theviolatorsgoouttofighttheMuslimsortofi ghtthepeopleundertheirprotection( ,ahldhimmatli-I-muslimin)andaidthusthefi ghtingmen( theenemy- K.