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On the night of Friday,
March 7, Huyaiy stole into the settlement of the Bani Quraizah.
He knocked at the door of their leader, Kab bin Asad; but the latter,
guessing that Huyaiy had come as a Jew and probably intended to
incite his fellow Jews against the Prophet, refused to see him.
After some wrangling, however, Huyaiy was allowed in, and he gently
and cleverly began to work on Kab, pressing him to join the Allies
in the war against the Muslims. At first Kab refused. "Muhammad
has kept his pact with us, and we have no reason to complain",
he said. "In any case you have no certainty of victory.
If we join you and the campaign fails, your idol?worshippers will
go back in peace to their homes and we will have to bear the brunt
of the wrath of Muhammad." 1 But
the visitor continued to press, now threatening, now tempting, now
begging, and eventually got Kab to agree to a pact with the Allies.
According to the terms of this pact there would be a simultaneous
attack by the Allies and the Bani Quraizah. These Jews had their
settlement and their forts two miles south?east of Madinah, and
they would attack from this direction and draw some of the Muslims
away from the ditch while the Allies attacked frontally. In case
the attack failed, the Allies would leave a strong garrison in the
Jewish forts to defend the Jews against the Muslims who were bound
to turn against them in revenge. The Bani Quraizah asked for 10
days to prepare themselves before the attack was begun, during which
period the Allies could continue minor operations from the north.
Thus the last of the Jews of Madinah, following
in the footsteps of their co?religionists, broke their pact with
the Muslims. Little did they know how heavily they would pay for
their perfidy!
It was not long before the Prophet came
to know about this pact. He got the intelligence through one of
his agents who entered the camp of the Allies one night and unknown
to them, overheard certain conversations. Then rumours of the pact
also spread, and the report was ultimately confirmed by the incident
of 'Safiyyah and the Jew'.
Safiyyah was an aunt of the Prophet, and
along with other women and children had moved to a small fort in
the south-eastern part of Madinah. Present in the fort was Hassaan
the Poet, and he was the only man there! One day Safiyyah, looking
down from the fort, saw a fully armed Jew moving stealthily beneath
the wall as if seeking a way around the fort. Safiyyah at once concluded
that he was a scout of the Bani Quraizah who had been sent to reconnoitre
a route which the Jews might take in their attack. This Jew would
act as a guide, leading his tribe into the unprotected rear of the
Muslims.
Safiyyah went to the poet and said, "O
Hassaan! There is a Jew who is seeking a way by which he can lead
the Bani Quraizah to attack our settlements from the rear. You know
that the Messenger of Allah and all the men are busy at the front
and cannot detach forces to protect us. This man must be killed.
Go and kill him at once!" "May Allah bless you, O Daughter
of Abdul Muttalib," replied Hassaan, "you know
that such work is not for me." Throwing a glance of contempt
at the poet, Safiyyah picked up a club, tied a waist?band around
her waist and went down to meet the Jew. The brave lady killed the
Jew. Leaving him lying with a crushed skull in a pool of blood,
she returned to the fort and said to Hassaan, "I have killed
him, O Hassaan! Now go and take the booty from his body, for it
is not right for a woman to undress a man." "May Allah
bless you, O Daughter of Abdul Muttalib," replied Hassaan,
"I have no need for such booty!" 2
When the news of this incident reached the
Muslims, there was no doubt left in their minds about the treachery
of the Bani Quraizah. The situation now became more tense, and the
Hypocrites became more outspoken. From half rations the Muslims
came down to quarter rations. (Later it was to become no rations!)
Their resolution was still unshaken; but if the siege continued
very much longer, sheer starvation would force the Muslims to submit.
And the Muslims could find no direct military solution to the problem.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 221; Waqidi: Maghazi
p. 292.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 228.
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