Battle of Khaybar
The Battle of Khaybar (Arabic: غَزْوَة خَيْبَر) was an armed confrontation between the early Muslims and the Jewish community of Khaybar in 628 CE.
| Battle of Khaybar | |||||||||
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| Part of the military campaigns of Muhammad | |||||||||
Hazrat Ali slays Marhab (1910) | |||||||||
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Khaybar Jews Supported by: Banu Nadir (Jews) Banu Ghatafan (Arabians) Banu Fazara (Arabians) | ||||||||
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Khaybar Location within present-day Saudi Arabia | |||||||||
Khaybar, which is located approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) to the northwest of Medina, was home to a sizable community of Jewish tribes; the Jews had arrived in Arabia after fleeing from Judea in the wake of the Jewish–Roman wars. Amidst the rise of Islam in the Hejaz, the Muslim community feared that the Jews—who had recently been attacked and expelled from Medina after Muhammad, on the basis of a divine revelation, alleged that they had been plotting to assassinate him—were forging alliances with a number of non-Muslim Arabian tribes.
As Muhammad's army began to march on Khaybar, the Banu Ghatafan and other Jewish-allied Arabian tribes did not, or could not, send the reinforcements that had been expected to arrive to defend the settlement, further endangering the Jewish army's poor fortifications. After a brief period of fighting, Khaybar fell to the Muslims and the Jewish knight Marhab ibn al-Harith was killed, reportedly by Ali ibn Abi Talib. The terms of surrender presented to the oasis after the Muslim conquest stipulated the seizure of the Jews' wealth and also called for every Jew to pay tribute (jizya) to the Muslims or emigrate from Khaybar, bolstering the Muslim army in a significant development for Muhammad's military career. In exchange for their acceptance of the terms, the Muslims agreed to cease their campaign against the Jews.
Since the late 20th century, Muhammad's conquest of Khaybar's Jewish community has become notable as the subject of an Arabic-language rallying slogan ("Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahud!"), in the context of the Arab–Israeli conflict.