Tafsîr Al-Ṭabarî on Sura 33:26
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Sura 33:26
“And those of the People of the Scripture who supported them[1], He brought down from their fortresses, and He cast terror into their hearts as you[2] killed part of them, and you took another part as captives.” Tafsîr Al-Ṭabarî: The explanation of God’s word: “And those of the People of the Scripture who supported them He brought down from their fortresses, and He cast terror into their hearts as you killed part of them, and you took another part as captives” [is as follows:] [In short:] The Almighty brings up the following recollection: God had brought down those who had assisted the bands of the Quraysh and the Ghaṭafān against the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) and his companions. [Explanation of words used in the verse:] This is what the verse means by ‘supporting them’. The ones alluded to are the Banū Qurayẓa, as they were the ones who had supported these bands against the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace). The phrase “of the People of the Scripture” means ‘of the People of the Torah’ as they were Jews, and the term “from their fortresses” means ‘from their strongholds’. The scholars of interpretation have explained this in the same vein as we did. [Commentaries with narrative context:] In the words of the following [commentator]: Muḥammad ibn `Amr told me that Abu `Āṣim passed on the tradition saying that he had heard it from `Îsa. Furthermore, Al-Ḥārith told me that Al-Ḥasan passed on the tradition saying that he had heard it from Warqā’, both going back to Ibn Abî Najîḥ, who heard it from Mujāhid: [About] “And those of the People of the Scripture who supported them He brought down…” he said: These are the Qurayẓa; He brought them down from their fortresses. Bashar told me that Yazîd passed on the tradition saying that he had heard it from Sa`îd who had heard it from Qatāda, who said [referring the words] “And those of the People of the Scripture who supported them, He brought down” that these were the Banū Qurayẓa. They supported Abū Sufyān and corresponded with him. Thus they violated the treaty that existed between them and God’s prophet.’ Furthermore he said: ‘God’s messenger (God grant him salvation and peace) explained [something] to us in the home of Zaynab, daughter of Jaḥsh. He was washing his head and his cuts were already cleaned. Then [the angel] Gabriel came to [Muḥammad] (God grant him salvation and peace), and said: ‘May God forgive you [of any shortcomings]! The angels have not laid down their weapons for forty nights. So rise up against the tribe of the Qurayẓa! I have cut the strings of their bows, I have opened their gates, and I have left them in shock and confusion’. He continued: ‘So the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) put on his breast plate and set out on the dirt-path of the Banū Ghanam. The people followed him, raising so much dust that he got covered with it, even up to his eyebrow. When the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) arrived at their place, they besieged [the Qurayẓa] and he called out to them: ‘Brotherhood of monkeys!’ They answered him: ‘Abū Al-Qāsim[3]! Why such lewd language?’ They conceded to accept the judgment of Ibn Mu`ādh, for they had an alliance with his clan and therefore they hoped that he would be inclined towards them with leniency. Abū Lubāba however gestured to them [a warning] that there would be slaughter. Then God revealed the verse (Sura 8:27): “You faithful ones! Do not betray God and the messenger, nor betray what has been entrusted to you, knowingly.” [Ibn Mu`ādh] passed judgment on [the Qurayẓa] that they should be killed, that their children should be taken captive and that their real estate would fall to the Muslim immigrants from Mecca, but not to the Muslims from Medina. His tribe and his clan said to him: ‘You have favored the immigrants over us with real estate!’ He answered: ‘You already possess real estate, but the immigrants do not have any.’ We were told that God’s messenger (God grant him salvation and peace) called out ‘Allāhu Akbar!’ and exclaimed: ‘He decreed God’s judgement over you!’” Ibn Ḥamîd told us that Salama passed on the tradition from Ibn Isḥāq who said: ‘When the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) withdrew from the trench, he returned with the Muslims to Medina and they laid down their weapons. Then, when it was noon, Gabriel appeared to the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace).’ Likewise Ibn Ḥamîd told us that Salama passed on the tradition saying that it was passed on by Muḥammad Ibn Isḥāq who had heard it from Ibn Shihāb Al-Zuhrî: ‘Donned with a turban made of brocade, on a she-mule that had a saddle covered with a silk garment, [the angel Gabriel] said: ‘Did you already put down your arms, o messenger of God?’ He replied: ‘Yes’. Said Gabriel: ‘The angels have not put down their weapons yet! You only returned because of the request of the people. God is commanding you, Muḥammad, to head for the Banū Qurayẓa, while I advance on the Banū Qurayẓa [as well].’ Thereupon God’s messenger (God grant him salvation and peace) called out and issued the order. He announced to the people: ‘If someone harkens and obeys, then he shall surely not perform the afternoon prayer until he enters [the place of] the Banū Qurayẓa.’ The messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) first sent Alî the son of Abū Ṭālib (God be pleased with him) ahead to the Banū Qurayẓa with his banner. The people rushed ahead of it[4]. Alî, son of Abū Ṭālib (may God be pleased with him) proceeded until he approached the fortress. From [the fortress] he heard them utter despicable words about God’s messenger (God grant him salvation and peace), so he went back and met the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) on the road. He said: ‘Messenger of God! Do not come closer to these repulsive people.’ He replied: ‘Why not? Should I assume that you heard something offensive from them regarding me?’ He answered: ‘Yes messenger of God.’ He then said: “If only they had seen me, they would not have said anything of the kind.’ When the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) approached their fortress, he said: ‘Brotherhood of monkeys! Did God humiliate you and bring down vengeance on you?’ They replied: ‘Abū Al-Qāsim! You are not stupid.’ The messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) walked with the horn blowers by his companions before he reached the Banū Qurayẓa. He said: ‘Did anyone pass by you?’ They replied: ‘Messenger of God, Diḥya the son of Khalîfa Al-Kalbî passed by on a white she-mule that had a saddle, covered with a silk garment. The messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) replied: ‘That was [the angel] Gabriel who was sent to the Banū Qurayẓa. He will make their fortress tremble and he will cast terror into their hearts.’ When the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) arrive at the Qurayẓa, he set up camp at one of the wells that was located in an area of their estates, which was called the Ana Well. The people followed in his footsteps. There were men who came to him who had already prayed the evening prayer, but they had not performed the afternoon prayer yet, according to [their understanding of] the words of the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace): ‘One shall surely not perform the afternoon prayer until he enters [the place of] the Banū Qurayẓa.’ They then performed the afternoon prayer [later]. God did not find fault with them for this in His book[5], nor did His messenger reprimand them for it. Then there is the tradition from Muḥammad ibn Ishāq who had heard it from his father, who had heard it from Ma`bad the son of Ka`b the son of Mālik Al-Anṣārî, who said: ‘The messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) besieged them twenty five nights until the siege exhausted them and God cast terror into their hearts. Now, Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab[6] had joined the Banū Qurayẓa in their fortress when the Quraysh and the Ghaṭafān had abandoned them, thereby fulfilling the promise he had made to Ka`b ibn Asad[7]. When they convinced themselves that the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) was not going to give up without fighting them, Ka`b ibn Asad said to them: ‘Jewish men! The matter that you see has befallen you. I now propose to you three evils; choose any of them’. They said: ‘What are they?’ He said: ‘That we pledge allegiance to this man and we believe in him, for by God, you realize that he is a prophet sent [by God], and that he is the one that you find in your Scripture. Then you will safeguard your blood and your properties, your children and your wives[8].’ They answered: ‘We shall never depart from the law of the Torah, and we shall not exchange it for something else!’ He said: ‘If you deny this [proposal] of mine, then go on! Let’s kill our children and our wives. Then we send out men with drawn swords to Muḥammad and his companions, and we won’t leave anything valuable behind that is important to us, and may God judge between us and Muḥammad. If we perish, we perish, but we will not have left anything behind to be concerned about. However if we triumph, then, by my life, we shall again take wives and [beget] children[9].’ They answered: ‘Shall we kill these poor ones? What good would life be after them?’ He said: ‘If you deny this proposal [as well], then tonight is the night of Shabbat. Muḥammad and his companions will possibly feel safe. So attack them [on Shabbat]! We might be able to strike Muḥammad and his companions by surprise’[10]. They replied: ‘Should we violate our Shabbat and introduce a practice that those before us never did? What about those – whom you knew – who were transformed [into monkeys]. Does that not frighten you?’ He said: ‘There is a man among you[11] who has always remained prudent his whole life, ever since his mother gave birth to him.’ He continued[12]: ‘They then sent [a request] to the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace): “Send us Abū Lubāba the son of `Abd Al-Mundhir who is related to the clan of `Amr ibn `Awf – since they were allied with the Aws – that we may ask him for advice on our situation.’ Thereupon the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) dispatched him. When they saw him, the men rose in his honor and the women and children broke out in tears and cried in his presence. He felt pity on them. When they asked him: ‘Abū Lubāba, do you think we should give up and surrender to the judgment of Muḥammad?’ He said: ‘Yes’, but with his hand he gestured to his throat indicating that there would be slaughter. Abū Lubāba [later] said: ‘By God, my feet hadn’t left before I realized that I had betrayed God and his messenger[13].’ Abū Lubāba then rushed out. He did not come to the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) but instead he tied himself in the mosque to one of its pillars, and said: ‘I will not leave my place until God will forgive me for what I have done’, and he made a pact with God to never set foot on [the fortress of] the Banū Qurayẓa, so that ‘God will never see me again in the town where I betrayed God and his messenger.’ When his news reached God’s messenger (God grant him salvation and peace) after he had been waiting for him for a long time, he said: ‘Had he come to me, I would have prayed for his forgiveness. But since he did what he did, I am not the one who can release him from his place until God grants him forgiveness.’ Then Tha`laba ibn Sa`ya, Asîd ibn Sa`ya and Asad ibn `Ubayd who were a band of the Banū Hudhayl, not belonging to the Banū Qurayẓa[14] and neither to the [Jewish] Naḍîr tribe, their lineage being above that, as they belonged to the general people, converted to Islam during that same night when the Qurayẓa came down and surrendered to the judgment of the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace). And during that very night `Amr ibn Sa`dā from the Qurayẓa came out and passed by the guard of the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace); Muḥammad ibn Maslama Al-Anṣārî was at the head of [the guard] during that night. When he saw him, he said: ‘Who is that?’ He answered: ‘Amr ibn Sa`dā’. `Amr had refused to join the Banū Qurayẓa in their betrayal of the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace), so he said: ‘I will never betray Muḥammad!’ When he recognized him, Muḥammad ibn Maslama said: ‘O God! Do not exclude me when you forgive the stumbling of the kind-hearted!’ Then he let him go. [‘Amr] went on his way and slept that night in the mosque of the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) in Medina. Then he disappeared, and unto the present day it is not known where on God’s Earth he went. The matter was relayed to the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace), who said: ‘That man, may God deliver him through his loyalty.’ [Ibn Ishāq] added: ‘But other people claim that he was tied up with an old rope by those who also tied up the [other] Banū Qurayẓa after they had come down and surrendered to the judgment of God’s messenger (God grant him salvation and peace), and that he managed to throw off his rope, and it is unknown where he went, and that the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) [then] uttered this saying. God knows best.’ In the morning they surrendered to the judgment of the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace), and the Aws came in a rush. They said: ‘Messenger of God! These are our associates and [this time] not of the Khazraj. You know what you recently did to the associates of the Khazraj...!’ – Before [the episode of] the Banū Qurayẓa, the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) had besieged the [Jewish tribe of] Banū Qaynuqā` who were the allies of the Khazraj. When the [Qaynuqā`] surrendered to his judgment, `Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl[15] had asked [Muḥammad] for them, and he had granted them to him. – When the Aws were done speaking to him, the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) said: ‘Would you not agree, people of Aws, if someone from among you would judge them?’ They replied: ‘Most certainly!’ He said: ‘So Sa`d ibn Mu`ādh it will be!’ The messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) had placed Sa`d ibn Mu`ādh in the tent of Rufayda, the wife of someone who had embraced Islam, which was located in his mosque. She nursed the wounded, dedicating herself selflessly in the service of those Muslims who were uncared for. The messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) had said to [Sa`d’s] kinsmen when an arrow struck him in [the Battle of] the Trench: ‘Place him in the tent of Rufayda, close by, so I can visit him!’ When the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) then appointed him as the judge over the Banū Qurayẓa, his kinsmen came to him and carried him on a donkey. They had made it comfortable for him with a pillow made of sheepskin for he was a corpulent man. Then they proceeded with him to the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace), saying: ‘Abu `Amr[16]! Deal charitably with your allies! Now that the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) has put you in charge of this, you should deal charitably with them!’ When they talked to him like this on and on, he said: ‘The moment has come for Sa`d that no one, by God, can tell him anything.’ Some of his kinsmen who were with him went back to the house of the Banū Abd Al-Ashhal[17] where they announced the death of the Banū Qurayẓa men, even before Sa`d ibn Mu`ādh got there, deducing it from the words they had heard from him. When Sa`d ultimately got to the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) and to the Muslims, [Muḥammad] said: ‘Stand up for your master!’ So [the companions of Muḥammad] stood up for [Sa`d]. They said: ‘Abū `Amr! The messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) has appointed you over your allies to judge them…!?’ Sa`d replied: ‘Regarding this, do you accept upon yourselves, by the covenant of God and by His pact, that what I decide will be their verdict?’ He[18] answered: ‘Yes’. Then he said: ‘What about the one right over here?’ [He said it] in the direction of where God’s messenger (God grant him salvation and peace) was located, while turning his head away from the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) in reverence for him. The messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) then said: ‘Yes’. Spoke Sa`d: ‘Well then, I judge that the men shall be killed, that their properties shall be divided, and that the women and children shall be taken captive.’ Ibn Ḥamîd told us that Salama passed on the tradition, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq told me, who had heard it from `Āṣim ibn ‘Omar ibn Qatāda who had heard it from `Abd al-Raḥmān the son of ‘Amr the son of Sa`d ibn Mu`ādh, who heard it from `Alqama ibn Waqqāṣ Al-Lîthî, who said: ‘The messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) said: ‘You judged them with the judgment of God from above the seven spheres.’ They then told [the Banū Qurayẓa] to come down. The messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) had detained them in the house of the daughter of Al-Ḥārith, a woman of the Banū Al-Najjār. The messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) had them taken out to the market place of Medina, which is still its market place today, and had ditches dug there. He then sent for them and had them decapitated in these ditches. They were brought out to him in groups. Among them was the enemy of God Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab, as well as Ka`b ibn Asad the head of their people, six or seven hundred, while many others say : There were between eight hundred and nine hundred. As the [captives] were taken away in groups to the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace), they asked Ka`b ibn Asad: ‘Ka`b! What do you think they are going to do to us?’ Ka`b said: ‘Don’t you have any comprehension whatsoever? Don’t you notice that the one who summons [us] does not slow down? And that no one from you who is taken away is coming back? This, by God, is assassination!’ They kept herding them out until the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) had finished them off. Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab, the enemy of God, was brought. He was wearing a garb with holes he had made on all sides, the size of a fingertip, everywhere fingertip-sized holes so that it would not be taken as spoil. His hands were tied to the back of his neck with a rope. When he noticed the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace), he said: ‘Yet, by God, I don’t blame myself for opposing you. However, he who forsakes God will be forsaken[19].’ He then turned to the people and said: ‘O people! Do not object to God’s decree, God’s Book and His edict, as massacre was foreordained to the Israelites!’ He then sat down and his head was cut off. Jabal ibn Jawwāl Al-Tha`labî[20] commented: ‘Ibn Akhṭab, by my life, felt no remorse (But who deserts his Lord, shall be by Him deserted)[21] Devised a pretext for his scheming to endorse[22] Cause glory-glutton turns a man who is perverted[23]!’ Ibn Ḥamîd told us that Salama passed on the tradition saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq passed on a tradition, which he had heard from Muḥammad ibn Ja`far ibn Al-Zubayr, who had heard it from `Amr ibn Zubayr, who had heard it from `Ā’isha, who said: ‘Only one of their women was killed.’ She recalled: ‘By God! She was with me, talking to me and obviously cheerful while the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) was killing their men in the market place. When he called out her name: ‘Where is so-and-so?’ she answered: ‘That’s me! By God!’ `Ā’isha continued. ‘I said: ‘Woe unto you! What is going to happen to you?’ She replied: ‘I am going to be killed.’ I said: ‘But why?’ She answered: ‘Because of something I have done.’ Then she was taken away and her head was severed…’ `Ā’isha said: ‘I will never forget how amazed I was about her: Such a good nature and so full of laughter, even though she knew she was going to be killed!’ [More explanations of words used in the verse:] Ibn Ḥamîd told us that Salama passed on the tradition, who had heard it from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, who said: Zayd ibn Rūmān reported about: “And those of the People of the Scripture who supported them He brought down from their fortresses…” that ‘fortresses (ṣayāṣî)’ means strongholds (ḥuṣūn) and the fortifications (āṭām) that they were in, “and He cast terror into their hearts”. `Amr ibn Mālik Al-Bikrî told us that Wakî` ibn Al-Jarrāḥ passed on a tradition, that the son of Wakî` told us: ‘My father passed on a tradition he had heard from Ibn `Uyayna, who had heard it from `Amr ibn Dînār, who heard from `Ikrima, regarding the phrase “from their fortresses”, he would explain it as: from their strongholds (ḥuṣūn).’ Muḥammad ibn `Amr told us that Abū `Āṣim passed on a tradition, saying that `Îsā had reported it. Also Al-Ḥārith told us saying that Al-Ḥasan passed on the tradition, saying that Warqā’ passed on this tradition, both going back to Ibn Abî Najîḥ, who heard it from Mujāhid, that the phrase “from their fortresses”, where it says “…He brought them down from their fortresses…” is explained as ‘their castles’ (quṣūr). Bashar told us that Yazîd reported from Sa`îd who passed on a tradition that he received it from Qatāda, that the expression “from their fortresses” means: their strongholds (ḥuṣūn) and their fortifications (āṭām). Yūnus told us that Ibn Wahab informed us that Ibn Zayd said about the verse “And those of the People of the Scripture who supported them, He brought down from their fortresses…”, that the phrase ‘fortresses’ means: Their strongholds which they thought would protect them against God, Blessed and Exulted. The root of the plural word ‘fortresses’ (ṣayāṣî) is [the singular form] ṣîṣa. It is said that in this context it means ‘their strongholds’ (ḥuṣūn). The Arabs call the side of a mountain ṣîṣa. And the foundation of something is called ṣîṣa. As the expression goes: “May God cut off so-and-so’s ṣîṣa”, meaning: his foundation. Weavers’ forks are also called ṣayāṣî, as the poet says: “Like forks (ṣayāṣî) falling on outspread fabric”[24]. It is also a term for the spores of a rooster. The phrase: “He cast terror into their hearts” means: ‘He shed fear for you in their hearts’. “As you killed part of them” means: ‘You killed a group of them.’ Those were the ones that the messenger of God (God grant him salvation and peace) killed when he triumphed over them. “And you took another part as captives” means: ‘You captured another group of them’. Those were their women and children which were taken as prisoners. Similarly, Bashar told us that Yazîd passed on the tradition from Sa`îd who had reported what he had heard from Qatāda, that “You killed part of them”: These are the ones you decapitated. “And you took another part as captives”: The ones you took as prisoners. Ibn Ḥamîd told us that Salama passed on the tradition, who had heard it from Ibn Isḥāq, who said: Yazîd ibn Rūmān reported about the phrase “You killed part of them and you took another part as captives”: This means killing the men and capturing the children and the women. [1] Who supported the anti-Muslim forces [2] The Muslims [3] One of the names of Muḥammad [4] Of the banner [5] God’s heavenly book in which man’s good and bad deeds are recorded [6] Chief of the Jewish tribe of the Banū Al-Naḍîr which had been expelled before [7] Leader of the Banū Qurayẓa [8] This is the first evil [9] This is the second evil [10] Third evil [11] I.e. from among your allies [12] The narrator; Muḥammad ibn Ishāq [13] By giving them a warning [14] In other sources at least some of these they are called “Al-Quraẓî” i.e. from the Banū Qurayẓa. [15] A leader of the Banū Khazraj [16] One of the names of Sa`d ibn Mu`ādh [17] A sub-clan of the Banū Aws [18] Should probably be ‘they’ [19] While the commentators seem to attribute “who forsakes God” to Ḥuyayy, as it seems unlikely that Ḥuyayy saw himself as betraying God, it possibly alludes to Muḥammad. Apparently the rest of his speech serves to legitimize the massacre, although it is possible that the Jewish community took this as a test or divine retribution, as has been recorded in many cases throughout Jewish history. [20] Reportedly a poet of Jewish origin who converted to Islam. A note on this in the document is mostly superfluous and left untranslated. [21] This line, in Arabic formulated in exactly the same words, may be the origin of Ḥuyayy’s confession, later put in his mouth. [22] Lit: He strove (lit: ‘he waged Jihad’) until he found himself an excuse to agitate. [23] Lit: Every disturbed person desires glory [24] This is the second half of a verse by the (pre-Islamic) poet Durayd ibn Al-Suma. The first half goes: “I reached him while spears came down on him…” This information is part of a lengthy footnote in the document which I left untranslated as it is rather repetitive. |