have disbelieved: “You will be defeated and herded to Hell.” (Āl ʿImrān 3:12)

ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah related to me that the Banū Qaynuqāʿ were the first of the Jews to break their pact and take up arms, between the battles of Badr and Uḥud.

He also transmitted from Abū ʿAwn: The affair of the Banū Qaynuqāʿ began when an Arab woman arrived with some merchandise, which she sold in their market. She then sat beside a goldsmith, and they kept trying to make her uncover her face. She refused, so the goldsmith fastened the edge of her garment to the back of her cloak; when she stood, her private parts were exposed and they laughed at her. The woman cried out, whereupon a Muslim man sprang upon the goldsmith and killed him. The Jews then set upon that Muslim and killed him. This enraged the Muslims and ignited the conflict.

ʿĀṣim further narrated: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ laid siege to them until they agreed to submit to his judgment. At that point ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl, now that Allah had delivered them into the Prophet’s hands, stood up and said, “O Muḥammad, treat my allies well.” The Prophet turned away from him, so he thrust his hand into the opening of the Prophet’s coat-of-mail. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Release me,” and, in anger, repeated, “Release me—woe to you!” Ibn Ubayy replied, “By Allah, I will not release you until you show kindness to my allies: four hundred unarmoured and three hundred in mail who protected me from red-skinned and black-skinned alike—will you cut them down in a single morning? By Allah, I am a man who fears reversals of fortune.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Very well, they are yours.”

Abū Isḥāq narrated to me from ʿUbādah ibn al-Walīd: When the Banū Qaynuqāʿ fought the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Ibn Salūl clung to their cause and stood in their defence.

He added: ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit—who belonged to the Banū ʿAwf and enjoyed the same alliance with them as Ibn Salūl did—went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, handed the Banū Qaynuqāʿ over to him, disavowed their pact before Allah and His Messenger, and declared, “I take Allah, His Messenger, and the believers as my allies.” Concerning him and Ibn Salūl the verse was revealed: “O you who believe, do not take the Jews…”