and a spent cloud—thunder and lightning with no rain in it. Huyayy, let me be; from Muhammad I have witnessed only sincerity and faithfulness.”
Huyayy, however, kept pressing Kaʿb until the latter yielded. Huyayy pledged, “If Quraysh and Ghatafān withdraw without having harmed Muhammad, I will enter your fortress with you and share whatever fate befalls you.” Thereupon Kaʿb broke his covenant and disavowed all that had stood between him and the Prophet ﷺ.
When news of this reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he dispatched Saʿd ibn Muʿādh and Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah—the two chiefs of the Anṣār—together with ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah and Khawwāt ibn Jubayr. He said to them, “Go and see whether the report that has reached us about these people is true. If it is, give me a subtle signal that I will recognize, but do not alarm the people. If they are still honoring the pact between us, then proclaim that openly to everyone.”
They went to the Qurayẓah and found them exactly as the report had described—worse, in fact. Saʿd ibn Muʿādh, quick-tempered as he was, cursed them, and they cursed him in return. Ibn ʿUbādah said to him, “Leave off cursing; what lies between us and them is weightier than trading insults.”
The delegation then returned to the Prophet ﷺ, greeted him with peace, and said, “ʿAḍal and al-Qārah”—meaning, “They have betrayed us like ʿAḍal and al-Qārah betrayed Khubayb and his companions at al-Rajīʿ.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ exclaimed, “Allāhu akbar! Rejoice, O assembly of Muslims!” Yet fear now grew even greater.
Allah the Exalted says: “When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when eyes shifted in fear and hearts leapt to the throats, and you entertained all sorts of thoughts about Allah; there the believers were tested and shaken with a severe shaking.” (Al-Aḥzāb 33:10-11)
Meanwhile the hypocrites began to speak. Muʿattib ibn Qushayr, of the clan of ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, said, “Muhammad promised us that we would consume the treasures of Chosroes and Caesar, yet today not one of us even feels safe…"