He related that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ returned from pursuing the Confederates, he set down his armor, bathed, and perfumed himself with incense. Gabriel then appeared and said, “May Allah protect you, O combatant! I see you have laid aside your armor while we have not yet laid ours aside.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sprang up in alarm and ordered the people not to perform the ʿAsr prayer until they had reached Banu Qurayzah. They armed themselves, but they did not arrive at Banu Qurayzah until the sun had set. At sunset they disagreed. Some said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ bound us not to pray until we reach Banu Qurayzah; we are still under his command and incur no sin.” One group therefore prayed on the spot, hoping for reward; another delayed the prayer until after sunset and performed it only when they reached Banu Qurayzah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not censure either group.

A similar report was transmitted by ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar, from his brother ʿAbd Allah, from al-Qasim, from ʿAʾishah. She recounts that a man greeted us while we were indoors; the Messenger of Allah ﷺ rose abruptly, and I followed him to find Dihyah al-Kalbi. The Prophet ﷺ said, “This is Gabriel; he is instructing me to go to Banu Qurayzah.” He added, “You have put down your weapons, but we have not; we pursued the idolaters as far as Ḥamraʾ al-Asad.” The narration continues: as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed gatherings on the way to Banu Qurayzah he asked, “Has anyone passed by you?” They replied, “Dihyah al-Kalbi rode past us on a greyish mule with a brocade saddle-cloth beneath him.” He said, “That was not Dihyah; it was Gabriel, sent to Banu Qurayzah to shake them and cast terror into their hearts.”

The Prophet ﷺ laid siege to them and instructed his Companions to screen him with shields so that he could address them. He called out, “O brothers of apes and swine!” They replied, “Abu al-Qasim, you have never been one to revile.” He maintained the siege until they agreed to submit to the judgment of Saʿd ibn Muʿadh, to whom they had been allied. Saʿd ruled that their fighting men be killed and that their women and children be taken captive.