Ibn Isḥāq said: A freedman of Zayd ibn Thābit related to me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr—or, according to another narration, on the authority of ʿIkrimah—from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: “These verses were revealed solely concerning them: ‘Say to those who disbelieve, “You shall be defeated and herded to Hell—an evil resting-place it is! There has already been for you a sign in the two hosts that met…’ (Āl ʿImrān 3:12–13).” The two hosts are the people of Badr: the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Quraysh—‘one company fighting in the path of Allah and another that was disbelieving; they saw them with their own eyes to be twice their number, but Allah supports with His help whom He wills. Surely in that is a lesson for those endowed with insight.’
Ibn Isḥāq also related—through ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah—that Banū Qaynuqāʿ were the first of the Jews to break the covenant and take up arms, and this occurred between the battles of Badr and Uḥud.
Ibn Hishām reports—citing ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Miswar ibn Makhramah, from Abū ʿAwn—that the affair of Banū Qaynuqāʿ began when an Arab woman came to their market with some merchandise. After selling her goods, she sat down beside one of their goldsmiths. They tried to compel her to unveil her face, but she refused. The goldsmith then tied the hem of her cloak to the back of her garment, so that when she stood up her private parts were exposed. They laughed at her, and she cried out. A Muslim man leapt upon the goldsmith and killed him—he was a Jew. The Jews set upon the Muslim and killed him in turn. His people raised the alarm, the Muslims became enraged, and fighting broke out between them and Banū Qaynuqāʿ.
Ibn Isḥāq continues—on the authority of ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ besieged them until they agreed to submit to his judgment. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl then came forward—after Allah had placed them in the Prophet’s power—and said, “O Muhammad, treat my allies well,” for they had been confederates of the Khazraj. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ delayed his reply, so he repeated, “O Muhammad, treat my allies well.” The Prophet ﷺ turned away, whereupon Ibn Ubayy thrust his hand into the opening of the Prophet’s coat of mail—known, Ibn Hishām notes, as Dhātu l-Fuḍūl.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Release me.” He became so angry that those present saw the shade of wrath upon his face, and he repeated, “Woe to you—release me!”
Ibn Ubayy replied, “By Allah, I will not release you until you treat my allies well. Four hundred unarmored men and three hundred in armor—people who have protected me from both red and black—will you mow them down in a single morning? By Allah, I am a man who fears the turns of fortune.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said, “They are yours.”