Ibn Isḥāq (1) relates: After that, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out to the Banū al-Naḍīr seeking their help in paying the blood-money for the two men of Banū ʿĀmir whom ʿAmr ibn Umayyah had killed—men who were under a covenant granted them by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. There was, moreover, a pact and alliance between Banū al-Naḍīr and Banū ʿĀmir. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived, they said, “Yes, Abū ’l-Qāsim, we will aid you in whatever you wish.”

Then they withdrew privately and said to one another, “You will never find the man in a situation like this”—the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was seated beside a wall of one of their houses—“so who will climb to the roof of this house, drop a stone on him, and rid us of him?” ʿAmr ibn Jihāsh ibn Kaʿb volunteered: “I will do it.” He ascended to hurl the stone, just as they had proposed, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sitting with a number of his Companions—among them Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿAlī. News came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from Heaven of what they intended, whereupon he rose and returned to Madinah. When the Prophet ﷺ delayed in coming back, his Companions set out to look for him. They met a man coming [from the city] and asked about him. He replied, “I saw him entering Madinah.” The Companions continued on until they reached him, and he informed them of what the Jews had planned in their treachery against him.

Al-Wāqidī (3) reports: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then dispatched Muḥammad ibn Maslamah ordering them to leave his neighborhood and his city. The hypocrites sent messages to them, trying to steady their resolve, urging them to stay, and promising them victory. Their spirits were thereby strengthened, Huyayy ibn Akhṭab flared up, and they sent word to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that they would not depart. They repudiated him by breaking the covenants, and at that point he commanded the people to march out against them.

Al-Wāqidī (4) adds: He laid siege to them for fifteen nights.

Ibn Isḥāq (6) says: The Prophet ﷺ ordered the people to prepare for war with them and to set out. Ibn Hishām notes that he appointed Ibn Umm Maktūm to govern Madinah, and this took place in the month of Rabīʿ al-Awwal. Ibn Isḥāq (7) continues: He advanced until he encamped near them and besieged them for six nights. It was then that the prohibition of wine was revealed. They barricaded themselves from him in their strongholds, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered that their date-palms be cut down and burned. They called out, “O Muḥammad, you used to forbid corruption and censure those who commit it; how is it that you are cutting down and burning date-palms?” He replied.

At that time a group from Banū ʿAwf ibn al-Khazraj—among them ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy, Wadīʿah, Mālik, Suwayd, and Dāʿis—had sent word to the Banū