Al-Wāqidī (d. 207 AH) related that before accepting Islam, ʿUyaynah ibn Ḥiṣn saw a dream while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was laying siege to Khaybar. From what he had seen he imagined that he would fight the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and defeat him. When he arrived at Khaybar, however, he found that the Prophet had already conquered it. He said, “O Muḥammad, give me a share of what you have taken from my allies”—meaning the people of Khaybar. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied,
“Your dream has deceived you,”
and then told him exactly what he had seen. ʿUyaynah turned back, and on the way he met al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAwf, who said to him, “Did I not warn you that you were throwing yourself into something futile? By Allah, Muḥammad will surely prevail over everything between East and West. The Jews themselves used to tell us this. I bear witness that I heard Abū Rāfiʿ Sallām ibn Abī al-Ḥuqayq say:
‘We envy Muḥammad for the Prophethood since it has departed from the descendants of Aaron. He is indeed a true Messenger, but the Jews will not follow me in admitting this. Two massacres await us at his hands: one at Yathrib and another at Khaybar.’
Al-Ḥārith continued, ‘I asked Sallām, “Will he rule the earth?” He answered, “Yes—by the Torah that was sent down to Moses! And I would hate for the Jews to learn what I have just said about him.”’
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Ibn Isḥāq (d. 150 AH) said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had finished with Khaybar he marched to Wādī al-Qurā, besieged its inhabitants for several nights, and then returned to Madinah. He also recounted the story of Midʿam: how a stray arrow struck him in the shoulder and killed him. The people said, “Congratulations to him—martyrdom!” But the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared,
“Not so, by Him in Whose hand is my soul! The cloak he took on the day of Khaybar, before the spoils had been divided, is now blazing upon him in the Fire.”
A narration of similar import is found in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī; Allah knows best. Mention of the Prophet’s fighting at Wādī al-Qurā will appear later, Allah willing.
Imām Aḥmad (d. 241 AH) said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd narrated to us—from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd—from Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ḥabbān, from Abū ʿAmrah, from Zayd ibn Khālid al-Juhani—that a man of the tribe of Ashjaʿ, one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, died [on the day of Khaybar]. When news of his death reached the Prophet ﷺ, he said:
“Perform the Funeral Prayer for your companion.”
The people’s faces showed their surprise, whereupon he added:
“Your companion has misappropriated spoils taken in the path of Allah.”
We searched his belongings and found a few Jewish beads worth less than two dirhams.